The Darwyn and Pauline Young Family
Family News - April-June 2007
REPORT ON GIDGE YOUNG
June 12, 2007—Gidge will have more surgery at the end of August to remove the wirers from the bypass surgery. They have to make sure her sternum is healed completely before doing more surgery. She is at home and off from work. She said she was tired of "being under the weather." We wish her good luck in her repeat surgery.
ALLENE YOUNG IN MEMPHIS
June 12, 2007—Allene is now living in Memphis with her daughter, Sandy. She said they hope to start work on a house in Tupelo in the near future and she will move there.
MADELYN YOUNG ATTENDS ARKANSAS WRITER'S CONFERENCE
June 5, 2007—Madelyn Young attended the Arkansas Writers Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas this past weekend. The featured speaker was Robert Morgan, a professor of English at Cornell University and author of Gap Creek. Madelyn won 2nd place honorable mention in the mystery or suspense short story contest.
BILL STERLING HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL
June 5, 2007—Bill Sterling was in the hospital in Conway, Arkansas last week with pneumonia. He is now recuperating at home. We wish a quick recovery for him.
BRETT AND SANDY MICHEL ARE IN THEIR NEW HOME
June 5, 2007—Brett, Sandy, and the children have moved into their new home in Conway, Arkansas. Their new address will be posted at a later date.
DAVID YOUNG IN WARREN CENTRAL BAND
June 5, 2007—David Young will be a part of the marching drum line at Warren Central High School this fall. He will be playing the bass #2 part. He attended marching band camp last week and will have two more camps before school starts.
DAVID YOUNG ACHIEVES ORDER OF THE ARROW
May 23, 2007—David Young, who is a member of Boy Scout Troop #1 in Columbus, Mississippi received The Order Of The Arrow this past weekend. Congratulations David on your work in the Boy Scouts.
CHRIS YOUNG ENTERTAINS
May 23, 2007—Chris Young provided the entertainment at the luncheon sponsored by the Wesley United Methodist Youth in Columbus on Sunday. He sang a medley of Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darrin tunes. Before the program, the church presented Chris and Becky a framed picture of the Mississippi State University mascot, Bully.
UPDATE ON GIDGE
May 18, 2007—Gidge has had some trouble with the wires used in her heart bypass surgery. She had started back to work but now is having to stay at home. She may have to go back and have the wires removed in about two weeks. Continue to keep Joe Price and Gidge in your thoughts and prayers.
UPDATE FROM THE FAMILY IN TEXAS
May 10, 2007—Odell Walker had a setback in his recovery from his surgery on his leg. He had the stitches out and later, after suffering some pain and going to the emergency room, they discovered that the femur had fractured on both sides of the area of the cancerous cyst. Since the leg already was secured with a rod/pin, the leg itself was secure but he had the pain from the broken bone. He is comfortable now and is able to get around with a walker and a wheelchair. They are waiting on the doctor to start his chemo trial and then begin radiation. Keep the family in your prayers. We pray there will not be any more severe complications.
UPDATE ON THE LACKEY FAMILY
May 10, 2007—Congratulations to Haley and Bridgette on their recent placements in their competitions in gymnastics and cheerleading. Congratulations to Bridgette for winning the Teen Miss Brandon contest.
Julie sent this note:
Haley's gymnastic competition in North Carolina was a great experience for her. She placed 17th out of 42 girls. She is back in the gym 20 hours a week working on new skills and preparing for her next competition season which will start back in December.
Bridgette's cheerleading competition in Panama City Beach, FL went well also. Her team placed 4th in competition. That was a hard trip to come home from! WE LOVE THE BEACH!
Brigette had a very exciting past weekend. On Saturday, May 5th, Bridgette was crowned "Teen Miss Brandon."
MESSAGE FROM JAMIE YOUNG PICKERING
May 4, 2007—I would like to thank you all for all your prayers for me and my family when I had my car wreck. I am doing much better now. I know all your prayers helped me through it.
I would like to let the family know, those who live in Lee Co., that my husband Rocky J. Pickering (RJ) is running for Lee County Coroner. I know a lot of the family doesn't live in Lee Co. but maybe everyone could help spread the word.
Thanks, Jamie Young Pickering
CHRIS YOUNG FAMILY MOVING TO VICKSBURG
May 3, 2007—The Chris and Becky Young family will be moving to Vicksburg, MS, July 1 where I will serve as the pastor of Hawkins UMC. From everything I have heard from those who know the church, it is a strong church with a good history and a lot of potential. In the last few years they built a Christian Life Center and either built or bought a new parsonage. The parsonage is just a few years old, so it will be the first time in my ministry that we have lived in a house less than 27 years old!
David will be starting high school in the fall, and this appointment virtually ensures him being able to go to and graduate from one high school, which is a big plus for us. If all goes well, we hope for Sarah to finish there as well.
It's always tough in describing a new situation because all you have are numbers, and the numbers tell such a small part of the story that it's hard to get a good feel for the situation. We are excited about this move, and the only thing dampening that excitement is our tremendous love for where we are now. We have had an absolute blast at this church, have seen such growth in this congregation (and I'm not talking primarily about numbers here!), made close and lasting friendships, and been supported and encouraged all along the way. We did not look forward to having to tell the congregation this morning that we were moving, and it was an emotionally draining experience. However, the church reacted with the same grace and love that they have shown throughout our time at Wesley, and I know that they will welcome the new pastor when he and his family arrive.
Keep us and the church in your prayers in the coming weeks and months as we make this transition to new ministry and as we say goodbye to those who have been such a blessing to us.
Peace in Christ,
Chris
NOTE FROM GIDGE
May 1, 2007—Gidge has gone back to work and is doing well. Joe Price is now driving a truck for Doug Comer and really enjoys it. This way he is home more. This is the first time he has driven pulling a flat bed.
PAUL AND LAURA 'S TRIP TO LOUISIANA
May 1, 2007—Paul and Laura spent last week in Baldwin, Louisiana working on a mission project for UMCOR (United Methodist Committee On Relief). A group of 20 people from First United Methodist Church in Starkville worked with people from four other States to pack and load health and layette kits to be sent to different areas of the world whenever they are needed. Wednesday afternoon was "free" time and the group went to Avery Island near New Iberia to tour the gardens and the Tabasco plant.
EXTENDED YOUNG FAMILY IN TEXAS
May 1, 2007—I have received a couple of emails from some of the Texas relatives telling of the illness of Odell Walker, grandson of Sam and Cora Young. He had a stress fracture on his femur and in running tests they also found a tumor on one of his kidneys plus a spot on his lung. He had surgery at Baylor last Thursday and had a rod inserted to strengthen his femur. The kidney biopsy revealed renal cell carcinoma. He will be a part of clinical trials for latest treatments plus having radiation. Please keep this family in your prayers as they go through this time. Also, keep Beverly Smitherman in your prayers. She had gall bladder surgery in February but had to have more surgery due to complications. Beverly is the daughter of Roger Young. They have had quite a lot of illness since November - Roger had a heart attack and then pneumonia and Beverly's husband had knee replacement surgery. We are a family-connected and we certainly want to remember all of these loved ones.
LONG DISTANCE ROUMENS
May 1, 2007—The Roumens participated in the Music City Marathon this past weekend in Nashville. 
Eddy Roumen ran his first marathon (26.2 miles) in Nashville on Saturday, with a great time of 4 hours and 3 minutes! Also, Sharon ran her first half-marathon (13.1 miles) with a time of 2 hours and 11 minutes!! Meanwhile, Emily participated in the kids marathon logging 25 miles over the last 2 months and running her final mile with children from all over middle Tennessee into the Tennessee Titans stadium on Friday evening (April 27th)!!!
Eddy and Sharon celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary on Sunday April 29th.
STEVE AND TONYA YOUNG COMPLETE LIVING WATERS FOR THE WORLD MISSION TRIP
April 22, 2007—Steve and Tonya have returned from a mission trip to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico with Living Waters for the World (LWW). Steve is the administrator of LWW, which trains and equips mission teams to form partnerships with churches and other organizations in communities with contaminated water, and then work with those partners to install & operate a batch water treatment system and lead health, hygiene and spiritual education in the community. "Most folks in the States don't realize that half of the drinking water in the world is contaminated, and that millions of children die each year from preventable water-related illness", says Steve. "We're trying to make a difference one community at a time."
The purpose of this trip was to work with a small film crew to film at four locations - all churches - where a water system is being installed or already has been installed. The footage will become a part of the new LWW video, due out this summer. This was Tonya's first LWW trip, and it was fun for them to take this trip together. To see more pictures, click here.
YOUNG FAMILY NEWS
Apr. 3, 2007—Katherine Young, 11-year-old daughter of Paul and Camie, had surgery on her foot last Friday to removed an extra bone. She made it through the surgery well. She will have her pink cast for six weeks and then have a "boot" for three/four weeks.
Gidge Young's son, Jimmy, is still having tests run. Continue to keep this family in your prayers.
Jackie Young had surgery last Friday to put in a heart fibrillator. She was in the hospital about a week before the surgery. We wish a quick recovery for her.
Congratulations to Madelyn Young on winning second place in the Hot Springs Village Writers' Contest. The title of her story was "Just a Day Full of Fun." She is preparing some of her writings to enter in the Arkansas Writers' Conference in June.
