RETURNING HOME

This is the farmhouse in Ohio where I spent most of my childhood. The tree in the foreground is a persimmon, believe it or not. We raised cows, pigs, chickens and other animals on occasion. I was responsible for gathering eggs and cleaning them and later for milking and separating the milk. My brother and I also carried water since we did not have indoor plumbing and we lived in a separate house on the farm.

These pictures were taken at my mother's Ohio burial service on November 1, 2006. The dark clouds with sunshine piercing through awaited us as we arrived back Clinton County on our way to take my mother's casket to the funeral home. It was a quiet journey, and Lewis and I placed a burning candle in the cup holder of the van to help us mark the time along the way.

It was a cold and rainy day when we had her service, but despite the weather, several members of our extended family and friends were there to give us comfort and show respect and caring for my mother. On the right is my brother Roger and my mother's long time friend and minister Mary Cochran. Mary is 93 and was able to participate in my mother's funeral service, along with Sandy Taylor, mother's minister from Maryland. Sandy comforted my mother in the last days of her illness and officiated at her Maryland funeral. We were grateful that she was able to go with us and help us in Ohio as well.

Seated at the table left to right on the other side are Agnes, my husband's mother, Lewis' sister Susan, seated behind her; and two of mother's classmates, Colleta and Ada Jean, from the Blanchester class of 1942. My mother's sister's sister-in-law Lorena Burton and her husband Bill are next at the table. Next to them is my cousin Joyce Sexton who is seated across from her husband Charles and next to her is another cousin Dale Dunn. On this side of the table are my brother, Roger, and our cousin Herb Dunn and his wife Lois. Mary, mother's minister, is bending forward in the foreground.

Welcome to my blog site.

It is a daunting task to decide what is most important to share on cyber pages. Rather than have the written word convey my thoughts and feelings, I have decided to use photographs as my primary means of self-expression. I will also be offering brief essays, site suggestions, and pictorial clippings that you may wish to review.

I hope you like this site format and find it meaningful enough to make return visits.

Having so recently lost my mother, I find that grief is my inner guest and I move forward in slow and sometimes uncertain steps.

Thanks for visiting my site.

Sharon