There was a time, when Alex first became ill, that we went from Dr. to Dr. looking for answers. Many times it ws a family affair…we would try to combine it with some fun things for all the boys to do.
Once we went to the University of Michigan for several days of testing. Donald, who at that time served on the local school board, also had a convention to attend about that time. So, we combined the two. The second trip was to Amarillo, Texas, and we knew the boys would love that.
Of course, it was quite a distance from this deep South town, so we decided we would fly. Bought tickets, packed bags, headed to the airport, and boarded the plane…all 5 of us. We were ready for answers and then a little adventure.
The only plane that flies out of here is the small commuter jets. They connect us to Atlanta. But, at this time they still had the propeller planes. This was Alex and Ian’s first flight, so they were really bouncing off the wall! We got them seated and buckled up. Adam had found a seat away from us because he was too cool to be seen with his parents and little brothers. All was ready…TAKE OFF!
We watched their faces and it was a mixture of excitement and terror. But, as they saw that no one was up in the aisles running and screaming…they settled down.
About 10 minutes into the flight, my ears started popping. You know the air pressure is not as good on those little planes. I offered Don a piece of gum and then leaned over the seats in front of us and offered the boys some. They declined. As we continue climbing…my ears were really stopping up bad. I was worried that the boys were uncomfortable, too. So, I leaned up over the seat again and said to them, “Boys, are you sure you don’t want some gum for your ears? It really helps.” My dear youngest son then proceeded to turn around in his seat, look me square in the eyes, and said, “Mom…if you think I’m going to put that gum in my ears…you are badly mistaken!”
I sat down…buckled my seat belt…told Don what had just happened. He and I laughed all the way to Atlanta!
“God has given us these times of joy.” Nehemiah 12:43
Tina and I travelled to Moultrie today to attend a very special party. Shirl is retiring after 28 or 38 years of teaching. (I don’t remember which she said. 38 seems like long time…I don’t think she’s THAT old.) Her sweet daughters had a surprise party for her to let her know how proud they are of her. Both of her daughters are in the teaching profession as well as one of her SILs. Well, she was expecting pictures with the family…but she got all of us instead!
Look at all the food! Yummy goodies!
And, look at this cake! So pretty and so good! Shirl thought the top layer should be all hers!
Sue, Shirl’s sister, was the first to spill something on her clothes! Seems the older I get, the more I do that! Jayna to the rescue…she fixed it right up!
I do not remember what we were laughing at here…but it was really funny! I love to laugh!
Remember my big kitchen picture from Maui? Well, here’s the small version. I brought it to Shirley because she has a lot of the blue and white china. And, because I love her!
And here are The Sister Friends! Tina…Shirl…Tonja
Shirley and her daughters…Jayna( son, 3 years…daughter due in 2 weeks)…Shirl…Jolie (daughter 5 years,son due in Oct.)
The Lord provided us a beautiful day with blue skies, and plenty of beautiful sunshine. Jolie and Jayna honored their Mother, and showed her how much they admire the work she has done through the years. Several of the ladies she teaches with were there also to celebrate with her and share their memories. And, Tina and I were blessed to be able to share the day with them all. ‘Cause, it really wouldn’t have been a party without us, now would it??? 🙂
Jayna’s husband, Keith, is a man of many talents! We should all be so lucky! He built their house, cans vegetables and fruits, and is a gardener deluxe! This is a hanging basket on their deck. I thought it was so beautiful. The colors just made me smile!
Tina and I made it home safely, and solved all the world’s problems along the way…as well as planned a bridal shower! Women should rule the world…we know how to get it done…and get it done right! 🙂 Happy Sunday to you!
I am feeling sadder than I thought I would today…this day before Mother’s Day…the first one without my own Mom. It has been 10 months since she went to live with Jesus. Most of the time I feel settled about her being away from us, but today as I sit here and think about tomorrow, Mother’s Day…I’m all undone. She was sick last year on Mother’s Day, and Ian and I went to visit with her for a while in the afternoon. The picture of that day is on my sidebar. I don’t think that today I can write in complete sentences and think about words flowing smoothly from one to another. I don’t think I can write the words that will let you know what a dear, dear person she was. I do not have the words in me today. And, I think I have said it all before. So, as a reminder to myself and my sister, and my children, I am going to just make a list of things that she liked…and some people who were especially dear to her…and I know I will leave out some, and if I leave you out…please forgive me.
MOM LIKED:
Pop
jewelry…lots of jewelry
pretty clothes
new shoes
girdles
pantyhose
my shirts…the ones I designed
beets
sour gummy worms
china…she had several sets
beautiful serving pieces
a clean kitchen
to iron everything
to fix food for family
to sing
to do missions
to be silly
the ‘moo cow moo’…poem she learned in elementary school
‘shoe fly pie’…a song she loved to sing and dance to
her SS class
Bro Jerry
to change furniture around and to buy new
to entertain
plan, plan, plan!
use fabric underneath displays
be in charge
a fire in the fire place
planting flowers
peach rings
Black filled Christmas candy…creme drops, I think
to dress she, Joy, and me alike when we were little
Evelyne and Ed
Rudean and Frank
Katherine an Allison
Jerry and Rhonda
Dick and Lahoma
Jane and Wendall
June and Jerome
Bill and Pat
Neva
Shirley
Becky
Joyce
Elizabeth
Monty
Patty
Tina
Shirley
Pamela
Jeanette
Mabel
Janelle
Linnie
Eunice
Billy
mentoring younger women
her sisters and brother
fresh vegetables
hose to match her shoes
bag to match her shoes
Pillsbury Dough Boy
jokes
Dr.Pepper
growing tomatoes
my new house
surprises
Peeps
dressing Pop
making her poundcake for others
treating the church staff to special lunches
her prissy living room
to play the piano…but only at home
having extra outfits ready to go at a moments notice
buying gifts early and storing them
having a gift closet
traveling with groups around the world when she was young
traveling with Pop or Joy and I in the car in later years
my blog…she read every night before bed…
PFChang’s
going to Graceville for shrimp (a tiny town nearby)
going to NC and putting up veggies…she even liked the shelling!!!
Mission Trips and the teams that travelled with her
SHE WAS :
very brave
kind
busy
caring
gentle
hard
tough
stubborn
opinionated
silly
conservative
so proud of her grandchildren
a mother to be proud of…and I am.
Come back with me to 1209 3rd Ave, for a few more memories. Here is one of those great old pecan trees that we had in our backyard. Great for climbing, and hiding behind, and cooking!
Here is Joy filling her pool! Look behind her…next to the house,beside the steps, is the basement door…it’s standing open…
There was always much to do in the backyard. And, it was there that I began experimenting with combining differing tastes and textures to come up with my own delicious offerings. We had a most delightful sand, along with a rich dark soil, and a smattering of red clay. Mixed together, it looked delicious. At the right time of the year, I would have the most wonderful green tassel from the big pecan trees in the yard. See them there at the bottom of the picture. I could strip the tiny little pollen granules off the stem and add them to the soup or stew I had been working on all morning. They were also great for decorating the top of a pie or cake.
In our front yard we had a beautiful wisteria vine. It grew up the telephone pole that was next to the street, right by where we kept the garbage cans. Ours was a much travelled road, and we were not allowed to play there, BUT…that was where the wisteria was. And, it held some strange hold over 2 little girls. The seed pods of the wisteria vine as they are growing have an incredible softness…almost like velvet.
Blooming, the flowers have an intoxicating aroma. Just saying the name of the plant brings that sweet scent up from my memory bank to delight me again! Bees like them, too! Alot!!!
Then there were the drying seed pods…you actually can hear them when they popped! The seeds were then blown about by the wind to take hold in some fertile ground and start another vine. IF the 2 little girls, and their posse, did not get them first.
It really wasn’t fair that the vine was in the front yard. Really, it wasn’t. It sang a song to entice us when it was in full bloom! (Or that could have been the bees…) The beautiful purple blooms would mix into the dish of the day, and it was possible to take the individual flowers and place them ‘just so’ on top for the final presentation.
And, when summer faded and the seed pods were doing their popping dance, the vine, all naked with branch after branch twisting and tangled and turning, beckoned us to come and listen. It begged us to take of its bounty of little seeds inside the pods and use them any way we could imagine. The beautiful wisteria was doing it all for us!
The problem…and it was a big one…was how to partake of its glorious bounty without being seen by Mama. Because, she had this thing about obedience! If we didn’t obey…there would be consequences. Yes, Ma’am there WOULD be consequences. And, while I know I could have explained to her just WHY we had gone down ‘the path of unrighteousness’, she was not in the mood to listen when her girls had strayed. And, she had a way of ‘explaining’ to us just how unhappy she was! We always got the message loud and clear!OBVIOUSLY WE WERE BEING OBEDIENT HERE!
However, that ‘demon’ wisteria was working against her. It was pulling her girls to disobedience just as hard as she was pulling us toward obedience. And, there we were, 2 pitiful, sweet, little angel girls…caught in the middle.
How, pray tell, can a budding chef , along with her assistant, prepare her dishes without the necessary ingredients? There MUST be some way to get the wisteria petals and seeds from the FRONT yard to the BACK! And, so, we became quite creative. Sometimes, we would have contests, and whomever would lose had to sneak to the front yard, creep up to the bush, gather enough supplies, and get back before getting caught! See, there were always younger kids around, who could not run or jump or swing as high as we could. So, they would lose. It was just the way of the world on 3rd Ave. Hard-knock life, it was.
Sometimes, we would get my buddy, David, to go get them. Now, David and his 3 brothers lived right next door. He could ride his bicycle anywhere, even IN THE STREET! Poor Mrs Mary had her hands full…4 boys!. So, when David was around, he would go get us a big bunch. He had to do this surreptitiously though, because what boy would want to be seen picking flowers for the backyard girls? So, he would grab some and go…sometimes bruising the delicate flower in the process. He did the best he could…boys just don’t always see the big picture! Like a finished cake, pie and 2 soup dishes done by noon! They MUST be decorated!
There was another boy in the neighborhood, Michael, but he was a ‘whiney, baby tattletale’ so we only used him as a last resort.
EVER TRY TO WASH A CAT?
There were, then, times when Joy or I would be forced to take forbidden road. We would go out the fence gate on the far right side of the yard. This is where the banana tree was. HE-ELL-O-O! Plant the ever so interesting, educational bit of foliage where the kiddies can’t watch it, OK.? We never once caught it making any bananas…but, we could have kept our eye on it IF it had been in the backyard! Anyway, I digress. Out the fence gate, and down the row of forsythia planted between our front yard and the McCord’s. There were 8 bushes…and then the wisteria. We would always move over to the McCord’s yard and try to hide behind the forsythia, moving with quick little hops and jumps between each bush. And, we would stay on their side when we got to the street…even though it was much better pickins’ on our side! We always carried a bucket to gather our supplies. And, there were always those infernal bees! It was a quick lesson that you do not slap a bee! I’m just saying…Then, there was the L O N G trip back down the row of bushes, past the banana tree, through the gate, to safety. We would sit quietly there in the shade for a while…trying to regain normal breathing and listening for the slam of the backdoor. It was possible to tell the kind of mood Mama was in by the sound of the slam! Really! It could be just a normal, walking out the door and letting it slam behind you OR it could be a quick, hard slam that signalled someone had opened it and forcefully slammed it closed. Oh! we did not like to hear that second kind! But, if we did, we’d quickly hid the bucket under the azalea bushes just inside the gate…and then hurriedly sit down and look all innocent and pious!
“Hi Mama! You look real purty! —Ma’am? —You thought you heard the gate open and close? Really! Well, we’ve been sitting right here. Just us two loving sisters enjoying playing together like little angels. —No, Ma’am! —We know about going to front yard. —Yes, Ma’am! We remember what will happen if we go outside the gate. —Yes, Ma’am, we promise to stay inside the fence!” And, we would, NOW that we had what we needed!
Me? I just took all this reconnaissance in stride. It was something that had to be done, and I was careful to plan and carry out the mission as quickly and quietly and as inconspicuously as possible.
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.