Happy Birthday Drew

Our grandson Drew turned 1 year old last week.  He is the son of Danielle and Andrew, our older son.  We were not home when they stopped by to tell us that they were expecting.  So they left Eric a box with a belated Christmas gift in it-a Baby UNC Tarheels sweatshirt.  As it turns out, we had just bought a baby baseball cap that said 'I'm the Boss', which apparently was something that Danielle said a lot when she was a little girl.  They had a reveal party a few months later where we found out that they were having a boy.  Blue balloons were released and floated up to the sky. 

On the night they went to the hospital, we sat with Danielle's mom in the waiting room.  When Andrew came out to get us, we asked who he looked like.  I never really thought that babies looked like anyone but themselves.  But Drew looked like his dad.  And still does. 

We kept him for a week-end last month so Andrew and Danielle could celebrate their anniversary.  What fun it was to build things with his blocks, play with his farm animals and stroll him around the neighborhood.  But my favorite thing was to rock him and read to him.  I hope he grows up to love reading and has his dad's imagination and talent for drawing. 

People have asked if I feel like it is 30 years ago since Drew looks so much like his dad did when he was one year old.  It seems like so long ago that Andrew was that age.  We are just enjoying watching our grandson grow and learn so many new things.  

We love you Drew and pray that you will have a long and happy life.  We pray for good health and that God will bless you in everything that you do.  You have made our lives so much better just by being born.

Granny B and Pops

Little House on the Prairie

When I was a little girl growing up in the 60s, one of my favorite books to read was Little House on the Prairie.  All of the books authored by Laura Ingalls Wilder were always checked out of the library at my elementary school.  I enjoyed reading about the different things that the family did, going to school and church and living in a cabin out on a farm.  It was hard to imagine that they only had 1 or 2 'nice' dresses or that the children received a stick of candy and a pair of knitted mittens for Christmas.  If crops were productive that year, the children might find a coin in their stocking or their own little cake for Christmas dinner.  The stories were written in a way that you never felt sorry for the family and Ma and Pa made sure that they had enough of what they needed. 

When the TV series was created, my mother was a dedicated follower.  I don't know if she could relate to the Ingalls family; getting milk from a cow for breakfast, dad killing an animal for meat for supper, chopping firewood to stay warm and sleeping under stacks of quilts in the winter.  One year when we were in the mountains, we found a set of Laura Ingalls Wilder books.  They were the same books that I had read as a little girl.  We gave my mom the set for Christmas, even though they were juvenile and paperback; not exactly an adult gift.  Those books stayed by her recliner in the winter where she would sit and read after she got home from work. 

My mom liked to travel and was able to visit many places.  She often talked about going to see the 'Little House in the Big Woods'.  The Ingalls family had lived in different states and I'm not sure which place my mother wanted to see.  Sadly, my mother passed away and was never able to go to any of the houses.

Last month when Eric and I were on vacation, our travels took us to Wisconsin, where Laura was born and lived during her childhood.  I had researched the route we would take and we would be near Pepin, Wisconsin.  We spent a little time at the museum where her things are displayed, then went to the replica cabin of the Ingalls home place.  It is built on the land they owned, a few miles from town.  There wasn't that much to see, the cabin is small with 2 areas off of the main room and a loft.  Indeed, it was a 'little house.'

I am glad that I got to fulfill the dream my mom had.   It brought back memories of the stories I read as a little girl. 

 But I wish my mom had been able to take a trip to see 'her friend Laura's house'.

We had the 'cool' house

After my dad built the putt putt course in our back yard, that is where you could find him every Saturday night.  With his 8 track tape player sitting on the picnic table and the speakers blaring blue grass and country music,  he would settle in for the night.  (If you are under the age of 40, please Google '8 track tape').   Since there weren't really any neighbors around and it was a dead end road, there were few complaints about the loud music.  If the fish had been biting at the river when he had recently gone fishing, supper was fried fish.  If daddy had come home empty handed, the menu for the night was T-bone steaks.  Usually it was just momma and daddy, but if someone happened to stop by, he sent her to the grocery store to pick up a few extra steaks.  Most of the time, there was always an extra person or two.  Everyone was welcome as long as you didn't turn the music down.  It was a lot of fun to be there, listening to the music, playing golf, laughing and joking around.  Good clean fun. 

When our sons were in high school, Eric and I built a garage.  It was a 2 car garage, but one side housed a rec room.  We put our old den furniture in it and bought a juke box from my uncle that he restored.  The juke box was from the 1970s and played 45s.  (If you are under the age of 40, please Google '45 record'.)  We put a dart board on the wall and bought a pool table.  Records from the 70s and 80s were loaded in the juke box and a sharpie pen was placed by the door for everyone to sign their name.  The crowd started coming over after football games, stopping long enough to grab a canned drink out of the refrigerator and sometimes pop a bag of popcorn.  Names were written on the back of the door and the music was turned up loud.  No matter how cold it was outside, the gang still came over.  We had a few basic rules that everyone knew, but as far as we know, they were never broken.  High school was soon over and the kids started college.  Weekends still found them at our house if they were home.  The college years flew by and wedding invitations started showing up in our mailbox.  We now see some of the guys, married and with children of their own. 

I am so glad that we were able to provide our sons and their friends with a place to hang out.  I hope they made some good memories and remember all of the times they laughed and joked around.  I hope our house was as cool as my parent's house. 

Happy birthday Daddy

Today is my dad's birthday.  He would have been 88 years old, but still looked like he was in his 40s. 

My dad was a quiet man, was slow to lose his temper and never raised his voice.  I wish I could say that I got his good qualities but sadly, I did not.  My dad worked in the automobile plants for a few years in Michigan before coming back to Belmont to live.  He took a course in TV/radio/stereo repairs and opened his own business in the front room of our home.  My dad carried a big case with TV tubes in it when he would go to someone's house on a call.  Years later I had someone tell me that she remembered my dad and how tall he was and the big tube case he carried. 

My parents were given a mill house to be moved onto a lot that they owned.  My dad had great plans to restore the house but most of his talents were not anything that could be used on the house.  After he had 'finished' with the house, he decided to build a putt-putt course in the backyard.  The lot was pretty big and there were no neighbors behind us.  My dad made the sides and different obstacles for each of the holes.  Astroturf was installed and my sister-in-law painted a sign to hang up.  When the grandkids came over to play, my dad was completely in Heaven.  It was exactly what he had hoped it would be, a place for anyone to be a kid.  Especially him.

Happy birthday daddy. 

 

 

Happy birthday Georgia!

Our granddaughter Georgia had her 3rd birthday two weeks ago.  I cannot begin to say how badly I feel that I did not blog about her on her special day. 

I remember the night that our son and daughter-in-law told us that they were expecting a baby.  We each received a book titled 'Grandma, Grandpa and Me'.  Inside was something written by the baby about meeting us in a few months.  The time went by quickly for us and soon we found ourselves at the hospital.  Georgia was in no hurry to be born so we were there for the entire day.  It's hard to believe that you can instantly fall in love with someone but we did. 

I was lucky enough to be a stay at home Granny B while my daughter-in-law went back to work.  Her other grandmother and I 'baby-shared' during the week for the first 2 years.  I enjoyed holding her and rocking her to sleep.  I loved reading her books to her and snuggling with her.  We would sing and make animal sounds.  Those 2 years went by just as quickly as the time she was in her mommy's tummy.  Then she started preschool.

The past year has been such a growing time for her.  She started speaking in complete sentences, looks like a little girl instead of a toddler and has gotten her independence.  When Eric and I walked in the afternoon, we would see her on the playground at her school.  She would run to the fence and want us to hold her.  Usually she would get sad when we had to leave and her mommy wasn't there to pick her up yet.  After a few weeks, she would run to the fence, hug our necks then run back to her friends.  Now when she is on the swings, she waves to us.  Never stopping or climbing off of the monkey bars to talk to B and Pops. 

Our granddaughter will be starting full time preschool again this week when her mommy starts back to work after being home this summer on maternity leave.  Time for her to learn more exciting things and make more friends. 

We love you Georgia and pray that you will have a long and happy life.  We pray for good health and that God will bless you in everything that you do.  You have made our lives so much better just by being born. 

Granny B and Pops

Going Home

My mother was diagnosed with cancer 4 years ago.  When the doctor gave her a time frame for living, she started making plans with us to ensure everything was taken care of.  She told us what dress she wanted to be buried in, she picked the pallbearers, requested the honorary pallbearers, told my sister the specific singer and the song she wanted sung at her funeral and made sure her will was up to date.  She also told us about a poem that she wanted read at her grave.  During the 7 weeks that she lived, we reminisced about the good times and recalled happy memories.  We all said our good-byes to her and tried to keep her comfortable in her last days.  My mother knew that she was going to a better place but knew that we would all miss her.  As we made arrangements after she passed for the funeral to be later in the week, we asked her pastor/friend to read the poem at the graveside.  Hoping that we had done all of the things that she wanted us to for that time, we sat in the chairs at the cemetery as he read the poem.  When he reached the 3rd line, a huge gust of wind blew around the tent.  On a hot humid afternoon in July, we knew she had reached home. 

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am that swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.

God's Creation

I have always been amazed at the ocean and all of the power that it holds.  I can sit and look at the water and listen to the waves all day long.  I look at maps and how much of the Earth is covered by water.  I think 'even if the ocean was only 1 inch deep everywhere, there would still be a massive amount of water'.  To think that the depth of the ocean is miles deep in certain areas is hard to understand.  To think of all of the animals that live in the water and the size of some of them can be hard to comprehend.  To realize what force the water can have during a storm can make a person be more cautious.

And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."  Genesis 1:6.  All he had to do was speak and the waters were here.  Not build them, not spend years creating the water.  Speak and it was done.  How truly powerful God is.