Our Larry

This sweet poem was written and recited at Larry’s funeral.  We knew that ‘Aunt’ Ruthie wrote poem’s and were scurring around the Thursday after he died trying to make a list of things about him so that Ruthie could write a poem for us.  Little did we know, she had already prepared the perfect poem!  It was such a blessing!  In our frazzled states we tried to complete a list about Larry, but God knew we couldn’t and gave the words to Ruthie!!

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* Our Larry *

Written by ‘Aunt’ Ruthie Harris

 If you knew our Larry,

Then surely you would know,

He left memories of laughter

Everywhere he’d go.

 

If you knew our Larry,

Then surely you still hear,

The stories from his childhood

And the tales he loved to share.

 

If you knew our Larry,

Then surely you re-call,

How much he loved his family.

They made him walk so tall!

 

If you knew our Larry,

Then surely you would find,

He was a sweet, compassionate man,

He was loving, he was kind.

 

If you knew our Larry,

Then you knew Papa Bear.

A gentle man whose grandkids

Always found a lap to share.

 

If you knew our Larry,

Then surely you would know,

He gave his life to Jesus,

Many years ago.

 

And if you knew our Larry,

Then surely there are no fears,

For he’s safely home in Heaven

With no more pain, and no more tears.

-I got this pic from Kim’s Blog, I thought it was pretty funny!-

The Obituary

Larry Glenn Miller
Larry Glenn Miller, 59, of Bartlett, TN was called to spend eternity with his Lord and Savior on Tuesday, January 6, 2009. This loving and humble man possessed a remarkable optimistic attitude, quick wit and resolute faith. Larry was a member of Mullins Station Baptist Church for 18 years and a Shipping Supervisor at Sonoco Phoenix for 35 years. Larry was a cherished husband, father, son, brother, grandfather and uncle but is possibly best known as an avid, enthusiastic storyteller. Larry is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 33 years, Pam Miller, and three adoring children, Eddie Miller and his wife Dena, of Marion, AR, Misty Parks and her husband Chad of Olive Branch, MS, and Jason Miller and his wife Keren of Bartlett, TN. He is also survived by his mother, Lavonne Miller of Millington, TN; three brothers, Gerald Miller, Ricky Miller and Steve Miller, all of Millington, TN; three sisters, Carol Risner of Memphis, TN, Cathey Warner of Bartlett, TN, and Judy Throneberry of Millington, TN; six grandchildren, Grey Miller, Terra Bryan, Ashleigh Parks, Maci Dean Parks, CJ Parks, and Ebin Miller; father in law, Don Grinder; sister in law, Donette Wallace and her husband Rob, and their children, Adam and Nicole, as well as innumerable extended family and friends. We will never forget the humor he brought to every situation and his huge heart full of love. The family appreciates your prayers and respectfully requests that memorials be sent to the Grinder Family Volunteer Scholarship Fund at the Wings Cancer Foundation, 1100 Humphreys Blvd., Memphis, TN 38119. Visitation will be from 5 until 8 Friday, January 9, with Services at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, January 10, both at Memphis Funeral Home Germantown Parkway Chapel, with burial following at Memory Hill Gardens. We love you Papa Bear.

That Night

Tuesday 1-6-2009

That night was probably the longest night of our life.  Both our minds were racing and we kept running the entire day threw our heads.  It literly felt like time had stood still.  We knew it was night-time, the sun was down, but it didn’t seem like any time had passed at all.

We cried off and on that entire night.  We just weren’t able to beleive that Larry was gone.  How in the world could we get threw this?!?!  Why did this happen now?!

That night I had a dream.  In the dream we were all in the hospital very upset that Larry had passed.  A doctor rushed in and told us that there was a new shot that could bring people back to life and Larry had been approved for the injection.  They gave him the shot and he came back to life.  All I could see was his face, it was about 8 inches away from mine.  I could see his eyes, that crystal clear blue and that big ole smile on his face.  Then, I woke up for the morning.

The Day Time Stopped for The Miller’s

For another version of how things are going. please see www.mistyladean.wordpress.com  My sister in law has blogged a lot as well and I’m sure she will blog about some of my stupid-ness that has made us laugh until we cry!

Let me warn you, my spelling and grammer seem to be the first thing that has left me during this trying time .. course I was never an English scholar!  So just ignore the choppiness if it’s there.

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Tuesday, 1-6-2009

I know this is not the last time I will feel such loss and sadness.  However, it is most definetly the first time that grief has rocked my world so unexpectedly that we still feel as if we are in a dream, and a horrible one at that.

Tuesday morning 1-6-09 began for me at 3am.  It was a tad strange, Ebin woke up – which is normal- but he didn’t need anything.  He wasn’t hungry, he didn’t need a new diaper, nothing, he just wanted to hang out.  He smiled and played with me for 30 minutes or so and then went back to sleep.  So I went back off to sleep.  Jason and I were snuggling especially good when my 6am alarm went off.  He told me I better get up or I’d be late – I was still holding out for the ‘ice storm’ we might be getting.

605 Jason’s phone rings – we don’t recognize the number, so we don’t answer it.  Then my phone rings, a different number same area code.  I said to Jason that I would just answer it and see what was going on.  It was the Police Department asking for Jason.  She didn’t identify herself as Police, she just kept asking for Jason.  Then Jason’s phone rang and another unidentified police officer was on the line.  In stereo Jason and I heard his mother screaming and crying.  We that Larry had collasped and to come pick up his mother and go to the hospital.  We later learned that he had been sick since the night before.  He was experiencing flu-like symptoms.  He did not want to go to the hospital and by the time Ms. Pam convinced him that am it was too late.  He collasped while she was giving him his pj’s.  She called 911 and gave him cpr until they arrived.

That morning at 607 God blessed me with clarity and calmness like I’d never before experience.  Within seconds I got Jason and I dressed, got the baby in his car seat, fixed his bottle and we were out the door.  Thankfully no ‘ice storm’ came, so we were able to drive carefully.  We arrived at Ms. Pam and Larry’s and met the woman police officer.  We lock the house up and head to the hospital.  On the car ride there, Ms. Pam runs the scenario over and over in her head, what did we miss?!   Ebin makes no sound at all, and by 6 he is normally up for the morning.

We arrive at the hospital and are immediatly escorted to the Chapel.  It was like watching a movie.  I’m sorry to say, but the chaplain was creepy, he didn’t really say much and I knew that was it.  They don’t take just anyone to ‘wait in the chapel where it’s more private.’

5 minutes go by, but it seems like 45 and the ER Dr, Head Nurse, and Police Officer are ushured in.  I was on the floor with the baby, and the Dr. seemed so tall.  His white coat seemed to be 6 feet long.  He had glasses and buggy eyes, brown balding hair, he was skinny.  He explains to Ms. Pam that they worked on him for an hour -which is SOP- after an hour he continued to be non-responsive so they pronounced him.  It was more than likely a heart attack. 

That’s when time stopped.

I will never forget the look on her face, the confusion in her voice.  A what?  A heart attack?  He had no history of heart problems!  What do you mean??  My sweet husband looked like he had been hit by a mack truck, and his brother wasn’t much better.  Misty -my SIL- hadn’t yet arrived.

From then until now I haven’t really stopped moving.  I’ve been so busy with calls, hugs, cries, tending to all my in-laws, pacing, more calls, text … I’ve been so busy.

I called Misty right before we got the news.  I tried my best to prepare her by telling her we were in the chapel.  I hoped she would understand that this wasn’t a good sign, but I know a part of me hoped that he wasn’t dead.

Once we got the news we stayed together for awhile.  We waited on Misty to arrive.  She came in the room her bright, cheery self, she was optimistic everything was ok.  All we did was shake our heads and the shock began for her too.

After that we began to make the calls.  I’ve made these calls once before, when Jason’s Grandmommie passed away.  As hard as it was in 2005 it was 1 million times harder to call that day.  I called Jason’s Uncle who was stunned.  I called Jason’s Pop who was uncontrolably confused.  I called my mom.  I knew I couldn’t deal with Ebin in this moment.  My job was to tend to Jason, his mom, sister and brother.

The entire time Ebin never really made a sound.  He woke up, but he was so good (and ya’ll, you read this blog, he’s vocal!)  What a blessing.  One of just the many many many blessings I will never be able to record them all.

After more calls were made we decided it was time to see him.  I’m not going to say much about that.  As I reflect, I realize it was about 2 hours before we saw him, so death begins to settle in.

My mother came up to the hospital to get the baby.  The SECOND she put the baby in the car he began to cry.  CRAZY how he stayed quiet until then.

After some time had passed Ms. Pam was ready to come home.  We were greeted with countless loving friends, more dishes than I can count, and so many open arms. 

Then the night came.

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I’ll blog more later .. check www.mistyladean.wordpress.com

The Day Before

I heard this song for the first time the day before my Father-in-Law passed away.  There is no doubt in my mind that God gave this song to me to minister to me and to our family. 

It’s been amazing how God has taken care of us in the weeks leading up to this.  His plan is always perfect and it will all make sense one day.

Please continue to pray for all of our family, extended family, and friends.  Larry’s passing is the worst shock of our lives.  He was 59.

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“Our Hope Endures” Natalie Grant

You would think only so much can go wrong
Calamity only strikes once
And you assume this one has suffered her/his share
Life will be kinder from here
Oh, but sometimes the sun stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky rains night after night
When will it clear?

But our Hope endures the worst of conditions
It’s more than our optimism
Let the earth quake
Our Hope is unchanged

How do we comprehend peace within pain?
Or joy at a good man’s wake?
Walk a mile with the woman whose body is racked
With illness, oh how can she laugh?
Oh, ’cause sometimes the sun stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky rains night after night
When will it clear?

But our Hope endures the worst of conditions
It’s more than our optimism
Let the earth quake
Our Hope is unchanged

Emmanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient
We never walk alone
And this is our hope

But our Hope endures the worst of conditions
It’s more than our optimism
Let the earth quake
Our Hope is unchanged

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Larry with our dog Roxie – they had a super tight bond

No words can express the sadness

My father in law just died.  Please pray for our family.