Barbara Curtis's Blog, page 26
May 1, 2013
A New Life to celebrate in a time of loss....
At 3:01 this morning on this first day of May in the year of Our Lord 2013, Jazz and Nathan welcomed Corban Creed Rodgers into our family. Our Father is so good to us, when we are still reeling from the losses of Barbara and Hattie... to have orchestrated new lives to be embroidered into the tapestry of our family is such a blessing. Truly Our Father knows and understands how to meet our moments.....in the reality of our lives....In His grip,
Papa Tripp
April 11, 2013
Sweet Hattie.....gone to glory...
Yesterday at 4pm...the wonderful and heroic wife of my eldest son, Joshua Gabriel....Hattie Lyn died from cancer.... She was an amazing woman who
became one my late wife Barbara's best friends.....They started out
as enemies, because "Mom" didn't think
she was good enough for her son... through time and grace they both came
to love each other...Reality is: we have so much to give and take from
each other that we can always find true peace of mind....if the other
mind and heart are reciprocal...... In the end our families were united
in Hattie's death.....proving once again that God works through the
process of time, circumstances, and relationships....
Amazing to think that while Barbara was welcoming Hattie to Heaven's shore....I am here holding and helping my son as he begins navigating the difficult seas of grief and sorrow.
In His grip,
Papa Tripp
March 31, 2013
Five months and a day later....Jonny turns 21 and it's Easter....
Today was difficult in the mix of another milestone in firsts without Mama Bear and the celebrations of life and family. Jonny, (our oldest w/ Down Syndrome) turned 21 today as we also rejoiced in the reality of what Our Savior, Jesus Christ achieved on the Cross for us 2000 years ago. In Deuteronomy, we are are reminded to, "Remember the days of old." The lens through which I now see is multifaceted, much like a prism....seeing not just our personal history...but also our eternal one that transcends and shows us God's history of how He has dealt with us and provided us the gift of salvation.
Jonny came into our lives 21 years ago broken...He spent much of his first year and a half in the ICU almost dying a number of times. Through that time, God allowed Barbara and me the privilege to be broken in a different way as well. Through Jonny's suffering and the other children and families we encountered during that time we were changed forever....broken....yet made whole....
On our way home this evening from our family celebration of the day's events at Samantha's, Jonny wanted to stop by Barbara's grave side to "talk to his Mommy." He told her how much he missed her....that he turned 21.....that he was sorry for the times when he didn't obey or work hard enough (he has a very tender heart to conviction)...that Baby River, (his newest niece) was beautiful.... that he was sad she was in heaven and we weren't married anymore...but he was happy that she was with Jesus and God for Easter. We cried together there overlooking the Shenandoah River that flows continuously below Barbara's burial spot....reminding me once again of the flow of our lives in light of eternity...
"I have set before you life....now choose life" Deuteronomy 30:19
In His grip,
Papa Tripp
March 30, 2013
Was it a morning like this?
concluded with one of our favorite quotes from William Blake, "Joy and
woe are woven fine....A clothing for the soul divine."
Easter for us
has always been a time of joy in knowing what our God has done for us
after remembering and realizing the price He paid for us. Easter was
always one of Barbara's favorite celebrations....we were both forgiven
much.....So this year is especially poignant as I carry the joy of hope
in my heart and the coat of sorrow on my shoulders...I
questioned...but now marvel at His weaving in the tapestry of our
lives...His History with all of us since the beginning has been about
our salvation and reconciling ourselves to each other and to Him. He is risen....He is risen indeed!
In His grip,
Papa Tripp
March 29, 2013
Via Dolorosa
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5
In His grip,
Papa Tripp
March 22, 2013
On becoming real........
This picture was taken by Barbara two days after we were
married in January 1983...Don't exactly look happy do I? That's because I had
realized in those last two days that now I had to become "real"... and I was scared
to death. What haunted me were the piercing words a wise young woman had written me when I was younger after reading something I had written. She wrote, "Read your words...bleed the
nerves...why don't you leave your words and live them," (would have been a
fitting epitaph if I had died at the time.) I had no foundation to stand on and
I was afraid that Barbara was realizing that. That day I made my commitment and
thus began the process of us both becoming "real" through the way God uses marriage to
reconcile a man and a woman.
Many of you know our story of rocky beginnings and the
storms we weathered as well as the golden days we enjoyed in the ensuing years,
as both of us became more real. It was a long process with both of us giving
and taking ground where God led and a lot of brokenness...Barbara and I came
together with so much baggage...but because we did not give up for the sake of
the family, God made up the difference.
C.S. Lewis wrote after the death of his wife, Joy....about what love
over a period of time becomes, "For this is one of the miracles of love; it
gives -- to both, but perhaps especially to the woman -- a power of seeing
through its own enchantments and yet not being disenchanted." C.S. Lewis
I have been reading, "A Grief Observed" C.S. Lewis, which I
must admit has been in our library for years, but neither Barbara or I ever
read it...every time we picked it up, (we used to read books to each other) we
could not relate. Now I understand what he was talking about...and it is not
really something anyone can really begin to comprehend until they are in the
midst of this grief and loss themselves. Many people have asked me, "Why do you think
this happened?" or my favorite, "What was God thinking?" In answer to that, I came to a realization this week..... God gave us our best time together in the last hour we had
before she had her stroke....Knowing Barbara and how she'd become more
"real" in those thirty plus years we'd been together...she was
perfect in that hour...She had become "real." It was her time to go topside... I'm so grateful for that special hour and our thirty plus years together....but so sad that
she won't be finishing the journey with me....She's already in the Winner's
Circle, and I'm barely making it around the track... but at least I'm not
waiting for her in Monte Rio...(Stick with each other...it's worth it.)
In His grip,
Papa Tripp
"The most precious gift that marriage gave me
was the constant impact of something very close and intimate, yet all
the time unmistakably other, resistant - in a word, real."
― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
March 13, 2013
Distance between loss and hope...
The cord of three strands is not easily broken. Even though
Barbara and I were spliced together with Our Father as the third strand....I
have still struggled to hold it together. The last few weeks have been very
difficult with more and more of the reality of life settling in on me. Our Life's
vision and trajectory has changed. It is no longer "Our life."
Everything that happened together...is in the past... When I met Barbara, she
was a single Mom, with two daughters....she's gone and I'm now a single Dad with
12 children and 15 grandchildren....(kind of ironic don't you think for some
one who used to identify with Peter Pan and Tom Sawyer?)
In being faithful to Barbara's calling and telling you the truth,
I can't minimize the scope of grief and loss that continues in my life. Zig
Ziglar says, "If there were no love, there would be no grief." We have the
opportunity to open our hearts to embrace this for our fellow human beings
around us. Think what Our Father felt as He allowed us to kill His Son on the
Cross. Each of us when we grieve the
death of someone is grieving the loss of someone unique. That means that the
way we respond to grief and loss will be unique as well. My prayer as each
of us go forward in life....give grace to your fellow pilgrims.... Our God put us here together to learn from each other and to
bear each other's burdens.... and Lady Barbara knew that better than anyone...
(though I used to chide her about being a "Lone Ranger"sometimes.)
I know that everything that happened together with Barbara
and myself is in the past....It's hard to say and hard to write......but the
distance between her loss and hope for our future is marked there. I sent her
this picture when we were about to adopt our third special needs
son,Justin (our 12th child)....with the caption, "Time to take another leap of faith
Sweetheart!" I know she is saying
this to me now...
In His grip,
Papa Tripp
February 22, 2013
Happy Mommy....
And this is a very fulfilled Mommy Sophia Rose and an "Oh so ready for Life" Baby River!Always,
Papa Tripp
February 20, 2013
Circle of Life....
Tonight....a new soul came forth into this world....Her name is River Liliana Head...and we rejoice with her mother and father, Josh and Sophia Rose....Barbara's 15th grandchild and from Nathan and Jasmine soon to follow # 16. In the Circle of Life we get to rejoice with the celebration of a new life and the promise she brings while still crossing our sea of grief and mourning. I know Barbara is smiling and that Our Father's Hand lies on this dear little girl He has brought to us. They had kept her name a secret and only Barbara knew it. Sophia told me tonight that after they had decided on the name...they had been talking to me after a prenatal visit where they had listened to River through ultra sound, that I had said, "Doesn't her heart beat sound like the River of Life?" They took that as confirmation. Our Father is so good to us.....Count your blessings tonight...for we are surely counting ours!
This song is for you River Liliana......May you bring the River of Life to all you meet....and may Our Father guide your course for all your days!
Love always,
Papa Tripp
February 15, 2013
This speaks for itself...
13102490D
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 400
Offered February 5, 2013 Celebrating the life of Barbara Curtis.
Patron--Black
WHEREAS, Barbara Curtis, a loving mother and well-known author in Loudoun County, died on October 30, 2012; and
WHEREAS, originally from California, Barbara Curtis cultivated her own life experiences into a passion for motherhood, education, and Christianity; and
WHEREAS, a devout Christian, Barbara Curtis sought to help others by sharing her insights on the importance of faith in family and culture; and
WHEREAS, Barbara Curtis trained to become a Montessori teacher, a type of teacher devoted to supporting a child's natural psychological development; and
WHEREAS, later using her Montessori training to homeschool her 12 children, Barbara Curtis became an inspiration to her friends and neighbors; she began a long and prolific writing career to pass along her parenting knowledge; and
WHEREAS, building an impressive catalog of nine books and over 900 articles in 70 different publications, Barbara Curtis earned a reputation as an expert on parenting and Christian living; and
WHEREAS, many followers of her blog, Mommy Life, credit Barbara Curtis with helping them to"grow up" and to find purpose in their lives; and
WHEREAS, Barbara Curtis raised four children with Down syndrome, three of whom were adopted,and became a fierce advocate for children with special needs; and
WHEREAS, Barbara Curtis is survived and fondly remembered by her best friend and husband, Tripp; her 12 children, in whom she took great pride, and their families; and many other family members, friends and fans; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of a devoted mother, a respected author, and an inspirational member of the Loudoun County community, Barbara Curtis; and, be it RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Barbara Curtis as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for her memory.
I humbly thank you for giving my wife this honor...
Sincerely,
Papa Tripp
Barbara Curtis's Blog
- Barbara Curtis's profile
- 3 followers
