For Glenna's funeral, I updated an earlier video by including photos to accompany the words in the poem my Father wrote for her.
This poem, THE SUMMER OF '62, was featured in the inside-front panel of the Funeral Program (.pdf link) and the following video was played during the service.
When my Father wrote this poem, he never imagined it would be used to beautifully eulogize the wonderful life he and his wife enjoyed.
Beautiful it is ... enjoy.
You'll notice on the right-hand side we've added a link sharing photos. This photo gallery will grow to include many more photos of Glenna so check back often.
Below is slideshow showing Glenna from 18-months old to being a Mother of four young children. Relax and watch as Glenna matures before your eyes...
To celebrate Mother’s Day 2007, Glenna’s kids and grandkids put together a video sharing a few wonderful stories about our Mom. The stories are heartfelt, humorous, and some quite darling. Spend a few minutes with the Moore kids talking about the Mother they adore.
Direct link to the video on Google.
Click below for a bigger image view of the invitation...
As they finished dinner recently, my parents started reminiscing about their first dates. Luckily, I had my video camera nearby and was able to capture some precious stories and heartfelt footage.
Al and Glenna have been married for nearly 45 years and to hear the unbridled joy in my Dad’s voice thrills me. He truly found the greatest love of all. Enjoy.
Glenna’s mother, Margaretta, was active in keeping scrapbooks throughout her life. Luckily, many of Margaretta’s scrapbooks have survived the years and are still in good enough condition to flip through the pages.
Before ALS progressed with my mother, she shared stories about the people and the photos from a scrapbook her Mom crafted for her when she was a young child.
The following video documentary shares amusing childhood stories from my Mom’s remarkable life. Enjoy.
[NOTE: The audio for this documentary was recorded in August of 2006.]
Glenna has been living with ALS for many months now. She spends a lot of her time resting to ensure she has enough strength to meet with the many friends who drop by for a visit. My Mom’s friends are coming from all over Texas and the United States to swap stories. They laugh, they cry, they reminisce. Glenna cherishes these moments.
In the following audio streams, you will notice a significant change in my Mother’s voice from the past video documentaries I have shared. The audio for those videos was recorded in August of 2006 and her voice was still strong and sharp. The audio accompanying the photos below was recorded on February 7, 2007 and my Mom’s speech has been affected greatly by the onset of ALS. Her speech is now slow, slurred, forced, and gravelly.
But my Mom’s courage, grace, and fortitude are as resolute as ever!
ALS is robbing my Mother of her motor skills but it WILL NOT take-a-way her people skills. Sure, she struggles to talk but the sparkle in her eyes are still as bright as they have always been! You can even hear the sparkle in her eyes as she talks about these photos. To listen, click the 'play' button below each photo.
UPDATED: Click here to view the updated SUMMER OF '62 video
Over the Christmas break, I put together the third mini-documentary in the series. This short video shares the story of an incomplete poem my Father first began writing to my Mother in the early 70s. My Father titled the poem — The Summer of ’62 — because it was June of 1962 when Glenna Keith Coffey married William Alvin Moore Jr.
The poem traces the shared life they’ve lived together. Through the years, my Father has periodically updated the poem to add new verses to reflect new shared experiences. It’s an incomplete poem because they are still sharing wonderful life experiences together as husband and wife. Enjoy.
The ALS disease is progressing as expected with my Mother. Which means ... each day Glenna Moore finds doing everyday activities like talking, writing, and swallowing a little more difficult to do. She gets around using a nifty scooter and takes more naps during the day to help keep her energy level high at opportune times. This Thanksgiving weekend provided my Mom lots of opportune times to spend with her grandchildren.
I recently completed the second mini-documentary sharing stories and memories from my Mother. It shares photos of all the Moore children beginning with Lana, then Trip, and it closes with the twins—Marty and John (me). With each photo of the children, my Mother shares quick stories and memories. Enjoy.
My mother, Glenna Moore, was recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, more commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. This diagnosis didn’t come as a surprise to the family as her “creeping paralysis” has become much more pronounced in the last few months.
ALS is a neurological disease where motor neurons from the brain stop reaching one’s muscles. When muscles no longer receive neurons, muscles cease to move. And when muscles stop moving, paralysis sets in. There is no cure for ALS and patients that suffer from this disease live a life of work-arounds.
At first, patients use a cane to help steady themselves when walking. And when walking becomes too challenging, patients start using walkers, wheelchairs, and scooters as their work-around to get around. Patients also lose the ability to move their arms and hands and thus need to find new ways to write, eat, dress, etc. One’s speech also becomes affected and eventually, ALS patients lose their ability to speak.
But patients do not lose the ability of their mind, nor the sparkle in their eyes. Dementia does not set in with ALS patients and that is what makes this disease so devastating. Sufferers suffer from the inability to move their voluntary muscles but they do not lose the ability to mentally comprehend what is happening to their body. Eventually, ALS patients lose the ability of their involuntary muscles, namely the ability to breathe, and subsequently patients lose their life.
As I mentioned, the family wasn’t surprised to learn of the ALS diagnosis and I had mentally and spiritually prepared myself for that diagnosis months ago.
And it was months ago when I began a special project to capture some of the stories my mom knows. Glenna Moore is our family historian and resident storyteller. She knows so much about intimate relatives and distant relatives. Unfortunately, I’ve never paid much attention to her stories through the years. I realize now … that’s my loss.
So to make up for my past mistakes of not paying enough attention to her stories, I sat down with my mother in August and recorded her telling stories while she shared family photos with me. I plan to turn her stories and photos into mini-documentaries. The first mini-documentary I’ve put together shares the story of the wedding between my parents, Al and Glenna Moore.
