There were nearly 100 grand kids on the Isaacs side of my family. A few died as infants and one died as a teenager in a tragic accident over 30 years ago. In the last 20 years we have lost several more from our generation. As we all grow older the rate of loss will only accelerate. That is the cycle of life.
The Boggs side of the family has been a different story so far. There were 17 of us Boggs grand kids. That is a pretty good size family under normal non-Isaacs circumstances.
As far as I know we have not lost one from our generation...until now.
Two years ago, during the last tent revival we held in Bristol, Virgina, one of my first cousins came to be with us. Mike Kramer along with his wife Polly and Jessica, one of his daughters, visited us under the Blue and White Gospel Tent. It was a great night and we were thrilled to see them.
That night they came to the tent, it had been a few years since we had seen them. It was a special privilege to have them there and to get reacquainted again.
Mike left Ohio for college in Tennessee many years ago, met Polly and pretty much lived and raised their family in Tennessee every since. They have always attended church. Mike and Polly have a beautiful family including two sons in the ministry today.
Last week Mike went in for open heart surgery and had complications after surgery. Sunday afternoon he slipped into eternity with his family gathered around him singing "It is well with my soul "
Regular readers know that because of our travel schedule, we miss a lot of funerals. This time we were not that far away. Nashville and Kingsport are pretty close IF you say it real fast.
So Thursday morning we loaded up in the Green Machine and pointed east. We attended a beautiful memorial service Thursday evening. It was our pleasure to be there and I am glad it worked for us to be able to make it.
Mike was a super guy with an amazing sense of adventure and humor. He was truly one of a kind. Please pray for Polly and their children in the days ahead. This is going to be rough.
We are on our way home now and I am typing this on my phone while driving, shaving, eating watermelon and spitting the seeds in the back seat.
Nah, Kelly Jo is driving.
Please excuse the mistakes and the formatting mess. I will try to fix it later.
Update: We did make it home about 2:35 AM, capping off a great 675 mile day. I am so glad Kelly Jo helped me drive home. I even napped a little while. I could get used to that.
