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Kim E Williams 1.0

Kim 1.0

Re-post and Finale' - Sunday Coffee Cup

The following was the first Sunday Coffee Cup post. I have been considering ending the series (mainly because I have already told all of my mug stories), and it seems fitting that as my sister was the subject of the first post - her passing this past week should be the occasion for my last Sunday Coffee Cup post.


You can read them all here. So, please settle in and enjoy how this all began and know this will be the last weekly post of the Sunday Coffee Cup. I'm sure a significant mug may find it's way into my life and end up here sporadically...however, here's the ending as it was the beginning...

We all have them stashed and stacked in the cabinet. Why do we collect so many coffee mugs and cups? Some are little more than clutter. A plastic memento of a meaningless event or casual encounter with a random company. Yet, for me, what I see when I reach for a Sunday morning cup for my coffee is a cupboard full of significant life moments, memories of time well sent and people kindly known. My Sunday morning coffee cup selection is never really casual. Each time I choose a mug, I'm choosing to remember and reconnect with a segment of my life.

It seems selfish to keep all of these moments to myself, so each Sunday I'll plan on posting a Sunday Coffee Cup photo and story. Enjoy this inaugural post.

My Sister - Burp!

It was Christmas of 1999. I was just months past my departure from the ordained ministry, my spirit and my life still reeling from the trauma of personal burnout. Finances were bottomed out. I was working my first 'sales' job and beginning what would become a new career chapter. It was one of those life moments when all I had of certainty and peace was each emotion filled moment, each small rational choice and a tenuous faith that somehow God would see me through.

The trip to Myrtle Beach, SC for our extended family Christmas gathering was tentative, lacking in joy and confidence. There were to be few gifts given, few life accomplishments to celebrate. Enter my sister.

My sister is, and mostly has been throughout her life, a mess. Sometimes that 'mess' was of the playful, mischievous childhood variety of 'mess.' A mess you find yourself admiring for tenacity, boldness and undaunted determination. Sometimes my sister's 'mess' was more of the personal life catastrophe variety. Bad choices, bad timing, bad comrades and all in the worst possible order. Mt sister was going through a 'mess' of the second variety in 1999. She was, simply put, in worse shape than I was - at least it looked like it from the outside looking in.

That year, my sister took the time and a few of her very limited dollars and bought me a Christmas present. She gave me a perfectly selected mug. When I unwrapped it, the crass imprint on the outside and the playful lettering inside the rim gave me pause. The I felt a giggle forming deep inside, a giggle that begin to bubble up into a joyous laugh.

Now, years and gallons of coffee later, I still cherish this bold, playful, timely and loving gift. It makes my Sunday cup of coffee perfect. Thanks Sis!

NOTE: My sister died 5/12/12. I'll miss her. RIP Pam.

Pamela Earl Stafford - Grief

In the middle of it...

Miss you Sis.

Pamela Earl Stafford: May 25, 1952 - May 12, 2012

Grieving. 

Murrells Inlet, SC

Pamela Earl Stafford, 59, passed away peacefully in her sleep May 11, 2012.  She was born May 25, 1952 in Newport, Rhode Island to her joyful parents William Earl Williams and Claudia Elizabeth (Lib) Williams.  She was predeceased by her father the late William Earl Williams. The worldly phase of her life concluded during the quiet moments of her sleep on May 11, 2012.  Her strong will, wistful nature, and loving spirit are already missed among her family, friends, and colleagues. 

Pam Stafford became a Registered Nurse in Florida in the 1970s.  Throughout her years of nursing she was loved and respected by the patients and the families that she touched as well as the physicians who depended on her. As a friend or a colleague you were sure to laugh, cry and learn with her. Her path in nursing offered her many experiences and was part of her heart.  She nursed in Florida, South Carolina, Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands.

She was an open minded soul who loved the Native American culture, the desert, animals, (especially her dog Sammy), music, bike week and experiencing life in her own way.  As a mother and a grandmother she was not what most would say is “conventional” but her children and grandchildren would have had it no other way. She loved to laugh and play and do things with her children that were fun and memorable yet she taught them lessons by example as well as by affording them “protected” independence so that they could grow and become strong individuals.  She lived her life “Pam’s way” and those of us who know her would not have had her any other way.

  Although her time with us has passed so quickly, our loss can be lessened in the comfort that she is peaceful with God and we know his staff has received a bold and courageous addition.

She is survived by her mother, Elizabeth Benton Cox and her husband, Esters; her grandmother, Mrs. Horry (Lucille) H. Benton of Murrells Inlet; her son, Everett Stafford and his wife, Danielle, of Sugar Land, TX; her daughter, Lisa Norton and her husband, Greg, of Rock Hill, SC; her two brothers, Jan Williams of High Point, NC and Kim Williams and his wife, Gail, of Winston-Salem, NC; and four sisters, Linda Pervis of Florence, SC; Susan Craven and her husband, Kenneth, of Marion, SC; Janet Schultz and her husband, Bill, of Florence, SC; and Deborah Mixon of Florence, SC.  She also leaves with love five grandchildren: Chris, Kyle, and Zack Stafford, Brittany Heid, and Daniel Norton and one great-grand child, Branton Heid.  

A Memorial Service will be held at 10:00 AM, Thursday, May 17, 2012 at McMillan-Small Funeral Home with the Rev. Bruce Crawford officiating.   A visitation will follow the service at the funeral home.  

Memorials may be made to the Myrtle Beach Humane Society, 3241 10th Ave. North, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 or the charity of one’s choice.  

Happy Birthday to Kim Williams!

May 2, 1958! Old Guys Rule!

Sunday Coffee Cup - Tallahassee

A few years back, while searching out possible retirement locations, my wife (bless her heart) and I were considering Tallahassee, Florida. Not anymore.

Florida, the often selected retirement destination for northerners who woke up one day from a Winter slumber and realized, “Hey – snow, ice, heating bills and fast paced talking is optional,” was never high on my list of retirement destinations. I’ve enjoyed visiting the glass bottom boats, reptiles shows, Flipper aquariums and sipping “all the orange juice you can drink for a dime,” but always felt that Florida was – well, not really the South.  Let’s face it, you can throw a case of darts in Miami and the closest thing to a Southern you’ll hit is a South American. Don’t get me wrong, I like diversity, but I prefer the slow drawl and sweet tea of a Southern lifestyle.

Enter my wife. Although she’s not a Southerner, she married me and that makes her – well, smart and acceptable. She also grew up (read 'went through adolescence') in Florida (read 'Fort Lauderdale') and to college at Florida State University – which is in Tallahassee – which isn’t really in Florida even though it is the capital of the state. Tallahassee is located in the Florida panhandle and is very close to Georgia and Alabama. My wife suggested that it was a possible retirement location, in Florida, in the South. Today’s Sunday Coffee Cup is a souvenir of our Tallahassee considerations.

Here is what I learned about Tallahassee:

1. It is a great city with lots to do – including worshiping regularly at the Florida State University shrine of Bobby Bowden.
2. Once you leave the city – there is really nothing else. Pine and palm forests, humidity you can bath in, heat that only makes you sweat more, an abundance of biting and stinging insects and pencil thin ‘beaches’ and ocean that looks like the froth of a day old latté.
3. Hiking consists of walking across level ground for miles, dodging spider webs and large spiders between pine trees.
4. The tea isn’t sweet enough.
5. You can’t get anywhere from Tallahassee. You have to go somewhere else first (read off the beaten track).
6. There are some very nice people who live there.

So, I don’t think we will be moving to Tallahassee for retirement. You know the old saying “It’s a great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” Well, the latter is true.

Go Seminoles! Heh.

Delta Scared Me - Clockwork Orange Style

I flew Delta this past week and now I'm afraid of Lincoln , esurance and Fairfield. Here's how it happened.

Delta Airlines Flight Safety Video

During the take-off taxi, we were shown 3 advertisements prior to the safety video - Lincoln, esurance and Fairfield Inn. I get that. Airlines aren't able to make enough money on the ticket prices, so a little advertising revenue here and there is necessary. Then, right after take-off, but before the "you may now use your portable electronic devices" announcement, the video screens fired up again and showed us the same three ads. I tried to turn off the screen glaring at me from the headrest of the seat in front of me, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I was a captive audience. Then it occurred to me - I was living a "Clockwork Orange" moment (if you are too young to know the movie reference, leave this post now and go watch the film. It's historically significant... well to my history, anyway.)

1971 A Clockwork Orange

Here's the rub, take-off is one of the most tense moments in the flying experience. Anyone who has given any thought to the process knows that if something goes wrong during those first few minutes of take-off - it is bad (we're talking THE END bad). So, if you want to program me to associate stress with your product or brand, show it to me when I'm at one of the most stressful moments of my travels. I had this same experience on my return flight as, well. Same timing. Same brands.

Thanks Delta. Thanks Lincoln, esurance and Fairfield. I now can't drive a Lincoln, insured by esurance to my meeting at the Fairfield without a nagging feeling that I might crash and die.

*Note - the limo that took me from the airport to the resort and back was - you guessed it - a Lincoln. I'm scarred for life.