Author: Randy

Some months back Sharon and I went down to Port Charlotte for a charity auction benefiting a friend of ours, Rena Dalva, that was diagnosed with cancer. I had donated a manatee painting that I had created for the auction and plus Sharon’s sister Rachie was throwing a baby shower for her so we drove down. Our good friend Scooter even built a boat and raffled it off with proceeds going to her. The community really rose to the occasion, they showed up and all in all $18,000+ was generated. It was a great day.

Well this past week Rena’s cancer had grown a tumor near her heart and no medicine was able to save her. She struggled to hold on until Christmas and to see her family one last time. She lasted until Christmas Eve morning when her body finally gave out and the world lost a good soul. We will all miss her but her spirit will surely live on. She made many friends and there are many hearts praying for her.

I dedicate Shoe #271, which I found just 30 minutes or so after she passed. May she be at peace wherever she may be, and maybe, just maybe she will meet Noah there. We may all meet again someday, but until then, goodbye Rena, and God bless your wonderful soul.

One way I would like to make her passing count and help others is to use get more exposure and knowledge out about a sinister killer many just attribute to older smokers–Lung Cancer. Here is a link to an article ABC news did to shed light on this very prominent and deadly disease that kills tens of thousands of non-smoking young women, more than from breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers combined >>

click on a photo to enlarge.

Once again we were blessed with a wonderful gift to memorialize Noah. Our great friends Beth and Dave registered a star under Noah Charles Hamilton through the Star Registry. And to make it even more special, as the owner of a frame shop, Dave framed it himself. He created a black mat with glow-in-the-dark hand-spattered paint speckles resembling a starry galaxy. Even the white of the mats glow. It is a very special gift and one that will always be with us, I am so proud to have a star named after my son and I will be showing it off to everyone.

The star itself is surprisingly easy to locate when looking at the heavens. On a clear night all you need to do is locate Ursa Major (the big dipper) and go to the extreme right star which is the tail of the bear and go 90º north of it and there it is, formerly known as star “Ursa Major RA 8h 19m 10s D 63º 30º” is now renamed to “Noah Charles Hamilton”. He will forever be looking down on us. It is just such an awesome gesture I do not have words for it. Thank you so much again guys!

And as always there is always another coincidence that goes along with Noah stories. Earlier that day Sharon and I were wondering the local mall looking for an ornament with 2008 and Noah on it. There was an aisle vendor that was customizing ornaments. We almost got one, but did not see a design that jumped out at us so we passed. We figure we would know when the perfect ornament would appear and grab it. Essentially let it find us. And of course it did, by the way of other great friends of ours, Randy and Jen.

That night just before Dave gave us the Star Registry info, Randy and Jen handed us a gift. We waited until we got back to the van to open it. Wouldn’t you know it, it was an ornament with 2008 and Noah’s name on it. Even more amazing that the shape of the ornament was a shooting star! I know that when you say a wish out loud it will not come true, however I think you can guess what our wish was.

It all made us cry. We try so hard to be strong but sometimes the loss is so hard and is always hiding just below the surface. Noah would just now be getting old enough that he would be starting to crawl perhaps. I just can’t believe I do not get to see it for real, but I can clearly see him in my imagination, and I have a great imagination I have been told.

We made it without any problems, we did go through some slick roads due to freezing rain but nothing too bad. I only spotted one lost sole on the way, but found one in Cincinnati pretty quickly. It became my first shoe with snow on it 🙂

As many know, Sharon and I are actively trying to conceive. We are pretty eager as we are not getting any younger. We actually thought possibly we did conceive this past week, but mother nature did not bless us 🙁 It is so hard. I cannot help to feel like we deserve to have another child, that we were cheated. Those are the demons that come with losing a child I assume. And ones that must be fought so as not to become bitter and depressed. I believe we win most of those battles, but sometimes they do creep in. But thankfully we have each other to lift the other out of the hole. We miss our Noah so much, and now with the holidays it is that much more intense.

But the bright side I guess, is that we have hope it will happen. There is no physical limitations for us getting pregnant yet. And we do get to keep trying 🙂 I have hope it happens soon. And that keeps our chins up.

I want to take a moment and send out thoughts and prayers to the friends and family of Keri Shryock. At approximately 7:30 p.m. last night, Keri Shryock, 23, a member of Trish’s Crossroads Community Church, Xavier University student and cast member from the church’s Christmas show, fell from a suspended position during the performance. She was attended to by emergency medical personnel as quickly as possible, and was then transferred to University Hospital for medical care. However Keri did not make it. I hope maybe our Noah can find her and show her the way up there. I cannot imagine what it must be like for her family, Christmas will never be the same for them.

Well it is that time of year again, time to load up and head north. Which is going to be delayed for a day due to in-climate weather, ice storm in tennessee:( Well the CNN News to Me Show highlighted the One Shoe Diaries again and we got a lot of response, no sales, but it has been fun to interact with fans of our project. And speaking of the project, I am excited to be out and about on the highways again with the hope of finding a lost sole covered with snow! I have yet to get one with snow on it. Also one fan wrote about a show at an old barn in Knoxville and hopefully she will respond back again telling me the location of it, because I really want to go photograph it!

The weekend was also jammed packed with seeing friends and exchange holiday cheer, it was so much fun seeing everyone, we really had a great time!

Well gotta get going on the packing, and be sure and stayed tuned as we will hopefully find a bunch of shoes and have a few adventures along the way.

Well another birthday has come, and I am happy today. Getting older does not bother me, partially because I still feel in my 20s, maybe once I feel old, getting old will suck. I mean I do have less hair, don’t jump as high, my shoulder has no whip in it hardly, my ankles hurt after walking too long…wait a minute, maybe I do feel old!! 🙂 Nah.

Well the day started out early with Sharon heading off to work and both of us forgot what day it was, so I got no happy birthday that morning, but did not realize it until a few hours later when it just hit me that it was my birthday. Kinda sad but that is what old age does to you I guess. So I sent her a text telling her not to forget to tell me happy birthday to be funny. But she never replied. I then called her on her lunch break but she didnt answer. Then an hour later I called her and she still did not remember. When I told her that she did not tell me happy birthday I could tell she became sick kowing she had forgotten my birthday. I admit it did hurt my feelings, had I done that to her she would have been really upset with me. I tried to hide it, but she could tell. She felt so awful, but she had patients she had to get to so we had to hang up. She sent me a long text apologizing and trying to explain how she wanted to tell me but work and stuff got in the way. Basically excuses, but said in a sweet way that all was forgiven, I sent back a message that all is good, let’s just have a great night.

I played on Facebook throughout the day, I had posted ” Randy cannot believe he is 29 today” and everyone had fun with that one. I scanned some old photos and posted them, that is always fun. Seeing the comments are the best! I had truly gotten over Sharon missteps, and would save it for when I someday forget to wish her happy birthday because I am sure I will because my memory ain’t what it used to be, and getting worse by the day 🙂

I was out walking the dogs when she came home from work, and in that time she had set up a surprise for me when I got back. She had gotten many of my favorite things and had a balloon with it all. I was genuinely surprised. She got me a red velvet cake (my favorite), a bottle of champagne, intense dark chocolate and a pair of memory foam slippers. It was very thoughtful, and she greeted me with a hug and a happy birthday that more than made up for the earlier day blunder. I was in a great mood!

We met up with Eric, Tracy, and April at my favorite chinese buffett and had a fun dinner. We were going to go bowling but the lanes were booked 🙁 So we just headed back home and relaxed watching some TV. It was a really nice birthday.

Thank you Sharon for being a wonderful wife and friend!

For some years now I have been thinking about doing an online restaurant guide for Pensacola. I had it originally named PensacolaMenus.com but I let the domain go after the hurricane, so i picked up PensacolaFood.com. I actually like the name better, because not every listing will have a menu.

One of the reasons we are creating it is because we have quite a few restaurants around the area we li9ke to eat at but they seem to be hurting for business and we want them to stay OPEN! So we have made it very affordable, possibly too inexpensive, but that is what I do. I dont have a good track record for big money making businesses. I tend to help people more than i should.

I built the site and have been getting it ready for its debut. We launched it just around a week ago and have currently 3 establishments signed up, but have a feeling it will go over pretty well from other responses.

So if you are reading this and from Pensacola area please help us get the word out. And for everyone I invite you to go to PensacolaFood.com target=”blank” and check it out, any tips, opinions or ideas, please let us know. We are new to this and it will continue to evolve.