PART ONE…Thanksgiving Day…

Thanksgiving Day in our family is full of good food, wonderful family, and furious decorating!  We always have lunch at Pop’s with Joy in charge of the kitchen.  Due to the effects of the past few weeks, we had a lot catered this year, and paper plates were in order.  It was delicious!  Our Birmingham Boy, Ian, came bearing two delightful deserts…one made by his own hand!  Yummy!

While Lori slaved cleaning up the kitchen, all by herself, with a joyous attitude, Tara, Joy, Suzanne, Ian and I were busy seeing to the decorating of Pop’s house.   It has been our tradition since Mom moved to Heaven to spend the hours after Thanksgiving dinner getting Pop’s house into a Christmas mood.  Ian made 65 trips into the attic since he was the only male with young enough legs and strong enough arms to tackle the job.  The other men were all a ‘few’ years his elder. His 3 peers were needed elsewhere…. onewas urgently needed to help control the deer population…out in the wilds of Abbeville.  One was needed to sew and patch and transfer those who chose Thanksgiving and big sales as their clue to begin partying And, the last one was helping watch the youngest of the male members of our clan as they were showing their mad skills to each other and their grandfathers on various athletic equipment consisting of 2, 3, or 4 wheels!  (But, if you notice, in the pics below, one of the little boys has a busted lip, chipped tooth and skinned nose…Way to Watch, guys!)

After we finally got the tree fluffed, and plugged in, we set about finding and hanging the 586 ornaments Mother had on her ‘family tree’.  She also had a ‘Fancy Nancy tree’ elsewhere in the house, but the family tree has every single ornament any of her children or 5 grandchildren had ever made, or that anyone had given her.  Oh, my!  So many…and every one of them dear to her and Pop’s heart.  We did away with the fancy tree, but still put this one up right in the den where he sees it.  If Mother decorated something in years past…it must still be decorated now, according to our patriarch.  Oh, and it makes him so happy to know she would be so happy to see it still done so.  This means that 6 wreaths get hung, 3 light posts get adorned, arrangements on a dining room table, a kitchen table,  the island, and two tables in the hall.  AND the old ceramic tree with those tiny plastic bulbs that is as old as I, am goes in Pop’s study.  We had fun, as we always do when we are together.  Even Lori’s grumbling about people still using forks and glasses couldn’t stop our fun!  (just kidding…well not really, but she did say it with a smile in her eyes!)

Someone may or may not have fallen off a step stool, onto a 3 foot tree lying on the couch and continued rolling until he/she hit the floor.  And, the little tree may have been permanently altered.  However, it sits proudly in its spot…propped up by 2 books that are hidden by some burlap around the base…looking to all the world as if it is intended to be that way.  There can be beauty in the broken.  Mom would be so proud!

Anyway, back to the purpose of my post today.  John Thomas and Levi were so excited at the prospect of having another tree to decorate!  Oh, the ornaments were shiny and bright and wherever they put them was perfection!  John Thomas called the right to put up the star, with Uncle Ian’s help.

Let me just interject this observation.  John Thomas is most cooperative and gracious to anyone who may even think they want to make his picture.  He waits.  He poses.  He makes the most adorable smiles that make you just want to pitch his little cheeks!  In fact he wants to be in every picture made!

Sweet Levi, on the other hand, does not have the patience nor the ‘want to’ to smile sweetly for just a quick second while you try and catch a cute picture.  Pose?  Are you kidding?  You have to sneak around and usually the best I can do is get something from the side.  If you ever do get him from the front…his eyes are looking around furiously to see what he can do the minute he is released.  They are NEVER looking at the camera!!!  (Unless he is being threatened by someone whom he knows really means it!)  I always take 10 or 25 pictures of him in hopes of getting a good one!

You can not imagine what it took to get a good one of these 3 below…

Spot the difference in the two little boys?  God love ’em both!

All kidding aside, with this tradition, we honor the sweet memory of our Mother and Granny and take great pleasure in making the house as festive as she did, knowing what pleasure it gives to Pop.  And, he is so gracious and appreciative.

PART TWO…The Day After…

I ask for trouble.  I know it’s true.  Don’t mean to…but it happens.

Last year John Thomas was visiting me and asked me if we could paint a Christmas tree.  I told him that I did not have one but I would look around and see what I could do.  Well, things happened and people happened and life happened…and I did not get to carry out my plans. But, I told John Thomas that if I was able we would do it this year.  And I was…and we did.

The day after Thanksgiving John Thomas and Sweet Levi showed up at my house at 10:00 sharp.  And, I was ready and waiting on them!  Time for our morning of fun to begin!  I had a huge sheet spread out on the floor.  Both boys had the same supplies…a bare tree, a palette of paint, brushes, an empty snow globe, two empty glass ornaments, a tiny truck, and a tiny tree.  I kept control of the paint bottles, and the supplies for the snow globe.

We began by swirling different colors of paint inside the glass ornaments…these turned out very pretty…but was not a hit with the boys. It took too long for the paint to run down the sides.  They needed fast results!

Then we started the trees.  Now this, they loved.  They discussed  which colors they would use.  Levi told John Thomas that he should copy him because he does art everyday.  John Thomas told Levi that he already decided which colors and not to copy him!  I think that ended all discussion of paint colors.  They both went to work and let their creative spirits soar.  I guess they didn’t notice they both had the same 4 colors.

The trees are hinged on the back so they will stand up.  They did a great job!  Then we washed up and sang a few Christmas carols to liven us up!

We made our little truck ornament for the tree, and then came time for the snow globe.  Oh my!

I found the neatest snow globes at Michael’s this year.  They are plastic and are in 3 pieces…the globe, a little platform for the characters you choose, and a twist on cap.  And, they are large enough that you can put more than one thing in it.  I had a snowman, a deer, trees, 2 elves, a house, a bicycle and two signs to the North Pole. And two bags of snow!  John Thomas chose first cause he said he was older.  Levi said, “Don’t you know I’m 4 now?”  JT told him it didn’t matter, he was still older.  Levi told him that he went to his birthday and he was four, too!  John Thomas just rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, two years ago, Levi”  I didn’t stop at 4!”  Not sure Levi gets it yet, but we let JT go first.  He tried out several and decided on an elf and a tree and a sign.  So, I hot glued and then we opened the snow. OH! THE! SNOW!  I bought some somewhere that was teeny little styrofoam like balls.  BIG MISTAKE!  They immediately attach themselves to your hands and clothes and face and everything!  And, they are so very lightweight that every time you breath out or say a word the weight of your breath sends them into orbit.  They fall where they will and refuse to let themselves be picked up again!  I learned a lesson, for sure.

Levi and John Thomas were sure troopers though.  They got down on the floor and tried their best to corral the lost snow.  Oh if only it would really melt!  Needless to say, we grabbed what we could and dumped it in a bag and decided Levi would use the flaky snow!  He had been studying the pieces and finally decided that he would take the other elf and a tree and a sign…just like John Thomas!  I glued.  And told him to wait for me to open the bag of that lighter than air flaky stuff.  Somehow, his brain did not comprehend what those words meant and he bit a hole in the top of the bag and proceeded to pull it apart with all his might.  And he did…pull it apart.  And it really truly snowed in my studio.  A whole bag full.  I couldn’t speak.  John Thomas stared at me.  Levi laughed and said, “Come on, John Thomas, help me put it back in the bag and lets do it again!”  JT didn’t move.  He knew.   He’s 6.  The bag was quickly then removed from Levi’s hands and cleanup began.  OH ! My!  What Fun!  Here’s the two other ones we did.  See those little demon balls in the snowman?  NEVER buy them!

We finished up with the projects and put everything away.  They played with cars for a while, then John Thomas chose a book for me to read.    But, no.  Levi decided he would read to John Thomas.  He ‘read’ him a photo album of his K3 year of school.  I don’t think JT was particularly enthralled.  But, the dear boy was kind, and let Levi finish.

And this is the only bad picture of John Thomas known to be in existence!

And our fun morning came to an end.  The boys gathered their treasures together to take home and soon their Moms came to pick them up.  I tried everything to remove snow from my studio, and finally hit on a lint roller as the best tool for the job.  Used up all the sheets on the roll…but there’s very little snow left!

JT looked the the pics I took before he left and he told me I messed up on this one.  “You don’t have anything in this picture, Aunt Tonja, “he said.  “Oh yes, I do, Little Man!  There’s a little hand reaching into to a beautiful palette of paint!  He can paint anything he wants.  He can create a blue sky or a dark storm, or a truck or an airplane or even a family.   It’s all up to the artist.  I think it’s beautiful!”  He said it still looked like a wrong picture to him.  That’s OK.  He’s 6!

“…work with your own hands…” 1 Thessalonians4:11

And, it’s now nap time for the grown-up!

The first annual BOO-GA-LOO CAMP is history.  But, history that is bound to be relived and talked about for a while to come.  Because family is so important and I don’t get to spend as much time as I would like with mine…I decided that the big girls and the little boys would have a special few days together.  Why ‘Boogaloo’, you may ask?  Well, it had to have a name.  And, the Boogaloo (bugaloo) is a fast paced dance with wild, crazy movements…. and with these little guys around, we ‘re nothing if we are not fast, wild and crazy!  So Boogaloo it is.  I also changed the spelling to my liking…because I don’t want it called the ‘bug’aloo camp.  Cause bugs…not invited!

Joy and I arrived a day early to rest and reserve our strength for what we knew was going to be a wild weekend.  We were wise to do so!  However, I did have one small project for us to do.  We bought pavers and sorta/kinda laid a walkway between the house (The Sandcastle) and the trailer (The Flamingo).  We had to wait until it was almost dark for it to be cool enough for us to work outside.   And, late afternoon…prime mosquito time!   It wasn’t exactly perfect …but it worked well enough that the boys did not have to walk through the sand spurs to go back and forth.

The crew arrived and the first order of business was discussing all the activities that were to follow. Oh, yes!  Arts and crafts, swimming, sunning, bumper boats, story time, water fun, go carts, and donuts, of course!  We blew up a big pool for the boys to play with their new water squirters and boats and cars.  While we girls sat around and visited.

After a meal out, we turned in…praying for a sunny tomorrow…with NO rain!  The next day was our planned time on the beach.  And, wow! we could not have ordered a more gorgeous day.  Perfection!.

The boys and girls rode the waves, gathered shells, and floated in the glorious ocean under a blazing sun!  Joy and I sat in the shade of a giant umbrella and enjoyed the show!  Back at the Sandcastle, we got in a little art work.  Painting, stamping, building boats…puzzles, cars, and games.

Levi even got a lesson in Solitaire from Aunt Joy!

After a night’s rest, we were up and ready to go again…this time to the Water Park.  Oh, the boys love it here!  There are fountains popping up from the ground to run through and glorious misters to stand in.  The kid’s pool is only 2 feet deep and it is huge!  There’s 2 slides and all sorts of water fun.  There is also an olympic sized pool with obstacles to run.  And around it all are ledges for the older folks to rest…’cause the little boys don’t stop when they get there…until it’s time to eat.  Also lots of covered picnic tables to escape from the sun for a while.

After a little rest, we went to a wonderful place to eat…Boondocks.    After dinner came go-cart time!  This was our promise to Levi.  And, then we had to scout out some shells.   This was our promise to John Thomas….he has a shell collection…and there really aren’t many to be found on the beaches.  Found a great place, and the boys were going strong.  Joy and I, however, were fading fast.  So we switched up cars.  They went for ice cream and Joy and I went back to the Sandcastle.

Plans were to head to the beach for some crab hunting, but Levi came in the house in his Mother’s arms…already deep in dreamland.  So that’s on our list for next year!

The crew left out by noon on Sunday.  But Joy and I needed a day to recuperate.  They all left and by 2:00 we were both napping!  Revived, we did a little shopping, a little visiting, and a little eating.  We finished cleaning the next morning and were home early afternoon.

What an amazing few days together we had! Time focused just on family and fun.  And building memories for the boys.  I think both boys were sad their dads were not along.  It makes me happy that Will and Adam spend such quality time with their sons that they want them along wherever the fun is!  Such good daddies! But, this trip was for us girls!

We are so thankful that God granted us these days to laugh, and read and sing and dance and play and swim and rest at night!  God is good to us and His blessings can never be counted.  It is He who established the family.  And, it is He who blesses ours.

Born to Donald and Tonja Owens…Adam Ryan Owens…6/3/75…9 pounds!  

My eldest, my heart…you have struggled and overcome.  You have the kindest soul and a genuine love for those who are suffering.  You help these people everyday with courage and wisdom and compassion.  This mother’s heart overflows with happiness.  I am so proud of you.  What a fine husband you are, a loving father to Levi, and a blessing to all of us in the family.  I love you.  Happy 40 th!

There are wonderful mothers in most families,,,mine included.  These are the women who help lay the groundwork for the way you were raised.   Much of what you and your grandchildren are taught to respect and hold dear, comes from the mothers who have moved on to another place.  I can joyfully say these women who have physically left this earth are in heaven and waiting for me to join them there.  How blessed I am to come from such a legacy.  Here then is a gathering of the mothers who helped shape me.

My mother’s mother…Annie Mariah Tew Merritt….when I was just a baby…

Here she is a few years before she passed away…Granny Merritt…

Here is the sweet mother of my Daddy…  Ester Lillian Hallman Townsend…..Granny T…

And this is a picture of Don’s Daddy’s mother…she passed early in our marriage…Ola Owens…

Sitting with my young boys is my mother in law and Don’s mother Sarah Elizabeth Meadows Owens…..

Elizabeth Owens…she was a kind and gentle soul who loved her Lord and her family greatly…..

Here is my mother a day after I was born…Elosise Merritt Townsend….

With me, ready for church….

With her grandchildren, Ian,Lori, Alex, Adam, Tara, who learned and loved so much from her…

With Joy and I on one of our fun trips together…

My beautiful mother, whom I miss every day….

Joy and I holding our precious grandsons….Levi Hampton Owens, and John Thomas Bush

My Sister, with her children…Joy Annette Townsend McKibben with Lori and Tara

Me, with my children…Tonja Lynn Townsend Owens…with Alex, Ian, Adam…

And the next generation….Tara Suzanne McKibben Bush with John Thomas

Suzanne Michelle Horne Owens with Levi…

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

What a whirlwind my life has been the past few days.  On Tuesday night, I got a call that our dear Aunt Marie Pope had passed away.  She was in the hospital originally for bronchitis, but then the kidneys and her heart became involved.  She passed without too much suffering…and I rejoice to say she had secured her place in Heaven long ago!

Joy, Pop and I made plans to fly up as soon as we got the details.  So very early Thursday morning, we boarded a flight from Dothan to Raleigh.  Ian was going too, so he flew from Birmingham to Atlanta, and met us there.  Then we flew on to Raleigh, where Ian had rented us a car.  We drove about an hour to get to Clinton.  The visitation was that night, so we had flowers to pick out and other business to take care of.  But, we were ready and at the funeral home at 6:00.  It was a sad time, because the whole family loved Aunt Marie so dearly, but it was a wonderful blessing to see so many of my family who I had not seen in years.

We were pretty tired so we went back to the motel and got some sleep.  But up early the next morning to get ready for funeral.  We left a little early…Pop wanted to visit the cemetery where some of the people he served in the Navy with and their family are buried.  Then we went to the Rowan Church cemetery where my Grandparents are buried…and where Mom and Pop were married….in the church, not the cemetery.

The ladies of the Epwoth Methodist Church had prepared a wonderful meal for us at the church prior to the funeral.  Amazing food.  While we waited for the funeral to begin, we took the opportunity to make pictures of as many family groups as we could.

….Cheryl, Uncle Elwood Merritt, Aunt Betty, Debbie  (missing son,Woody)…this is Mother’s brother

….Tony, Jeannie, Kay, Kim (Warren family…my mother’s sister Della Mae, and Uncle Jefferson…both deceased)

….Uncle Charles Pearson, Aunt Evelyn, Uncle Elwood, Aunt Betty, Pop

Jennifer Pope (married to DeLeon, Aunt Marie’s grandson) and Charlotte Pope (Aunt Marie’s daughter-in law, married to Harry, deceased)

…DeLeon Pope, son of Harry, grandson of Aunt Marie) Lisa Pearson (daughter of Charles and Evelyn)  Ian Owens ( son of Tonja)

….Lori Pearson (daughter in law of Evelyn) Aunt Evelyn Pearson ( Mother’s sister)

….Uncle Elwood and Pop

….Ian, Clyde Townsend, and Nicholas Pope (son of Harry and grandson of Aunt Marie)

Tonja Owens and Ian Owens

….Group picture of cousins, (first and second…Missing Chris who was a pallbearer)

We then attended the service, which was beautiful.  It included a heartfelt letter written to her by her grandson, DeLeon, beautiful music, words by the pastors.  We were all reminded again just how special Aunt Marie was to all of us.  She loved and cared for everyone in her path.  So many people loved her, as was evidenced by the packed church.  This is a country church and the cemetery was right across the road.  We walked over, in bitter cold and wind, to hear scripture and prayers by the pastor.  But, quickly, we hurried back over to the church fellowship all to greet friends.

Someone sat down at a table, and slowly…it filled up as more and more of the family pulled up chairs.  What a beautiful picture of ‘family’…expanding and letting others in…and closing the gap when one moves on.  Thanks, Ian for capturing this.

We left the church and all gathered at Aunt Marie’s house.  This little cottage has been her home ever since she was married at 15 years of age.  It has changed little over the years.  It’s tiny…with a small kitchen and 2 bedrooms, one bath.  Amazing the food that could come out of that kitchen!  Food fit for royalty.  And, she had always just cooked something anytime you may happen by.  She could move like a magician there.  Stove in front…sink in back, one of those old long porcelain sinks with the drain slabs built into each side.  She could stand there and reach almost anything she needed and never leave her spot!

I must say, walking into to her house…even though it was full of family…was a cold feeling.  For no matter how many people were filling up her tiny kitchen and den…she would leave where she was and go and greet them and tell them to come and get something to eat!  The light was not there anymore…the warmth…the “Shug, don’t you want something to eat…I know you’re hungry?”   Some of us sat in her living room..a very unusual thing.  It was for show…not visiting.  But we had to split up due to the number of folks there.  We reminisced about the dining table…how it used to look so big!  And how we as children only got fed after the adults were finished.  Oh, and memories poured.  Then we began getting reacquainted with one another and catching up on each other’s lives and children.  It had been a very long time since I had seen them.  They of course see each other more often as they all live fairly close…but Joy and I had lots to hear about!  More pics, too…

all the first cousins minus Tony and Woody…at least we got Chris in this one!

….Chris and Lisa, brother and sister, and Chris’s wife, Lori 

And, we hugged and cried and said our goodbyes.  And, walked out into the the cold night air to go back to our motel.  We had an early flight…and a long ride to the airport.

All in all for the Townsend family, our trip to Clinton and back took exactly 60 hours.  But, oh, the tears, and joys, and hugs that were crammed into them!

A beautiful wreath of fresh flowers on Aunt Marie’s front door gave passerby’s the information that someone very special lived here.  But, almost everybody that traveled highway 701 knew the Popes!

We walked around her little house earlier in the day and remembered.

This was, for Joy and I, the place we learned that there was a different way of life that the one we lived in Dothan, AL.  This is where we learned about getting up too early, and going to ‘work’ with Uncle Arthur Lee.  We’d ride to the store and get a pack of ‘nabs’ and a mountain dew…and call it breakfast!  (If mother only knew!)  Then we drove all over the area to pick up the ‘hands’.  Back to the field to pick tobacco, or hang tobacco, or stack tobacco,  (Probably don’t have those terms right)  Then we had to go and check other barns to see of there were any problems with them.  And, when we were older, he put us to work to do some of those things ourselves.  Don’t remember that that lasted too long, though!  So, we just rode all morning…called it working…and got filthy!  But, it was nothing short of wonderful!  And, so different from the life we lived in Dothan.  Granny Merritt and Aunt Marie would start cooking when we left before day.  Getting lunch ready!  And, it was a feast, let me tell you!  Harry and Uncle Arthur and maybe one or two others would eat an enormous amount of food…then relax and watch All My Children…and back out to do it all again.  Joy and I tended to stay home for the afternoon!  We learned about combines and tobacco pickers, and tractors in general.  We learned about people who work the land for a living.

….Marie, Della, Eloise, Evelyn

….Grandmother and Grandaddy Merritt at home in Wilmington

….Aunt Marie and Eloise

We went to Vacation Bible School in the same church Aunt Marie was buried in .  We went to church on Sunday.  And, when we weren’t in the fields or eating…there were always beans to snap, or peas to shell or corn to shuck or some unknown food source to be dealt with.  Didn’t mind the shelling…didn’t ike the picking!  And, always…ALWAYS…lots of family dropping in several times a day!  It was a time of playing with cousins, learning from my grandmother, and Aunt Marie, and visiting with the Warrens and Pearsons, and Merritts ,as well!  Little community stores dotted the road…with delightful offerings for a hot, thirsty child. And, there were always chickens…millions of chickens at the Warrens, and goats and pigs…BIG pigs…along with cows and donkeys.  We would usually move around a little to see everyone a while.  It was an idyllic part of our childhood.

So many memories in those yards  between Aunt Marie’s house and Granny Merritt’s trailer, and up the road and down the road.

But, yesterday…the trailer is gone…only the steps remain…and the little house where Granny stored some outside things.  No one lives there anymore.  The birds are not in the trees, because the bird feeders are empty and gone and the flower gardens are not dug up and spaced around so nicely. This land has long since finished being dug up, planted, swept up, lived on by our Granny.

But something is coming to life there.  Something is budding out and getting ready to enjoy the bright wonderful world.  Planted by loving hands…long stilled…but growing and blooming still and bringing beauty to an empty yard full of dead leaves and grass.  Just as our memories bring beauty to our hearts when we remember.

And, even though Aunt Marie’s house is still and quiet…there is the love and care we felt from her oozing out every window and door!  We will never drive past her house without feeling it and remembering how great it was to be loved by her.

And, just look at THIS house…in her front yard tree awaiting a new family who will sing the songs of joy to the Father that she used to sing.  How fitting!

And, a few pictures from several years ago of all the brothers and sisters together before some of them moved to Heaven.

….These following were made in Dothan, 9/8/07

….Harry,( Aunt Marie’s son, deceased), Tonja, Lisa, Joy

Rest in Peace, Aunt Marie.  We are all better people for having known you,  better for having learned from you, and better for being loved by you.  You remain forever in our hearts.