Happy 16th Birthday Jacy...

 Saturday night at Applebee's  in Warrenton we celebrated Jacy Rayne's 16 birthday. In the photo to the left are Logan her brother, the birthday girl Jacy and her super good friend Morgan. We all had such a good time. 
  Jacy was our first grandchild and was born on Melodi's birthday. She was a delight and answered prayer.  We lived close to them for the first 3 years and we kept Jacy on our days off. She had her own room as did Logan a few years later. She loved playing dress up. Here is one of my favorite photos when she was little. I had some old red material and we made her a princess dress. Fixed her hair in an 'up do' and she was happy all night.
   Now she is doing things on a phone that I will never understand. I look at her homework and wonder who are these teachers and where did they originate! Jacy is learning things I still haven't learned...and that is fine with me.
   Jacy is musically inclined. She plays the viola, the guitar and sings beautifully.  I would love to take credit for something she does but she gets her talents from Tami and Tommy. Did I mention she is a great baker?  That might be my side but I wouldn't swear to it; since I no longer like to cook!
   It has been so much fun to watch Jacy grow up. She is a bit of an introvert. That is Aaron and me for sure. 
   I love to hear her laugh. When she was little I loved to watch her sleep. We have traveled many a mile in our old rocking chair. She was the perfect first grandchild as any proud grandmother would say,  Papa and I love you dearly. We wish only the best for you as you grow up so very fast. Love you, Nonnie

Happy Birthday Melodi ...

   It is hard to believe that my baby girl is 38 years old today. She is a mother and business woman. I love this photo. Melodi and Lacey look so happy as Lacey holds their daughter Rowan, who happens to be a lit stick of dynamite. 
   When Rowan was born she did not cry. She looked the room over, met her Moms and was delighted with what she saw. She has been such a wonderful addition to our lives. Having a new grandchild at 67 is a blessing indeed. When the girls came in for a visit a few weeks ago, they stayed the first few days with us. There was so much laughter and photos made. They left most of Rowan's yogurt and I have just about finished it off. I smile every time I open a yogurt stick and indulge in baby girl's snack.   
   Melodi is a wonderful mother, wife and daughter. I know I can count on her. It is the same way with our other two daughters Lisa, and Tami, and our daughter of our heart Lacey. That means a lot to parents. Just knowing they are there to share their lives or listen as we share our lives. These past three years have been anything but easy for Tommy and me.  Our daughters and grandchildren made life as easy on us as they could. I could never thank God enough for all our blessings our children have brought into our lives.  Happy Birthday Melodi!!!  

Thank God for Daughters. . .

Tommy and I have been blessed with three wonderful, amazing daughters. Although we do not live close to each other we get together as often as we can. If there is a health emergency one or all three will arrive as soon as possible. Since Tommy has been sick over the past five months, Tami stayed with us at the hospital for nights on end. Sleeping in uncomfortable recliners. It was touch and go for about three weeks. Then Tami had to make the move to Troy to the new home she was buying. It was impossible for her to even try to help. Her plate was running over with everything and anything that could go wrong, trying its best to drive her to the brink of endurance. Someone even tried to steal her backyard from a legal standpoint. That was a new one for all of us. Tami needed rest...if you can call moving rest.

     Enters Lisa!  Lisle drove Lisa to Missouri to help us out. She worked for a neurologist for several years .  She speaks their medical language which is far from the normal language Tommy and I speak. When a new doctor was explaining  a new procedure they were going to try. She understood exactly what they meant. We also became very familiar with sleeping arrangements at the VA and the University. We learned to always have a bag ready and sitting by the back door for ourselves and a bag for all of Tommy's information. The reason for this is sometimes if you are working with three hospitals and a emergency happens in the middle of the night,  information gets lost in the transfer. This is where making friends with the nursing staff is critical. They are there to help and do a great job when needed.  After about three weeks Tommy was stable enough for her to go home.  Like Tami, Lisa was perfect when push came to shove and we were medically over our heads.

                                                        

Finally, things were looking up for Tommy. We could handle the rest. Right now it is more wait and see than anything else. We are still at the VA once or twice a week for tests. I drove the Blazer to town and the transmission blew up in it. I barely made it home. Tommy's truck would no longer change gears. Something was wrong and that left us with nothing to drive and dr. appointments up the wazoo.  Enter Melodi, when I talked to Melodi she had strep throat and was sick as a dog. But she had a plan. Her mother in law, Jamie was going to sell her mothers Subaru Outback and she wanted to know if we would like to buy it. Absolutely we wanted to buy it. The only problem was it was in California. Tommy couldn't make the drive, He gets exhausted going to Columbia and Walmart. I offered to fly out and drive it back. That was voted down before I got the words out of my mouth. So Melodi took a lot of medicine and made the trip. She ran into ice, winds and I think some snow. Probably a good idea I didn't fly out and drive it home. We got everything worked out finally.  I had a nervous rage of crying and emotions I had held in for years. It couldn't stop talking or crying once I finally got started. No one committed me but I am sure it was discussed. Stress brings out the worst in people and I had reached my maximum point. However, as of today, Tommy is driving by himself to check out something for deer season and Logan. I am back to normal or my version of normal. That one could be debated. I have said this many times before. When Tommy and I made Lisa, Tami and Melodi, we made magic.

Thank you girls for all you have done for us, Love you to the moon and back.

    

Finally After Forty Years, We Find the Zoo

   I have wanted to go to the St. Louis Zoo since 1980. We made several futile attempts to find it, but never did. It is almost unbelievable considering we drove 9,967 miles to Alaska and only made one wrong turn in the Yukon. That drive was exciting and wonderful. Trying to find the zoo nearly caused us to divorce the first time we tried. We were going to surprise the girls and wanted to make sure we knew how to get there.  Every time we tried to find the zoo we were close but not close enough. We didn't have a navigation guide, or Sirri, but we did have me and a map. After going to the zoo on Sunday, I still could not find the zoo again if I had too.   However, I know I could find my way back to Alaska without a problem. Go figure. . .

   We had a wonderful day. Melodi, Lacey, Rowan, Logan, Tami and Jake plus the two of us, simply had good ole family fun. Rowan got to see her elephants.  She was a perfect joy. She loves life with a passion and she is only about 18 months old. The look on her face when she saw the elephants was priceless.  

    I could not wait to see the  Giraffes. They are my favorite wild animal.  Wouldn't you know the giraffes and the elephants were on opposite sides of the zoo.  It was a beautiful trek and we saw all sorts of animals as we walked.  Logan our grandson spent a lot of time with us and that was a pleasure.    

       Since I was a young girl and read my first story about giraffes; I have been fascinated with them.  I have often said, 'God was  showing off  when He created giraffes, because nothing about a giraffe is considered normal.' They are the tallest mammal  in the world.  The male's height ranges from  16 to 20 feet. The female is about 15 feet tall. I thought it was cruel that a giraffe's neck is almost too short to reach the ground. That makes them vulnerable when they spread their legs or kneel to eat or drink water. Usually they only drink water two or three times a week. They get most of their moisture from the plants they eat.
      Giraffes spend most of their time standing up. They even sleep standing up. To me that seems unfair. To make matters worse they also give birth standing up. That is a heck of a wake up call for a newborn giraffe.  I was not disappointed at all when I finally saw the giraffes. I had seen them once before when we went to the zoo with Tami after she was out of basic training in South Carolina.
               

   One of my favorite photos was of Logan after he climbed up a band of rocks.

It was a good day in our part of the world.

Letting go of a Memory. . .

  Yesterday we gave my mother's car away. It will be sold at a auction Thursday and the proceeds will go to help autistic children.
  This car and I have a long history. Mama purchased her new car in 1991. It had plush wine for the interior. At times I would get a whiff of Mama's perfume, 'Woman,' when I opened her car door. Tami has caught the odor too.  It pleased us to think that perhaps Mama was paying us a visit. Perhaps she wanted to go shopping with us. Whatever it was, it made for a good day.
   When Mama was hospitalized for Alzheimer's, Daddy parked her car, bought him a truck and saved 'Betty's car'. We knew she would never come home but selling her car was out of the question.  Daddy gave me her car about three years before I took it. I had a good vehicle and I knew Mama hated the gravel road I lived on. I didn't think she would want her car driven daily on such a road. Finally, Daddy told me if I didn't take the car he had a man who wanted to buy it and he was going to sell the car for $5,000.  I decided to take it. 
   My blazer had to be fixed and Mama's car was driven a lot that summer. In fact, I loved driving her. She drove like a new car and I loved her. We took her to California. From there we drove up to Washington and across the old West. When we crossed the "Bridge of the God's" connecting Oregon and Washington. In Oregon we accidentally got in an antique car show line up. That poor car had just driven about 700 miles that day. She was almost as dirty and tired asTommy and I were. To add insult to injury, some old lady yelled, "Well, for heaven's sake, why didn't they wash and polish that pretty car before they got in the parade. PARADE?????  Who knew???. We got out of that line up fast. All we wanted was a room and something to eat.  I wrote a blog about that afternoon but I don't remember the title but I sure do remember the day! Thank God for memories.
  We finally decided to donate Mama's car to a charity. She would be proud of helping Autistic children.  Yesterday, the man showed up and hauled Mama's car to the auction block. It will be sold Thursday.  My eyes misted up a little bit as her car left. We made a lot of memories in that car. I think Mama would approve of our decision. Sometimes we have to let go of a memory. Yesterday was such a day.

                             

Just Because a Person Can do Something---Doesn't Mean They Should

  It is no secret our country is divided. The division is worse than I have seen since the sixties. The sixties were filled with hate, rage, guns,riots, stoning's, assassinations,  and entire communities set on fire. We had a war that divided our nation. Politicians were refusing to let our soldiers win; or pull them out before so many of them died.  Lies became the new normal.That was then, this is now.   Life as I know it now seems to be taking a huge step backwards.
  Right now the United States is in an uproar because some of the NFL players are taking a knee instead of standing and placing their hands over their hearts and honoring our flag. I do not agree with this act at all. I personally think it is disrespectful and has nothing to do with football.  As far as I am concerned they are there to play football and that is it.  BUT I am thankful I live in a country where you can be disrespectful and not shot, or jailed because they have a different view point. There are so many countries  where the people do not have the privilege to disagree with their government. Will I watch their games--no. Will I buy a jersey--no. But I want the option on board for others who do not think like I do to have the chance to see the games and wear the jerseys.
   I do not want to see one law passed that says everyone has to stand and salute the flag; or that the people of this country can no longer stand and salute our flag.  Standing to salute the flag  should be taught before the child ever goes to school.  It is in the NFL rule book already. So the NFL should take care of this problem.  We still have some common sense left where some decision belong to the individuals and their organization  and not the government regardless if I agree with them or not. And I do not agree with them! 
 The reason I feel this way, is because I believe there will come a time when the United States we semi know now, will become a country where the government will want to take over every facet of our lives. There will come a time when we will have a new Constitution that no longer makes any common sense.  It will not be written 'of the people and by the people'.  It will be a time when free speech will cost you your life. When protesting will be done at the expense of your life or a family member's life. When standing up for what you believe in or kneeling for what we believe in, will cost protesters our lives.
   It is slowly creeping in. I shake my head and feel a pain deep in my gut that America has seen her best days.
   I love my country, warts and all, but I hate to see people try to erase  our past. Two hundred year old statutes have been torn down by people who hate what the statue stood for. They are just memories of our past. They are not promoting any hate. The statues are a reminder when life was different and our ancestors fought and changed it.
   It is almost like finding an old scrapbook of your life. Looking at all the photos of yourself as a baby, your family, your great great grandparents, most of whom you never met. Yet their blood line still runs through your veins. To destroy that scrapbook would be a shame. Because once it is gone, all those memories and photos are gone too. Never to be replaced.
   Life goes by fast and it is very precious. I leave you with one thought that has always been a big part of my life.  "Just because you can do something does not mean you should."  Think farther than your hate, and fear. Use common sense when making decisions that will affect hundreds of people. Don't throw that brick, burn that store or shoot someone just because they are different. Think long and hard what the end result will be. There is always a day coming when the shoe will be on the other foot. Make decisions you can live with.