James Mock Journeys On

Alicia: I will never forget the morning of Friday, January 5. We were still dealing with the fallout from the broken water heater as well as from an incident in December when my wallet was stolen (the thief then wrote over $2,000 in checks from our account and we had to deal with the collection agencies for months, file a police report, sign affidavits of fraud, etc.). Then, early in the morning, we received a call from my mother. My dear Uncle James (husband to Maria Mock and beloved father of seven children) had just passed away that morning from a suddent massive heart attack. I couldn't believe it. Almost immediately I think I went into action mode ... it still seemed so unbelievable. After coordinating details on notifying friend and family, we headed out for Demopolis, a small town about 2 1/2 hours west of us. There are only a few moments that are clear from that weekend ... sharing grief and love with all the family and friends that gathered, helping to organize the service, comforting loved ones, crying at the viewing, and then the funeral. The clearest moment was at the service the morning of the funeral. I felt so filled with James' love and spirit. I know he gave me strength to speak and welcome everyone and to make it through the day. I felt so at peace. It was a lovely service. We will miss you so very much James and will strive to champion lofty virtues in everything we do. I am saddened a little as I write this, but not just because I miss his presence, his humour, his kind words and his peaceful ways, but because we cannot yet journey with him. He has gone ahead. I love you, James. Thank you. Thank you.


One of James' parting gifts ... he gathered so many family and friends together, many of whom had not gathered in a very long time. We gathered in unity and love.

(I will post more pictures later as well as copies of the articles about his life and contributions to the local community.)

Water heater breaks!

Alicia: So, we returned from the New Year's celebration to find that the water heater in our apartment had broken and wet half the apartment-significantly. We hurried to get furniture and belongings our of the way and, then, spent the next two weeks trying to get management to come clean up the water and to look at the damage. We lived in a wind tunnel for a few days as three blowers and one huge dehumidifer (you can see the imprint in one of the pictures ... we had so much condensation on the windows and it smelled) ran throughout the day and night. The carpet was soaked clean through to the pad and it spread throughout the dining room, spare room closet, half the spare room, the entire hallway, into the entranceway of the master bedroom, and a little into the living room. The only non-wet room was the office. Everywhere else was slosh, slosh. On top of it, when the carpet clearning company came back to clean the carpet and tack it back down, they put in this chemical to reduce the chance of mold and mildew growth, but neglected to tell us that we needed to be out of the apartment while they did this. So, upon walking out of my office and breathing in the fumes, I went into an asthma attack and we rushed out of the apartment. Don't worry .. I recovered and we ended up going to a hotel for the night to let the fumes settle. Not fun.

Celebrating the calendar New Year in Huntsville

Alicia: For the New Year's weekend, we went up to Huntsville to celebrate with family and friends. We were also fortunate to have Brian's mother, Linda, visiting from Colorado. Take note of the man in the gray and, later, red, sweater. That is my dear uncle, James Mock. He will play a pivotal role in another post soon after this one.

Trip to Ohio

So, in mid December (2006), we went to Ohio to visit Brian's Dad, Bill, and stepmom, Lou. We had a lovely time meeting friends and other family (Brian's half brother, Steve, his wife, and their two kids) and getting the tour of Vandalia and Dayton. It was quite a nostalgic time for Brian as he used to live there when he was a young lad... well, in middle school and the first couple of years in high school.
So ... here's some pictures ...

So .. yes we need to update our blog

Alicia: Good afternoon all! Yes, we have been remiss in updating our blog, but so much has happened since October, it's hard to know where to start. I think, for now, given the constraints on my time, what will follow will be primarily a collage of photos that will tell the story of the last several months. I may provide some narrative, but largely these next several entries will constitute a picture diary of the goings-on. We will start with a trip to Ohio, but prior to that, major events included: a fun trip to Huntsville for Thanksgiving which ended, unfortunately, with food poisoning, but then followed shortly with (for me) a week long visit in Nashville to help visit my newphew, Jameh. Then, Brian and I successfully finished our semesters at school, he at Auburn and me at UNT. Unfortunately, I then promptly got sick with a bad sinus infection ... probably from the demands of my schedule, but I later recovered in mid-December.
So, thank you all for your patience and let's begin.