Cozumel, Mexico

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Feeding the dolphins in Cozumel, Mexico

Feeding the dolphins in Cozumel, Mexico

It had been awhile since I had a God Wink.  A few weeks ago we were on a cruise with another couple who are good friends.  In the port of Cozumel we just decided to go to the beach and relax for the day since we all had been to this port many times.  We headed to a public beach and found us some chairs but no palapa to get under for shade.  I got hot and decided to get into the beautiful turquoise water to cool off.  I was swimming and floating in the water and ended up close to a father and his early teenage daughter who were snorkeling and bringing up seashells.  Me, being friendly and prone to talk to most anyone, struck up a conversation with the duo.  We talked about where they were from, Alabama, what ship they were on, Carnival Dream, what their ports were and so on.  We had chatted for about 15 minutes when the Mom came out to swim.  She came right up to the daughter to ask her a question…she said “Lauren…(blah, blah, blah,….)”….I don’t know what the question was because I didn’t get past “Lauren.”  When they finished talking I asked the girl her name again.  She said Lauren….and I said “I thought that was what I had heard.”  I told her how much I loved the name and that I had a Lauren too, I told them some about my Lauren and showed them my tattoo.  Of all the  names in the world that the daughter could have been…Ashley, Mary, Jessica, Shelby, Jennifer, Rebecca, Melanie and thousands more….it was Lauren.   She and Taylor had been to the beaches of Cozumel several times with us on family cruises…it was my sign…my God Wink.

After I got out of the water and walked up to our spot…Bryan, Pam and Hayden had been offered shade under a palapa by a large group of Vietnamese Americans.  We enjoyed visiting with Duc, who was a Doctor from Austin, and his children and grandchildren, from all over Texas, who were enjoying a multi-generational family cruise vacation.  We learned their family history and he talked about how important family was and to be there for each other and take care of each other.  It was a memorable day for more than one reason.

Taylor, Bryan & Lauren Cozumel, Mexico in 2004

Taylor, Bryan & Lauren
Cozumel, Mexico in 2004

July 2002 in Cozumel, Mexico

July 2002 in
Cozumel, Mexico

Mrs. Sophia Carbajal ~ SFA 2013-14

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We were out-of-town in March when the SFA Scholarship Stars awards social was scheduled.  So we asked Bryan’s parents to attend, in our place, and meet Mrs. Sophia Carbajal.  Yes, she is a married student and our first one.  I know how tough that can be because I also attended SFA while I was married.  The Alston’s enjoyed getting to know her and expressed how friendly she was to them.  She was about to graduate and was excited about what her future held.

 

Mrs. Sophia Carbajal SFA 2013-14 Recipient

Mrs. Sophia Carbajal
SFA 2013-14 Recipient

This all probably seems a little backwards…but for SFA you pick the recipient at the beginning of the year and then get to meet them at the end of the year. The student gets money each semester so they send a note each time.   Bellow is part of what she wrote in her January thank you note:

“Again I would truly like to thank you for your generous gifts.  I am so thrilled to be beginning my last semester at SFA.  I still have not made my final decision yet of what my plans are after college.  I know that there are so many opportunities available in my field.  I do plan to spend some time exploring those and maybe even go for my master’s degree.

I thank you for awarding me with your scholarship and for this chance to reach for the stars.  But mostly for believing in me and fellow students like me.  I hope that some day I can become an inspiration too and have the ability to help students who are looking to reach for their stars.”

Sophia has on her Hospitality chef’s coat, showing the Ax’em Jacks sign and is standing in front of a few of the plaques of endowed scholarships, one of which is Lauren’s.  Sophia works in the Alumni Office, where the Wall of Honor is, and we plan to go meet her soon.

 

 

 

 

Allie Massingill ~ LHS 2014

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This is Allie Massingill who is the Lufkin High School 2014 Scholarship Recipient.  She plans on attending Angelina College for a few semesters and then transferring to Stephen F. Austin to finish her degree.  Allie wants to be an early elementary school teacher and we wish her well in her college endeavors.

Bryan, Allie Massingill and Suzanne

Bryan, Allie Massingill and Suzanne

A Handmade Book

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The Front Cover

The Front Cover

Growing up I never had a desire to “be anything” but a Momma/Mother.  I loved children and baby sat often…but I wanted kids of my own one day.  Now I was scared to give birth to them…because I was a young bride at nineteen.  Bryan and I were married just over 5 years before our first child showed up… Lauren Alizabeth… then 21 months later… on our 7th anniversary William Taylor tried to arrive but decided he wanted his own day… so the next day “baby come out”.  Lauren used to pat my belly and tell that to the baby inside.  I wish the stork would have brought them…it would have been easier than birthing them… but I am so thankful the Lord blessed us with two children.

Some of the picture pages

Some of the picture pages

I enjoyed being a stay at home Mom for many years…I loved to take care of my family…cook meals…go on field trips with the kids…make their lunches for school.  Yes…I did it for many, many years…matter of fact, through their High School years…right up to graduation.  They “didn’t like the food” or they” didn’t have enough time to eat”… because they had to stand in line too long to even get their food.  Whatever the reason… I didn’t mind… I really did enjoy it.  I used that as an opportunity to put little notes in their brown bags.  Like when they had a test coming up…”You are smart, you got this”…or a baby snicker bar with “You make me Snicker”… or “I’m so proud of you” when they passed their driving test… or inspirational quotes.

Just a few pages of the notes

While at college, a couple of years before Lauren passed away, she gave me a priceless gift.  You see she had saved lots of those little notes I had put in her lunch on most days.  She made me a book with a small collection of the notes, pictures of us, some notes I had written  her at church camp and some quotes… and all done in her handwriting.   I was so surprised and thrilled to see she had saved the notes and taken the time to make me such a personal gift.

 One note she wrote me:

The personal note

The personal note

Mom,

You are such a special woman, mother and friend.  

Thank you for the great advice you have given me over the years.

The notes you have put in my lunch mean so much to me and I want you to have them.

                 The advice they contain is priceless; the memories they hold are priceless;

               to me, you are the most priceless of all.

              I love you Mom!  Happy Mother’s Day.  

Lauren

The last page...she drew it...she believed.

The last page…she drew it…she believed.

No, Lauren….you were the priceless one, that God blessed me with.

 It was an honor and a privilege to be your Mother.

I love you to Heaven and Back.

Poem on the back of the book.

Poem on the back of the book.

I have a regret

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No one knows how to react when their child dies suddenly.  You don’t prepare for it…because you never expect it to happen to you.  You don’t think about it and plan out the details…your mind never wants to go there…to that place…because it is too horrific to even imagine.  I wasn’t prepared…I didn’t know what to do…how to act…what to feel.  But several days after she was gone…when I came out of the immediate shock of it…I had a regret…of what I didn’t do.  I can’t go back and fix it…I wish I could turn back time.  Of course I wish it never happened and I could change it… that she was still here, laughing and smiling.  But my regret is I didn’t hold her in my arms after she passed from this life.

Lauren202

Oh I hugged her in the hospital bed…but I didn’t hold her because of all the machines and tubes…I didn’t want to accidentally disconnect anything.  I did rub her arms, hands, legs and feet…trying to stimulate her and just to touch her.  I talked to her…cried to her…begged her to wake up.  I kissed her hands…her arms…her face…and her lips.

Lauren216

After she was gone the nurse asked us to step out of the room for just a bit.   They unhooked her from the medicine…the heart monitor…the respirator…pulled the tube from her punctured lung and wiped the little amount of blood from her ears…and her mouth…where she had bitten her tongue in the wreck.  Then they let us all back in…they had covered her up with the sheet.  We uncovered her…to look at her face…to touch her and kiss her one last time….to try to get a grasp on the fact she was gone…it looked like she was just sleeping.  As the rest of the family left the room and it was just Bryan and I waiting on the funeral home to come and get her…we covered her face again…it was as if we did, then it wouldn’t be her under there…then uncovered her…back and forth several times…in our state of shock…trying to soak it in…to understand what was happening…it just didn’t seem real.  We did kiss her and touch her…but my regret is I didn’t hold her in my arms…one last time…like I held her when she come into this world.  It still bothers me…4 years later…I still cry and wish I would have thought to hold her…but you never plan for your child’s death.

Lauren256

Precious Pillow Pictures

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I wanted to show you some of my favorite pictures….precious pillow pictures.

 It warms my heart to see that the pillows are being used, hugged and loved on.

Giselle and Gillian with their pink pillow.

Giselle and Gillian with their pink pillow.

Natalie found her sweet daughter, Rayne, asleep in her bed like this.

Rayne fell asleep with her pillow.

Rayne fell asleep with her pillow.

If you would like a pillow of your own please contact Kelly Barnett for your handmade customized color pillow.  Click on the above heading “Signature/ Symbol Pillows” for more examples of the pillows she has made and click the word “samples.”  A portion of the price goes into the Foundation.

 Kelly at stitchadream@hotmail.com

An Engagement

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Elise & LaurenLauren was the first grandchild on the Alston side of the family.

She loved her littleElise & Lauren #2 cousin Elise and she was so happy to welcome another girl in the family…cause she already had a little brother and 2 boy cousins.  She enjoyed playing with her…showing her new things… singing and putting on plays together.  I’m sure there were times Elise might have thought she was a little “bossy”… and well…she probably was…lol.

At our Alston Family Christmas a couple of months ago…Elise came in all excited.  I was standing in the laundry room…which is a pass thru from the garage  to the living room…when they came in…Elise and her boyfriend.  She had a huge smile on her face and saddled right up to me…she put up her hand for me to see…her ring…she had gotten engaged.  I hugged them both and told them how excited I was for them.  She was worried about how to tell the grandparents…Mimi especially…without giving them a “heart attack.”  I said…”Girl…lead with your hand out front…show’em that pretty ring…just tell’em”…then we both giggled.  She finally worked up her nerve and told them…of course they were happy and excited for her…no heart attacks for anyone.   Mimi asked how and when it happened.  It is a sweet story…the guy did it up right…made it real special.   He enlisted the help of the friends…a married couple…who had introduced them at church one day…to help with the excuse to “go out to dinner”…so they would be dressed nice…when they took pictures and video.  They all went out to eat at a nice restaurant in Lufkin but then drove back to the church in Nacogdoches where they met.  He played his guitar and sang to her…then whipped out the ring he had hidden under the front pew and proposed…on the altar of the church.  Wow… so unique…thoughtful…meaningful… and special.

Elise EngagementAs they told the story and showed us all the pictures…it hit me…tears started rolling…I tried to hide them…to stand at the back of the group…so maybe they wouldn’t notice…I didn’t want to ruin their joy and excitement.  I wouldn’t get to have this moment…with Lauren…when she squeals and shows off her ring and tells us how “he proposed.”  It is…  another “loss” to deal with.

Elise had been dating him a few months when she brought him to the Alston family Christmas in 2012.  We all liked him immediately…and we knew if he could take our joking and picking on him and giving him goofy nicknames…then he would fit in our family just fine.  And as we have seen them together over the last 16 months we knew they would make a great couple.  They both love the Lord…are musically talented…great with kids… volunteers…camp counselors…help each other study in college…know how to work hard… and are positive people with great attitudes.

 

I want them to know how excited I am for them… Elise & Skeeter 

and I truly hope I didn’t steal their joy that day.

I love you guys…

Elise Alston and Stephen Matheny (Aka: Skeeter, Sam, Slinky)

and Welcome to the family, Aunt Suzie 

2013 Blog Year in Review

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To kick off the new year, we’d like to share with you some data on Lauren Alston Foundation ~ LAF’s activity in 2013.   We thought you might find these stats as interesting as we did.

Crunchy numbers

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,200 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 53 trips to carry that many people.

In 2013, there were 17 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 41 posts. There were 26 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 14 MB. That’s about 2 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was September 17th with 131 views. The most popular post that day was The Answer is 2….

Attractions in 2013

These are the posts that got the most views on Lauren Alston Foundation ~ LAF in 2013.

Where did they come from?

 37 countries in all…here are a few of them…
Japan – 7
Thailand
Brazil – 1
Russia – 3
Australia – 10
UK – 30
Turkey – 28
India – 1
Sweden – 4
France – 2
Germany – 34

Most visitors came from The United States and Canada & Germany were not far behind.

We have 50 “Followers” but would love to have more.  If you haven’t done so…please sign up using your email (which will never be shared)…you will receive an email when a new post is made on the blog.

Thank you for your love and support.

Happy New Year

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Happy New Year and may the Lord continue to bless you and yours.

May we all try to love more…

and give more…

to everyone we encounter.

We are blessed to call you friends and have your love and support on this journey.

happy-new-year-greetings5-1

Blessings Bags (RAK’s)

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Image

 

A friend, Nina, shared this on her Facebook page and I had to share this wonderful Random Act of Kindness idea.  Blessing Bags to keep in the car when you pass homeless people…or someone who is in need.  Items that are helpful, needed and easy to pass out.  Something special you can do with the kids to teach them about caring for others.  Or get a Sunday School class, group of friends or community organization together and assemble and pass out the bags.  What a great way to remember the reason for the season…all year long.

BLESSING BAGS
INGREDIENTS:
Gallon size Ziplock bags
chap stick
packages of tissues
toothbrush and toothpaste
comb
soap
hotel size shampoos and lotions
trail mix
granola bars
crackers

nuts, applesauce and fruit cups

juice boxes

any single size serving items that don’t require a can opener

napkins and plastic spoons, forensic giving food items that need them
pack of gum
band aids
mouthwash
coins or a few dollars  (could be used to make a phone call, or purchase a food item)
hand wipes or a small bottle of hand sanitizer
you could also put in a warm pair of socks 

stretchy gloves and hand warmers

a pocket rain poncho

tampons (for women)
The ideas could be endless!  They can even use the bag after the contents are gone.
Assemble your choice of items in the bags and throw in a note of encouragement, a blessing, scripture verse, etc.  Seal the bags and stow in your car…next time you see a need…you are ready.

 

This will be my next RAK in memory of Lauren…I hope you join me.