The Dress.....

Since in the comment section of this post my sister brought up my first wedding dress, I'm going to show it to you and say just a little bit about that time in my life. As you must have figured out by now, I'm an open book....well, cracked open anyway!

First as a disclaimer I want to say that I know that marriage is a sacred union instituted by God in the Garden of Eden. I am NOT making light of the marriage vows OR of divorce. I, along with others close to me have suffered and continue to suffer the consequences of divorce.

Having said that, I will say this... He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103 :14 Indeed, if He did not, none of us would be here at all! I am so thankful that we serve a forgiving God, that His Son paid the price for my sins!

I'll also say that I respect my first husband, who coincidentally was also my second husband, he is the father of my children and we have two beautiful grandchildren. His family remain friends.

O.K. now that I've said all that.....

I am told I was a very misunderstood rebellious teenager. I came to my mother when I was 17 and told her I was getting married. She immediately replied that no, I would not be getting married, but in the end I married. I do not recommend that a 17 year old and a 19 year old get married. Of course we were too young and I was so ignorant, but thought I was so smart!

Shortly before the actual day we married, mama said we would go to town and get a dress for my wedding. She says that I said I would rather be dead that be seen shopping with you. Can I say for the record that I did not mean that? It was a very difficult time for all of us...my parents, his parents ....yea, all concerned!

The next door neighbor, and my best friend at the time, and I went shopping together. Below you will see the result of that trip.

Yes, I wore a red and blue dress for my wedding, and I loved those blue shoes! Look how young we were! We were married in the church that I grew up in, with Mike and I, the preacher and two sets of unhappy parents! My mother and father stood like statues while Mike's mother sobbed and his daddy just sat there (he was a sweet, mild mannered man). My mother, by the way, was mortified about the dress and 40 years later, I apologize mama!

How Many Years???

Happy Anniversary to my sister and her husband!

These two have been married 42 years today.......

They know the meaning of for better or for worse!

Dick was first attracted to Cathy because of her dazzling good looks and charming personality.

Together, they've been through separation during a war, children, a wreck that changed their lives, children's marriages, grandchildren.....whew! That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Even through their many trials, God has richly blessed these two with unconditional love and only an occasional fist fight word taken the wrong way!

So have a happy day and have many more adventures together! :)

Here they are on their 30th anniversary.....

Valentine's Day Party

They know how to throw a part at the retirement center!

Along with the romantic music, there was

food,

Prizes,

And darts among other games! Look at mama ready to pop some balloons. She did manage to hit the bulls eye in the carpet every time!

No prizes! But lots of fun!

We couldn't even win at Bingo, her specialty!




The party was lots of fun and a big thank you to the Honor Society at a local college! The students had as much fun as the participants!

This is Love.....

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love on another. 1 John 10-11

Hope everyone has a day filled with love!

Friday the 13th.....a girl and her grandma in Red

It is Friday the 13th. I am not superstitious, but if this girl in red doesn't scare you????? I mean who let me wear all that red?!!! The only comfort is that I'm pretty sure my older sister must have worn it first.

It is a red outfit don't you think??? Mama even put red candles on the table! I wonder if I was going to a valentine's day party??

But isn't my grandma pretty in her red coat??? Both of my grandmothers had a profound influence on my life, but I'm pretty sure my sense of humor was a gift from grandma Anderson! I remember her as happy no matter what her circumstances were at the time, and sometimes they had to be really hard!

Grandma lived in a very modest home with a garden on both sides. She grew potatoes and corn, maybe other things but that's what I remember best. She would pay us 25 cents an HOUR to dig potatoes! She never had to pay us the entire 25 cents because we didn't get the wage/hour thing and dug fast.

Oh, could she make some biscuits! That generation of southern women were just born knowing how to make biscuits. Grandma never allowed plundering, but would take 5 pennies out of a jar and let us walk to the little neighborhood store. I would always get 5 peppermint sticks and would eat most of them before I got back to her house. I still have that gluttony love of all things sweet.



I really love this picture of grandma at the beauty shop....she wasn't one consumed with her looks and probably didn't go to the beauty shop 5 times in her life. She always had long hair and would comb it every morning and put it in a bun. We weren't allowed to comb her hair because she said she was tenderheaded. Thinking back, she probably didn't have time to sit and let us comb her hair. This is one of the few time I ever saw her in pants!

She was a true Titus 2 woman!

Paul writes, "I have been reminded of your sincere faith which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also." II Timothy 1:5

Like Timothy, I had a mother and grandmothers who were full on sincere faith and love for the Lord!

On this Friday the 13th, I feel very blessed to have had them!

Happy Birthday Claudia!

Happy Birthday to our sweet daughter in law, Claudia! Claudia has been in our family for a long time as she and Tommy started liking each other in the 9th grade! They have really grown up together and have now been married almost three years.

Claudia teaches pre school special needs children and is working on her doctorate. She and Tommy graduated high school together and went to the same college. Go Gators!

We are so thankful to have you as our daughter, Claudia, and hope this day is a wonderful day! Happy Birthday!

Daddy

My daddy would have been 89 years old today. He died very suddenly almost 13 years ago. Our daddy was an incredible man, a great father, he loved the Lord and the Church and he loved us. We never had a doubt about that! He could be gruff, he wasn't all lovey dovey and affectionate, in fact below is a picture of him hugging me back in 1993.



Click on the pictures to see them bigger.


*** Please forgive the crooked pictures....I'm convinced I will never be savvy enough to do this right, but maybe it makes it a little more interesting.

Daddy was such a good looking young man, don't you think? Between he and mama, we know where our good looks came from. :)

By the way, these pictures aren't in any particular order. I had to scan them in and that took way more time that I thought, so I'm running out of his actual birthday!

Below is daddy holding the last grandchild born before daddy died. This is about a year and a half before he died.

You know now that I'm studying these pictures, he looks kind of lovey dovey doesn't he???


Below he's laughing with his granddaughter Amy. He always had a special place in his heart for her!




He also had a special place for my granddaughter Ashley. Below he is with her at the San Diego Zoo when she was three. She's 16 1/2 now! She hadn't seen her great grandpa since she was 8 months old, so we explained who he was and she acted as if she had seen him the day before.....he got a little ahead of her at the zoo and she cried out Wait for me great! Below she's giving Great a big hug!



Below he is with my brother and his two children on Christmas, of what year I can't tell you. DATE YOUR PICTURES! Just a suggestion.



From left to right, his daughters, Debbie, me and Cathy.

With my son David a long time ago.......he's now 31.

With all six children and mama.....left to right and also youngest to oldest.....Steve, Michael, Debbie, me, Cathy, Tommy and Mama. Obviously a long time ago!



One thing about my daddy, he loved our mama!



For a while in the late 40's, daddy worked in Baton Rouge. Mama was home with two little children and daddy practiced something that has almost gone by the way.....writing letters! Below is a letter he mailed on September 12, 1949.

This letter is so sweet and so precious. We should all have something like this to read when we're old. Every time I read this letter, I am amazed that my daddy wrote these words. I never knew he was such a romantic!

This is what he wrote.....I don't think mama will mind that I'm putting it out there for the world. Ronald Reagan's love letters have nothing on my dad!

My mama's name is Margaret, but daddy called her Greta for a long time.

Monday Nite

My Darling Greta,

I wish I could put on paper all the things I want to say to you, but that is impossible.

First I want to wish you a happy birthday and pray that I never have to be away from you on your birthday again. I will try for the rest of my life to make up to you the time that I have lost while working out here.

Darling, I hate to say this, but I walked all over this town Sat. trying to find an appropriate gift for you on your birthday - but with what money I had I could find nothing that was worthy of you - everything is so high and then all of this La. tax on top of that. I am deeply ashamed that I could not send you anything - so Darling will you put your watch in the shop and have it fixed and call it your birthday present from me. Someday with the help of our Lord, I will be able to give you and the kids the things that I want you to have, and also will be with you.

I hope and pray that we will soon be together - never to part again. My Darling I miss you and my children every minute that I live.

Tell Tommy and Cathy that I love them and am trying to fix things so that we can all be together again.

I love you Darling with all my heart

Your J.T.

P.S. I love you

I left some sentences out....just because they were housekeeping type items. Reading this, I keep thinking that the daddy I remember was a man of few words, obviously not always!

Hug your dads tonight if you can, sometimes they aren't there in the morning.

Proverbs 10:7a Memories of the righteous will be a blessing

Happy Birthday Uncle Hugh!

This is last year's picture. I left my camera at MIL's after our little birthday dinner.



Russell's Uncle Hugh turned 91 yesterday! That's a great milestone for most anyone, but Uncle Hugh is definitely a unique man. He walked and talked at 7 months (that's his story!) and he says he remembers crawling on his grandmother's floor. I'm just not doubting it because this man names all the counties in Florida, all the states and their capitals, all the provinces in Canada and all the presidents and vice presidents EVERY night before he goes to sleep! He is constantly making up puzzles, writing poems and doing sudoku. He can figure out the day of the week you were born.......still drives and is just generally an incredible man! He was also at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed, but won't take part in Pearl Harbor day because he says the heroes are the ones who died that day.

Uncle Hugh drives a two year old V*lkswag*n B**tle. It has less than 2,000 miles on it, but he's thinking about trading it for a car that gets better mileage! :)

He's especially attentive to Russell's mom since Russell's dad died.

Sometimes he comes to church with us! He thinks I can sing......he's also almost deaf.:) He's been such a blessing to me since I met him and I thank God for him!

Clarification....and I'm sorry....

The tax comment........



What I really meant was could you work for the government???

I know....bad,bad,bad.....I am sorry.

However, I'm not the only one who wonders....... Again, I'm sorry.

I'll tell you why they call'em MAN'S best friend!

In case you were wondering.......

The dog loves daddy best!

Last nite, we were watching t.v. and Russell reached over to hold my hand......he is my husband and all. Oh, no, that did not set well with Jack. He took his manlegs and challenged me for Russell's attention! Jack jumped right between us, looked me square in the face and said games on mama, this man is mine!






Look who won! Is that the look of love, or WHAT!!!???

We told her didn't we daddy? You don't need her when you have a friend like me!

Honey, please look at me like that sometimes!!! Pretty please!

As a side note (not really Cathy), my BIL is doing really well and my sister is surviving too! :)

And if I may be so bold to ask.......

did you all pay your taxes?