Hi Ya'll,
  Just thought I'd let ya'll know how Kinley is doing. I am very happy to say that she IS STILL ALIVE. (Thank you Jesus) The Dr.'s gave her only 2-3 days to live and that was 10 days ago. (That gave the devil a black eye) She was home for the weekend and attended church yesterday. She will be back in the hospital this week to start radiation, which will last for six weeks. Thank you to all of you who took the time to pray for Kinley. Thank you also so much to those of you who have left me comments, private messages and personal e-mails. You will never know how much these have meant to me. I am to the point right now that I will be starting counseling, so please continue to keep us in your prayers.
   My girls and I did make a trip to Louisiana in Sept. for two weeks to help out my family and friends with "hurricane clean up." My son's (Elgin Paul) house got flooded, while Celeste's house had structural damage. My Dad and my sister Natalie had roof damage. While down there, my girls and I met with a representative of the Mother's Against Drunk Drivers. Every year MADD puts up 8 billboards against drunk driving and I signed a release form giving them my permission to use Elgin's picture on one of their billboards stating that he was killed by a drunk driver and they will also use our "story" and his burnt up truck pictures in a Nation Wide Campaign. I am so pleased that "our families Nightmare" will be used to possibly help someone think twice before they drink and drive.
  For Hurricane Gustav and Ike we had 27 family members and friends evacuate Louisiana and come and stay at our house. We had the most wonderful time. I was so desperately lonesome and was going to go down to Louisiana, but my van broke. (That made 5 times in 4 months, I've been driving my pastor's car while waiting to get my van fixed.) So, the Lord sent them all up here to visit with me. While my children were here, they helped me to unpack their Daddy's suitcase. It had been sitting in the corner of our bedroom since he was killed. I had tried to unpack it one time and couldn't do it. We went through their Daddy's clothes and our son, Elgin Paul brought most of them home with him. I shared Elgin's ties with each of the children and grandchildren.

We sat in my bed and looked at picture albums, laughing and crying at old pictures of them and their Daddy. It was such a blessing to have my children here to help me deal with these things. Elgin Paul and my “little” brother Nathan sorted through a bunch of containers of Elgin’s tools and stuff for me, getting rid of what was junk and keeping what was still good. They also did some repairs around my house for me, which was a total blessing to me and my girls. We try and do the best we can, but sometimes we just need some “muscles.”

   The following is something that I got from a dear friend of mine and I want to share it with you. It’s called If Tomorrow Never Comes.

    If I knew it would be the last time that I'd see you fall asleep, I would tuck you in more tightly and pray the Lord, your soul to keep. If I knew it would be the last time that I see you walk out the door, I would give you a hug and kiss and call you back for one more. If I knew it would be the last time I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise, I would videotape each action and word, so I could play them back day after day. If I knew it would be the last time, I would spare an extra minute or two to stop and say "I love you," instead of assuming you would know I do. If I knew it would be the last time I would be there to share your day, Well I'm sure you'll have so many more, so I can let just this one slip away. For surely there's always tomorrow to make up for an oversight, and we always get a second chance to make everything right. There will always be another day to say "I love you," and certainly there's another chance to say our "Anything I can do's?" But just in case I might be wrong, and today is all I get, I'd like to say how much I love you and I hope we never forget, tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike. And today may be the last chance you get to hold your loved one tight. So if you're waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today? For if tomorrow never comes, you'll surely regret the day that you didn't take that extra time for a smile, a hug, or a kiss, and you were too busy to grant someone, what turned out to be their one last wish. So hold your loved ones close today, whisper in their ear, tell them how much you love them and that you'll always hold them dear. Take time to say "I'm sorry," "please forgive me," "thank you," or "it's okay." And if tomorrow never comes, you'll have no regrets about today.

   When I told Elgin, “I love you,” and hung up the phone that day, I wish I would of known that it would have been my last time I'd say it to him.  I wish that I would of know that it would of been the last time I would of heard his voice. I wish I would of know that when Elgin left to go to Louisiana to work, that it would have been the last time I would of held him in my arms and that it would have been the last time I would of kissed him. I wish I would of known, I would of kissed him longer and I would of held on to him and not let him leave me. I wish I would of know. I wish I would of known.