Five

This may be short but I wanted to hit the highlights of today before I fall asleep in my chair and drop my computer.

D and I got to the funeral home later than we wanted too because he had problems with the powerpoint and then we got caught in traffic so we got there 30 minutes before the funeral was to start. At 30 minutes before the starting time, the church was already filled to capacity with people sitting in the classrooms and standing where they could find a place. Once again we were able to see the impact of how Mom lived her life on the people who came to pay their respect. The service was wonderful and honored a woman who lived a Christian life every day of her life. The congregational singing was beautiful and I can't wait to hear it again (we taped the service). For those of you who don't know my Mom, she had a beautiful voice and loved to sing. We sang as a family as much as possible. The weather was beautiful with a cool brisk wind blowing. Many people went to the cemetery with the family where we sang some more and then enjoyed some time visiting with those who were there. A meal was prepared and almost 100 people were there to eat. The meal was incredible and no one went home hungry. After the meal, we went to my Grandmother's house and visited with family some more and now we are home. I am going to close now. I am really very tired but I wanted to talk a little about today.
One thing I forgot about last night was something that shows what kind of teacher and coach my little sister is. Her softball team (who had played in a tournament that day) decided that they were going to give up their dinner so that they could get back into town early enough to go to the viewing. It was an experience to see all those girls lined up in their uniforms and knowing that it was because of my sister and the job she does with her students. Oh and another thing, my other sister had friends that made the 3+ hour trip to be there last night and then drive back home. Incredible right?
Several people have ask me if I am going to keep up the blog. For right now I am.

Some of you have ask if I would put the address on here for sending memorials.
Brazos Valley church of Christ
P.O. Box 12288
CS, TX 77842-12288

Day 4 - Thursday

WOW! There are no words to describe the feelings we all shared last night as over three hundred people waited in line (most for over an hour) to offer condolences, love and support to my family last night. The viewing was to be from 6 - 8, D and I got there at 5:00 and people started coming before 6:00. We finally walked out of the building and got in our car at 9:45. For most of the night, the line was out the door. We knew that there would be a lot of people but the actual number was totally amazing. To know that "OUR MOM" had touched so many lives whether it was on her own, through my Dad or through us. I know that my grandmother has to be proud of what a wonderful person her daughter was and I can only imagine how proud her dad is.

Well, that is all for now on the viewing. I have had a case of writers block this week and I see that it is still here. But, I wanted to share some things about my parents love for one another. Just things that I think are special.

Mom & Dad
* Dad always opened the car door for my Mom (he does for us too)
* Mom always took lunch to Dad at school
* Dad told us that he fell in love with Mom the first time he ever saw her
* Mom would do anything to take care of my dad
* They learned to enjoy each others hobbies
* They never argued - the made the decision not to at the beginning of their marriage
* Many people love my parents and have been helped by them in some way or another
* They both love us very much and always let us know that
* They worked well together, they were each others right hand man

Well, that is all I can remember right now. But one more thing, something that we "realized" this week as we decided where to have the viewing and funeral. It is not our current church but it is where my Mom went to church the age of 7 until the age of 48, my grandparents were some of the founding members, my granddad drew up the plans for the building, she was baptized there, my dad was baptized there, we three girls were baptized there, B met her husband there, I met my husband there, B was the last person to get married there before the big remodel and I was the first to get married there after the big remodel. My granddad's funeral was there in 94 and we recorded all the music for the service. Mom's funeral will be there and we will be using the music we recorded for part of her service.

Just thought all that was interesting. Sorry for the all over the place of this post but like I said, I have writers block this week. To find out a little more, go here.

Three

Barbara Ellen (Parsons) Watson
April 27, 1951 - March 1, 2010 Our dear wife and mother, Barbara Ellen Parsons Watson, passed peacefully from her earthly life on Monday, March 1, with her family by her side. The viewing to honor her life will be Thursday, March 4, from 6:00-8:00pm at Cavitt Church of Christ. The funeral service will be Friday, March 5, at 2:00pm at Cavitt Church of Christ, with interment following at Wellborn Cemetery. Barbara was born at the Bryan Hospital on April 27, 1951, to Raymond and Virginia Parsons. She attended public schools in College Station and graduated from A&M Consolidated High School in 1969 where she was active in the marching band and choir. Two weeks after her high school graduation on Friday, June 13, 1969, she married Raymond Allen Watson at All Faiths Chapel on the campus of Texas A&M University, foregoing a vocal scholarship to Sam Houston State University. Ray and Barbara moved to Cypress, Texas, where Ray taught in the Cy-Fair School District. Not long afterwards on October 9, 1970, Tammy Lynne Watson was born, followed by the birth of Rebecca Diane Watson on May 5, 1973. The family of four moved back to College Station where Ray worked in construction. The Watson family was completed on August 27, 1975, with the birth of Rae Anne Watson. Ray returned to teaching in 1979 at A&M Consolidated High School. Barbara and Ray celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on June 13, 2009, with a surprise celebration at Barbara's childhood home hosted by their daughters. Friends and relatives enjoyed this special occasion with the family. A few short weeks later she was diagnosed with ALL – acute lymphoblastic leukemia – and began treatments at MD Anderson. She received a stem cell transplant on October 14. Barbara spent the last 4½ months in MD Anderson until returning to Bryan on Thursday, February 25. Barbara was a sweet, loving, kind and generous woman who enjoyed taking care of the cattle, working with flowers, singing, and taking care of her family. She was content anywhere doing anything as long as her soul mate Ray was by her side. She will be terribly missed by her husband, daughters, and grandchildren. Barbara was preceded in death by her grandmother, Vera Mae "Granny" Parsons, her father Raymond Leroy Parsons, a sister-in-law Kay Parsons, and grandson Raymond Dean St. Clair. Survivors include her husband Raymond Watson of College Station; daughter and son-in-law Tammy and Darrell St. Clair of College Station; daughter and son-in-law Rebecca and Steven Johnson of Fort Worth; daughter Rae Anne Watson of College Station; grandchildren Taylor Johnson and Madison Johnson of Fort Worth; mother Virginia Parsons of College Station; sister and brother-in-law Diane and Terry Peavy of Brady; brother and sister-in-law David and Tommy Parsons of Lubbock; mother-in-law Gladys Watson of Hill Top Lakes; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Barbara loved flowers and was an especially talented floral designer. Memorials may be made to the Brazos Valley Church of Christ Building Fund. The family appreciates the love and support of all of the friends in the community, as well as the tenderness, gentleness, and care of the doctors and nurses at MD Anderson and Christus Dubuis.

Two

Today was busy. We all ran around trying to get things taken care of. Thank goodness there are more than one of us because we can't seem to get our acts together and remember what we were supposed to have in town.

Our New Phantom Canyon

Well, our journey did not end as we had hoped it would and today we started a new journey, going from a family of five to a family of four (original numbers of course). This morning we went and made funeral arrangements, then on to lunch, picked out flowers (this was hard because Mom always did such beautiful work), out to the house to pick out clothes, preachers home to talk about service and then on to Grandmom's house. We have just gotten home and we are very tired. I will put funeral information on here before I close. Once again I cannot adequately express what your support has meant to our family. We are lucky to have such wonderful family and friends.

Funeral Info:
Viewing - Thursday 6 pm - 8 pm
Funeral - Friday 2 pm
Both will be at Cavitt Church of Christ 3200 Cavitt Ave in Bryan.
Callaway Jones funeral home is the funeral home we are using.

Please let me know if there is anything else you need.
You can always e-mail me at tls_giggles@yahoo.com

Day 139

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this. Mom's fight has ended and she has gone to be with her Savior. There will be no more tears or pain for her. She gets to see her loved ones and will get to play with my babies. We appreciate more than you will ever know the prayers that you have prayed for our family. We love you all. I will continue to update the blog as we complete our part of this journey.

All our love,
Our family

Day 138 & 139

Well friends, things are not looking good for Mom. The doctor told Dad that unless there is a big change in the next day or so, we may have a week with her. Please pray for us. We are scared and all other things that you can imagine. I am at a loss for words right now so this will be a short post. We love you all and really appreciate everything that y'all have done.


PS: If you want to leave a comment, click on the comment button and type in your message, then choose anonymous. Made sure to put your name in the comment so we know who it was.