Category Archives: Personal

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.  The below picture that I took of a plaque at my Aunt’s house contain some great words to live by.

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Hurricane Ike swept through on the night of September 12th. I have to say it was pretty scary at times.  We had put boards on all of our windows the day before and about 1 hr into the storm, the boards had blown off all of the front windows.  Guess we should have used more ply locks. There was a period of time that we were stationed in the closet because we thought something would surely come through the unprotected windows.  Luckily, that did not happen. We made it through the storm with minimal damage to the house, but we did lose our fence.

The aftermath of Ike shows utter devastation for Galveston, TX. The island was practically flooded before the Ike even arrived. I was on Galveston Island 2 weeks prior and cannot imagine the waves coming over the sea wall much less flooding the streets.

Ike Brings Waves to Galveston – Video 

As far as Pearland & Friendswood, most of the damage consisted of roof damage and downed trees/fences/power lines. A lot of gas stations took damage to awnings and gas pumps. All of the Houston/Galveston area (4 million people) is suffering a power outage. Luckily a front moved through bringing the temperatures down to a low of 60 and high of 80. You would not believe how much of a relief this is considering the temperatures are usually into the 90s easily.

I have seen so many people helping people, it makes me proud to be part of this community. My neighbor has a natural gas generator and was nice enough to let us run an extension cord so we could power our refrigerator and a fan.  My husband is now helping our neighbor’s son who had some water damage to his home. There were even some kids pulling a wagon down the street picking up small limbs and debris.

In closing, the area has been dealt a devastating blow, but I truly believe we will all pull together and get through it.  Best of luck to the people who had major damage to their property. 

Photo Gallery for Hurricane Ike

My Aunt Shirley left this world this passed November (November 25, 2007).  This passed Monday (April 7th) she would have been 70.  I have started going through some of her pictures that were on her computer again – I have tried to previously, but it is has just been too difficult. 

I ran across my favorite picture of her – one where she was handing a pop down to her baby sis (my Aunt Linda).

I talked to my Uncle Lee on Friday and he informed me that he is moving out of the house that he and Aunt Shirley lived in for 47 years.  I understand that he can’t help but be plagued by memories, but it is just hard to not be able to go to that house anymore.  I have been going there since I can remember.

Happy Birthday Aunt Shirley.

I lost my sweet Aunt Shirley at 5:18 this morning.  I can’t help but feel that I’ve lost my Mom all over again.  My Mom died in 1982 and ever since that time her two sisters have been like my Mother.

In the summer between my Junior and Senior year in High School (1985), I stayed with my Aunt Shirley a lot.  I would go to the College where she worked as a lab assistant in the computer lab.  She taught me the basics of the IBM PC and I spent all summer playing on and learning computers.  If it were not for that summer, I may not have even been in the computer field.

Aunt Shirley was a devoted Christian woman who loved God, Uncle Lee and had a passion for teddy bears and all things cute.  I remember how excited she was when I showed her the trailer to Happy Feet on her computer.  She said “I have to see that!!!”.  

I also remember when I was younger and was on her side of town, I would call her from the pay phone (before cell phones) at the convenience store right next to their house and ask her if she had any plans for the next couple of hours.  If she would say “no, come on over”, I would tell her I would be there in a while.  Of course she expected me to be coming from home (30 miles away).  When I would knock on her door 2 minutes later she would say “GIRL!!!!”.  I loved surprising her like that. 

In recent years she looked forward to weekly visits with her friends from San Jacinto College, quarterly shopping days with Aunt Linda and each December 20th with myself, Aunt Linda, Christie (Linda’s Daughter) and Caitlin (Christie’s daughter).  However, even with all of these things to look forward to, she would always look forward to getting back to Uncle Lee.  I can tell you one thing, she loved that man like nothing else.

I will miss her very much.  Before she left, I whispered in her ear “It’s Rhonda Aunt Shirley.  I love you so much.  You are my sweet Aunt Shirley, tell Mama I said I love her too — because I know you will see her.”

Shirley Terry | April 7, 1938 – November 25, 2007 | God Bless her and her family.

Picture gallery of my Sweet Aunt Shirley

Here is a video that Aunt Shirley just loved

Here is the handout from the funeral

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Sitting here watching the Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, I can’t help but think about my sweet Aunt Shirley who suffered a major stoke last night.  It just goes to show you how fast things can happen. 

With this post, I urge people to reach out and tell your family and friends that you love them.  Don’t wait for holidays or tragedies to make you verbalize your love.

God Bless my sweet Aunt Shirley.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.