If something is BIG news, it will end up in the newspaper. Don’t you agree? And, when it does, we want to cut out the article, or picture, or recipe and save it. I happen to have some very old clippings that my Mom had saved…and even some my Granny had saved, also.
One clipping I saved myself was my engagement picture. That would be some 39 years ago. Someone took the clipping and had it laminated….probably because the laminating process was new and they thought that would be the best way too save it. WRONG!!! The ink from the front has transferred to the back and the words that were on the back have bled through to the front. The whole thing has yellowed, and you can’t even tell it’s the young, and lovely me! 🙂 I have other clippings from the wedding, but not another one of those.
So, I want to talk today about preserving newspaper clippings. If you are going to keep them, at least keep them well. There are 2 ways that you can go about this. (And this is my preferred method.) I take the clippings and make copies of them…I also scan them into my computer. IMPORTANT: USE ACID FREE COPY PAPER ! I make 2 or 3 copies of the article, in case some one else wants one. Then I store the copies and the original in a vinyl sleeve. Plus the info is safe on my computer. This is a perfectly acceptable way of preserving information if you just want it for a remembrance.
If you wish to laminate an article from the newspaper, laminate one of these copies. If you want it to look exactly like the original…copy it on a color copy machine.
HOWEVER…….if the actual clipping itself is of value to you, there are other things you should do………
Spray the clippings with an archival, acid reduction spray. These aerosol sprays reduce the acidic content of the newspaper, the main source of fading and decay in newspaper clippings. Buy an “Acid-Free” spray at your local craft store. Treating your newspaper clippings with this spray will help preserve them.
And some other things to remember…
***Keep the clippings in a cool place, away from light and humidity.
***Don’t fold, staple or mutilate the clippings. Staples and paper clips can cause permanent stains.
***Don’t store the clippings in the ‘magnetic’ type of photo album. This will hasten the deterioration. (this goes for photographs as well).
***Do not laminate important clippings. Clippings of historical events lose their value if they have been laminated.***Place the clippings in a sturdy 3-ring binder with vinyl sleeves. IMPORTANT…..Place only one clipping in each sleeve. Do not let clippings overlap back to back.
Just another thought…completely unrelated to the rest of this post. That’s just the way my mind works…
If you have any container…say a box or plastic bowl or any sort of decorative box that has an odor to it that you do not find pleasant…this is what you do. Take newspapers and pull them apart so you are working with one page at a time. Crumble it up and fill the box with as much as it will hold. The lid must be able to close tightly. Leave it for several days. Some particularly strong odors may require redoing the process.
Because my Pop sold motorcycles, he knew many of the young guys who Joy and I went to school with. He took up time with each one when they came in the store to look and wish. Many of the guys still tell me in how much he had meant to them. A lot of them still look him up when they come back in town. A few days before Christmas 1998, Brian stopped in and was talking with Pop. He was still in high school, and was friends with Tara, my niece. He had 4 wheelers and dirt bikes and rode in the woods a lot. As they talked, they came to realize that where Pop walked was where Brian rode for fun.
Mom and Pop had gotten started on their home (#7), and Pop went over every day to check on things. Even on new Year’s day. We had all decided that we were not going to gather…too much going on. In the late afternoon, Mom and Pop decided to go over and check on the house. All was well, and they picked up something to eat and headed back to the apt. Pop decided he would go on his walk…even though it was getting late. Mom said, “Why don’t you just skip tonight.” But, a walk was part of his daily routine. He did turn around and go back for his cell phone, though. Now, this day 1-1-98…was freezing. It was so cold that no one was out and about. Except Pop. Into the woods he went. He walked on the familiar trail, staying away from that big mud hole that had gotten larger from all the dirt bikes and 4 wheelers playing there. On he walked, but turned around before he got too far, because it was so cold…and almost dark. Heading out of the woods, he had to go past the big mud hole. He skirted it again. He thought. But, all of a sudden, his feet were slipping on ice that had formed around the hole. He was falling…and he was falling toward the mud hole. As his feet went into the water…his left leg and hip hit the cold, icy ground. Things went fuzzy for a little…he doesn’t know how long. But, when he came to himself, his legs were in the water…up to his knees! “I’ve got to get out of this water,” he thought. And, he started to push himself backwards, he nearly passed out again. THE PAIN WAS UNREAL! He immediately knew he was not going to be getting out of there by himself. It was freezing, literally. He was hurt and in icy water up to his knees. He knew no one knew where he was, but Mom and she only knew the vicinity of the woods he was in. He called 911 on his phone and tried to tell them where he was. He then called Joy, before he called Mom, because he knew Mom was going to be upset. Then he called Mom…and as he was talking to her…his phone went dead. The battery was dead. In and out of consciousness, he waited and prayed. The paramedics came to the area, but did not know where to go into the woods to look for him, and their vehicle wouldn’t make it very far without getting stuck. They went in on foot as far as they could see, but had to come back. They yelled to him, but he didn’t answer. Tara and her boyfriend at the time went to get Mom, and Joy headed to the woods. All anyone knew was that the trails he walked on were across from a funeral home. Sort of. Panic was close by as everyone realized that Pop was down in the woods, in the water, in severe pain, and no one knew where he was or how to get to him. The parking lot of the funeral home is where they all met, but then they decided to walk a little way down to the spot where he entered the trails. No one knew what to do next. And so they waited. And felt helpless. And prayed.
But, you know, all those times you think you’re alone…you’re not. And, when you think that no one knows where you are… someone does. And, when you think the situation is hopeless….it’s not. When you belong to Jesus, you are like His child. And, He watches all you do and all you say, and everywhere you go. Just as an earthly father watches over his children, and protects them…so much more does our Heavenly Father. “God is with you in everything you do.” Genesis 21:22. Do you notice there are no restrictions on that. It doesn’t say when you are in church, or when you are at the grocery store. He just is with you…always…wherever you are. Even if you are in the woods, and hurt and wet and freezing and scared.Or standing by a busy highway knowing your loved one is lost and hurt. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God goes with you.” Joshua 1:9
But, how could God help now? He may know where Pop was…but no one else did. As Tara and Joy and Mom and the paramedics stood by the road, prayers were in their minds. Prayers for help. Prayers for someone to do something! And, as they stood there with the traffic whizzing by, God answered them. The driver of a truck that had just passed by recognized Tara. He knew her well enough to know that if she was standing by the road in that area, something must be wrong. So, he turned around and went back. It was Brian. He had just returned from deer hunting. Tara told him what was going on and that no one knew where Pop was. But, Brian said, “I know exactly where he is.” And, his truck , with those big ole tires and loud motor, could easily go there. So the Paramedics got their things and hopped into Brian’s truck and he took them straight to Pop. Any doubts that God was ordering the steps of His children that day? They checked him as best they could by the headlights of Brian’s truck, and they saw that he was hurt extremely bad, and the situation was quickly becoming critical. By the way…he was only 72 years old! They pulled him out of the water, and put him on a board and strapped him tightly. Pop was going in and out of consciousness from the pain. The area was so much muddy slush with areas of ice everywhere, they knew there was no way to carry him out. So into the back of the truck he went. Brian turned the truck around and headed out. The paramedics were not able to give him anything for pain, since they could not even assess the injury. They tried to hold him still as the truck bounce d along the trails and through the holes. He was near incoherent from it all. “I must be hallucinating,” he thought. “I’m seeing deer all around me.” No. He was not hallucinating. He was in the back of the truck all right…but he was next to a massive deer that Brian had shot that day! Can you even imagine? If he was getting out…it was gonna be on top of a dead deer!!! You know, God doesn’t say we’ll always be comfortable with the way He decides to answer our prayers. But, bear in mind, if Tara and the rest had decided to wait at the funeral home…they couldn’t have been seen by passing traffic. The way the area is where they were, they would only have been seen if they were standing where they were.
The rest of the story is anticlimactic. He got to the hospital, and soon was in surgery. His leg and hip were torn to pieces. It was so bad they could not even fix it properly. They had to put a big plate in it, and a rod down the length of his leg. It partially healed but after a few months, he realized something was not right, and the doctors agreed with his assessment. So that called for more surgery. However, this time enough of the leg had healed that they were able to fix it the way it needed to be. It was over 6 months before he was over it. Sorta. Kinda.
And, the building of their house continued through all of this drama. Mom had to take over the job of overseeing the builders. And, the house got built. The were able to move in and get back to some semblance of normal. Whatever that is. They loved ABODE #7 and lived happily ever after there for several years, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, and many other special occasions.
Mom moved one more time, ABODE #8 , for her. And, now she lives in a mansion and is walking on streets of gold. The walls around her are made with precious stones. And, she is waiting for us to join her.
Friends,when we belong to the Lord, He will always do what is best for us. We may get our selves into some big messes…but He is always ready to help us. Our family and friends see clearly how He chose to help Pop on that New Year’s Day. “The Lord has done this; it is marvelous in our eyes.” Psalm 118:23 And, so I am happy to share this story of what God can do. And what a marvelous story to tell our grandchildren. “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done…so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and in turn would tell their children.” Psalm 78:4-6
Oh, FYI…..Pop says he is not moving again until he moves back in with Mom!
I need to set up this story before I start. Otherwise it may not make sense to some of you. Plus, the back story is just as good.
My Pop loved to make my Mom happy. He tried to accommodate all her wishes. He loved doing this and she loved it as well! DUH! And, boy did she have wishes! When they came to Dothan in around 1950, they moved into a new home…ABODE #1. They stayed there, on 3rd Avenue, until I was in the 6th grade..around 1965. They built and moved into a new home on Florence St…..ABODE #2. And, there they stayed until they built a new home on Lizzy Lane in 1982…..ABODE #3. In a year or so they added a pool and then a pool house. They loved living there. Our whole family enjoyed them living there! They backed up to the golf course, and there were plenty of woods nearby for Pop to ride his motorcycle through. The children would swim, and Joy and I would fix lunch in the pool house. In the summer this was an every day affair. We also used the pool house and the surrounding land as the base for a camp we did for quite a few years. It was for the girls, grades 1-6, and their missions class at church. Then we had to do one for the boys, too, because they were jealous! Also, there was a culvert that had an area that Mom and Pop made into a little pond. The boys would fish there. Wonderful days…some of my best memories!
For some reason, Mom decided that she was tired of living in a house. She decided that she wanted to move to an apartment. Pop said fine, and she was off and planning the move. She sold alot of her furniture and had a huge garage sale. [OK, I have to say this about my Mom. I loved her dearly, and still do. However, she would do things sometimes that just blew me out of the water. She used to complain about all the ‘stuff’ I had, but she had just as much! We discovered lots of it after she moved to Heaven. Where she and I differed is that periodically, she would get on a tear and throw bunches of her ‘stuff’ into the garbage. Well, I take that back…she laid it out beside the garbage pickup cans, so if someone wanted it, it was easy to get to. OH, my friends, many are the times I would drive up to her driveway and see something that had no business being thrown away. I would just get it and put it at my house. Tina lucked up on several bags of beautiful garlands and greenery that she had thrown out. She is still using it to decorate with. Who knows what went that never should have. Bless her heart, when she cleaned out—-she cleaned out! Once Mom saw a beautiful vase at my house and asked me where it came from. I told her that I found it in a pile of trash and rescued it. She said that she used to have one like that and she needed to see if she could find it! I said nothing.] Back to the garage sale.. she just wanted to get rid of everything. I went over to help her…and headed off a tragedy! When I walked out to the pool house where she had everything set up, I saw a woman walking out of the door with my Mother’s crystal goblets that she had gotten when she got married. I always loved them….and I was not about to let them get away! I said to the lady,” I’m sorry, but there was a mistake, and those goblets were not supposed to be in the sale.” She said, “Sorry, they are mine now.” Now, I did not want to get ugly…but she started it! So, I said, “Ma’am, I just can’t let you take those glasses. They are too special to us.” She said, “Well, I do not have to SELL them back to you, youknow.” I was getting a tad bit upset here. I told her, “Ma’am, I guess you don’t understand. This is where my familylives. And, WE get to make the rules around here. And, the rule is that my Mama’s wedding crystal belongs to herdaughter and that is ME. And, I just can’t let you walk out of here with my glasses.“ She just looked at me like I was the crazy one….so I decided to finalize the deal. I said, “You see those 3wild boys out there in the woods…(my 3 boys whopping and hollering like they had not been let out of the house for a week)..”.they belong to me. And, they would love to play a new game called KEEP THE NICE LADY FROMGETTING TO HER CAR! She got mad then. And, I knew I had gotten started running my mouth and didn’t know when to stop. I did not know what was coming next. But, then she said, “Fine, I’ll sell them back to you. There’s6 of them, so that will be $30.00.” I paid her and she gave me the bag that held the glasses.” She was mad. And, I was ashamed of myself, but, I was mad, too. But, not as much I was going to be. Mom came out about then and asked what was I doing with those glasses. She said that she had just sold those a little while ago. I said, “I can not believe you were selling your weddingcrystal. If you didn’t want it, don’t you think that I would want it?” “Well, I didn’t want those old things.” she said, ” Inever liked them anyway. I was glad to get $3.oo apiece for them!” “3 dollars apiece! Did you sell them for 3 dollars?” I said. She said, “I just told you I did,” she said, “why does it matter?” Realizing that I had been ‘had’…I just decided not to let her or anyone else know what I had done. “It doesn’t matter, really, I was just wondering,” I said, ” I got the glasses and thatis all that matters.” And, it was. And, they are still mine. I think they are beautiful. Before we moved here to the Creek House, I never had a place to display my china or my crystal. There was just not room for a china cabinet in our small eating area. But, when we moved in here, those 6 glasses were the first things I put in my new china cabinet. And, they make me smile every time I see them. The little cream and sugar in front belonged to my sweet MIL, Elizabeth.
ANYWHO…..they finished their sale, and did, indeed, move to an apartment…..ABODE#4. I asked Pop today why they moved. And, he said that he thought he was getting old (65) and it was hard for him to keep all the yard work done. [I must interject right here, that he was mowing grass, and weeding flower beds just last summer…at 84!!! But, he’s not going to do that anymore.]
I am afraid that the Apt. people did not expect what had moved into their midst. And, I’m sure that whomever moved into #268 after them, was very grateful that they did! They were in one apt. and decided that they wanted to be on the second floor, and so they moved across the complex to a second floor. Then the changes began. Even though they had repainted the apt before they moved into it…Mom wanted it painted in ‘her’ colors. And, so she had it painted. Then, every time she looked at the fireplace…she got so sad. There was NO mantel! This would just not do, as she loved to decorate her mantel. And, so, she got permission, and had one made and hung! A BIG ole mantel! And, how could anyone ever enjoy living anywhere in the Deep South without a nice ceiling fan? So they picked out a nice one and installed it. They removed wall paper in a bedroom, and installed shelves all around the room in the guest bedroom. And, finally, it was done to her liking. Well…to her liking for about a year. By then, apartment living had lost it’s appeal, and they began building a new home…..right in front their ABODE #3. This was a beautiful home…2 stories, and all to her liking….ABODE#5. We all loved this house. It had a big porch on 3 sides with rocking chairs and swings…very Southern. She had the yards landscaped beautifully where once was a treeless empty lot. She planted blueberry bushes that the children loved to pick for her to make pies with. They lived there about 2 years, and bet ya can’t guess what came next. Yep, they decided they did not like living in a house that had stairs. And, so they were going to build a smaller house to better suit their needs during their later years. So, back to an apartment…not the one they had totally remodeled. Someone was living there and they weren’t about to move. So this was just a regular apt, ABODE #6. And, since they knew they were not going to stay there, they managed to live in it just as it was. And, they were happy there…the only exception being that Pop missed having woods to walk and ride in. He did, however, find a place to walk.
Below is my humble attempt to show you where Mom and Pop made their homes. Houses 3–5–7 are all right together. I think I made the cul-de-sac a little out of proportion. Oh Well…
Now this is what where I wanted to start this post. But aren’t you glad you know all the back story? So, I will end Part 1 here…and pick up THE GRAND ADVENTURE in the next post. You can’t even imagine……
Finn, Finn, Finn. You are a wild and crazy dog! Why Lucy Jane even calls you ‘Wild Man’! And she came up with that herself! You are so happy…bounding here and there…you are in the air as much as your feet are on the ground! But, you are NOT doing well in the area of ‘taking care of business’ OUTSIDE! Come on, now, and get with the program…you are causing us too much stress.
Here are some pics I made of you while we were outside yesterday. You remember when I asked you to pose for me and you ran the other way? Until I held one of your fav treats in my teeth!! Oh, the things you make me do!
Here’s where I asked you to pose…You looked at me like I had lost my mind! By the way…your right ear is inside out!
Mo-ooooom…… OK, here I am on one side…
And, here’s the other… really, Mom, do you think anyone can tell the difference?
This one is the best! And, I fixed my ear, thank you very much! Hey!!! Be careful with that treat…don’t swallow it!
OK, here’s my polka dots….And, that’s all there is to me! Oops! Sorry ’bout the ear!
That’s it. I’m ready to get my treat and go. Umm! Yum, yum, yum! And, I’ll have another, please…you must have licked off the best part when it was in your teeth! Now. I’m ready for my close-up.
OK, I’m going, now. Places to go….holes to dig…things to smell…
I am a Christian woman who has survived many years on the planet. God has blessed me with a wonderful family: husband, 3 sons, a dear DIL, and a precious grandson. I also have dear friends to keep me inspired. I am an artist of sorts and am finding my way through the great blessing of retirement. I recently retired after 20 years as a music teacher. Life is good!
My Boys
"All your sons will be taught by the Lord; and great will be their peace." Isaiah 54:13
Read their stories... Adam Alex Ian
Hello, my name is Everly. I am a blogger living in New York. This is my blog, where I post about interior design and decoration. Never miss out on new stuff.
Hello, my name is Everly. I am a blogger living in New York. This is my blog, where I post about interior design and decoration. Never miss out on new stuff.