Remembrances

I hope everyone enjoyed their fourth and had a happy and safe holiday.

July fourth is always a bittersweet day for me because my daddy died on this date in 1980.  The first few years were rough to watch and enjoy the fireworks.  Now I use the day as a remembrance day and think of old times.

Every fourth, our daddy would load all seven of us up in the station wagon and we’d drive into town to watch the fireworks at the fairgrounds.  Those were the days of sweat and slapping mosquitoes, as we ooohed and aaahed at the amazing sight overhead.  Each blast was more colorful and bigger than the last one. 

I bet my husband will also look at this holiday as I do from now on.  His ninety-six-year-old dad passed away yesterday morning.  I’m so struck by this and wondering if there’s some deeper meaning there, something I can’t see yet.  After all, what are the odds that this would happen, for our fathers to die on the same day?

When the nurse told my husband Friday that his dad had about two days left because his organs were shutting down, I knew at that moment that he would go on Saturday, July 4.

He’s very lucky he had his dad so long and the man was in good shape and rarely sick, but old age caught up with him and I think he was tired.  We could see a downhill slide from the moment he had to give up his driver’s license six months ago.  Since he couldn’t drive, he sold his big diesel truck shortly after.  His freedom had vanished.  He loved to go to garage sales every Saturday and look around the hardware store.  No longer able to jump in the truck and go, he watched a lot of TV because he’d lost the enthusiasm to tinker on things, which he’d done since I met him more than forty years ago.

He was a good man who lived a healthy, long life and was never judgmental of others.  I’m sure it about killed him to admit he finally needed a cane to steady himself.  Even then, he wouldn’t use it all the time.

I know, when I get that old, if I do, I’ll be the same way.  Somehow, it’s different to know you have a vehicle in the garage that can take you any place you want to go, even if you prefer to stay home most of the time.  It must hurt many older folks to lose that freedom and be dependent on others. 

I wish my daddy had lived so long, but somehow it was meant to be that, at age fifty-five, he would leave this world behind.

My husband will be in another state for a while sorting everything out.  I’ll be a bachelor girl for a couple of months.  We’ll see how things go and what adventures I’ll get into.  Stay tuned.

I’ve been giddy writing this family book



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I’ve fallen behind with my posting here because I’m so caught up in a family project.  I don’t know how many of you have reminisced about your childhood, which is what I’ve been doing a lot of with my sisters lately.  I forgot about some very funny moments.  When they remind me, we have a good laugh over the phone or email.  On the other side, some events that make us mad too, but most of them are funny or appalling.

 Sometimes I look back at those times and wonder how we all survived into adulthood.

 I’ve been working on this nonstop for the last couple of weeks now and have one more chapter to write.  It’s been an ongoing project for the last ten years, but was put on the back burner to pursue other projects.  It will be good to see it finished up.  So we’ll have it done soon now except for corrections.

 I’ve decided to do the binding here with my binding machine instead of sending it out to a POD.  It is for family so this will do to give out to my siblings and to pass down to the next generation.

 It’s amazing to see how we all started out on the farm before computers or even TV and all the other technology we have today, and how far we’ve come over the years.

 Happy Labor Day everyone.

Reminiscing

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My sisters and I are always reminiscing about our childhood. We share a lot of laughs in the process. As you can imagine there was never a dull moment with seven kids nine years apart.


I talked to my little sister yesterday and to one of my other sisters today and it got me to thinking about all the times we shared growing up.

I was born smack dab in the middle of Houston, but we were all raised on a cotton farm south of there so we didn’t see the city very often growing up. Looking back on things, I often wonder how mama stood things on the farm, being a city girl. I do know one thing; she has far more patience than anyone I know. And you’d have to have an endless supply of patience when you hear all the stories we don’t even remember.

I can’t imagine standing outside washing diapers and everything else on a scrub board while visiting with my aunt who found herself in the same boat. I can’t even fathom what must have gone through her head at the time.

I envision her getting much more than she signed up for or expected when she married daddy, but she never complained one time. It couldn’t have been easy with all of us little kids.

Mama was always scared for our safety, but of course, kids are kids, storms were an exciting time for us. The rain that pounded the windows and left big mud puddles everywhere was fantastic. We couldn’t wait to race out and wade in the ditches. It was wonderful to stand out on the porch and watch the thunderstorms roll in. The breeze was cool and refreshing, drying up all the muggy sweat. Of course, once the shower subsided, it was worse than ever and the ground would steam, our clothes sticking to our backs once again and sweat beading up on our faces.

Even when a bull escaped the fence, it was exciting and all eyes peered from the door or window while we watched for it to come running down the road. We knew if we valued our lives, to stay indoors while the men rounded him up and mended the fence. Only one time my sister and I were out in the field when the Brahma bull got out of the fence. He was the meanest one we ever had and we were both scared of him. That’s a story for another post.

All of us kids could take pleasure in the least little thing out of the ordinary because nothing much happened on the farm. The thrilling moments offered a great diversion from ordinary life.

We laughed, cried, and generally made the best of all situations, whether it was games, watching the clouds roll by, or eating watermelon and then standing in line waiting for the bathroom, making each other laugh to see who would wet their pants.