Bailey

Mom had a cat named Bailey. She's 9 years old and spayed and she's a great lap cat. I cannot take her because my cats are indoor only and are declawed and she is indoor/outdoor with claws so they couldn't play together. Jason is allergic so he's out of the running as well. I was wondering if any of you are interested in taking her. I will try to get pics of her up online for you to see her but she's really sweet and very smart. I just thought I'd off her up to mom's friends before we place her with strangers. Thanks guys and let me know!

lindseyckirk@gmail.com

~Lk

Memorial Day Weekend

Sorry to neglect you, bloggers. :) I went out of town towards the end of the week to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend with some college girlfriends. This past weekend was hard for me because for the past 3 years, me and mom had a standing date to drive to Mexico Beach and spend this weekend together. So this was the first year in three years that we didn't do that. :( So that was rough, but my girlfriends and I had fun in Panama City. Note: Don't go to Panama City on Memorial Day Weekend. We might as well have been there during high school Spring Break! There was way too many people there and at night everyone gets in their car and cruises the strip! Puh-lease! It took us over an hour just to drive down the beach a few miles to get to dinner every night. Sheesh! But other than that, we had fun.

I hope everyone else had a great Memorial Day Weekend. :) Take care...

~Lk

May 20th

Well, another week has gone by. It's official... I miss mom like crazy! But I really do take comfort in knowing that anything I want to tell her, she already knows! :) So I'll talk to her every once in awhile because let's face it.....old habits die hard. I can't quit gossiping with my mom cold turkey!! That's going to take time and effort - seriously!

Things are getting back to normal. I still have a mound of thank you cards to write so if you're wondering where your card is, its coming I promise!

Oh! I have raiased $8,500 in mom's memory so far for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk. If you are just hearing about my fund raising efforts, scroll down a few posts and you will see the information as well as all the background on this walk. It's pretty neat!

As always, thanks for checking in!

~Lindsey

Mom's House

Hey everyone. Not much to report over here so I thought I'd tell you about a new project me and my husband may be undertaking.

Dad offered to let us buy their house and just take over the mortgage where it is. If we do it, we would actually overpay and use the extra money to give Jason his cut and fix up the house. PROJECT!! So I'm kind of excited to move in and make the house our own. Plus, mom always wanted hardwood floors and wanted to spruce the place up so this would be a great tribute to her as well. We're talking new kitchen, bathrooms, yard and paint allover the place! I've got a really long list but I think it will be fun and I need something to occupy my mind these days :)

So that's whats going on.

I also wanted to share with everyone that I have had several people come to me and tell me that mom's passing has inspired to them to either learn more about faith or go to church more or even pick up the Bible and reread some stuff. Mom has touched so many people. I think this is what she was put on this world to do and now she has done it. I'm so proud of her. I hope I can make a difference like that someday :)

Woops!

I went to Carmichael's Funeral Home to pick up the death certificates today and they had mom listed as a widow! Woops. Dad got a kick out of that! But its easily fixable. I just have to go back in about two days to pick up the new copies.

Thanks to everyone who called, texted, emailed or messaged me yesterday. It's great knowing that all these people were thinking and/or praying for me and my family. I kept waiting for that "breakdown" that I have been anticipating since all of this and I think it was yesterday. And you know what? It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Mother's Day

Well, I guess I will kind of keep a journal of dealing with mom's passing here. It's been very therapeutic for me in processing everything that has happened up to now, so I guess I will keep going!

Today was really hard. Not only because it's Mother's Day but this is the longest I have ever gone without talking to mom and it's becoming more real now. I miss her soo much.

I found myself almost reaching for the phone the other day because I wanted to call her and tell her how much money I had raised for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Today's sermon was about God's comfort and I almost felt like it was specifically for me. His comfort IS with me but I miss mom so much today, it's hard to feel that comfort right now. Stu and I visited her grave and that was good for me. We don't have her marker out there yet, it is being made but should be out there in about a month.

I wanted to share this special story with everyone. I think you all will get a kick out of it. I had decided that I wanted a tattoo of mom's name. So I planned it out, drew how I wanted it to be and for weeks had decided I was getting a tattoo. I had even goen to the parlor and picked out the artist who was going to do it. Last Friday, I got in the car with Stu and drove to the tattoo salon. As soon as I stepped foot out of the car, this feeling rushed over me of uncertainty, it was like I changed my mind but I hadn't. I knew it was mom trying to convince me not to do it! It was the weirdest thing! So I got right back in the car and didn't get it. I don't think I ever will. Kritta didn't like that idea one bit! And I could feel that;) It was kinda neat. I hope she is there like that for me when I'm about to make a big mistake with raising my kids! That's when I will really need that 2nd opinion!

Check Donations for Light The Night

I just found out that you can also make donations via check and not just online. If you feel so inclined, you may make your checks out to LLS - that's short for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society -- or you can write it all out or whatever. But I know many of you would rather do it by check so we do have that option. You can send them to my address:

Lindsey Kirk
504 Georgia Way
Woodstock, GA 30188

I have changed my goal from $1,000 to $5,000 due to the wonderful response! Thanks everyone :)

~Lindsey

Donations for Mom!!!

Hey everyone. My donations page is up and running and so is the team page. Please help me raise money for this wonderful cause. Mom benefitted from advances in the treatment for lymphoma through that chemo she was getting directly into her spine - the Depocyte. That treatment kept her alive for another 5 months and really improved her quality of life!

Many of you have asked how you can help or asked if there is anything that you can do. I feel that this is it! This is the best way to fight the terrible disease that mom struggled with.

If you are interested in joining Team Kritta, go to this website...

http://teams.lightthenight.org/TeamKritta

To make a donation, go here....

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnAtlant/2069_kirklin82

Thank you so much!!!

~Lindsey

Light the Night

Hey everyone! Glad you're still checking in!! I wanted to let everyone know about this awesome oppurtunity to honor mom and to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at the same time! Every year they have a walk to raise money for research for these and other blood cancers (mom had non-hodgkin's large b-cell lymphoma) and I have started a team!! It isn't on the website just yet but it soon will be and you can go to their website and join Team Kritta :) -- that was a nickname my friends and I called her often and she would laugh when we called her that so I thought she'd love it. The walk is on Saturday October 13th so there is plenty of time to raise money for this awesome cause and maybe we can help save others from the struggles mom faced with this terrible disease. I think mom would be proud! I will keep you updated on more information as it becomes available. I'm not sure how long it will take to get Team Kritta up on the website, but they say it must first be approved by the society before it can become an option for you to click on. So wait a few days and join mom's team!!!

Here is the Light the Night website...

http://www.lightthenight.org/site/c.itJZJ7MOIwE/b.730933/k.CDE1/Georgia.htm

If you want to go ahead and start helping me raise $1000 in mom's memory you can do it here...

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnAtlant/2069_kirklin82

May 3rd

Some of you have asked for me to post the speech I made at mom's service so here you go.....

My mother was the most wonderful person I have ever met. I pray each day that God helps me to be the mother that she was to me. If I can have with my daughters what I had with my mom, I will be blessed. She taught me about caring for other people and how to put others first. She would gladly go naked through the streets of Marietta when I was growing up so that I could have the latest Abercrombie sweater! She taught me that the Lord comes first, then your marriage and then your kids. She taught me that if dad says no, then go ask mom because she will probably say yes! She cried whenever she heard me sing. She went to see me in the Sprayberry musical 4 nights in a row and wished there were more shows when it was over. She loved to watch my brother play baseball and go to my dads games when he coached. She loved laying out by Robbie’s pool and playing with Pat’s cats. She loved Jason’s dog and my cats and her cat Bailey. She loved calling up her mother everyday when bored at work and then calling me right after. She loved laughing at her daddy’s jokes and hearing Barbara tell her not to encourage Robbie when he got on a roll. She loved seeing her nieces in their dance recitals and concerts and sports events. She loved Mexican food and cooking for her family. She loved to sing and she loved music. She taught me how to harmonize with whatever is playing on the radio. She loved the beach. She loved going up to Pat and Kip’s and watching the Dawgs play every Saturday in the fall. She loved planning my wedding. And above all, she loved Marshall’s. Let me say that again. She loved Marshall’s!

All of these things you probably knew if you knew her well. But the one thing you knew whether you knew mom well or not - in just meeting her, you knew that she loved the Lord and put all of her faith in Him. She was a walking testimony of someone who has been through so much and instead of turning on God and giving up, her trials only brought her closer in her walk with Him. There is a song I played for mom not too long before she became ill last summer and we listened to it and cried together because before mom was even sick, she had already been through so much in her life. The song is called, “He Ain’t the Leavin’ Kind” by Rascal Flatts and it is about how the Lord will never turn his back on you, even if you turn your back on Him. He is always there and won’t leave your side even when you think he has. And that’s how I feel about mom. I myself was angry for awhile and couldn’t understand why God would do this to my mother, who didn’t deserve this struggle. But God stayed with me and helped me through it and now I know that this was his plan and his plan is perfect. I know that Mom was put here to teach many people how to truly live and die in Christ. She has served him well and is free from the pain and suffering that God laid upon her in her last months with us.

I know that Mom felt that if her pain and suffering brought one person closer to the Lord than it was worth it. And I must tell you that this has strengthened my faith. Has it strengthened yours?

I want to leave you with some wisdom my mother left me. I will never forget this. We were driving somewhere one day and she said, “Lindsey, if I ever teach you anything in life…If you only get one thing from me let it be this…..Always make your credit card payments on time.” And guess what - I’ve got a great credit score. Thanks Mom.

Pictures

Please send me any pictures you have of mom. I am updating this slideshow as often as I get new ones. Thanks!

Directions

Here are better directions to get to the funeral home and church:

From 75...

Take exit 260 toward Smyrna (0.3 mi)

Turn right at Windy Hill Rd SE (2.8 mi)

Turn left at Atlanta Rd SE (1.0 mi)

Turn right at Church St SE (0.2 mi)

Turn left at King St SE (167 f)

End at 2950 King St SE, Smyrna, Georgia 30080

Carmichael's is on the corner of Church and King.


From 285W....

Take the Paces Ferry Exit - exit 18

Turn right at Paces Ferry Rd SE (1.1 mi)

Turn right at Atlanta Rd SE (1.6 mi) **You will pass Smyrna Pres on your left before Concord Rd**

Turn left at Concord Rd SE (0.2 mi)

Turn right at King St SE (433 ft)

End at 2950 King St SE, Smyrna, Georgia 30080

Carmichael's is on the corner of Church and King


Follow the directions to Carmichael's from 285W to get to the church also...

285W to exit 18, turn right onto Paces Ferry. Then right onto Atlanta Road and the church is down on the left.

Church Address:

3130 Atlanta Rd SE, Smyrna, Georgia 30080