Friday, May 11, 2012

Thank You Lord For Loving Mothers, May 11, 2012


The sweetest sounds to mortals given
Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven.
~William Goldsmith Brown

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you on this weekend of Mother's Day, especially my mother Maida Shepard of Anacortes, Washington. Cindy and I are celebrating this special weekend in Northern California with our son Nathan and his wife Chenda, the mother of our grandchildren Preslea and Logan.

Today is the birthday of Cindy Saunders Shepard of Newcastle, Oklahoma, the wife of my cousin Dane Shepard. This Cindy is, of course, one of the THREE Cindy Shepards in our family, the others being the spouse of my brother Gary, and my own wife.

Dane: Cindy continues to be a band, bowling and camp mom along with church activities and helping out her mother and handicapped sister. I don't know what I would do without her. She is ready for a real getaway vacation as we haven't had one in three years. She keeps a watchful eye on weather reports and tracks storms for us. Thankfully, we've had no problems to report so far. I'm reminded of a verse from a hymn in honor of loving mothers:   

Thank you, Lord, for loving mothers, 
godly hearts and hands to serve; 
priced above the precious rubies, 
having virtues all observe.  

Children rise and call them blessed; 
husbands give them praises due.  
Who can tell of their adornment, 
inward beauty, pure and true?

The first picture I am including shows Cindy with her family --  her two children Nathan and Kaylan, and her husband Dane -- in a picture that was taken just a few months ago. Happy Birthday and Happy Mother's Day to Cindy!

This coming Monday, May 14, is the birthday of three different descen- dants of Will and Bura Davis Shepard: their daughter Thelma Shepard Boyd, and two of their Ggrandchildren: Christopher Shepard, and Courtney Boyd.

Thelma, who lives today in Gallup, New Mexico is the last surviving child of Will and Bura Shepard, and the last surviving member of the family of 9 who migrated to San Diego back in 1940. I am especially grateful for Thelma who is my best source of first hand information on our Shepard family and its history. She and Terry are the parents of Darren Boyd and Kim Boyd Clark.

One of the grandchildren of Terry and Thelma Boyd is Courtney Boyd whose birthday -- just like her grandmother -- is this coming Monday. Courtney, who turns 22, lives in the San Diego suburb of Santee, California with her family. The second picture shows a blond and smiling Courtney on the left next to her sister Kori, her brother Brandyn, and her dad Darren.

Christopher Shepard, who turns 28 on Monday, is the son of Darrell and Mary Medina Shepard and lives in Kirkland, Washington. The third picture, taken in March, shows Chris with his girlfriend Jessica.

Best wishes to all these birthday folks and to all the mom's among us on Mother's Day!
- - -
Steve

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