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. 

Happy Birthday Eric

Today is my husband Eric's birthday.  As I thought about what to write on my blog, many thoughts ran through my mind.  I thought about how respectful he was to my parents when we first met and how nice he was to my family.  I thought about him helping me cut my sister and brother-in-law's grass when they were on vacation, even though he had only met them once.  I thought about the times that he dropped everything and would go when his parents called him and asked him to come do something for them.  I thought about the times that he worked out of town during storm damage with the phone company and was gone for 2-3 weeks at a time.  I thought about how he took care of his dad in the few months before his dad died.  There were many thoughts racing through my mind and I knew I could be here all day typing away.  How do you pick out a few things to write about when there are so many that could describe someone like Eric?  You don't.  I just hope that anyone who reads this blog already knows him and knows all that he has done in his 55 years.  And I hope that everyone knows how much I love and appreciate him.

Happy birthday to the best husband, dad, father-in-law and Pops. 

Always Remember

In the late 70s and early 80s, my parents took a lot of one day trips.  They would fly out of Charlotte at 6:00am and return around midnight the same day.  The tour group would be picked up in the city they were visiting and would go to all of the tourist sites.  This was a good way for my parents to travel since they only had to miss one day of work, all of the arrangements had been made for them and they never had to drive anywhere.

One of the earliest places where they went was New York City.  They were excited to see the Empire State Building, World Trade Center, Rockefeller Center and eat lunch at Chinatown.  As they were on the ferry to Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty, my dad asked my mother what her thoughts were then.  My mother said, "as a little girl growing up in the country, I never thought I would see this".  My mother then asked my dad what he was thinking.  His response was, "I am thinking about all of the service men in WWII who were coming home and the first thing they saw was the Statue of Liberty."

I wonder if the service men on the ships cheered as they came into the harbor.  I wonder if the men kept looking at their watches, wondering if they would ever make it home.  I wonder if the men stepped off of the ships and thanked God they were back on American ground.  I wonder if the men saw an American flag and teared up at the beautiful colors and what they represented.  I wonder if the men thought of the many who didn't make it home.

Always remember Memorial Day and what this day means to the United States of America.