Category Archives: Family

Cancer comes back

1 Reply

The big C word returned to the Godwin household just a few weeks ago when we learned Billy’s cancer has come back. This time in his throat — on a tonsil.

Strange how that word affects you. It brings a fear you can’t identify or pinpoint. It brings uncertainty for every part of your life. As the partner who’s watching this happen to the love of her life, it’s tough to find ways to relieve his worry, and mine. So, we take care of business — together, and we turn it over to God.

It started with a swollen gland that wouldn’t go back to normal size after a bout with pneumonia. A specialist was consulted who took a sample for biopsy and the results told us his cancer had come back. One of the worst experiences is the time between the diagnosis and the appointment at the cancer center when we heard the details his cancer and options of what we can do.

We’ve been here before. So, we know it can be beat. On the other hand, we’ve been here before so we know the suffering that comes with beating it. But Billy Wayne is strong willed and will find a way to handle the pain, the sickness, the depression and the other things that come along with treatments to kill the cancer.

I’ll be writing about Billy’s journey to health in the coming weeks and months. We covet your prayers and well wishes.

 

Special father

1 Reply

I wrote the following for the Herald Democrat Life section for last Sunday (June 2010):


When I think about Father’s Day, I always remember my own father first. Luckily he was serious about his role in raising my brother and two sisters and me. He spent time with us, shared himself with us and taught us about life and more. His last words to me came as I was leaving his hospital room before he had surgery from which he never recovered. “I’m going to love you all of your life,” he called to me. He was my special knight in shining armor who could fix anything for me.


I know another special father who lives in Van Alstyne. You might think I’m going to write about my husband Billy Wayne here, but although he is a special father, he’s not the subject of this writing.


This special father is younger and has more children — all girls. He always thought he would have a son and teases about it now, because he has four beautiful girls who were born to him and others he’s adopted emotionally.


I’ve been blessed to be close to this family almost from their beginning. When Griff and Kristi Servati came to Van Alstyne, they were two youngsters themselves just starting out. Kristi was a coach and teacher at the high school and Griff was the youth minister at First Baptist. They made a difference in the youth of Van Alstyne almost immediately. My daughter is one they influenced.


I remember her saying she wouldn’t get married until she found someone just like Griff. She eventually found her ‘Griff,’ but that is another story.


Over the next 13 years or so, Griff became a father to Raigan, then Kerrigan, then Jaidan and finally Kailan.


One special thing I remember is a Valentine surprise Griff orchestrated for Kristi. It was nothing elaborate, but he did it all himself. It was a portrait he had made of the girls, I think there were three of them then. He had to fix the girls’ hair for the picture, and although he didn’t do it as well as Kristi would have, he did it for his family.


He says now, he’s happy having just girls. A boy child in their house might upset their balance at this point. As Raigan began to participate in youth league sports, Griff always stepped up to be a coach for softball and then soccer. He didn’t know anything about soccer when he started, other than he wanted his girls to play because it would be good for them. So he set about teaching himself. He has coached Raigan’s team and Kerrigan’s team and will, no doubt, coach Jaidan’s and Kailan’s teams if they decide to play.


All of the things I’ve mentioned are wonderful, but there’s more.


Griff and Kristi have both mentored countless teenagers over the past 13 years. Some of the young men who’ve grown up watching the Servatis have said they know how to be a father by watching Griff.


One young woman who is about to have her first baby told me just the other day that she wouldn’t be the person she is without the Servatis’ influence. They took her into their home for her last few years of high school and she learned by watching them. She said she doesn’t want to think about who she might be now if not for the way she was influenced during those years. Now she knows how she wants to raise her children.


This year the Servatis have opened their home to a foreign-exchange student. JaJa has been a wonderful addition to the family and they will all miss her when she leaves for Thailand this week. So will I.


There is yet one more dimension to Griff’s fathering abilities. He will say he’s not doing anything special. He will say he’s just doing his job, and that’s right. But one of the things that impresses me is his faithfulness to his mission. There is no fanfare, he just does what needs to be done. He will never know how many lives have been changed because of the lifestyle demonstrated to and shared with the teenagers in Van Alstyne. When Raigan was little, she referred to the youngsters in Griff’s youth group as “Daddy’s kids.”


That’s exactly what they are.

Farewell to Allie

Leave a reply

Last week the Godwins said hello to a new grandson when daughter Jamie gave birth. This week the Godwins are saying farewell to an old and very loyal family member. Our dog Allie has reached the point where quality of life is at an all time low so we need  to relieve her discomfort.

 Allie is a black Labrador retriever who entered our home for the first time in 1994 in my sister-in-law Marylyn’s purse. Allie, whose full name is Allie Oop, made us all happy. Of course she was my husband’s and daughter’s dog, but I was the one who rose night after night and made my bed next to Allie’s pen so she could feel like she wasn’t alone (and stop howling). 

She was their dog but she was my companion day by day. I trained her to walk on a leash though, sometimes I wasn’t sure who was walking whom. I trained her to sit but Billy Wayne trained her to shake. She was a smart, smart dog and training her to do things was incredibly easy.

 When she first moved in with us, the plan was to build a pen for her outside but that never got done and she spent all of her life inside. That is probably why she’s survived this 15 years — 105 if I understand the doggie-years calculations.

Allie stood guard over all of us and every baby or child who spent time with us. Her normal sleeping place was at the foot of Jamie’s bed, and when Jamie went to college, Allie continued to sleep in Jamie’s room, until I finally began shutting the door to keep her out. Undeterred, Allie simply figured out how to bump the door just under the doorknob to make it slip the latch and open. It took me a long time to figure out how she was doing that.

 The youngsters of the Servati family of Van Anlstyne, where we live, spent a great deal of time at our house during Allie’s life. Allie was a constant companion to Raigan and Kerrigan (the two oldest of four beautiful girls) from their cradle days. It was common place for me to enter the living room and see Raigan watching television from the floor with the top part of her body lying on Allie, as if the dog was a bean-bag chair, and Allie perfectly content. Whenever any of the girls took a nap, Allie was laying next to them in such a way that no one could get to the children unless they went through the loyal Allie Oop.

 When Billy Wayne was found to have cancer, he began a year of arduous interferon therapy. Although he seldom missed work, he was sick many days and just plain drained most days. Allie knew. She frequently left her nightly post in Jamie’s room to lye on the floor next to Bill. During the days, she sat next to Billy’s chair in quiet vigil over him. She knew.

 Our lives have been enriched by knowing Allie. I share this story today as a celebration of the life of a noble friend whom we will miss greatly. It’s a natural cycle for the generous people who share their lives with “man’s best friend” whose only desire is to please us. They don’t live as long as people, so we must bid emotional farewell to our friends.

On the Internet in a variety of places, one may find the story of the Rainbow Bridge attributed to an anonymous author. I love this story, and hope it’s appreciated here by others. 

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. 

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. 
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. 
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. 

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. 
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. 

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. 

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. 

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together…. 

Author unknown…

Birth of a mom — my daughter

4 Replies


Today, my sweet girl, you joined a new and noble club. It was the birth of a mom.

I watched you suffer the long pains of child birth, the end of which presented the sweet picture of you as a new mother.

You planned for this moment and this time for nine months only to learn there is much you cannot plan nor predict. Welcome to motherhood with the birth of a mom.

Today you learned a new love. I saw it when you got your first glimpse of little Langston. Now, you’re beginning to realize how much you can love another person. This, my Himeeta, is only the beginning. Your love will grow exponentially day by day, year by year.

You’re going to experience the joys of watching your little son grow, only to wish at every stage that he will stay just as he is. Do you remember me asking you to “stay just like you are — promise Mommy you’ll never change from the way you are right now.” You always said in your sweet little voice and with a big smile, “Okay, Mommy.”

Every stage of growth of your little boy is going to be like that for you. We have indeed seen the birth of a mom.

Now, my little girl, you have a glimpse of how much you are loved.

Christmas Day 2008

Leave a reply












We spent Christmas Day 2008 was spent with family at daughter Jamie’s home in Frisco and it was one of the best Christmas Days we’re ever had.

Our son Trey and wife Rhonda stayed most of the day with our grandchildren Sydney and Liam. Hallie and Easton, Jamie and Jeff’s children were also part of the merry making. After Christmas dinner we exchanged gifts.

Much of our attention was spent on the “Guitar Hero” game. Sydney showed everyone up with her Guitar Hero abilities and unlocked new levels for the family to be able to play.

For dinner, Rhonda brought Cornish hens and Jamie made a casserole with cream corn and another with green beans. I fixed a salad made pumpkin and pecan pies and my mother’s frozen salad that she used to fix for holiday meals. Also, I made the carrot casserole our family likes.

We had a wonderful day.

Don’t elect Johnnie for President

1 Reply


My husband, Billy Wayne, and his brother, Johnnie, have a warm and fun relationship as brothers.

Even though Johnnie lives in Tennessee with wife Phyllis and we live in Texas, they stay in close contact with regular telephone and e-mail conversations. They joke about a lot of things, and each enjoys reminiscing about their lives growing up in Midland, halfway between Fort Worth and El Paso.

Johnnie is the older of the two, who enjoyed the life of an only child for six years before his younger brother came on the scene. They were born to John Godwin and Dimple Aiken of Whitesboro and Tioga, after the couple married and moved to Midland so John (known to locals as “Big Boy”) could go to work for the Hughes Tool Company.

Johnnie has been an achiever most of his life, becoming an ordained Baptist preacher before attending college and seminary at Baylor University. Without listing his multitude of accomplishments, I’ll just say he’s a published author whose books have had great successes. He continues to write on a variety of projects and sometimes submits to his local paper.

When Billy Wayne said he plans to vote for Johnnie as a write-in for President, Johnnie expressed his fear to have another President from Midland. He shared a recent article meant to entertain, and I thought our readers might enjoy excerpts from his letter, which Johnnie admits, is too lengthy to publish in the letter-to-the-editor section.

“As wonderful as growing up in Midland was, I basically grew up dumb and provincial about the bigger world. Midland was pretty much the whole world for me. When we Midlanders refer to some direction from Midland, we always use the word ‘down’ — whether referring to Amarillo, Canada or the North Pole. Until I went off to Baylor University, I was so dumb that when someone answered a daily greeting with ‘fair to middling,’ I thought they were meaning something like doing all right in Midland, Texas.

“And when I was growing up, most folks were friendly and honest; but if someone insulted me or challenged me, I gave the typical Midland West Texas reply: ‘Bring it on!’ And I was ready. Really. Ready to settle the matter quickly.

“When George W. Bush was running for President, he explained the chief difference between him and his dad, our former President, was Midland, Texas. That’s what George W. said. Well, I delivered dry-cleaning to the George H. W. Bush family at 1412 West Ohio before they moved upscale in the 1950s. George W. was just one of the Little League boys at that time. As fine as that family was and is, please don’t elect another President from Midland, Texas. Even me.

“Since I left Midland, I have studied political science and history at Baylor (majored in Greek), got graduate degrees, and traveled over most of the known world. I was in Moscow to work at an international book fair three days after the Korean Airliner was shot down in 1983. I was also on the steps of the Russian White House with Alexander Rutskoi on May Day 1991 before 200,000 people. I was helping present him a symbolic copy of the 4 millionth Russian New Testament we were then freely distributing there.

“In Beijing in 1994, I was out in the boonies in a house church where Billy Graham had been just a few months before. Well, you get the idea, I think. Besides these things, I’ve done a world of politics in my life, but most of it in the fields of business and religious publishing, which again might qualify me for President (since I’m a Southern Baptist). I’m not really a Democrat, Republican, Independent, liberal, conservative, fundamentalist; rather, I am an enlightened person with common sense and conviction.

“I’m a bit younger than McCain; but my oldest son is older than Obama. Still, please don’t join my brother and elect me another President from Midland, Texas.

“Well, what matters most then in electing a President? First, I’ll almost guarantee the candidate who gets your vote holds some views you can’t abide but likely will consider the lesser of two evils. So let me mention a few items that are more important to me than partisanship. The president should be a person of integrity. The person needs common sense, decision-making skills, and all the other things that come to mind.

“But the President for whom you vote should be able to practice what a mentor taught me when I became an executive: ‘Johnnie, always hire to your weaknesses.’ No person is really big enough and qualified enough to hold the office of the President of the United States.

“But the President for whom you vote should be able to practice what a mentor taught me when I became an executive: ‘Johnnie, always hire to your weaknesses.’ No person is really big enough and qualified enough to hold the office of the President of the United States.

“The person elected needs to know that everybody, including himself, is ignorant but just in different ways. He needs to choose a Vice President worthy of succeeding but not intruding on the powers of the President in office. The President needs to cut the rhetoric and decisively move forward on the no-brainers that any commonsense President can figure out. I’m tempted to talk about war, democracy, economy, being green, etc. ad nauseam. But I won’t.

“Just be sure you vote for a President who is courageous in his integrity, enduring in his patriotism but also in his worldwide citizenship concerns, one who will get up every day asking the Pace-setter and Pace-maker what the President ought to exchange this day of life for. Did I mention I’m a preacher as well as publisher?

“Well enough, already! Just form your convictions well, and vote for the best candidate for President and then support whoever resides in the Oval Office. But above all, please don’t elect another President from Midland, Texas.”