The Growing Caldwell Family

A week after visiting Pa Paw, he passed away. We are thankful we had that last visit with him and he is with Ma Maw again, but it was hard to go back for a funeral.  He would have been pleased to see so many come to his beloved church, Mooringsport Baptist, to celebrate and remember him and the great life he lived.  After the services and lunch, the family went back to his house. It felt odd to be there without him, but I think he and Ma Maw were smiling down seeing us together, remembering, laughing, and enjoying each other.  They loved this land that they spent their life caring for and it felt good to be outside and take it in. Glad that we have family to enjoy the memories with.   

After months of work, Sarah Graves completed her Silver Award! In November they started gathering donations of food and money to provide meals to families who need them.  The food and recipes for making 4 meals were packed into boxes. Anna Grace moved away, but made a trip back to Atlanta to finish the project. They packed meal boxes for 30 families and the recipes can be used again. That evening, she worked at a cookie booth to sell some more cookies! Her cookie costume made another appearance!  

  There were plans for a large birthday party to celebrate PaPaw's 100th birthday. His health took a turn but we still made the trip to be able to visit him. Our first stop was lunch with Grancy and Gramma. We tried to visit Pa Paw the day we arrived but he couldn't wake up. We visited with his caregivers, but couldn't talk to him. We headed to visit with Uncle Les and Aunt Barbara. We had a nice time with them and were able to wish Barbara happy birthday! We went back to visit on Sunday and he was awake. He couldn't really speak, but he made eye contact and we felt he understood everything happening around him.  We spent time showing him pictures and remembering stories of good times. It was sweet and sad, but I am so glad we had the chance to be with him and realize that he was not able to live and enjoy his life.  We gave him his birthday gift, a blanket with pictures from good times together.  Arden gave him a special commendation from the Speaker of the House to wi

Sarah Graves was one of the first to give her chapel talk, a rite of passage for eighth graders at St. Benedict's.  She did a fantastic job putting together her speech, making it heartfelt, and using great public speaking skills. We are very proud of her! She kept it a secret from us. This girl loves to surprise us! Lovie and Pops were there to celebrate her; Charlie was very happy to miss class to support her; and Aaron and I got to be proud parents.  The eighth grade class.  When you see chapel talks happening and your child is a kindergartner, it feels so far away; then, like everything in life, in the blink of an eye nine years have passed it is time to move on.   

We went home to Baton Rouge for Maw Maw's funeral and took the opportunity to see family. Our hearts were heavy, but I think it was good to be around smiles and so much love.  The kids spent time playing with their cousins Wyatt, Kenniann, Cline, and Macy. It was also our first time to play with Addison and Jack! We had dinner with Raylee, Haislee, and Charlee. Enjoyed seeing GG The funeral was in the small town of Norwood where Maw Maw grew up. It was rainy and a little cool. The service was all outdoor, so kept it pretty short.  Charlie and Sarah Graves played "Amazing Grace" on clarinet and flute as a way to honor Maw Maw. She really enjoyed going with them to music lessons and loved to hear them play.  Olivia started everyone off singing and we all joined in to sing the hymn.  The spray of flowers for the coffin was so pretty and I think she had a chuckle that the coffin was purchased at Costco. We went to the Presbyterian church for a reception and the room was packe