Under His Wings

Nate and his Grandma Cone on their birthday 12/12/08 9 years ago today I gave birth to a big bundle of joy...an 11 pound 1 ounce bundle of joy as a matter of fact.   He was due on Christmas Eve, so when we were researching names for our 3rd child we came across names meaning "gift of God."  Nathaniel was one of those names.  When time got closer for Nate's arrival, our name choice became more meaningful.  My ob/gyn did his surgeries on Thursdays.   The closest Thursday to my due date that he could do my c-section was on my Mother in Law's birthday, December 12.   She was thrilled even in her recent last days. She reminded us how much it meant for her to have her birthday gift!!! Nate has made the last 9 years very interesting.  I love his imagination.   His latest story idea is "Mr. Pizza and the Sausage of Doom!"  I love it!  He came up with a series of stories called "Zippy the Zebr...

It's with a heavy heart that I write this entry.  I'm fired up, so if this is long please bear with me.  It was brought to my attention on Wednesday night that there was a TV show featuring Anencephaly, the condition my precious daughter and my nephew were diagnosed with and died from.  It was a post on one of my Facebook support groups that tipped me to the show and warned that the program (Harry's Law, NBC) was showing Anencephaly in a distorted and downright disrespectful light. I didn't catch the beginning of the show, but I did see the last 20 minutes or so.  For a little background information, Anencephaly is a "neural tube defect," which in simple terms means that the baby's brain and skull does not form.  Spina Bifida is when the other end of the neural tube does not develop. Gabrielle's neonatologist said her particular case was one of the worst he had seen.  He gave her an hour to live.  God blessed us with 14 hours with her. The jist...

My mom called me with some very sad news this morning.  One of our former neighbors died yesterday morning.   Bob and his family were some of our first neighbors when we moved to our house in 1972.   I remember the great sound of Bob playing his organ.  I could hear it when I was outside playing or on the way over to my grandparents' house.   He was the organist for our local hockey team for many years.  I spent many hours playing with his 2 sons, Kevin and Greg. After he moved across town, he became our  County Legistlator.  He had a few unsucessful bids for Congress back in the 1990's.  He was a greatly respected business owner too.  My grandfather worked for him in his semi-retirement years. His parents, who both lived into their 90's, were my granparents' best friends.  They had been neighbors for about 50 years.   My grandparents moved into their house in 1954, when my mom was 8.  ...

As I referenced to last night, one of my fondest Christmas time memories (other than Christmas day itself)  is participating in church Christmas programs.   My absolutely, positively favorite production that we did was Two Nights before Christmas by Lynne and Phil Brower in 1984.   I was nearly 15 years old. It was directed by our Assistant Pastor, Allen Carpenter and his wife Emily (who later died of cancer)*. It was their last Christmas with our church.  A few months later, they moved  a few towns away.  In 1990, they arrived at a church in Cortland NY, where I went to college.  I was able to attend the church.  I participated in a Christmas cantata there called An Old Fashioned Christmas .  That's another of my favorite musical memories. Two Nights Before Christmas is a story of toys who come to life to share the Christmas story with the toy store owner, Mr. Mc Duff. ...

I can't believe another year is almost over.   2011 has been a great year for the most part.  Well, except for my major hernia surgery in April and a few family health problems. December is a big month in the Cone household.   My son Nate will turn 9 in less than 2 weeks.  It's going to be a bittersweet day.   Nate shared his birthday with his Grandma Cone who died about 2 1/2 months ago. I'm hoping to get home to see my parents and brothers on Christmas Eve.  I still have a lot of shopping to get done before then. Nate and Anna are going to be in a Christmas musical on Christmas day.  They both are in the play and have solos.  How cool.  It brings back memories of my days of acting and singing in Christmas programs in both school and church. The end of December is quite emotional for me.   On December 29, my sweet daughter Gabrielle was born and 14 hours later we lost her.   I'm looking forward to a gr...