Emily Louise

My first niece!
Emily was born in July, a miracle as her mother had told me years before that if she didn't have any children by the time she was thirty, she would not have any children. MaryBeth turned 30 the August after Em was born. Had Emily been a month late...I shudder to think what would have happened!

Anyway, Emily was precious. From the beginning, she had the good looks of her mother with a little of her dad mixed in. She was born with a stubborn eye; it kept drifting and by the time she entered school had had surgery and, like most of her mother's family, glasses.
Emily was not my goddaughter. Not because I didn't want to be her godmother, but because my mother had decided that I should not be a godmother and encouraged (bullied?) MaryBeth to use our brother Kevin and youngest sister Elaine. That doesn't mean Emily wasn't dear to me, just that I only had responsibilities as an aunt. What an aunt does is unclear to me because I think it means I didn't have to do anything for Emily, and in retrospect, I really stuck to that.

When Emily became a big sister, she really stepped up and became John's protector. When Mary left her husband to protect herself and her children, Emily and John stayed a few weeks in Milwaukee. That was when I noticed that she constantly put herself between John and harm's way. I told her to lighten up and be a little girl, but by then she had defined her sisterhood as being a responsible little girl and shield for her brother.
I didn't get really involved in Em's upbringing as she lived down in Tennessee and Mary and I mainly talked about Mary and I when we talked. Oh we shared our kids stories, but it wasn't like being there.
Emily is smart; really smart. She completed her education to become a teacher and has shared her learning ability with many youngsters in Tennessee. She has many friends and a forgiving heart. Friends that have for one reason or the other betrayed or turned from her are simply stored in her love till they have the sense to come back again. Thay may because she has a stubborn streak (family trait from her mother's side) and doesn't give up on anything or anyone or maybe because she forgets what people do to her and is willing to forgive and forget. Emily was always creative and hard working.
When Shane Vivrette came into her life, he was just another guy who saw her as irresistable but he became a valued partner for Emily and member of the Nunnery family. Emily and Shane married in a beautiful ceremony on a hot summer day. The reception was in the yard behind MaryBeth's house and was filled with fun. In typical Emily fashion, there was a bullhorn, a bouncy-house, and  the food was grilled fresh right there. After dark, friends who did fireworks professionally for the city of Mount Juliet, did a display in the yard. It was the starting point for them and soon they were a family.
Other than some looks and attitude, Emily inherited some bad back issues from her dad.
When Aubrey was born, she accepted the doctor's advice to have her children close together, and Olivia was born 12 1/2 months later. This was a blessing as the girls are so very close and, like Mary and I, will grow up as part of each other.
Emily is a good mother. She mixes discipline and love, learning and fun. I love hearing stories from Mary about her granddaughters because it shows how they are just like we were. (Sorry Em - it's destiny!)

Although the Emily blog is near the end, her life is moving forward. She has now achieved most of what will sustain her for a few more decades - she is a wife and friend, daughter and mother, teacher and learner, friend and worker. Emily is a beautiful star and a delicate flower. She sparkles at night and enriches our days.

I love Emily because she is my niece, but more than that, because she is a wonderful woman and deserves no less.

Do you know how important you are

Do you know that when you laughed at that restaurant, someone smiled?
Do you know that when you cried at that movie, someone was moved by compassion?
Do you know that when you finished your report at work, someone had a weight lifted off their shoulder?
Do you know that when you yielded on the road, someone made it to work on time?
Do you know the food you gave to the food pantry restored health to a little girl?
Do you know the prayers you said raised the spirit of a destitute man?
Do you know your old jacket that you gave to charity kept an old woman alive last winter?
Do you know that all your actions affect someone, somewhere, even if you don't know who?

Think about it before you act and your actions will definitely affect you, too.

From Eden to here and home again

God watched his land flourish, creation was nourished, or so we are led to believe,


When man’s spirit receded, God saw what was needed, and blessed His man, Adam, with Eve.


They lived life in bliss, nothing there was amiss, the sun warmed their skin in the day,

Soothed by nature's own sound, food and drink all around, and at night, in soft moonlight, they lay.


As the days turned to years, in the absence of fears, evil waited to start conversation.

When Eve passed by his den, this unholy of men, confused her with bad information.


Eve caused Adam much grief, when she took like a thief, the sweet fruit from the tree that’s forbidden

Yet he stood by her side, his young, gullible bride, though now paradise from them was hidden.


As they grew in their love, knowing God watched above, over them, their sons Abel and Cain

And He gave watched as their sons, with their offerings done, learned of anger and vengeance and pain.


So the story goes on, parents, daughters and sons, living in God’s embrace and without,

Till He gave us His Son, ensured salvation won, and we still lived in anguish and doubt.


God watches us change, all that He has arranged, for us to survive on our own

But with all mankind does, God still loves us because He is hopeful we find the way home.