Thanksgiving for Another Year

Thanks be to God, our Father for another year of life.....I have officially arrived alive at 55! What a great, stressful, happy, sad, wonderful year I'm leaving behind and what a wonderful year of trying to glorify God and enjoy Him is ahead!

For you younger women, do not be afraid to venture into this age..it has it's benefits. If you say something wrong, people just think "oh, well, you know she's getting on up there". You can start dressing funny and it seems normal. If your rouge (blush) is a little too much, you're forgiven because everybody knows you can't see!

Today I would like to give a special thanks to my dear parents.....my dad who is in heaven and my mama! They nurtured me and with the help of God didn't kill me during my teen years. So thankyou and I love you!

Tonight my sweet husband is fixing dinner and a few family members will be here. Most especially the grandchildren. They have spent a few days with their grandfather and his family but they come back home today!

"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" Psalm 139: 16

I got a brother for my 8th birthday

This is my brother and sister in law. He's what I got for my 8th birthday! He wasn't what I wanted at the time, but he's o.k. now. So happy birthday brother and don't forget, mine's tomorrow!

Sisters and Sadness

This is my mama and her sister, the only two left of 7 brothers and sisters. Aunt B has always been a second mama to my sisters and brothers and myself. I stayed with them when my younger brother was born and as he was born on July 30 and I was born on July 31, 8 years apart, I celebrated my birthday that year with Aunt B and Uncle S. That was the year I got my "big girl" bike. Aunt B made most of our Easter dresses and we had many an egg hunt at her house. She also gave the "perms" we had to have more often than we wanted to!

Uncle S died several years ago and Aunt B lived in her little house on the bay. She was an immaculate housekeeper and was very particular about her dress, and had every hair in place! She is loved by many.

Last nite we found out that Aunt B went to live in a nursing center. I went to tell mama and then went to visit Aunt B "to scout it out" before mama visits. The two sisters have always been so close, even when they fuss with each other. We call them the Golden Girls. Over the past few years, Aunt B has been gradually forgetting more and more. She will celebrate her 92nd birthday in September.

Nursing homes are sad places and although this one isn't bad, it is what it is. My cousin was there with her, and when she started to leave, Aunt B said, well I'm going with you!" That was when I got my keys, kissed and hugged her and got in my car to leave. So many memories flood through my mind. Happy memories. She didn't know me today, but when I said Husbands name, she knew who he was! She has always said he is the best looking man she has ever met. (of course she is almost blind). I went to visit mama and to give her a report. I made it sound as good as possible and left out the hardest stuff. Age is such a strange thing, the only thing that makes it possible to bear is that we know God holds Aunt B, mama and all of us in his everlasting arms!

With so much love to you, Aunt B

Surprise for Grandma

If you know someone who lives in a retirement center and you want to really make them happy, go to lunch! There! Today the grandchildren and I surprised mama at lunch. As we were sitting at the table, she was telling everyone who walked by that these were her greatgrandchildren! Of course, if anybody under 65 is in the dining room they get stared at a lot! The kids loved the attention and so did mama!

It made me think of a time before daddy died. Ashley, my 15 year old granddaughter, was about 3 when my sister and her husband, mama and daddy and I drove from Florida to California. Yes, it is the longest drive, especially across Texas..and if you've ever driven Texas from border to border, you know what a long, boring drive it can be. Another problem there are no rest areas! Here in Florida, we have a rest stop every 30 miles or so, because we just can't wait! Anyway, back to my original thoughts. Daddy was a tall, thin man who by this point in life had little to NO patience with little children. Also, due to circumstances of life, we had not seen Ashley in a long, long time. The minute she saw us, she knew us. She was such a little lady! Daddy fell in complete and total love with her. We explained that I was her nana and that daddy was her great grandfather and mama her greatgrandmother. While at the San Diego zoo, she was dawdling (southern for day dreaming and lagging behind). When she noticed some of our group was ahead of her, she shouted in her best 3 year old voice "Great, Great wait for me great". Well, she had him then and for the rest of his life he was Great to her. We miss him!

This visit is breathing joy into my heart. Don't ever let your children move far away, because they take your grandchildren with them!

A Heart Melts

They landed on time, had a great pizza supper, swam for a long time and then, SPEED STACKERS!!! We watched the video and they played for a while, while their Nana watched and soaked them in like a sponge! They have grown so much this year! Adam seems so much more mature and Ashley is just beautiful and so sweet!

Adam was talking to me tonight when just he, Ashley and I were still up and he said "Nana, I wish I lived over here in Florida." I said "Why?" And (hold onto your hearts) "cause you're here"....Oh, my gosh, my heart melted in my chest! Being a Nana is so wonderful!

As I write, they are trying hard to go to sleep. It is after 11 p.m. here, but of course only 9 where they live....I think they will probably just stay up awhile while their Nana goes to bed!

Since no one was sleepy, except me, they asked me to tell them some family stories..I told them about when their daddy was born. Then I said goodnite!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow the grandchildren come! I can hardly believe it is already here. I always get really anxious right before they come for some reason, then when they walk off the plane, I am fine! Have I mentioned I have issues?

I bought speed stacking today at Target..thank you to momrn2 for that great suggestion. Looking at the box, it may be a little complicated for Nana but it has a dvd with instructions...that is good because I never read instructions. Today I've also been making sure the pool is ready. We have had a lot of rain lately and I was afraid it would be all out of balance chemically. It was good! I'm so thankful that when we put in a pool, we got a salt to chlorine system. We never have to buy chlorine (which can ruin a good pair of shoes in a hurry!) and our water is always sparkling blue! They love to swim. When they get in tomorrow, we'll have a little pizza party and catch up! It's really tough when your grandchildren live so far away, but my sister always tell me not to gripe, her's live in Okinawa.

If one of the two people who have ever read this blog, read it, please say a prayer for safe travel and a good visit making memories to last a lifetime!

Mama

I want to talk about my sweet mama today, but first I need to thank momrn2momrn2 for helping me with my blog! She took my 3 blogs and joined them into one! Thanks so much! I'm so excited to now be a one blogger woman!

This is me with my mama. Today we went to the dentist and she was feeling so bad. She didn't remember the dentist's wife and she has known her for years. I left feeling sad. So that's not who I want to introduce.....I want to introduce my mama, my friend. Mama was one of 7 children, the third of 4 girls. She grew up in a family where there wasn't a lot of money, but there was a lot of love. Mama and her sisters would find dresses they liked in a catalog and my grandmother would cut patterns and sew the dresses. They felt very well dressed, and were all raised to have grace and dignity.

One trivia fact about mama is that way back during the war, we had a tall (for small town usa) hotel called the Dixie Sherman Hotel (you may know the song "The Day they tore Old Dixie Down) and they had a band and dancing on the top. Mama saw Clark Gable! He was stationed at the air force base in our town. I'm sure he wanted to ask mama to dance.

Just as soon as I figure out what is wrong with my scanner, I'll scan in a picture of mama and her sisters.

I have 5 siblings and when we were growing up, mama was one of the original stay at home moms, although I feel sure that at times she would have rather gone to work than listen to us all day! But she was always there, and she always took care of her children. At any given time, anyone who needed a home stayed with us including most of us kids when we were adults. So mama, now that you need us, we'll be here, just like you were. I love you!