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November 28 The memorial to celebrate Willba's life will be held Tuesday, December 5th at 6pm in the Chapel at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale. In lieu of flowers, the family would encourage memorials to either the Susan G. Komen foundation , or to Circle of Life Hospice in Springdale. November 25 A tid-bit from Tiffany.....
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Cabot Bound
Today I'm leaving early from work to go see my little angel. I haven't seen her since Sunday because she has been spending the week with her Mamaw and Papaw. Britt went down there Wednesday to be with his family for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I stayed here and my family went out to my Grandma's house.
I don't think Willba's Memorial Service has been set yet. I will let everyone know when that is going to take place. I know that she has chosen to be cremated so there will not be a viewing. This will be a celebration of her life! I found out that she was saying "Mama" just before she passed and she also saw her sitting in a chair in her room just days before. I know that she is up in heaven taking care of her parents and dancing with the angels!
I hope that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving!
My love to you all!
Tiffany From my West Coast Mom.....
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Thanksgiving and Homecoming
Mud Treasure died peacefully Wednesday night, Thanksgiving eve. Sir Avid truly believes that she knew she couldn't join the festivities in person, so she decided to come in spirit. The West Coast family salutes her.
Our Thanksgiving was very gentle this year. Lots of love and caring. We didn't mention Wilba's death until the evening was drawing to a close, but the mood had been different. It was, softer? Sweeter? Gordon was adored by everyone and absolutely the hit of the party. Jen and Lloyd looked exhausted and I was more than happy to babysit last night.
As I hold Gordon, I remember the pictures Jenn showed me on her camera phone of Wilba holding him in the hospital. It makes the moments with him even more touching. I know MT would have loved to be doing what I am doing and so I try to give him a little hug for her. Does she understand in heaven? I think so. I hope so.
Mud Treasure is free in a way we will not understand until our time comes. I like referring to her by her blog name, because it is so fitting! In the Bible it says we are treasure in earthen vessels...and she was a treasure. (2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in a fragile vase of clay, in order that the surpassing greatness of the power may be seen to belong to God, and not to originate in us. Weymouth 1912 version)
To my Arkansas family - love, hugs, and we are with you in spirit dear ones! November 23 From Tiffany
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Yesterday I lost my Best Friend....
The person that made me laugh when I thought I couldn't laugh.
The person that was always there for me to lean on.
The person that no matter what, she always had a smile on her face.
The person that didn't let the "inconveniences" in life get her down. After all "It's only an Inconvenience"
The person that lit up a room and never met a stranger or an enemy.
The person that made beautiful pottery and was always so excited to show off her new "pieces" of work.
The person that made me a stronger person today just by having the chance to know her and be her best friend.
The person that always wanted to try new food and loved to eat just like me!
I think I have dreaded writing this entry since all of this started with Willba a little over 4 weeks ago. Willba passed away last night at 11:45 pm. I think I could go on and on for pages with everything that I loved about Willba. She was such an inspiration to all and she was such a fighter for the things she believed in!
She will be greatly missed by many of us, but just know that she would want you to celebrate her life. I know it's hard to hold your chin up because she was a special person to all of us and we didn't want to see her go. She is in a much better place with her Mother and Father and now she is pain free. She is free to dance all she wants with the angels and she will be able to look down upon us and keep us safe.
My love to you all!
Tiffany Willba Barron passed away late Wednesday night, November 22nd. Many of you know Willba, many may just know of her. She was part of our J.B. Hunt family for over 15 years...and we are going to miss her so much. Over the last 18 months Willba has fought breast cancer. When she found she had cancer she did a lot of research about the disease and worked hard to get information out to the world through her award winning website http://mudtreasure.spaces.live.com .
Willba's positive outlook around her illness not only helped keep her going, but also helped her family and friends. She was surrounded by an incredible support team. This team, along with Willba's determined drive, kept everyone fighting to the end. Many thanks go out to those people who took the time to help her to doctor appointments, chemo and radiation treatments, and even help her with the home makeover she had been planning for so long. Your support meant everything to her. Willba was an inspiration to all of us, often reminding us to take the time to notice the beauty of the people and the surroundings around us. We were blessed to have her share her eye for beauty with us in so many ways - her jewelry, her pottery, her pictures, and her words. We'll never forget Willba saying "here's the plan". While it doesn’t seem that the plan was exactly like she planned, in some ways it was even better – because of the incredibly positive impact she made in all ours lives. Our prayers go out for her and her family including two of our own, her son and daughter-in-law, Rodney (IS Client Engineering) and Tish Reeves (Operations).
As Willba would want it, we must continue the fight to beat this inconvenient disease. Even though she will not be with us this coming April, we will have a team to honor her spirit and enthusiasm in the Race for a Cure, on April 21, 2007.
We will update you once a time is set for a service to celebrate her life. Thank you to Rick George for this wonderful note that he sent at work. I could not have said it any better. - Rodney November 22 Mom is still Mom, and as usual continues to surprise everyone. Without going into all sorts of detail, she keeps showing signs of nearing the end, and them backing off from them. In some cases symptoms will show up and then go away. The nurses all have given up on trying to predict what is up with her. They told me last night that they have decided that she is in charge and running this thing. I am sure Mom is pleased 
The staff have had to increase her pain meds to keep her comfortable. As a result of this and progressing illness, she does not really wake up now. She does make a lot of noise, but it does not seems to be the result of discomfort, I think that she is actually trying to talk. You can tell because if you hug her and talk to her she responds with more noise then usual. I let her know that I know she hears me, and that I hear her.
So, as usual we can't really predict what Mom is up to, she is doing this her own way, and I am sure glad. November 21 The latest from Tiff
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Willba Update/Baylee Update
I did not go visit Willba yesterday. But, Sherry did call me and left me an update on my voicemail last night. She said since they increased her Morphine on Sunday that it is impossible to "wake" Willba up. She said her blood pressure was normal yesterday and her heart rate was up. The Morphine did this to her the first time when she was still in the hospital.
Thanksgiving is fast approaching and I hope that everyone keeps Willba in mind during this time of year. Please pray for her family to have peace and strength with all that is going on. Her Sister is a very strong person and has been with her most of the time while she has been in Hospice. They also have an older Brother that has been sick. Please pray for him as well.
I hope that everyone is enjoying their week!
My love to you all!
Tiffany November 19 I think my West Coast Mom makes a good point 
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Celebrating Life - Getting on with It!
And the beat goes on...as hard as it is to go on sometimes, one of the things I have learned is that life goes on and it goes on HARD. It doesn't wait for the mourning or the grief; it keeps skipping merrily on with new events, new challenges, new joys. It doesn't seem right somehow to be happy when someone you know is dying slowly of cancer, but she would prefer it! She would say, "Get on with it, people!" You know she would. So this post is doing just that. Getting on with it.
Beautiful daughter turns 21 and we belt out a few tunes together. It was SO STRANGE to go out drinking with my sweet baby girl! She felt kinda strange, too! The worst part was watching her light up a cigarette (sigh), but it's her life. I did quit smoking 22 years ago so she could grow up in a smoke free home. Goes to show ya...best laid plans and all that. She was still experimenting with what kinds of drinks she likes, I stuck to my one simple one and had to leave at 10:00 pm to pick up grandson from his great grandparents.
Below is a picture of her current significant other - Jeremiah. She sang so beautifully!
Grandson # 2
If Evan gets any cuter, I just don't think I will be able to stand it. He still doesn't like my flash, but I keep trying! He has a beautiful grin and laughs out loud a lot!
His mom had his hair done in a little mohawk.
Grandson Gordon # 3
What a happy grin!
Gordon is growing so fast. Hope to see him more often now that Staff Sgt is back from Arkansas and has a deeper sense of family because of it. He has been grieving hard for the loss of his Arkansas Mom.
Would you like to see a beautiful picture of Grandson #1 and Granddaughter #1? 
Well, glad you asked!!!! The sidekicks live in Arkansas and so I have only seen them once. (Well Cameron twice, but Kenzie only once). But through the wonderful BLOG medium, I am able to stay current and share their joys. They can also see my BLOG and watch us, too!
Mud Treasure has had the joy of watching them grow in person.
Enough for now...
Celebrating each moment will be my life-long memorial to MT. We visited MudTreasure yesterday. I spoke with her hospice doctor. He said that she has been on a "plateau" The past week or so. They have not had to increase the pain meds in several days. This is a good thing. Pausing on this plateau has given us a lot of opportunity to have more good moments with her before she finishes her trip up the mountain. She has developed a taste for popsicles. There is no doubt that she is often times aware of who is there and what they are saying, even if she does not respond, so it is still nice to talk to her. Feel free to stop by and visit. November 17 Mom had a pretty good day yesterday. She had many visitors. She seemed more "with it" and was talking some, and even ate a little. She seems to really enjoy popsicle, and had a little soup. Although she still sleeps much of the time, yesterday still seemed to have much more quality time then during the weekend. Thanks to all of you that are visiting her, I think she really likes seeing everyone. November 15 From LivingLife:
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One last Hug
My friend Brandy and I went to Hospice to see Willba at lunch. She had her eyes open, but was not responding. She said a few words, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. Her arms are drawn up and she is no longer able to swallow, therefore making it hard to talk. Her cousin Ed (cancer survivor of 2 years) was up there with her. I believe he flew in from CA last night. He said that she pulled her catheter out last night so they are just leaving it out.
When we were getting ready to leave I leaned down to her to give her a kiss and tell her how much I loved her. I felt her arms reach up and slowly wrap around my neck. I put my head down on her chest and got my last hug from my best friend.
Willba was such an inspiration to all of us. She was the positive vibe on the days that we weren't feeling so positive. As her time draws near I continue to remember the good times we had together and have made a special place for those in my heart!
My love to you all!
Tiffany
I saw Mom last night and let her know that as of Monday I had finished college. I could not believe the response! After a few days of being somewhat unresponsive, she clapped her hands and smiled big time. It was great. She was not really able to say anything, but there was a happy sound, and her eyes really lit up. She smiled big for a few minutes and then fell asleep and continued to grin for a while. What a great reward!! November 13 School is out, see you at Graduation December 16th!! November 12 We visited Mom(MudTreasure) tonight. She has slept all day. She is not really saying much at this point. She did open her eyes and say hi as best should could after I said hello. Afterwards she closed her eyes and did not respond. Her breathing has slowed way down to a few large breaths a minute. So, it could be that we are getting very close. I must say, it is kinda of hard to see Mom like this. It is so very different from the woman we all know and love. Her cousin Ed is due into town tomorrow night. I wonder if she is waiting for him. He is her cancer hero. He is a survivor many times over himself. I guess it is hard to say, but I believe a person has some control over their passing, and she knows he is coming, so maybe she is holding out. At least she is comfortable. If she is in pain, I think it must be mild, although she does not really tell us at this point. The staff have been watching her closely and have been increasing her pain medicine regularly. I know they are taking good care of her. It is obvious they truly care. Two of they nurses so far have cried when speaking with me about her. It is amazing, in a few short days she managed to make the same connection with them we all have come to expect.
Tiffany has been checking up on Mom as well, here is the latest from her:
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Willba Update - Friday
I went to see Willba on lunch today. I wasn't going to stay very long, but then I got there and found myself making excuses to leave. I just don't want to leave her side in these last few moments she will have. Even though she slept almost the whole time I was there. I gave her a good foot rub and she really enjoyed that. She had lots of visitors while I was there, but could barely carry on a conversation all the way through. She is still very comfortable, but she cannot get up at all. They said she is just too weak and it's a danger to herself and the nurses that try to help her.
They put a colorful gown on her. It has lots of flowers on it. She looks very pretty! I hope that she is having wonderful dreams about all the people that love her so much. I hope she knows that when she gets to heaven she will have all the time in the world to make her pottery and not have to worry about anything else.
Thanks again for praying for her! I let her know that everyone is thinking about her and how much everyone loves her! She knows how much she is cared for and she has amazing friends like you!
My love to you all!
Tiffany November 10 The family and I had a great visit with Mom last night. She is still very comfortable and resting well.
It seems like Mom's time may be drawing near. The good folks at Circle of Life Hospice have done a great job of helping us to understand what to expect. As far as I can tell, Mom has gone through most all of the stages that are expected as a person nears passing. Of course, there is no way to really know, but it could be that there are only a few days left for her to be with us.
I know that this thought must make many of you very sad. It does that to me as well. For a long time Mom has hoped that when her time comes that we do not mourn her passing so much as celebrate her life. I know you hear that a lot, but that is what she is really after. I bet I will end up doing a little of both. I hope you all can join me in putting aside our grief a little so that we can celebrate the incredible life she has had, especially the last two years.
She says that she loves seeing the people that visit. At the same time it makes her very tired, so she may take a lot of micro-naps while she talks to you.
Thank you all for your continued support and care, it means to world to Mom and all of us.
November 09 
A very bright spot in the last two weeks is that my brother flew into town with his family, and I finally have met one of my new nephews! Gordon was a joy to have around, and a ton of fun. The Sidekicks were glad to have him join the Balding Avenger's Corps. It was nice to meet you, Gordon! November 08 After a long and mysterious absence, the Balding Avenger has returned from distant places unknown.
The Avenger seems battered, and staggers a bit as he appears over the horizon. His absence has been the result of crazy and difficult times, but make no mistake, he is back.
Beware the Glare
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