I got a couple of pics from the Mall of the Americas coming but I have a few minutes to post something. My great uncle, Ken Howd died today. Ken was married to Lonnie Faye and helped her raise 3 children. They were my "country cousins" growing up. We would go up there to see Chuck, Tammy and Larry on weekends. Chuck had "cancer" which I now understand was AML. He fought a valiant battle but ultimately lost. It was devastating to everyone, but without Ken, Lonnie Faye would not have made it. I was young but I remember Chuck had the coolest Atari and got all the games free. He could master most of them within a couple of days. He would take the thermometer outside and set it in the sun because he could not go outside to play unless it was at least 75 degrees. Chuck showed everyone how to look death and misery in the face and love everyone and everything anyway. I believe he got that from Ken. Ken embraced life for others. He would decorate a 20' tall Christmas tree so that the kids "on the mountain" could see it, he put out enough Christmas decorations to cover most of High Rock Mountain too, and he was the first in line to help a neighbor anytime day or night. Ken and Lonnie Fay would go to different casinos and whatever they won was given to charity. What an incredible spirit he had. I can remember going to see them when Ken first started to get ill, he asked me about 100 times in a couple of hours if "I needed anything?". He always sought to serve others before himself. He is in a better place and the suffering has stopped. I pray for all of us who knew and loved him to aspire to love each other and embrace life as Ken did. I also pray for Lonnie Faye to begin to heal herself and her spirit knowing that her family and friends are here to help her.
