Technology Can Be Very Maddening

     Over the past year, several  people have commented on having problems viewing my blog because the background image is so distracting. Others have tried to post a long comment only to have it disappear into cyberspace. Technology can be very maddening sometimes. I've learned to copy into a word doc if I want to be sure what I am writing doesn't "disappear." This past year, with my husband Bob's death, I've been left with what I call "grieving holes" in my life. I can't seem to get back into a pattern and my blog has suffered from it. A recent friend's comment on my blog has awakened me to the original concept of my BEE postings: that during my life, I’ve enjoyed sharing the interesting things that I’ve discovered in my daily studies and travels with my friends. Sometimes this has enriched their lives.

     So, I will be attending RootsTech 2013 in Salt Lake this March to learn more about where technology in Family History is trending and share what I learn on my blog. Also, I've committed to the local Family History Center to volunteer every Saturday morning. Perhaps I can get back into regular posting on my blog about that, too.

Update on my life

About grieving: Although the Holy Ghost is the comforter, I've noticed that my life has been relatively level. I have moments of tears because a song played reminds me of my husband. Or where I see a scene on a television program that reminds me of something that we've done together in the past and now, we won't be doing that anymore. Yet, through all of these tear filled moments, I know that we are eternal companions and linked together forever. I see Bob's influence in my current life in the details. Like when the cashier at my local Fry's market gives me a bouquet of roses, after a prayerful desire to have Bob around. The rose was "our" flower. Since yesterday was Valentine's Day that Fry's cashier inviting me again to take a dozen free roses that were going out of date, was appropriate. My Sweetie remembered me from the other side of the veil and I got a dozen long stemmed roses!

     My daughter has also had a rough streak of grieving this past month. She is taking college courses mostly online and her math class has been difficult for her this timea round. Her dad used to tutor her in math. He was a gifted teacher and as we homeschooled wherever we lived, he became more and more involved. Finally in Guadalajara, he became her math teacher on a regular basis. Always patient, he would explain things to her in a way she could understand them. Now, she has to struggle doing it alone.

The above photos were taken on Kwajalein where we lived from 1991-5 showing Bob giving Brianna a music lesson and working on a science project.

     I had planned on keeping my grieving process on this blog, but when it came right down to it, I somehow just couldn't do it. I did, however, keep a journal, where I wrote extensively. Recently, I've just made contact with Bob's son from his first marriage (Ann died at a very young age, leaving him with two small boys) and shared with him the many photos we put together for a slide show of his life for his memorial service. I'd put that slide show here, if I could figure out technically how to do it. Hmmm, a future goal is in the making.

About Remembering Our Parents: I was reminded recently about how much I looked like my father, Joseph Marvin Eckles. Apparently as I grow older, the family facial characteristics seem more remarkable. So I posted these photos in Facebook as a comparison. But quite frankly they are the ONLY ones that show the resemblance:

 

 

 

My father above is age 27 and this is me at age 23

 

     My mother, Vivian Ruthe Utterback,  was born on February 1, 1912 and so this month to celebrate her 101st birthday ...she died in 15 Dec 1985, I have been posting quite a few photos of her on Facebook also. I've posted photos from just a few months old on up through her life. My next blog will be about her with some of those photos.