family trip

[trapperhoney]

we will be leaving this afternoon for our family cabin, will be gone until Tuesday.  please keep us in your prayers for travel and that this will be restful for us.  the stress level has been high for some time -- just keep getting bombarded by different things.  thanks!

[Alan]

I will be praying for you.

[John81]

May the Lord prepare the way before you that you may travel in safety and the Lord grant you peace and refreshing.

[Rosie]

will pray

[trapperhoney]

thank you, all.  we had a very safe trip.

[Rosie]

amen glad to hear this

[Ukulelemike]

Prayed. have a good time!

[trapperhoney]

thank you all for your prayers.  we did have a nice time, but it wasn't as restful for me as I would have liked.  Unfortunately there is construction going on across the road from our cabin, and it had drug up a tragedy from the past.  Across the road from our cabin was a little house.  This house belonged to a very sweet Christian man.  He was quite elderly when my grandparents bought the place and my family kind of adopted him.  He had no family left, except a step-daughter who lived out of state.  My father took me over to see him every time we vacationed out there.  I distinctly remember one visit, probably the last one, where we went over for dinner and I had corn on the cob -- my favorite summer food.  I also remember, very distinctly, the day my grandparents came back from the cabin and came over to tell us that he was dead.  His property was just left, and slowly the house began to fall down and the property grow over.  He kept that place immaculate.  I have a treasured photo of me sitting on his steps with him.  I am very young.  Well, when we pulled into our driveway on Friday evening, the hillside had been completely cleared off.  I almost burst into tears.  I knew that the guy who had the property next to this had bought it, but he bought it almost twenty years ago and had just let it sit.  It was very sudden that he's cleared it off.  As we went by on Saturday we could see they have brought in dirt to level off a section, so obviously he plans to built.  It just hurt to suddenly see it all cleared off and that dear little house completely gone.  The gentleman is buried on that property, and I was at first afraid they were building over it, but now I don't think so, I saw a little trail off to the side and I believe I had found his marker up that trail several years ago.  Of course, trees had grown over it.  We plan on going back for Christmas and I want to go over to the guy who is building and ask permission to visit the grave.  Please keep that in prayer.

What is most disturbing is that this has brought him back to mind so clearly and the circumstances surrounding his death.  It took a little while for my grandmother to say things, but he was found dead in his house of a gunshot.  It was officially ruled suicide, but my grandparents knew that he was a witness in a land dispute that was coming up to trial soon.  This area is remote, wooded, very backcountry-ish.  The man was black in a predominately white county.  He could not read or write.  My grandparents had their suspicions, and that transferred itself to me.  My husband and I went to the courthouse to look into some property we are interested in (looking up deeds to check on mineral rights, etc.) and while there I sought out the death records.  I didn't know for sure when he died, I just knew I was young.  I was assuming six years old because that's when most of my memories are really clear.  I found out that I was only 4 1/2 when he died, yet I remember it vividly.  I don't know what else to say, except I have been shaken up for the past several days, so please remember me.

[Salyan]

Oh, dear, what a horrible surprise! I hate it when trees and old places come down too, and this place had all those additional emotional memories for you.  So sorry, TH.

[trapperhoney]

thank you.  at least I have a photo that my grandmother took....

[Salyan]

What was his name?

[trapperhoney]

Moses.  Everyone called him Mose.  I recently learned his last name was Alexander.  On his death certificate it said he worked for C&O Railroad.  Of course, by the time we knew him he was retired.  He was 86 years old when he died.