bittersweet memories

I had my day all planned out yesterday. School work, school work, and more school work. I am a bit behind on my administrative duties. The next thing I know I'm calling my Mom and asking her if she'll come spend a couple of days if I pick her up. She said yes so Hannah and I picked her up after Hannah's hair appointment.



Now I had forgotten that today is the fifth anniversary of my dad's death. My mom reminded me after we got here. How timely of God to put her on my heart and to have her with us today. I'm sure everyday is hard, but today would be harder.

My dad and I weren't terribly close, but I knew he loved me and would do anything for me if he could. Sometimes things will immediately bring him to my mind and it is bittersweet. Some things I miss about him are some of his sayings like "dry as a bone" and "grazin' material" for the kids. When the kids were smaller he would always pull out his wallet and give us money to get grazin' material for them. That meant candy and they loved it! When I was younger I always knew if I was getting what I wanted for Christmas because he would tease me about it. I guess he had a hard time keeping Christmas secrets.

My dad was drafted into World War II when he was eighteen. He fought in and survived the Battle of the Bulge. After he came home he married my mom, started farming, and never went far from home again. I guess he had traveled all over Europe and didn't have a hankering to go elsewhere. The furthest I've ever traveled with him was to Dallas after he got sick. My brother Teddy, Mom, and I took him to see a specialist there and he ended up having surgery and being there a couple of times while he was sick. Oh, how he wanted to come home.

He actually made a record and sent home to his parents. I can remember listening to it growing up and thinking how young he sounded. It was because he was young. About the age of my sons. I can't imagine how his mother's heart must of broken when he left.

He loved us, worked hard, and was a honest and kind man. I miss him. So Daddy, if you can hear me from heaven, I love you and miss you. So does Mom.

captivated

I think I'm in love! I haven't felt this way since the first time I saw Steve Nash play for the Dallas Mavericks. He was so little and so cute I couldn't help myself. A few days later I found out "Little Stevie" was taller than my 6 foot 1 inch husband! Now for the record, the love of my life is my husband Donald, and always will be. He understands, or at least I'm pretty sure he does.

I absolutely love my new washer! I have used it a total of four times since yesterday afternoon. That would equal 7-8 loads in my old one. It's amazing the way it works. In fact, I just stood there yesterday afternoon and watched it wash clothes. Donald came in from work and found me doing that very thing. I have been as happy as a kid in a candy store.

That thought brought back memories of when I was a little girl. We lived in a very small town, but at that time we had our own grocery store. I can remember when there were two! My mom would let me have candy when we went. I remember walking up and down the glass case, trying to decide what I wanted most. If I had fifteen cents to spend I thought I was rich. You could get a whole candy bar for five cents. There was so much penny candy to choose from. Some of the penny candy even had five pieces inside the package. They were small squares, but so yummy and chewy. The chocolate were my favorite! After many trips back and forth in front of the case, I would tell Miss Vivian or Miss Ruby what I wanted. Then my mom would pay for it when she paid for her groceries.

I can remember going to the other store also. Their candy was not in a glass case but in easy reach of a young child's hands. I guess since I usually got candy when we went I didn't think anything about choosing a piece. When we got to the car my mom asked what I had in my hand. I showed her the candy and she made me march right back inside and give it back. I can honestly say I have never shoplifted since! I guess I was always certain I would get caught. I thank my mom for teaching me that valuable lesson at a young age.

What does that have to do with this? Probably nothing, but I feel young again!

Remembering

I'm ready for it to warm up. It's 29 degrees now, but the windchill makes it feel like 19. On the upside it is supposed to get up to 33 today. But I don't consider 33 warm. There is a 60% chance of rain, therefore we could get some ice. All this cold makes me remember another time.

Several years ago we had a major ice storm after Christmas. Hardly anyone had electricity since the lines were down. Our house had two bedrooms and a bath added onto the back before we bought it. Now they did an excellent job and you can't tell it's an add on. They buried our lines though and the transformer on our pole stayed intact so our house had electricity. It became sort of a haven for some of our church family. We had heat and warm water for showers. We also had tons of food since the electricity was off long enough for every one's food to spoil. They brought it to our house and we had a very full refrigerator/freezer. One morning I woke up to the smell of frying bacon! Our pastor was cooking breakfast. Now I don't do breakfast unless it is at night for dinner. So that was quite a treat for me. One night we grilled steaks. I loved it; it was wonderful having people I love live with us for a few days. The kids had a blast as their friends were here also.

We still talk about it at times. So if it gets too bad and we are blessed with electricity "y'all" come on over. And yes, Pastor Paul, breakfast would be nice again please. I'll also be sure I have some extra pillows for Connie and Eddie!