July 2011, Nashville, Tennessee, 9:46 p.m., D.S.T.~

Dear All~

Maria Johnson-Wong writing.  Hope this finds you well (not to mention, trying to keep cool; next week we're supposed to get hotter, with temperatures climbing into the upper nineties to the low one hundreds).  Just make sure to drink plenty of fluids to keep yourself hydrated, take frequent breaks, and wear light, comfortable clothing.  Also make sure you are near any air conditioning, and try to stay in during the hottest part of the day.

There are plenty of ways to keep cool.  You just have to play it smart and use your head.  Oh, and another thing: please check on the elderly or homebound and please, please, by all means, do NOT leave any pets or children in the car unattended.  Too many children or animals have died because people neglected to take them out of the hot car while they did their errands.  It is a common occurance, especially here in the South (or anywhere where people are feeling the heat).

I am enjoying married life.  Wyatt is a wonderful husband; he treats me like a queen.  He is so good with his children (Crystal, Lee Pin, and Ashton, who are 14, 11, and 8, and they all treat me as if I'd been their mother all their lives).  He has accepted my daughter, Jacquie (23) and dotes on my grandsons, Sergio Opri and Carlos Santos, who are 3 and 1 1/2 years old ... and the apples of  my eye!).  I am indeed blessed, blessed than I ever thought I could be!

Wyatt also makes sure that Opri's grave is tended to.  Every week, he goes to the cemetary and mows the grass around the grave and puts in fresh flowers and changes the water in the pot.  He also trims and gets rid of any weeds and cleans the grave marker, to make sure it is looking its best.  Opri would want his grave to look good.  I know he's watching from Heaven and I know he misses us.  Well, the feeling's mutual.  He'd be in his later teens now if he lived, but God saw to take him home at the age of 14.   

It isn't easy, but maybe it was for the best.  Opri really suffered with his health when he was alive.  He had two kidney transplants (one at age five, and another at age 11; he was waiting for his third one and was on the national transplant list, but the kidney never materialized; as a result Opri died from a combination of kidney and heart/respiratory failure).  He was a sweet boy who had a lot of talent in that sick, diseased little body of his!  He was a gifted young musician and clogger.

Now he dances on the Big Grand Ole Opry Stage in the sky, entertaining all the legends who went before him and he is happy, healthy, and healed.  He is probably very happy up There in Heaven; I know I would be!

He finally gets to live like a normal child, something he was denied while he was on earth.

I still talk to Louie nearly every day.  She loves to keep me informed as to what's going on in the lives of her family, her friends, and the neighbors.  She is the resident gossip queen but never does it in a mean or malicious way.  She just knows a lot of people and likes to be informed as to what's going on.

Bill is just as sweet and as goofy as ever.  He makes me laugh whenever he tries to sing.  You can hear him all over.  LOL  It sounds like he's trying to hurt himself.  LOL  He's got the sweetest disposition and would do anything for me or the other neighbors (as would Louie and their family).  I just love the Sanduskys to pieces; they are awesome neighbors who embody the love of Christ in thought, word, and action!

And their kids (and grandkids) are all so adorable; they are really growing up!  Hard to believe that Johnathon, their son, is getting married in less than three months and hard to believe that Ronee' is in college!  I remember them when they were so tiny; now look: they're all grown up and doing well in life!  And now other members of their brood are giving them grandchildren to spoil!  Seems that the Sandusky family is only getting bigger (if that is even possible, which it is!) ....

Last week, we had some excitement: no, not with the Sanduskys (though they can be counted to cause excitement when one least expects them to ... LOL), but with the Obrymba's across the street.  Pascal Obrymba, the father, had a heart attack; he had to be rushed to the hospital by ambulance in the middle of the night.  He is going to be okay, but he faces a long recovery; the heart attack really tried to knock the stuffing out of him!  It's only by a miracle that he even survived!  We have been praying hard for Pascal, his wife, Binda, and their children!

Well, I'm babysitting little Sergio and his brother and they are calling me.  Time to get two sleepy little boys to bed; it's way too late for them to be up!  Have to get a story ready to read to them, tuck them in, and give them lots of extra hugs and kisses prior to tucking them in; they deserve them as they were both very good for me, their Grandmama, and their BoPo (what they call their granddaddy).  Will write in here again soon; until later, this is Maria Johnson-Wong saying so long and God bless!

~Maria.  :)