having it good (or at least better)

I have lost track of time, but I believe it was two years ago that I was at The Leadership Summit when Richard Curtis was being interviewed. He showed a video clip he filmed while in India. It has always stuck with me and I finally found a copy of it that I can share. We find ourselves living quite a few blocks off Easy Street when we consider Pam's/our struggles these days, but we know we are still blessed. Be thankful.

Looks

Pam ventures out to ballgames. Sometimes she makes it to the store. She made it to church two weeks in a row. She smiles and greets everyone she sees. She is trying.

She made it to Miami and back last week, happy she was able to honor her grandma and relieved that her suffering was over.

She is grateful to all who encouraged her last week. You are so appreciated.

Pam toils with medical issues each day. Recent days have brought concerns and worries, but you wouldn't know it, she hides it well. She presses on.

Looks...can be deceiving.

Mary Hunter obituary

Mary Kay Williams Morris Potter Hunter

HUNTER, MARY KAY WILLIAMS MORRIS POTTER, 97 years and 3 months, passed away September 5, 2009, leaving her family and friends with an abundance of memories and love. Mary Kay, born in Bicknell, Indiana on June 5, 1912, came to Florida to live with her beloved sister Nellie and to pursue her education. She graduated in 1930 from Homestead High School and in 1935 from Florida State College for Women (now Florida State University), where she was a member of the 13th graduating class of this university. Prior to her retirement, she was an elementary school teacher for 30 years in Homestead, Little River and Greynolds Park. She enjoyed playing bridge with her many friends and was a sports fan, diplomatically dividing her loyalty between the FSU Seminoles and the Florida Gators in order to humor all members of her immediate family. Noted for her generosity and desire to serve her community, she volunteered as a Pink Lady at North Shore Hospital, and was a member of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary organization of women educators dedicated to educational excellence, altruism and world understanding, the Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O. International Sisterhood), a philanthropic organization where women celebrate the advancement of women, as well as an active member of Miami Shores Presbyterian Church and the Miami Shores Country Club. She was also a member and past president of the Miami Shores Friendly Villagers, Miami Shores Woman's Club and Miami Shores Garden Club. An avid traveler, she recounted to children, grandchildren and great grandchildren her many exciting experiences including visiting many national parks in the United States as well as honeymooning in Havana, Cuba, seeing volcanoes in Hawaii, cruising through fjords and seeing the northern lights in Norway with her beloved sister Mabel, ferrying from Sweden to Denmark, visiting castles in England and spending Oktoberfest in Germany. Mary was preceded in death by her parents Edward Williams and Marget Davidson, sisters Nellie and Marguerite, brothers James, Charles Edward and Paul, and husbands William Emory Morris, Sr. and C. L. Potter. She is survived by sister Mabel Fisk, sons William Emory Morris, Jr. (Flora Sue) and Charles Edward Morris (Fulvia), grandchildren Pamela Kay Lingenfelter (Rick), William Emory Morris, III, Charles Edward Morris, Jr. (Laurie) and Melissa Christina Morris Howard (Doug), great grandchildren Josh and Erin, and niece Mary Margaret Caldwell. Special thanks for the loving care given her by her wonderful caregivers Romela, Willie and Beebee. She will be remembered and missed, not only by her family, but many who knew her and shared her life. Funeral Services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, September 9th (today) at Stanfill Funeral Home followed by graveside services at Southern Memorial Park, North Miami.

Stanfill Funeral Home 10545 S Dixie (305)667-2518 Family Owned/Operated www.stanfillfh.com To visit this Guest Book Online, go to www.MiamiHerald.com/obituaries.

Published in The Miami Herald on September 9, 2009

Until Heaven

Goodbye Grandma...Nonnie...Mary

6/5/1912 - 9/5/2009

Thanks for prayers for Pam as she will travel to Miami this week for her Grandma's funeral.

Prayers for her sons Emory and Edward as they say goodbye to their mother.

Doings

Pam is doing fair these days. Good days. Bad days. She buckled down and started the anti-hormone drug. Verdict is still out on how that will go. She is recovering nicely from the radiation and most recently the removal of her Power Port. She was not sad to see that go. Fatigue is constant and her nose drips blood* a lot, she would testify that these things are somehow getting worse. Basically, she doesn't feel bad all the time, but she doesn't feel all that great ever either (that sentence ended oddly).

Yesterday we received the news that her 97 year old grandma, Mary, has really taken a turn for the worse. Not doing well. She spent the first 91 years of her life in very good health (she kind of skated through two rounds of breast cancer in 1962/1982), nothing really ever slowed her down. But the past several years have been really hard. So if you are reading this right now, I ask you to pray for her for comfort and peace. Thanks.





These pictures of Pam and the kids with Nonnie are from Melissa's wedding in Coral Gables on 12/30/06.

Here is Pam, Josh and Erin with her on our last visit to Miami in June of 2008. And if you can't tell by the photo, we took her (technically she thinks she took us) to Red Lobster to eat on this day, it has always been one of her favorites. We realize there are better seafood restaurants in Miami (or are there?) but that is one place she loves.

* Pam has been told to take the tamoxifan every other day from now on. The bleeding could indicate thrombocytonpenia...one of the lovely side effects advertised with this drug. She has a week to see if it slows down or stops. The only time it is good to have thrombocytonpenia is when you are playing scrabble. That word is worth about 3,000 points!