Dinner at Becky's House

September 22, 2019

On Sunday morning we attended church with Mary and Danielle at the Rolling Hills Community Church. It was a remarkably friendly church and we enjoyed the worship service and the Pastor's message of encouragement. We had had a very busy day yesterday with the graveside service, lunch in Woodland, supper at Trinity Baptist Church, and the Memorial Service after that.

After the church service we went over to Becky's house to visit there.

When we got there we were delighted to meet Mary Walsh who was there with Becky. About Mary, we would have to say that we loved her before we met her! We had so many stories about how she had helped Becky and Wanda and that she was always ready to be a help and comfort!

It was certainly Rodney's privilege to have a photo with these two. It was such a pleasure to hear of their friendship and they way they had loved Wanda.

We were looking forward to grilling steaks this afternoon, so Danny, Wanda, Dennis, Kim and Kenny had come over. Dennis, Kim and Kenny were clowning around in the back yard swing. Kenny couldn't quite reach Dennis with the rabbit ears.

This picture of Mary Kilpatrick and Mary Walsh is one I treasure because the loving care and presence of these two with Wanda in her final hours on this earth is one of the most beautiful stories of this time.

Monday, September 16 was a day of struggle for Wanda, so it is so meaningful that she had Mary and Mary by her side, praying and singing with her. As she approached her final moments, they were singing hymns to her and comforting her. Mary said that when she took her final breath, she had a little smile on her face, and Mary recognized that this was when Jesus came to take her.

Other family members were present to comfort and share with Wanda. Becky was present with her the whole time after she came home from the hospital. I understand that Julie came and played the guitar and they had a worship service with her; not sure that is the exact story, but I heard about a worship service. Bob told us about bringing her favorite food from IHOP and bringing her ice cream, a treat they surmise must be a part of her heavenly reward. I look forward to hearing more about the stories, but we treasure the knowledge that she was surrounded by loving care in those final days.

Danny and Dennis brought the grill, charcoal, and supplies and started grilling steaks for our family celebration.

Kim and Wanda working on the table and the side dishes. Fawn, Brenda and Becky were also engaged.

The steaks are done, the other dishes finished, and we gather as a family for dinner. To call the roll: Becky Wheeler, Mary Walsh, Kim Neal, Fawn and Kenny Charette, Danny Hobson, Dennis Hobson, Wanda Hobson, Brenda Nave. It was great to get together. The castle in the picture on the wall is a castle that Becky and Charlie visited when they were stationed in Germany.

With this group, you've got to expect a little clowning around. But I might have expected it the other way! Wanda gives the rabbit ears to son Dennis!

It was great fun and celebration to be together.

A great fun time before we sat down to eat. The steaks were great, from the expert hand of Danny, and the side dishes too!

We were celebrating Dennis' birthday, so it was time to light the candle.

Mom and Dad deliver the cake and lead in singing Happy Birthday! to Dennis.

Delivering the cake to Dennis.

Dennis blows out the candles with ease, but Kenny is standing by with his big water pistol in case he has difficulty extinguishing the flames.

A great time for the celebration of family.

It was a treasured opportunity for us to get together and have fellowship with Danny's family. Roll call again: On left Mom Wanda with daughter Fawn Charette and her son Kenny. Then Rodney beside Danny. Then Dennis and Kim, and Becky Wheeler on right. Thanks to Becky for welcoming us into her home for this celebration. This home has been the location of a lot of love in these recent years.

So we say goodbye for now to Fawn and Kenny, Dennis and Kim. It has been great to have the opportunity of fellowship and we pray God's rich blessings upon you and all the family.

After this celebration, we were privileged to have a wonderful time of visiting with Bob and his wife Vanessa whom we were delighted to meet for the first time. We sat for a time with them at Becky's and learned a lot about her home in the Philippines. There were a lot of interesting stories about her family's occupation in the growing of sugarcane. They told us that they had bought a water buffalo, so they are the owners of a working water buffalo in the sugar cane fields. Vanessa's father is engaged in sugarcane agriculture. But it was so much fun to visit with them that we decided to extend the visit and went to a barbeque restaurant in the north of Vacaville and spent some more time talking and sharing about our lives. It was a great blessing. Bob has spent some time with Suzanne and Bobby Lassiter when they went out to California, so we even talked about the possibilities of getting the three family groups together.

After visiting with Bob and Vanessa, we made a late visit with Mary and John, Danielle and Dasha. We have been very blessed by these visits, and though there is sadness in this temporary goodbye to Wanda, we can envision her rejoicing with Charles and rejoicing about getting her family together to love on each other.

September 23-24

On Monday morning we checked out of our motel and made another visit with Becky at her house. We have very much enjoyed all the fellowship we had at Becky's and enjoyed this extended visit with her. In the early afternoon we said our goodbyes and made the drive to Sacramento and our motel there for the night. Throughout our trip, we have made a lot of use of the GPS on Brenda's phone. It guided us all around Vacaville, and this afternoon it helped guide us through a complicated path to our motel.

Early in the morning of the 24th we headed out to the Sacramento Airport and made our flight back to Atlanta. Mark picked us up at the Atlanta airport and brought us home.