Remembering Judy

I enjoy the cool, crisp mornings with frost on the ground. I like the look that most of the fields have with all the crops in. Most of the trees have dropped their leaves now. Given the dry weather at the end, this wasn't a spectacularly colorful fall. The trees did sport their colors, but they were more subdued and spread out over a longer time. And while we are getting rain now, it has been much easier to keep the leaves chopped up in our yard this year. To that end, it has been a much more enjoyable fall less of that chore hanging over our heads.

It's been a pretty routine stretch these last few weeks between fall break and now. To catch up on a few things, the last time I wrote we thought Nate would have one more XC meet to run in for the year and were all hoping he would end the season with another personal record, perhaps even joining the 19 Club. Alas, it was not to be. Nate suffered a minor injury in his leg in the last practice before the meet and was limping too badly to run. Nate has long since healed, but this did prevent him from running in the regional meet.

I am sad to report that one of my first cousins, Judy Bradley, passed away almost three weeks ago (on the 30th). Judy suffered from a lingering illness preventing us from getting together with her and her family for the last several years. Her presence is something I have been missing since she has been sick and will continue to miss. Judy had a knack for finding the simplest things to make an occasion fun when we were together. I remember one time when the kids were little and the Cotters were in from Florida we all went over to Derek and Amanda's house for dinner (Amanda is Judy's daughter). We were playing with the kids on their front yard after eating when Judy went to her car and got out those big 3' balls that you find in the toy section of Walmart or Target. The kids had an absolute blast playing with all those balls, which were almost as big as they were at that time, which added so much to an already fun time. (As I recall, the Cotters had to deflate their balls just to have room for them in the van to get them home.)

Judy had things like this up her sleeve all the time, and her creativity extended to the gifts she gave. That seemed to be how she best expressed her love. For example, when I was in high school she gave us a calendar for Christmas. Each month of the coming year featured a coupon to a different restaurant. She had us traveling all over northern Middle Tennessee enjoying good meals and we were sad to see that year come to an end.

Judy had many jobs in her lifetime, but her last position was as a judicial commissioner for Cheatham County. I got the opportunity to go with her one time when she was called in to work and was so impressed with the compassion and dignity she treated those who had been arrested as well as how she coached and encouraged the officers who were doing their jobs. I could tell she brought a human touch to a job and an environment where that could easily be in short supply.

Judy was a cousin I always wished I knew better. Given that she was 20 years older than me and that I didn't see her as often as I would have liked, that's just the way it was. I was four when she and Jim married. As a matter of fact, they married in the living room of our house, standing just a few feet from where I happen to be sitting as I type this. Judy picked a good husband, a man I have come to admire greatly. Jim was on the front lines, faithfully taking care of all her needs the last couple of years as her illness progressed. If life calls upon me to do the same for Vicki in the future, it will be Jim Bradley who will be the example I will try to follow.

So that's the news from Cross Plains, my hometown, where the leaves happen to be falling, the days are getting shorter, and life is speeding by at a deceptively fast rate.

Joe