THINKING ABOUT IMPORTANT DATES IN HISTORY

HAD SOME TIME ON OUR  HANDS TODAY,  and we got to talking about what might have happened on September 10, in just any old year.  Lots of things did in different years.   I know this because I looked it up on the Web.   There was the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., a fine man;  the assassination  of Robert Kennedy, one of my beloved Kennedys; and the riots at the Democratic National convention to choose a candidate to run for president against Richard Nixon.  The convention was held in Chicago and Mayor Daily called out 7500 National Guard troops to quell the rioters outside the convention.  (sometime my group had to be quelled inside the hall but they managed to do that without the National Guard)  All those things happened on a September 10. 

Well, another fine thing happened, a sweet nun riding on a street car felt she heard the voice of God telling her she needed to leave the comfort of the convent and spend the rest of her life helping the poor.  That nun took the name  Mother Teresa later.  What a fine thing to think about on a September 10.

Ray Kroc sold the first Big Mac for forty nine cents and today its still on the menu with a bit more big money involved.  The first ATM machine opened in Philadelphia and 911 became a United States wide number to call for emergency help.

The first successful heart transplant was done (no one mentioned how many failed) and that has become almost simple.  That is if it happens to someone else.

The term burning the bra became everyday thanks to the Women's Liberation Movement, later called Women's Lib.

All of those things happened on a September 10.

Then we talked about dates some more and I said "Let's just suppose we pick a year, any year and see what happened on September 10 that particular year." Then my mate of 60 years said "Okay, lets just randomly pick 1968."   (we do fun things like this all the time)

Of course I found out the usual ----gas sold for thirty four cents a gallon; the average family income was $7,950.00; the minimum wage was $1.60 per hour;  the see through blouse to be worn without a bra,  made a brief appearance but women were still smart enough to reject it as a true fashion statement.

The Beatles and the Rolling Stones were the hot singing groups of the day.  Even today I still prefer the Beatles over any group I have heard  sing outside the Gaither Homecoming Group.  Top movie of the day was The Graduate and it introduced us to  Dustin Hoffman, not as good then as in Rainman, but he matured.

I found out that if we had started saving a penny a day in a penny bank, then today we would have a $146.09. 

WOW  we then found out that James William Marshall, Jr., better known as Jimbo was born at 9:35 September 10, 1968.  Happy Birthday Son.   Love from Mom and Dad

AUNT MILDRED'S SHOVEL

She was the only truly interesting person in our family.  We loved her.  She was independent in a day when that was unknown in most women and especially in Oklahoma Farm Women.  She was smart, she was not afraid and she loved with all her being the man who became our Uncle Earl.  After his death is when I think I really began to know her or it may have been when our mother was dying from cancer.  She seemed to be the strong one we could lean on.  I still miss her to this day.

When she passed away, we went back to Mangum, Okla home to lay her to rest beside her true love.
I never knew her to step foot in a Church building except for the couple of times she went with us when visiting in Texas but truthfully that was only to appease our Mother.  But she clothed and fed the poor and watched after her neighbor and did all the good things that a Christian should do.  She just preferred to do them her way.

After the burial we went back to the house and began to load her belongins to bring them back to Texas.  All of our kids were there and since we were the only heirs, there was no hesitation in dividing things even then.  It wasn't like vultures, it was something that had to be done.  We would later make other trips to Mangum to finish up the estate.

One item that we brought back was a "grain" shovel.  Shiny aluminum, sort of a short handle and not needed or really wanted by any of us.  But for some reason and some way Mate and I ended up with the shiny shovel.  It hung in the garage on Dunbar for at least ten years.  We joked about it and the fact that since I was the oldest I got all the good stuff like the "shovel".

When we sold the Dunbar house and moved to the lake near Tyler, the shovel went with us and hung in the garage there.  Again not to be used.  We laughed about dusting it.  Then we moved in town in Tyler and on Pam Street, the shovel hung on the wall, still shiny and still needing dusting.  Again never to be used.

Then the time came to move back to Wichita Falls into the house in Edgecliff and it hung in our garage here, still shiny and still needing dusting for 13 more years, until the big blizzard during Christmas a few years ago.  My niece, husband and two kids from Fort Gibson stayed at our house while we were in California and if you remember people could not get down residential streets.  Our nephew by marriage got the shovel and cleaned out the cul d sac.  The only time the shovel served its purpose.

Today, Aunt Mildred would be happy knowing that the shiny aluminum grain shovel rests with someone or several someones in a devastated small town in Oklahoma, where it will never suffer the embarrassment of having to be dusted.  It is now doing what shovels should do.  Its shoveling like it was mean to do and this time, serving the Lord. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY

ITS HARD TO SAY BABY BOY WHEN HE WAS BORN IN 1968.  But you know, in all honesty he still is our baby boy.  

Happy Birthday Jimbo.  You were quite a surprise in our lives.  Your sister was 15 years old and our lives were pretty well settled.  Then all of a sudden the doctor announced it was really not something that i had eaten that had given me indigestion, it was you!!!

So there I was with an unbelieving spirit and a husband in shock and a teenage girl absolutely bouncing off the walls with happiness.  So after working every day for the entirety of the nine months and in your defense never feeling better in my life, on the afternoon of September 9, 1968, after working til 2:00 in the afternoon, i went home packed a bag, got in the car with your Dad and sister and ventured to the Bethania Hospital,  You were scheduled to arrive the next morning and we had reserved the operating room for 9:00.  It was rather nice that evening, i had whatever i wanted to eat for dinner, had a nice big private room, and a good book, didn't feel bad and after kissing your dad and sister goodnight and them leaving, it all of a sudden hit me.

What on earth was i doing there.  I was not ready for this.  I wasn't all that motherly (as you would find out) my life was just peachy and all of a sudden someone small unable to take care of themselves, or even pick up after themselves was going to descend on my life into my space if you will.

It was a long night.  

Fortunately you were born while it was still a civilized event,  None of that room full of people, just anyone that wanted to drop by while the poor mother lay there in pain with legs spread asunder and belly in a sort of tent.  No, I knew everyone that walked in the room which would have been the doctor and the nurse and your dad and sister.  Even they were taken to a discrete waiting room when it was time for you and i to go the green mile, alone together, just you and i and the doctor who would put me to sleep and two nurses Plus, Dr. Richard Bates. One of the nurses, a lovely lady named Mary Rogers. 

She would be the one to announce your arrival to your dad, sister, your grandmother and your great grandfather, (again all waiting outside in a waiting room)

I vaguely remember being told your had gotten here, then i was put to sleep and it was later that evening when you came to visit me for a while  (we were also civilized about the babies staying in the nursery so that the mother could rest).  On that visit, just you and I, something happened that i did not expect......I fell in love.  It has never gone away.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY  

59 YEARS. STILL MARRIED

Today, we celebrate 59 years of marriage.  The marriage that everyone thought would never last. 

You know about Larry.  He is our preacher.  Has been for many years.  We love him.  Doing a series Sunday evenings on what the beautiful verses in Proverbs have to say about marriage.  We are only a few lessons in and I had no idea there was so much there.  (this of course being in part that I concentrate on the red letters). 

I listen to these wonderful words and try to figure out if Mate and I did even one of them correctly. We have realized we are the exception that proves the rule.  The Proverb rule that is. I think God actually saw we would need a bit more help than usual and sent an extra measure of the Spirit. 

Mate and I decided we should do something special for our 59th anniversary.  We are not prone to do presents;  haven't for years.  We have everything we need and certainly more than we want, and since we neither one like to shop, we just don't.  This year is different.  We are going to share a gift.  Its a big decision and frankly one of the most exciting things we have planned on doing in a few years.

In 59 years we have had one shower curtain.  Well not the same one, but the same pattern, over and over and over.  Its one we like. In about 1959, we bought the house on Dunbar.  Up til then we only had a tub, no shower.  Loved the fact that it had a shower.  Thought it would be wonderful to put in shower doors, so we did.  Consequently never needed a shower curtain.  Then some 30 years later we sold that house and moved to Lake Palestine.

House on the lake  had two and one half baths.  Needed two shower curtains.  Found a pattern at Lowes.  Loved it so we bought two just alike.   After about 5 years we moved into Tyler and we then had two bathrooms that needed curtains.   Went to Lowes and bought two of the same ones again.  Still liked it.  No need to change.

Moved back to Wichita Falls.  Have bought three shower curtains since we have been back.  Thats right.....went to Lowes.  Same pattern.  Still our favorite.  Couple of weeks ago we had a discussion about doing something special for our anniversary.   We made a  decision, one on which we both agree.  Sometime today we will go to Lowes and shop for new shower curtains.  This year, we will be daring and reckless.  We are agreeing to buy a different pattern.

You may think this is of no consequence.  Not so.  Somewhere in Proverbs I am sure it says that if a couple can live together for 59 years agreeing all that time about a shower curtain, then they have chosen very well.  Happy Anniversary Mate. 

Our one and only wedding picture.  Its not clear but it is 59 years old.
 

 80 YEARS OLD !!!!  NO WAY !!!!!

TODAY I AM married to an 80 year old man.  Can you believe it?  I can't.  Inside my head I still feel young.   My body betrays me sometime but by and large  I still think as if I am at least  no older than say 40 or 50 (my two best decades by the way).   And there is no way that I can even imagine him being 80 years old.   My mind tells me that 80 is OLD. But he will never be old to me. 

Why on earth am I married and living with an 80 year old? When did he get this ancient?  It was just a few weeks ago, Memorial Day to be exact, that I posted a picture of a 19 year old Marine, with a cute twinkle in his eye in one of those dress Marine uniforms; a Marine that had turned 18 in a foxhole in Korea.  Where did he go?

Well we already know he went to Korea.  Then he went to Austin, and then he came to Wichita Falls, then he went with me to get a marriage license and then he went with me on a journey that will have lasted 59 years when July 3 arrives.  We were joined on this journey  by two children, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.  But they dropped off one by one and started on their own journeys. Now only the two of us remain on this last part of the journey along with a cute white schnauzer we picked up along the way.  That is how it is supposed to work.   We are on a road that we have never traveled and which we will, God willing, travel together for most of the way.  I am thankful for that.  Thank you God for allowing this journey. 

So many things are easier now.  The road has become straighter.  Not so many burdens to carry.  Still worry about those who traveled with us but now realize that our control, if indeed we ever really had any,  ended a long time ago.  Living together is so much easier on the last part of the journey than it was on the first part.  So many things we thought were important are no longer even blips on the radar.  We don't really fuss about anything anymore, just sort of smile if one of us is irritable.  In other words we now are contented. 

Actually I know exactly where this 80 year old is.  He is sitting in the chair reading on the Kindle,  scratching the dog's back and I am blessed that he is there.  Happy Birthday Mate.

WALK WITH DAISY # 3

Find that where I previously thought I would never run out of things to say....  I ran out of things to say.  So I have not done a "writing" in a long time.  Needless to say much has happened and not much has happened.  I find that to be true as you get ......well.....older.  

Been retired officially since the second week in January.  Enjoying it a lot.  Wanted to do some giving back for all I have been given, so Mate and I are involved in several "good works".  I am attending Ladies Bible Class for the first time ever.  Every Wednesday morning during the fall and winter, ladies of a certain age (estimating from 55 on up through and including 98)  meet for an hour of Bible study and just plain old sharing of information.  I have known  these ladies almost my entire life.  I love them.  I am confident of few things at my age, but one of those things is that they also love me.  We share a history that cannot be obtained other than through the love and belief in a Savior.  Its so ......well.....WOW wonderful.  


I also decided I would become a better neighbor.   I know to say  "Hi" and sometimes,  "Boy we need some rain" with 3 others on our 6 house cul de sac.  Sad isn't it.  I aspire to correct this.  But I am not doing too good a job.  Seems we don't go outside a lot.  Neither do my neighbors.  We no longer work in the yard.  We hire it done.  I do walk the dog but not so much anymore since she has a visitor and they run for hours on end in the back yard.  I don't even see many people in a neighborhood with seldom an empty house.  When I was growing up we at least came out the front door and walked to the garage.  Now I go through my hall to get to the garage and car.  Where has everyone gone?  But I digress. 

 Did see a for sale sign on a house across from our cul d sac and saw a moving van with a young couple moving in.  Thought about it a while.  This is a good place to start.  Baked a chocolate cake, even put walnuts in the icing.  Took it over and with a smile announced my name and welcomed them to the neighborhood.  Blew this one big time.  Seems this was the young couple still moving out and they had lived there since 2000.  They could not even keep the cake as they were on the road.  However with much embarrassment I noted later that evening that no good deed goes unpunished.  We had a death in our congregation.  Wanda Ganzer, beautiful lady, one of those I have known all my life. Ladies responsible for feeding her family needed a cake.   I happened to have a welcoming one all iced even with walnuts .  I knew Wanda well and  it was indeed a welcome home to Paradise cake. 

70 YEARS OF SISTER ACT

I don't remember when I first became aware of her. I do know that I was 5 1/2 years old when she was born.  We had the prerequisite mother and father, two sets of grandparents one Aunt and her husband our Uncle Gid.  No cousins no other children.  I feel sure that I was not aware of her birth because I was completely self absorbed by four grandparents who thought that having me for a  grandchild was blessing of all blessings from God.  Little did I know at 5 1/2 years of age that they would think another grand daughter was a double blessing from God,  I think I do not remember her when she was a baby  because of some smidgen of jealousy.  I had been the center of a universe. I liked it.   I am trying hard to remember the first time I actually became aware that she had entered that universe.  Truthfully I don't know.  I just know  that she has been a part of my life for 70 years.  Longer than anyone else.  I know that our DNA matches more closely than any other  DNA in our family.

We grew up where there was plenty of love to go around and we benefitted from it all of our lives.  My first memory I believe.....you know how you sometime think you knew something and then you are not sure whether you actually knew it or you had heard the story so many times that you believed you knew it.  Its a complicated sentence and thought but you know what I mean.  I heard the story about her long blond curls which everyone thought were beautiful and my hair which seldom ever bent and how I loved cutting hair anyway and so.....the rest of the story is predictable.  I cut a few of the curls off. Again I may only know if from having heard the story, but I think I actually remember it.

She didn't call me Beverly.  She called me Kid.  I never knew why.  It took years and years before her saying Beverly sounded right to me.  It does today,     She was actually much more the lovable child than I.  She was obedient, she was respectful and she was prettier than I was.  Enough to make me wonder what I had done to have this person enter my territory. I was more adventurous than she and together I suppose we finally meshed.

Today I can thank my Mother and Dad for putting her in my life.  I know that she and I both grew up.  She was my chief baby sitter with my  daughter.  I was her chief baby sitter with her first two children.  We traveled many miles together, all over England and Scotland.  Four of us.   Actually,  I know that God blessed me and put her in my life.  That's how she got there.

I still don't know how  we managed when they would visit from Arlington,  and we had the four of us and three children and somehow in a small house on Dunbar Street with one bathroom we managed to feed everyone breakfast get everyone in and out of the bathroom and get to Sunday School on time.

The time that I think bonded us more than any other time was when we spent about 2 weeks together at the hospital in Dallas when we said goodbye to her mate and my brother through her. I knew then that neither of us would ever be alone as long as the other one lived.

Today she is still wiser than me and I am still more outgoing than she and we probably complement each other.  She knows more about me than anyone on earth and I am confident and comfortable with  her knowing.

I've seen her enter into another marriage with a good Christian man.  She would not have chosen otherwise. I thank God for that.    She is a dependable person to have around.
Thank you Father for this gift.  Frances Stewart,  today at this milestone year of your birth,  I hope you have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and that I never have to live without you in my life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMBO

Forty-three years ago we had a baby boy.  We named James Jr. We have always called him Jimbo.  In fact everyone does.  He uses that exclusively in his business.  It was a name we swore we would not ever use.  Shows how when children are concerned you should never say never.

I repost here a blog I wrote for his birthday in 2010 and again say to him he was a BIG DEAL and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW, SEPTEMBER 10,  FROM MOM AND DAD..



You know as you get older, you realize things you considered BIG are really LITTLE in the scheme of things.  For instance: you will recall that Mate and I ran off and got married.  Boy was that a BIG thing!  After 57 years the actual planning and doing it was not at all that big.  It was one of many defining moments in our lives and certainly the living together is BIGGER than the actual running away.   The finding a way to buy a home across the street from the Colleys  was really not such a BIG thing.  The BIG thing was living and forming lasting memories and friendships together  for over 30 years.    In 1967, our family consisted of a Mom, Dad and 14 year old daughter.  Our lives were just peachy.  Our wants were not much.   Daughter was doing okay in school, we were  content.  Had just what we wanted.  Fusses every once in a while but they passed.  All in all....... GOOD life.  God blessed us.

1968 proved that indeed God has a sense of humor. 

 If you live in Wichita Falls, Texas, you know that usually on the last Saturday in January each year, the Kiwanis Club has a pancake breakfast and it is almost mandatory to attend sometime during the day.  We always did.  After all you got to visit with people you didn't see much during the year, and every politician who was running for office or trying to stay in office would be there and back then they gave away pencils or  rulers.  It was, you might say,  festive.  Plus all the bacon and pancakes you wanted.

In 1968 my doctor's office was open on Saturday mornings.    I had  made an appointment.  Told no one.  In my mind I had decided I was going to have a baby.  Don't have the slightest idea why (maybe that sense of humor thing again).  Dr. Richard Bates, my doctor for everything.  I loved Richard Bates.  No personality,  seldom ever joked , just down to business.  Office on Brook Street.  Told him what I thought, and he laughed.  That was a BIG thing.  I had made Richard Bates laugh.  Had to do a test.  He said he would let me know Monday.  Told him I would be a maniac before Monday.  Nurse, friend of mine,  said she would run the test and he would call me in a couple of hours.  Feeling better I went home.

Mate and daughter ready to go eat pancakes.  I stalled.  Phone rang.  I answered.  Simple statement from Richard Bates.  "You're pregnant."  His next words, "Are you Okay?"  I think I must have weakly said "Yes".    How do you  tell  two unsuspecting persons that three people's lives as they know them are about to change and change dramatically, when they have no clue what is going on?  When in doubt, barrel in. "Lets go eat pancakes and by the way, we are going to have a baby,"  I said as I walked toward the door.  That my friends was a 'BIG THING'.

Needless to say we did not leave right away, we had a family discussion.  Daughter wanted immediately to run tell the neighbors.  Mate said, do not leave the house.  I think it took a while for it to sink in.

Well 1968 had come in like a lion.  We adjusted.  Daughter was ecstatic, Mate happy, I stayed in shock.  I was the practical one.  I thought about things like, PTA again, bottles to sterilize, diapers to wash.  Now along about three-forths of the way through I began to do some investigation and found that things had come a long way.  Bottles of formula could be bought and all you had to do was to put a nipple on the top of the bottle. Pampers were introduced some 7 years earlier but had not caught on.  They had a long way to go and still used those huge safety pins with the little ducks on them.  However, at this point in time, unlike when Daughter was born, we had a washer.  No dryer yet, but a washer that you did not have to stand over and operate.  It did it on its own.  Still almost every back yard had a clothes line. One good thing about the pregnancy is that I never felt better in my entire life, before or since.  Didn't gain but 14 pounds, was able to get really cute maternity clothes and best of all people made over me all the time.  They thought it was wonderful. I was not certain of that.  Selfishly I kept thinking about how my life was going to change.    I worked until 2:00 on the afternoon of September 9, 1968, and went home got my "stuff" together and Mate, Daughter and I journeyed to the hospital where I was scheduled to deliver a baby the next morning at 9:30.  Well, it was almost fun.  I had a large room, flowers from bosses, whatever I wanted to eat that evening.  It wasn't til Mate and Daughter left that I assessed my position.  There was no way to get out of it, no way to say, "I changed my mind", nothing to do but plow ahead and wonder if it would be a boy or girl.    So the next morning,  I bade my family a teary see you later and was wheeled into the operating room.  At 9:36 on September 10, 1968 ,  Dr. Bates  announced, "You have a fine looking boy here." 

That folks is a 
          BIG, BIG, DEAL Happy Birthday Son.  Thanks for coming into our lives

.

CAN IT GET ANY BETTER

Last evening I was privileged to substitute for sister and play a silly little game called Bunco. I say its a silly little game because it takes no talent, no strategy, and you don't even have to concentrate, The whole purpose of the game is to sit down and "visit". I played with eleven Christian women, ranging in age from the youngest who is 20 to myself at 75. I still think i am much older than Vollie. Among the women were a Mother and Daughter, two mothers in law with their daughter in laws, There was a young lady who had killed a snake and who trains horses. There was a retired teacher who still occasionally substitutes at the Christian School, a dear friend of mine, who I had never seen laugh so hard and have such a good time; A young mother who from outward appearances has no cares and no worries Her personality is serene and so calm. Not a care in the world, Yet we all know she has anguished and stood by the side of a husband who underwent Chemo, who we prayed over, who has seen him through remission and whose daughter is to move away to begin her career in a far away big City (well not too far away) A very happy lady who has been hired for a job at the college and a mother who is thrilled that she now has a house to move into, One lady told a story about a long ago anniversary trip, one I had heard before, and we were all laughing so hard that it was difficult to hear this delightful story again. One a woman we all admire who has a husband who needs her care and who has seen a son turn from a life of sin where she thought she had lost him and now she rejoices in the fact that he often preaches from our pulpit and in fact is in charge of the facility where we

met, A beautiful, young woman who laments turning thirty, with two handsome boys and a sweet husband. I came home happy and was met by a freshly groomed schnauzer and a husband who loves me. I read that my sister and her husband were safely home with my great niece.

Then this morning I woke to a tribute written by a niece who I love dearly. Today is the anniversary of the death of her father, my brother in law. One of the finest men I have ever known. I wept for sorrow in missing him and with joy that I know he is with the Father. I thanked God that w had him for the years that we did and I thank God that my sister has a Christian man who is her life companion now and will love and honor her after I have joined Monte with the father.



To all outward appearances we had nothing in common, nothing that would make you think we would enjoy two or three hours spent in each others company tossing three little die around. You already know what is is. Its another Three, but the Three are the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.



It CAN'T get any better,

A Funny Thing Happened...................

I worked for the Great State of Texas (GST) for over 14 years.    I loved my job.  Learned about bureaucracy; accepted the fact that I could not change it.  But most of all I met some wonderful people who did a good job and took their responsibility seriously (admittedly some more than others).  I am truly grateful to the tax payers of this state because I have a retirement check and best of all I had free health insurance all the years I worked and will for the rest of my life and I am able to purchase same for mate at a very low price. 

GST  decided to hire a firm, not from the GST, but of all places....Yankee Land, up North, whose job assignment is to audit the beneficiaries of all retired and present GST employees.  Seems some employees or retirees of GST have some beneficiaries on their insurance program who are not legal. (well I am shocked)  It is not me.  So last Friday a letter  came out.  Told us what to do.  Classified the different kinds of State Employees and beneficiaries.  I fall under LS (for legal spouse) I had to get a copy of something showing we still live together, they suggest a copy of the front page of our 2010 Tax return, properly redacted and of course a copy of our marriage license.   The copy we had of the license  was stolen about 24 years ago when for the only time ever we were broken into and a lock box was taken which contained that and those sweet birth certificates you get from the hospital with the baby footprint on them.  No problem.  Monday I will call and get a copy from the County Clerk.

Had a nice weekend.  Worked  Monday morning,  Called the Courthouse,  We do not have a marriage license on file.    After all these years,  we are not married.  We have celebrated a 50th anniversary at our Church building; we have at times done a wee bit of marriage counseling and ourselves are living in sin.   We even appeared in the Casa Manana advertising for the HHH for two years in a row with the story of how we returned there on our 55th anniversary and sat in the same booth and told our story to a reporter for the Times and Record News,  I ask you, could a 50th anniversary celebration, a reporter for the TRN and Casa Manana be in error. Evidently,  cause I have no  license. 

I called Mate.  He is not worried about our reputation or the disgrace of it all, he wants to figure out how to keep his insurance,  (ever the  practical one).

  Now another thing about GST is that we are one of 16 states that recognize Common Law Marriage or CLM.  I have known that because we once  had a case that revolved around the legality of a CLM.  Folks they are as legal as you can get.  If you have a true CLM you would need to get a divorce before you could remarry. Contrary to what you may have believed there is no time limit.  From the moment you begin to hold yourselves out to be husband and wife, whether its one day, one year or one hour, you are married.   That gave me some solace where the insurance was concerned, but I had to tell the kids that they were born out of wedlock.  Called.  They both think this is the funniest thing
they have ever heard.   Also both assure me that living in California no one cares.  Daughter even says she can now blame anything  she does that is wrong on her birth status,  You can see what insensitive offspring we have,

Next I have to break this news to my sister.  The good child.  She too thinks this is hilarious.  Which of course she would.  You can see her position is further enhanced.   I then write my nieces and nephew and their spouses.  I explained to them what had happened and ended my email with...."You No Longer Have An Uncle Jim".

Well you would think that my family would be sad and broken hearted.  You would think wrong.  Some 50 emails went back and forth with one liners.  Some I admit are rather clever.  My daughter in law now has an identity crisis;  My niece in Chico wonders what we are going to put on the cute Christmas Shirts that usually say Merry Marshall Christmas so we can match in our Christmas picture; my daughter tells everyone in her company in California;  My grown grandchildren feel unique; my Methodist preacher nephew offers a cut rate wedding service where the cost is set by the number of Amens we want;  My sister does not know where I am so she emails that we are probably on dates. Some of the lines I cannot repeat.  Of course if you are judging, I will not name names, but the niece by marriage in Ohio refuses to give up Uncle Jim.  She  now calls him Uncle Boy Toy.

I got the blank affidavit from the audit company, the one entitled  "Affidavit of a Common Law Union".  Filled it out, waiting til Monday to get it signed by us and a Notary.  Embarrassed to look at it.  But life goes on.  Single Life.  I was 75 this April and thought I had only lived 17 of those years as a single person..now I find I lived the entire 75 as a  single person. 

My used to be Legal Spouse  and I talked and decided we would get a certificate,  Our solution is simple.  We purchase a wedding license, then wait til my sister got back from Tennessee  and on Sunday night a week from now we would  see if Larry would visit our small group and do a early quick wedding service.   My sister would be maid of honor and my great-niece would be  former Mate's best man.  I think that will wake my small group up if anyone has gone to sleep.  Of course our leader is a preacher and we might use him.

Friday afternoon I want to ask a couple of questions so I call the County Clerk.  I know the one that answers.  Tell her my story,  She is hysterical.  Funniest story she has heard this week.  Says wait a minute.  Tells me that since it was so long ago it might be on another computer program.

FILED IN VOLUME 36, ON PAGE 25, SIGNED BY ELDER CLYDE DARR, AN ORDAINED BAPTIST MINISTER IS A LICENSE  TELLING THE WHOLE WORLD THAT WE WERE MARRIED ON JULY 3, 1953.  I can send the GST a paper with a LS (legal spouse).

I figure that there is one more thing to do so that my family will never run out of stores to tell.  It will be only fitting if I am buried in the wrong grave.

Walking With Daisy # 2

 Here I am home another day with Daisy and Mate. What an exciting time we have had since we last wrote. Horrible fires in our community and we are praying for rain. During the heaviest of the fires we had friends call who were being evacuated from their home. They asked if they could come to our house with their dogs. Of course we said yes.





One of the dogs is an Irish Wolfhound, named Fen.  To say the least, this was the most dog that Daisy (and Mate and I) ever saw.  Daisy was  fascinated and wanted so badly to play.  Fen would have none of it.  Daisy as you can see is about as big as Fen's head.  When he came in the house I heard her bark an octave higher than ever before.  Luckily they got an all clear and did not lose anything.  But it was an adventure for all of us.


Then on Monday, April the 18th, my office mates took me to lunch at Pasqualls (which has the most wonderful soups in the world)I think it may have been a combination of birthday and retirement.  Brad gave me a gift card from Amazon so that I could buy books for the Kindle.  I got it loaded in and all I have to do is chose a book.  There are several I want to buy but I am having a hard time using the card.  I figure when I use it up it will be gone (which if you think about it makes perfect sense)   Never had a gift card before except to eat.  I have learned it is much harder to buy something with a  card than it is with cash.  This is exciting for me.  ......  Took me a few days but I purchased a book recommended in our Sunday paper.  Don't know the author, but it sounded like a good read.  Emily and Einstein.  I have  now  almost finished the book.  It is about a young woman in New York City who is married and her husband is killed in an accident.  He is then reincarnated into a scruffy dog who of course winds up with her.  She thinks it is just a dog. Versions of this story line have shown up in books for years and this one has some unusual twists.  Fun read.  I recommend it.  Wonder if Daisy is reincarnated?   I think not.

My daughter sent me a flower arrangement.  I am not usually a fan of cut flowers but how can a dog lover not love a flower that looks amazing like Daisy.

All in all a grand birthday.  Being 75 is another road to travel toward 76.  Occurs to me that I have been on the journey toward 76 years all of my life.  I just didn't know it would happen this quickly.  

Walking with Daisy #1

Part time retirement (PTR) has taken its toll on Daisy.  She is off schedule.  When I worked from 8:00 to 5:00 she would get really excited when I came home in the afternoon.  Breathing hard, running from the front door back to me then to Mate, talking Schnauzer talk.  She knew as soon as I headed toward the bedroom I was going to change clothes, I was going to get the halter, hand it to mate and she was going to "get dressed" for the favorite thing in her small life.  A walk through the neighborhood!  You might say she lives for those walks.  I of course had to get a sack and a rubber glove (since I am a good neighbor and pick up behind us) and she sits almost quietly in Mate's lap waiting for me to say "Okay".  Then its off to the races.

Daisy, Mate and I attended obedience school this past spring and early summer.  Our main purpose was to train Daisy to walk on a leash.  Not that she doesn't know about a leash, and not that she doesn't know about a walk, but putting them together is difficult for her.   I know you have seen those wonderful movies, or true life stories, about the Iditarod and the beautiful Eskimo  dogs that pull the loaded sled, along with the master, for miles and miles over frozen Alaskan terrain.  When we were looking on Pet Finder for a rescue dog to adopt, we came across Daisy's picture and she was described as mostly Miniature Schnauzer, weighing approximately  15 pounds.  We never found what else was in her background until we went for our first walk.  Obviously somewhere in her background was a sled dog pulling for all she was worth.  Daisy still does it today.

Despite the best efforts of the several trainers at the Obedience School, we did not quite master the walking on a leash part and we actually never missed a session.  Now we did learn about snacks (her favorite part)  and how she could wait patiently for one.  She even learned to get down when you put the snack in front of her nose and went down to the ground.  She still follows right along with you and lays down, never taking her eyes off the snack, to the point of almost looking cross eyed. She will wait patiently til you say "Okay" before she nicely takes the treat from your hand and lays there and devours it. Mate and I have not found an actual reason for this but she does look cute doing it.

But back to the walk. I often wish I had better balance and could ride a skateboard as it would be a wonderful exercise for Daisy to pull me. We have one of those leashes that you can let out and pull back in. She strains so hard I am often worried that if the leash would snap she would be in Archer County before she ever slowed down.

But back to confusion..... PTR (part time retirement) is giving me all sorts of different times to chose from for our walks and just this morning (Thursday, I don't go in til 1:00) we walked beginning at 7:00. She is trying to adjust. One thing for sure she is excited to go no matter what the time. Daisy may never be the dog that stops and smells the roses. Oh she smells all right, she has certain blades of grass and certain poles that she will at least slow down for but even when she squats she just keeps on going. I am thinking at this time in my life, going along with Daisy, straight ahead, looking neither to the left or to the right may be a good plan. The difference in me and Daisy, is that she looks down and I have to remember to keep on looking up. That way I will be sure and make home.

ONE MORE TIME

Here it is again.  About time for my birthday.  Three Quarters of a Century !! Now thats old.  Of course it sounds more when you say it that way than if you just say I will be 75.  No...I heard that and it sounds old either way.    I am doing something I have always said I would never do.  But then you know when you get a certain age changing your mind is about the only work your mind gets.  I am officially retiring to part time status. 

I began working when I was 14,  After school at S. H.  Kress in Downtown Wichita Falls.  That ill fated job from which I was fired for stealing  (see prior blog, Danger Liberal at Work).  I have loved working and have been blessed with having jobs which stimulated my mind, which stretched my abilities and where I have been free to use my considerable imagination.  I only went into this last job as a stop gap measure while my former job came back open.  This was after we had moved to California when Annde was ill.  I was going to work for a period of probably 10 days, doing them a favor, I thought. That was over 6 years ago. It has been a happy time.  I believe we have mutually benefited by our association but more so on my part.  Now they give me the opportunity to work part time.   I  love both of the Altmans, father and son, and have been blessed by working there.  My hours will probably lessen as I get used to this retirement thing,  but I will look forward to a day out now and then.  Have to admit I never did master the secretarial part of my job, but the younger one has figured out I only make a mistake every 1000 characters typed.  

Last year as I was about to turn 74, I did a blog entitled "I Never".    It was about the things I never got to do.  Still have not gotten to do them and of course won't.  Especially that thing of sitting on a piano with high heels and black stockings, legs crossed singing Cuddle Up a Little Closer.   BUT...  Kids are safe and sound along with grand children and great grandchildren;  Nephews and Nieces are relatively contented and happy;  My sister is still my best friend;  Mate still tells me he loves me every day.   But admittedly the high light of this past year ....  We got Daisy.  The little schnauzer who has brightened our lives and who makes every day an adventure.  What fun she is.  Our Church family is more precious than ever and so I can truthfully Thank God for this past year.

See you about this time next year.....Assuming the Lord is willing.

Lessons by Larry and Daisy

You know by now that Daisy is our rescued schnauzer who Mate and I dote on.  Larry, you may or may not know is the preacher where we attend church services. As much as we admire Larry, we seem to talk about Daisy more.   We  have loved and been inspired by him for over twenty five years. 

I have neglected this blog for months but now have  a desire to discuss Larry's Spoken Sunday Sermon and Daisy's Action Sermon.  They are actually close to identical, except you heard Larry and you could see Daisy.


Sunday morning the spoken  sermon had to do with a "white elephant"  I thought it was  interesting to find out  the history of the "white elephant". Among other things, it  was considered sacred.  If the King or ruler of a country wanted to honor a king or ruler of another county he would hunt for an albino elephant and gift the ruler with the animal.  This had a two fold purpose.  It was proper to bestow a gift on  visiting royalty and if you were less than fond of the ruler (which was practically always the case) it placed a burden on the one who received the elephant.  That king now had to carefully tend the sacred beast for the rest of its life (and elephants live a long time).  So all of a sudden a gift worth much,  was in fact, a burden.  The sermon went on to discuss our possessions and how they were sometimes burdens. In our country we have an  abundance even in times of economic hardship. We are richer than all the rest of the world  (with some eastern countries as exceptions)  Larry discussed how our possessions became white elephants in a sense and we spent time and money taking care of them, and "guarding" them.


I would invite you to our Web site, Tenth and Broad Church of Christ where you can click on the link and listen to this interesting and insightful sermon.  


Daisy has demonstrated the bottom line of this sermon in graphic detail.  We don't give Daisy bones, nor do we give her raw hide ones.  We did find a rather large one for a small dog that is good for her teeth and hard and looks like a bone.  Pedigree Company says on the cover that it tastes like Chicken and is actually good for her.  So we came home with a "treat".  After finally releasing this "bone" from the packaging, we gave it to this little happy go lucky schnauzer.  This is the dog who just "looks" happy.  She bounces instead of running, she greets all with the offer of dog kisses and tail wagging. 

Then all of a sudden she has a bone, a possession, something her instinct says to bury.  Her head is now bent low her eyes dart around.  Even though its just Daisy, Mate and Me, she is suspicious.   She takes the "bone" outside, she slowly plods around the perimeter of the yard.  She only Stops to bury it with leaves, pushing with her nose.  She looks behind her and to the left and to the right to see if anyone is watching.  Then she will tentatively walk away, but quickly goes back and moves her treasure just in case a bird has spotted her and spread the word where it is.


We cannot get her to come in the house.  It begins to get dark, it gets colder, but she does not care.  She has to guard her possession.  Her "white elephant" so to speak.  We call her in.  She looks at us sadly. We believe she could be thinking that as much as she loves us, she is now burdened down with something and it her responsibility to preserve this thing    If you know the story of Atlas, you know that he had to carry the world on his shoulders.  A weighty burden.  Daisy reminds us of Atlas.


Mate finally carries Daisy in the house.  She does not play with us, she does not sit quietly in Mate's lap for endless conversation and ear scratching.  (Daisy's ear, not Mates) She does go to the corner and quietly chews on this bone until she has devoured it.  Then an amazing thing happens:  We have our happy Daisy Schnauzer back! Her "white elephant" is gone, the weight of the world is off her shoulders.  Point made.

I don't know what Larry does all day, but Daisy watches for squirrels.  I suspect Larry does more important things.  However, we have not been attacked by squirrels and we feel it is due to her diligence.  I hope she never catches one, it would be the bone story all over again.

The Party Line

In the 1930s and 1940s, the term soap opera became part of American culture.  This arose mainly from the fact that most women stayed at home and listened to the radio as they did their daily chores.   Doing laundry was not a quick, load the washer, change wet clothes to the dryer matter.  It was an all day job.  Women did not have Pledge, 409, Dawn, Tide, Downey,  and my personal favorite, Comet cleanser,was just hitting the market.  Things were harder, more time consuming.  It prompted soap companies and companies that manufactured "housewifely" items to sponsor the daytime radio  serials.  Hence "Soap Opera".

My mother said she was listening to, "Ma Perkins" when she knew it was time to go to the hospital with me.  She then blamed me for years that I caused her to miss an important episode of "Stella Dallas" .  So I grew up with radio programs, "Our Gal Sunday", the story of a poor girl from a mining community in England who marries a wealthy Count, Lord Sunday.  Your memory dims over some things but not radio soap operas. ESPECIALLY  when that was the only commercial entertainment until you went to town on Saturday afternoon and went to the movie. 


 "Helen Trent", the story of a reporter for a large metropolitan newspaper....  Admittedly this was difficult for a young girl to relate to.  The one paper in Greer County was the Mangum Star which came out on Thursdays.  Hard to imagine something interesting enough about a reporter to make a whole soap opera.  The headline news in the Mangum Star was that Miss Teddie Larson's niece and nephew visited last weekend from Oklahoma City and enjoyed dinner in the park after Church Services at the Nazarene Assembly. 

Kids had our sound version of Nicklelodean.  These programs came on Saturday mornings and you did not miss them.  Oh the excitement of "The Shadow".  Famous line if you play Trivia Pursuit, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men, the _____knows" That was the lead in line from the Shadow.  Then of course, Jack Armstrong, All American Boy, sponsored by Wheaties , the breakfast of champions. The Lone Ranger, Spiderman, Brenda Starr (another reporter by the way, something related only to "up" north) As you grew you got to listen to more mature programs on Saturday morning.  "Grand Central Station".  Oh I remember it well.  There was a really big train station in New York City and it was full all the time and just plain ordinary citizens had stories that began and ended there.  Tried to equate that with the MKT railroad station in Mangum, Oklahoma, which was a one room wooden building  built on a concrete platform right next to the railroad tracks.  It was probably 20 x 30 feet in size and held some benches, two water fountains, but no bathrooms and a small area for the station master.  Two trains stopped there every single day.  Sometime someone got off or on.  Probably not enough to shape a soap opera around so no wonder they had to revert to Grand Central Station.

Sunday night was the biggest night of the week.  We lived out in the country, some 30 miles from Mangum.  We did not journey into town for Sunday night Church service. So at 6:00 we all gathered around the radio and listened to "One Man's Family".   It was sort of the Waltons, same time period, but with more income and living in the San Francisco area.


I seem to remember that we  did not leave the radio on all the time.  Only in the afternoons to listen to the news, and maybe Amos and Andy.  Then it was turned off.  No one stayed up for a 10:00 news program if there was such a thing.  I think we turned off anything electric when ever it was not being used.  Maybe it was thought that it would run out.  However, I suspect that my grandparents and parents generation just did not waste anything.  


That was our equivalent of television.


Then we had a phone and your line was shared by other families.  The "Party Line".  Everyone had one, rich or poor, you shared the phone line.  If you were going to make a call you quietly picked up the phone and listened to see if anyone else was talking.   I think there was some listening in for a while just to see what was going on.  The other parties knew someone had picked up and they would hurry, knowing someone else needed to use the phone.  I remember my grandmothers talking to two or three other people. because if you got on it was rude not to say  something which oft times led to conversation.  You took your entertainment where you found it.  


This would come to a surprise to the youth of today, but pre teens and teenagers in the country did not talk on the phone.  It would never have have crossed our minds to phone a friend.  Our conversations were held at school or at Church or in town on Saturday afternoon.  


When we first got phones there was no dial.  You picked up the phone and the operator came on and she (I don't know that there was such a think as a male operator back then) would get the number for you.  If you didn't know the number she did.  The operator in a small town was known by all and she knew everyone and everything.  If you wanted to know how someone who was sick and maybe in the hospital was doing you just rang the operator and she would know.  But  this was Mangum, county seat of Greer County.  Things were different in the big cities.    


The Party Line was our equivalent of Face Book.


 

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WHATS THE BIG DEAL?

Last year at this time, i posted this and this year i do so again.  Happy Birthday Jimbo

You know as you get older, you realize things you considered BIG are really LITTLE in the scheme of things.  For instance: you will recall that Mate and I ran off and got married.  Boy was that a BIG thing!  After 57 years the actual planning and doing it was not at all that big.  It was one of many defining moments in our lives and certainly the living together is BIGGER than the actual running away.   The finding a way to buy a home across the street from the Colleys  was really not such a BIG thing.  The BIG thing was living and forming lasting memories and friendships together  for over 30 years.    In 1967, our family consisted of a Mom, Dad and 14 year old daughter.  Our lives were just peachy.  Our wants were not much.   Daughter was doing okay in school, we were  content.  Had just what we wanted.  Fusses every once in a while but they passed.  All in all....... GOOD life.  God blessed us.

1968 proved that indeed God has a sense of humor. 

 If you live in Wichita Falls, Texas, you know that usually on the last Saturday in January each year, the Kiwanis Club has a pancake breakfast and it is almost mandatory to attend sometime during the day.  We always did.  After all you got to visit with people you didn't see much during the year, and every politician who was running for office or trying to stay in office would be there and back then they gave away pencils or  rulers.  It was, you might say,  festive.  Plus all the bacon and pancakes you wanted.

In 1968 my doctor's office was open on Saturday mornings.    I had  made an appointment.  Told no one.  In my mind I had decided I was going to have a baby.  Don't have the slightest idea why (maybe that sense of humor thing again).  Dr. Richard Bates, my doctor for everything.  I loved Richard Bates.  No personality,  seldom ever joked , just down to business.  Office on Brook Street.  Told him what I thought, and he laughed.  That was a BIG thing.  I had made Richard Bates laugh.  Had to do what was called a rabbit  test back then. Had nothing to do with a rabbit but thats what it was called.  He said he would let me know Monday.  Told him I would be a maniac before Monday.  Nurse, friend of mine,  said she would run the test and he would call me in a couple of hours.  Feeling better I went home.

Mate and daughter ready to go eat pancakes.  I stalled and I stalled.  Phone rang.  I answered.  Simple statement from Richard Bates.  "You're pregnant."  His next words, "Are you Okay?"  I think I must have weakly said "Yes".    How do you  tell  two unsuspecting persons that three people's lives as they know them are about to change and change dramatically, when they have no clue what is going on?  When in doubt, barrel in. "Lets go eat pancakes and by the way, we are going to have a baby,"  I said as I walked toward the door.  That my friends was a 'BIG THING'.

Needless to say we did not leave right away, we had a family discussion.  Daughter wanted immediately to run tell the neighbors.  Mate said, do not leave the house.  I think it took a while for it to sink in.

Well 1968 had come in like a lion.  We adjusted.  Daughter was ecstatic, Mate happy, I stayed in shock.  I was the practical one.  I thought about things like, PTA again, bottles to sterilize, diapers to wash.  Now along about three-forths of the way through I began to do some investigation and found that things had come a long way.  Bottles of formula could be bought and all you had to do was to put a nipple on the top of the bottle. Pampers were introduced some 7 years earlier but had not caught on.  They had a long way to go and still used those huge safety pins with the little ducks on them.  However, at this point in time, unlike when Daughter was born, we had a washer.  No dryer yet, but a washer that you did not have to stand over and operate.  It did it on its own.  Still almost every back yard had a clothes line. One good thing about the pregnancy is that I never felt better in my entire life, before or since.  Didn't gain but 14 pounds, was able to get really cute maternity clothes and best of all people made over me all the time.  They thought it was wonderful. I was not certain of that.  Selfishly I kept thinking about how my life was going to change.    I worked until 2:00 on the afternoon of September 9, 1968, and went home got my "stuff" together and Mate, Daughter and I journeyed to the hospital where I was scheduled to deliver a baby the next morning at 9:30.  Well, it was almost fun.  I had a large room, flowers from bosses, whatever I wanted to eat that evening.  It wasn't til Mate and Daughter left that I assessed my position.  There was no way to get out of it, no way to say, "I changed my mind", nothing to do but plow ahead and wonder if it would be a boy or girl.    So the next morning,  I bade my family a teary see you later and was wheeled into the operating room.  At 9:36 on September 10, 1968 ,  Dr. Bates  announced, "You have a fine looking boy here." 

That folks is a 
          BIG, BIG, DEAL Happy Birthday Son.  Thanks for coming into our lives

.

Help We're Being Held Captive

By a small white German Schnauzer. Mornings now belong to Daisy.  Routine has set in.  I no longer just get to have my coffee and read what news I care to read on the computer. Between clicks to see how things are going on the coast and, though I swore to not get involved, in seeing how the Texas Rangers did, I am at the mercy of a 15 pound creature.  She brings me one of her toys and lays at my feet, biting it where the squeeker is  so that it makes the most irritating noise on earth.   The most urgent thing on her mind is having me get the toy and proceed to throw it down the hallway so that she can get it and bring it back.  She stops long enough to go to her box and maybe change toys.  Her biggest decision of the day is which one to chose and who can know why she choses one over the other.


 Sometimes she has the attention span of a mite (not that I know how long that was measured or by whom, but it sounds very small); other times she is tenacious and will stand for what must seem like hours to her, but actually it is only minutes, looking up into the tree in our neighbors yard.  She once went outside as a squirrel ran along the top of our fence and jumped into that huge oak.  She is convinced it is still there.  Each time she goes out she takes her stand and looks upward into that tree.  I feel safe knowing she is protecting us.


Something in her mind snaps and she wants me to make yet another trip with her,  down the hallway, to stand outside the bedroom where Mate lies sleeping.  She looks mournfully under the door while making a wailing sound.  She wants her best friend to get up.  She wants to play "Where's Daisy" while we make the bed.  She now waits for us to hold up the sheet so that she can "hide" under it.  She lays spread eagle on her stomach and watches Mate perform his morning ritual of brushing teeth, combing what hairs are left and washing his face.  All the while talking to him about what their plans for the day should be. She will not leave his side for long at a time for the rest of the day,only going outside, but wishing him to go with her.  He usually goes.


Good grief.  It this were a television show now the sound of a needle scratching across a record would be heard and the narrator would say, "What am I thinking!!!!.  We have to get a life".


You know before we rescued Daisy, I thought we had a life.  For a couple in their 70s we are pretty active.  Mate can't do what he used to do because of health reasons, but he volunteers for several things.   I go to work every day and do pretty much what I always did at work, except I don't climb up on the ladder to retrieve a file like I did for years  (somehow you become aware that when older persons fall there is usually a knee or hip replacement in the  future).  We go out to eat all the time with good friends, we go to plays and concerts. I am pretty active on Facebook and Mate texts with son and grandson. Unlike what you may have thought from watching him drive, HE DOES NOT TEXT while driving.  (I just had to stick that in, I think the Devil made me do it)  He is very good on the Mac and can do anything we need to do using technology we didn't know would exist 10 years ago. We spend a lot of time at the Church building,  and we relish an evening at home from time to time because frankly we don't stay at home a lot in the evening.


Wait Just A Minute (as Jimmy Durante used to say)we do have a life, Daisy has just enhanced it.  Oh thank goodness.   

From An Email to 15 People

  Today, our hearts are heavy and Jim and I want to share a family's story with you.

On August 14, 2009, a good friend, Bruce Stanford sent me a forwarded email.  Bruce was always sending me forwards.  One was an email from a mother in Westerville, Ohio, that for some reason touched my heart.  She has a son 8 years old at the time and he had just been diagnosed with osteoscarcoma.     Osteo as families fighting always call it, is one of the most deadly of cancers occurring most often in teens.  Seldom survivable if it has spread to the lungs, but can be conquered if all things are just right. It attacks the bones usually in the limbs.

 Cindy Bish was a desperate mother; she did what all mothers who are cornered do, she fought  with the only weapon she had.  A belief in the Lord God Almighty.  She sent out a simple email to 15 friends asking for prayers and asking that they pass it on. She pulled her congregation together, she organized prayer groups and she begged for those of us who had gotten the email to pray fervently,   A mother cannot diagnoses, cannot treat, cannot perform surgery. She can be there and she can beg.    I saw this  same determination once before up  close and, as they say,  in living color, when our daughter in law was determined that cancer would not take her sweet daughter, Annde.  She held that baby as the doctors did spinal taps; she held her as they did bone marrow tests;  she, along with the help of so many your prayers, and with God's will,  won that battle.

With those 15 persons, the email was sent  to others and on and on and on.  It went around the world.  Posted on the Caring Bridge site are 399,000 plus messages for the Bish family from every state and from Australia to Canada and from Japan to England.

 I was sceptical at first  but checked it out with the Church mentioned, Westerville Christian Church (formerly Westerville Church of Christ)   It was obvious that this was genuine.  She had called on her fellow Christians for help.  She had no hesitation in doing that.  She was at war.  She created a web site in Caring Bridge which I will post on the bottom of this and invite you to go in and send a message with a prayer in your heart for this fine family.  It was through this congregation that I first heard about doing a prayer in the yard and if you go to that web site and look at the pictures you can see the members surrounding the Bish home.

 The day finally came when they had a big decision to make.  Do they authorize an amputation of Sam's leg or not.  They were sent the name of a doctor at MD Anderson in Houston and arrangements were made to fly there with Sam.


  In case you wonder if people are still caring in this world, let me tell you about a family in Houston.  Never met the Bish family but like Jim and I had followed along on Caring Bridge  because someone had sent them the Mother's email.  The Houston family contacted the doctor in Ohio, made the flight arrangements for Mike, Cindy and Sam, paid for the tickets, met them at the plane, kept them at their home, took them to eat real Tex Mex food and drove them everywhere they needed to be staying with them through the testing at MD Anderson.  This did not cost the Bish family a penny.  They even sent Texas presents home for the two little girls, Caitlin and Aubrey. Pictures of this fine family are also on the site. 


Decision was made for amputation.  Sports teams visited Sam in the hospital.  His story has been on TV in Ohio many times. ....... spots were discovered in the lungs.


Never giving up, they got ready for lung surgery not long after the amputation.  Many nodules were discovered, many removed.  The outlook was good.  There would be one more round of chemo, it looked as if they were winning the battle.  


The Bish family prepared for a trip to, you know.......... DisneyWorld in Orlando.  Make a Wish foundation had stepped in.  They went just a week or so ago and were scheduled for five more days in the hospital beginning today for the last round of chemo.  They were dreading it but again it was part of the battle plan.  I cut and paste a paragraph from the posting on Caring Bridge this afternoon.


"It is with a very heavy heart that I write this journal entry. Sam is at home tonight. He was admitted this morning and was taken down for a CT scan first thing.  Sam's doctors pulled me over to the side (away from Sam) and told me that the CT scan showed a relapse of cancer in Sam's lungs. Several nodules have shown up in both of Sam's lungs ( I do not have an exact number...just several) and some of the nodules appear to be bigger. This is very bad news for Sam and our family. The doctors are concerned that he relapsed so quickly after his last lung surgery and while he was still on chemotherapy treatments. Sam's doctors are consulting with the doctors in Texas (Dr. Anderson) and we will meet with our doctors on Friday to discuss a new plan of action. At this point it looks like Sam will be facing 2 additional lung surgeries and a change in his treatment.  Our family is heartbroken and is just trying to hold it together. Please pray!!!  We went into the hospital expecting this to be Sam's last inpatient chemo....instead we are faced with more hurdles to overcome and more surgeries on the horizon.   Our little fighter is still fighting but he has a major battle to face right now. We are tired and heartbroken and really need strength that only God can give us."


Please make a trip to Sam's Caring Bridge page and post a comment as you say a little prayer to the Father for Sam and Cindy, Mike, Caitlin and Aubrey.  As Christians, its what we do, 
 http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sambish/journal?jid=5826121