Thomas Garland & Mildred Julia Moise, & Tom's Pebbles

I don't know much about Tom's family. I know nothing about his paternal grandparents and very little about his mother's parents. What I do know is they lived for a long time in West U (in Houston) and he loved to go and visit them from San Antonio. They had a wonderful small, old house that needed a lot of work. The house was sold after Tom's grandmother died and a new McMansion built. We would drive down his grandparent's street sometimes and Tom would so regret he was unable to fix up the house. He knew that if he had been able to keep that property it would have been an amazing investment both financially and emotionally.

Tom's grandfather, Thomas Garland Moise (1896-1989) was a talented artist. He drew pictures of many presidents, one of which is on the top of this page. His work is in the Library of Congress. I have many of his original works in our house. Tom's grandmother, Mildred Julia Moise (1901-1991)played piano and was a very positive woman. I think Tom got the best from both of them.

Thomas Garland & Mildred Julia Moise are buried at Forest Park Cemetery on Westheimer in Houston. Tom and I visited from time to time and I have visited since Tom died. All is well. Actually all is better now...some of Tom's pebbles are resting peacefully with his grandparents. I can't wait to learn more about them when I see Tom again.

Wine tasting for Tom

On June 29, 2009 Lonnie and Sue Cox held a wine tasting in Tom's honor. They won the wine tasting at the fund raiser and were so gracious to conduct it in Tom's honor. It was hard not to drink his share of the nectar.(I refrained and drove home).

When Tom and I used to go to events like this together it was always interesting. Usually I wanted to go and stay, and laugh, and socialize and Tom wanted to make an appearance, be nice, bring flowers, and leave.

Maybe he rubbed off on me. Now all I want to do is to make an appearance, be nice, bring flowers, and leave. This night was special though and I remain so grateful for the friends and family that stay in touch and still love Tom so very much. I'm so afraid people will forget.

July 17, 1999

On July 17, 1999 Tom and I got married. Ten years ago. It was a beautiful day and the best decision I ever made. But it had a few bumps. The largest being I completely choked as I started walking down the aisle and decided I did not want to get married. I was the stereotypical crying bride but it was primarily because I had decided I was not getting married. My dad had a death grip on my arm forcing me down the aisle, making sure than in fact, I was getting married.

Since it was a small church Tom saw this and had a bad feeling there was about to be a runaway bride. Everyone else thought I was crying from joy. Once I made it to the front and my dad firmly "gave" me to Tom I calmed down and figured I would go through the service and deal with the problem later. Seconds later there was no more problem. Tom was my husband. What a cool thing. Needless to say, except when he metaphorically left his underwear on the floor, I never regretted marrying Tom. I wish I had taken his name.

During the service a huge storm blew in and all electricity was lost. The reception was at my folk's house and so for quite a while we just sat in their family room, in the dusk, and drank. When the power came on we ate and drank more. We had our wedding dance to Elvis.

Tom and I had challenges, but to borrow a phrase I heard recently, by the end we were fused into one. Or another way I think of it is we were like a big, thick, powerful rope that might be on a ship. Even if you work real hard and rip the strands apart, pulling the rope in two, each half keeps the same wiggly shape it had before. Sadly, divided, it is just half as strong.

Tom loved picking blueberries

Several years ago Tom and I went to pick blueberries. It was a wet year so the berries were really big and round and sweet. It was super hot out and we had a great time. We picked so many berries we had them for two years! On the farm we ate so many we were practically buzzing.

Those were some of our best days. Outside, really warm, sweating, and laughing. Ok in truth that was my perfect day. Tom much preferred outside, cool, sunny, and laughing. (Once again proving his better sense over mine). We had some of those cool, dry days as well but not as many as Tom would have liked in Texas.

At any rate heading out to Moorehead Blueberry Farm on a hot day late in June with Ron, Stacy, and RJ Walker brought back so many memories. I relive them every morning with my blueberries in the breakfast.

Tom's smile, and laugh, and sweat were still out there. Now some of his pebbles are as well.