DANNY NOGGLE

THE FOLLOWING IS A REPRINT OF A JOURNAL POST I WROTE ON Friday, February 17, 2006…with pictures added.

WORK DAY  02/17/2006

         Danny Noggle

Feb. 17, 2006- There were so many people at the Bar-B-Que today.  . I  met people that I did not know, that knew Danny. Even people from out of state came in to eat and tell me they knew Danny and are praying for us....It is all so overwhelming.....Danny was a simple man, a country boy, and yet there was a lot more to him.........

             IN OUR EARLY YEARS

I remember very little about the funeral....I remember the two songs that were sung by a local gentleman that sings and plays the piano at weddings and funerals...a man that we know well, a man that had just lost his wife a month before....He played and sang, as always, beautifully....the one hymn that Danny wanted; "I Have a Mansion, Just Over The Hill Top" and the one I chose; "Wind Beneath My Wings"...( because He WAS and STILL IS MY HERO).....

Danny at the gazebo in Greensboro

I remember looking in the church over to my right at all the Ga. State Patrol and the out of town Oconee County Deputy that were honorary pallbearers that were seated  in the little alcove...I remember seeing that Oconee County Deputy break down and cry like a baby......because she was one of "OUR ADOPTED" ....She has stood the pain of being maced and tazered  (so she could feel the same pain she could inflict on criminals)....but I have never seen her cry like she did that Thursday...You see, she loved Danny like a daddy....and me like a mama.

Danny and his nephew Troy the last of 2005.

The Ga. State Patrol were Danny's friends...some he went hunting and fishing with...The preacher of our Church that did the eulogy, was also a fishing buddy....Preachers, from all the other local churches were at the service...some having to stand among the many  that were packed  in the basement....

We had several "adopted " children at the service...Me and Danny could only have 2 children, but our children brought home children from their schools and other various places and somehow or the other, we always ended up "mama" and "pop" to all of them....They all showed back up the day Danny died and came over everyday to offer help, comfort, prayers and love.

Danny was also a father figure to our many nieces and nephews...teaching them how to fish, how to hunt, how to clean what you shoot or catch.....We would gather them up and have Easter Egg hunts, Trick or treat, movies.... they were the kids we could not have and they loved us....Six of the nephews were the pall bearers.

Helping Charity find the eggs.

I heard today about how there was not enough room in the church for all the people that came...that the entire basement was full, and the stairwells, and the Sunday school rooms and the Choir pews.....and there were still people standing outside..in the pouring down freezing rain.....and then there were still people that had went on to the grave yard to wait....

This was left AFTER we took 99% of the flowers home. Every room in my house was full…and the front porch and yards too.

And it really brings home the fact that it doesn't matter how much money you have, it doesn't matter how many diplomas you have, it doesn't matter what brand name clothes you wear, nor how perfect your smile is.........My Danny had $40.00 in his bill folder when he died, and a depleted savings account because of all the drugs he had to take....My Danny never made it past the 6th grade, he had to go to work in the cotton mill, but he was the smartest man I have ever known.....My Danny only wore cheap Rustler Jeans, and Wal-Mart tennis shoes that cost $9.00 a pair..and would wear them completely out before he would get anymore.

My Danny, bless his heart, did not have ANY TEETH because they pulled them before the open heart surgery...I once asked him at the BBQ….." Danny, are you embarrassed to talk and smile at these people with no teeth?"and I will never forget what he replied, "Honey, it is not what is in your mouth, it is what comes out of your mouth ." 

At Wilmington N.C. on the Naval ship.

What really matters is how you treat others......I heard these words over and over again…"DANNY WAS ALWAYS HIMSELF,  DANNY WAS NOT FAKE,  DANNY ALWAYS HAD A SMILE FOR EVERYONE,  DANNY WAS A KIND AND DECENT MAN,  DANNY WAS SO BRAVE AND STRONG; NEVER COMPLAINING, AND WE DID NOT REALIZE HE WAS IN SO MUCH PAIN,  DANNY NEVER MET A STRANGER, DANNY WAS NEVER TOO TIRED OR HURT TOO MUCH TO HELP ANYONE"....AND THE ONE I LIKE THE MOST…"DANNY WAS A SPECIAL PERSON"

ALL THE GOLD IN THE WORLD COULD NOT BUY THE PRIDE  THAT I HAVE TONIGHT IN MY HEART FOR MY DANNY.

He truly knew what LIFE was all about.

            THIS WAS OUR FAMILY

*** Here it is five years to the day Danny died on Jan. 29, 2006 and Today I was at the BBQ again...and every time  I walked by the same drink machines out front (where he started having his last heart attack that day) I could still see him there in my mind.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again..if you still by the grace of GOD have that special someone that you love…TELL THEM what they mean to you…TONIGHT.

Tomorrow may not come.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

Posted by Carlene Noggle at 10:44 PM

I USE TO LOVE SNOW

Okay…I am ready for this snow and ice to disappear! I have places to go, things to do, and … bills to pay!

Back in my younger days, I would have been in my glory with all this white stuff Mother Nature threw at us this week! I use to wait anxiously every winter…wondering if we would get snow and if we did, how much. I couldn’t wait to see the first of the softly falling little flakes hitting the ground! I use to have so much fun building a snowman with Danny and the kids, having snowball fights on Spring Street with my sister-in-laws and their families, and then going home to make snow ice cream!

My most favorite thing to do though, was to climb into the car or truck with Danny and go wandering around the county, just admiring the beauty of the land and trees, and the old barns. To me, Main street in Greensboro always looks like a Christmas card when there is snow on everything …

Ever notice how much nicer things look covered in freshly fallen snow?

When I had Dan, I was 18 years old  and so naive…I thought anytime you wanted a baby, all you had to do was just try and nine months or so down the road, there would be another baby to love. Well…it didn’t happen like that for me. After losing two, and going to fertility specialists, I learned that there was very little chance of me ever carrying a child full term again if I got pregnant. It was a  very long ten years later that I found out I was pregnant… and this time, praise God, it went full term!

My doctor told me he had a way to determine the date of delivery and my baby would be born on January 12, 1982. Well one night, I dreamed that she would be born on Christmas Eve or Dec. 28, of 1981….and was shown in my dream, that the baby would be a healthy little girl! When I told my doctor about my dream on our next visit, he looked at me like I had lost my mind!! Then he just laughed and said, “If you had wanted a little tax deduction, you should have started sooner!” and laughed at his own little joke.

But the joke was on him…she was born on Dec. 28, 1981 and she was a little girl!!! You should have seen his face when I reminded him of my dream the night Amanda was born!!!

And get this…..Had I came in labor on Jan.12, 1982…I wouldn’t have been able to even get to Wilkes County Hospital, because Green County and the surrounding areas were hit with a snow and ice storm similar to the one we have now!

GOD IS SO GOOD!

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

CHRISTMAS EVE 2010

With Amanda and Kelvin and the grandchildren gone out of town and me not going to be able to see them until tomorrow evening, it was just me and Dan tonight at home. I decided to post a poem I wrote (and it was actually published ) back in 1987.  To my surprise, it won the GOLDEN POET AWARD that year…fancy that…the little kid from Horseshoe Bend being a ‘Poet’!

The Horseshoe Bend Kids @ 1955 at my granny’s house on Madison Highway across for the old Phelps's home place; That’s me in my rocker with my colored baby doll!     

HOME AT LAST

The day had been a bad one and Christmas Eve was drawing near,

I wished my kids would quiet down … I wished I wasn't here.

I wished I were a child again, back home with mom and dad,

I wished that time would take me back, as I climbed into my bed.

I dreamed of looking through a window, and the past was there to see,

Past that window was my daddy, chopping down our Christmas tree.

In a moment’s time, the scene had changed; frost lay white on Georgia ground,

Fire was crackling in the old wood stove, as all the family gathered round.

In the corner was a Christmas tree, the one cut by loving hands

So tall it touched the ceiling as it stood on an old wood stand.

The children with their threadbare clothes,were so beautiful to see..

For they were my brothers and my sisters; and the smallest child was me!

Long gone smells of cedar mixed with oranges, came back against my will,

As our childish cries of joy and laughter and mama's singing held me still.

Look! Daddy's hugging mama and that's our Granny over there..

Oh, I longed to stay forever within this love we use to share.

From the mantle hung our stockings that were made from old used socks,

On the tree were strings of popcorn; from the bottom to the top.

But something missing from these scenes of old, kept pulling me away

I couldn't see my children, so in Christmas Past I couldn't stay,

There and then I knelt down by that window, praying "Lord, put time back in place"

"For now I've seen how fast time flies, and I have none to waste."

I awoke to cries of joys and laughter, and these not from my past,

These sounds came from my children...I WAS HOME AT LAST.

E.C.L.N.

I wrote this sometime during the latter part of December of 1987. This was two years after my dear daddy had passed away. Amanda was five and Dan was 15…  I had went to sleep that night, after having had a bad day with the kids, and actually had the dream I speak of in the poem!

I use to love to write poetry…but haven’t in a long time.

Hope all my friends have a great Christmas tomorrow…remember to tell Jesus Happy Birthday!

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

EMPATHY

       

What does it take to move the human spirit to show empathy? Empathy is the identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives…so I guess one would have to had experienced at least some of what the other person is going through.

Being raised like we were,  gave me the chance to experience things that some folks haven’t had the chance to…Like being hungry because there is no more food left in the house….or the only food available for a day or two was black berries and milk…Like being cold….shivering throughout the night  because there is no heat in the house….or standing on the corner waiting on the school bus and telling your friend you are not cold because you have no coat to go back and get….and you are ashamed to admit it. Like being in school and having your shoe fall off your foot because the sole wore out…

As a child and a young adult, I use to be ashamed of the fact that we had very little coming up…I am no longer ashamed of how I was raised..I am actually thankful to GOD for that experience. Please don’t get me wrong…my parents were good people…my daddy worked two and three jobs all his life until he retired… and my mama was a stay at home mama…well most all mama’s were stay at home mamas back then in the 40’s and 50’s…and she worked…oh how hard she worked to keep us going back then on Horseshoe Bend, even with very bad legs and feet. Back then, if there was a welfare system, we didn’t know it…so we made do with what we had.

Having felt cold and hunger as a small child…having had very few clothes that were already thread bare by the time I received them…makes me realize that although television today portrays our country as the land of  rich people or middle class people…there  are folks here that are dealt a bad hand in life…for whatever reason, they are down on their luck and may not  have the mental capacity to improve their situation.

I saw such a person …I watched her closely for over three weeks…I watched her fumble and fiddle with her belongings…I watched her talking to the invisible …to pure air…I watched as she blew on her fingers to try her best to warm them…and my heart broke…and I thought..BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO I…OR MY CHILDREN…OR MY GRANDCHILDREN…OR MY MAMA…

We never know what the future may hold for any of us. The way this country is going now days, this could be any one of us.

In a world that has grown cold hearted…in a world where some may  think;  ‘well, they have chosen their life’….I thank God there are still a few people left with compassion and empathy …I thank GOD there are those among us with the love of CHRIST JESUS burning within them…

I thank God for the ANGELS that are placed among us to help those of us less fortunate.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

DELAYED REACTION

                   Boot and Shelby

I found a picture of my nephew and his sister online tonight and I decided I wanted to save that picture…so after I right clicked on it, I had to “name the file”

Before thinking about it, I automatically typed…

“Boot and Sissy.

Because for nearly 19 years, it was always BOOT AND SISSY…

Where you saw one, you usually saw the other. Boot had a love for his little sister like no other brother I have ever known. I have seen him, even as a very young child, intentionally cause a fuss if he thought Sissy was about to get in trouble…just to pull the attention away from her.

Only this time, it wasn’t Sissy in the picture..it was his youngest sister Shelby.  Little Shelby is one of the sweetest young ladies I have ever met…a natural ray of sunshine… so very beautiful and chock full of that Georgia southern charm.

So much like Sissy.

As I sat here looking at what I had typed, something snapped within me. I wanted to scream, to rip things up and throw them against the walls, to lie down on the floor and have a freaking all out tantrum…as I sat there sobbing like I haven’t since the day my Danny died.

I think all the tears I had stored within me for years came to the surface.

I guess I had what they call a delayed reaction.

You see…

There was a terrible car accident…

We buried Sissy over a month ago.

She was only 18 years old for gosh sake…

Sissy never got the chance to truly live her life.

Our entire family has an empty place that can never be filled and we miss her so very much.

You never know….

You just never know….

Here one minute...

Gone the next.

Rest In Peace Laura Ashley Epps…

          OUR SISSY

You will never be forgotten.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

HALLOWEEN DOINGS 2010

Well, well, well…..we are finally here…

It is NOVEMBER and the weather is finally beginning to feel like fall…which is a good thing….we don’t need hot weather at this late date.

But for now…lets go back to OCTOBER…..

For Halloween, Kevin carved both Wyatt and Will’s  jack-o-lanterns and he did such a good job. He did it free-hand too! Here they are lit up!

Little will’s had a pumpkin spooky face and his name on it.

Of course, Wyatt wanted a tractor on his! His name is to the left but we couldn’t get it and the tractor in the picture.

Although  the true Halloween was Sunday, Wyatt and Will went up town Saturday and trick-or-treated at the stores which were giving out candy. Wyatt was dressed up as  a Ga. football player and William as the mascot.  Kelvin and Dan brought them by Holcomb’s before they went …

Then later on that night, they came to my house and got their little bags of candy. Wyatt thought he was staying with ‘Maw-maw’  and cried when they put him back in the car! Amanda said she bribed him with chocolate to stop the tears! lol

I know this isn’t much of a post…and the truth is…I am really not in the mood to write tonight…haven’t been in  a long time…just wanted to put down the grandbabies’ Halloween doings, so I would have it here when I … or they…want to look back.

Maybe later on, my urge to write will came back to me….

Until then….

GOD BLESS YOU ALL.