Greetings from Austin St.

Happy Tuesday! This entry is being written through tiredness and fatigue from our very long day today. We left Howe (Mom and Dad’s house) around 8:00 and arrived in Okema, Oklahoma around 11: 30 am. The day was really quite wonderful. Cherri Brown was sort of the Martha Stewart of Okema. One of her passions was flowers. She set as her task to plant flowers and beautify the small Oklahoma town. The church and community welcomed all guests, even the ones from Texas, with loving kindness and abundant grace. The lunch served was delicious and this precious community made sure that each glass stayed filled and that your empty plate was either thrown away or refilled. The service was uplifting with rousing music led by Tony, Cherri’s husband. The sermon was one of hope and a wonderful tribute to the life of Christ as expressed in the life of Cherri Brown. The final portion of the service was a special expression of Cherri’s life as she loved Motown. The slide presentation was accompanied by Motown’s finest; My Girl, Aretha Franklin’s R-E-S-P-E-C-T and Diana Ross and the Supremes “I Need Love.” We exited the service to KC and the Sunshine Band and “Celebrate Good Times.” Cherri was an extraordinary woman of faith who wanted others to be filled with the Spirit of God and get to heaven, for her community work to continue and for all of us to spend our lives loving others as Christ has loved us. I ask you to pray for Tony as he begins a new chapter in his life without his beloved Cherri. He too is a man of extraordinary faith. But even a man of faith can have a broken heart and grieve at the loss of the love of his life.

Let us take to heart Cherri’s final wishes and love more, make things more beautiful and embrace the Spirit of Christ and join her and others in heaven some day. Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis