Happy Birthday to my Daughter

Happy Birthday, Tammy!

This is my letter to my daughter who celebrates her 44th birthday today, December 15th...

Dear Tammy,

Gee, it doesn't seem that it has been 44 years since you came into this world! You were our first-born, and your birth made us a family. Your dad and I were in heaven, so to speak, at that time. We were like two kids with a new toy!

It was during doe hunting season, and I had been helping Grandma Squeek (my mom) with her hunters. I hadn't been feeling very well at all that afternoon, December 14th. I managed to sit on a kitchen stool and do what I could to help. You began to let me know that you were getting kind of restless that day. After supper was over, I told my mom that I thought I was having contractions.

Being December, you might know that it would be snowing quite heavily. Your dad took me back to our home to get my things so we could head out on the 20-mile drive to the hospital across those narrow country roads. But once I got home, I just had to take a shower, shave my legs, etc. Finally, an hour later, I said I was ready to go. By then, your Uncle Jake (my brother) was there, more nervous than your dad. He was going to follow us to the hospital in case we slid off the road. It really was a wicked night to be out on the roads, period. There were several inches of snow covering the roads, and there were no tracks from other vehicles to even follow. The roads hadn't been plowed yet, as the highway department would usually wait til the snow let up before clearing the roads. We had quite a perilous drive up Keating Summit Hill and then down the other side! The final 10 mile-lap was all flat road, thank goodness!

Finally, we arrived at the hospital! They were anxiously waiting for us, worrying about us driving through such a storm to get there. In a small town, where everyone knew everyone, and they all knew Aunt Naomi and Aunt Biddy, knew that I was their niece. There really wasn't any hurry since you ended up taking your good old time to be born! We put in a rough night together, you and I, but then finally, at 5:28am on December 15th, you were born! Your birth brought us so much joy! You were a beautiful baby but bald as could be! I had you by natural childbirth, so I was awake to see you born. We were just happy that you were healthy and had 10 little fingers and 10 little toes! We didn't care if you were a girl or a boy! Back in those days, no one knew whether the baby was a boy or a girl until the baby was born.

Your dad was with me all through the night, getting no sleep at all. Uncle Jake was calling all of our relatives who lived in that town (which we later moved to) telling them I was in labor. Your dad went to your Great-Grandma Jenny's in the morning to get some sleep, but he said he got very little, as her phone was ringing constantly with relatives calling to see if I'd had the baby yet. The day was busy with visitors coming to see you. We couldn't wait to bring you home! Oh, what a fun day that was! We knew nothing about babies, but we learned in a big hurry, thanks to the help of Grandma Squeek (my mom). You were such a good baby and started sleeping the entire night on your sixth night at home.

Poppa Steve, with his Bell & Howell movie camera in hand, came with your dad the day I was discharged. He filmed you and me through the hospital window and then later while leaving the hospital with you in my arms. Once we got home with you, I left you on the sofa while I got out of my clothes and into a robe to be more comfortable. Poppa Steve and Grandma Genevieve were there to undress you, the camera rolling all the while. What a blessed Sunday that was! I watch that video every year on your birthday. Poppa Steve knew what he was doing when he was filming everyone all the time. He gave us all such wonderful memories on film to keep alive forever.

You have done nothing but bring us joy all these years! We have always been so proud of your accomplishments during high school, college and now in the working world. You are the sweetest daughter I could have ever asked for! You have grown into a caring, loving, beautiful young woman. I know you are in Montreal on a business trip this year during your birthday, but you are still right here in my heart, where you'll always be. We will celebrate the big "4-4" this weekend! Happy Birthday, Honey! Always remember how much you're loved! We love you!!!

Grandma's Apron

An old-timey pic showing bib-style aprons

And this is my Grandma Jenny on the leftGrandma Jenny, Mom, Me, and Rose in hunting season when I was in high school

THIS IS THE STORY OF GRANDMA'S APRON....

I can see Grandma in the kitchen with her apron on... can't you??? What a wonderful memory this is! I don't think our children even know what an apron is. I have always loved aprons. I guess it's because my mom always wore one. These are some my Aunt Naomi made. She loved to sew and knit. These aprons are about 50 years old! I was maybe 12 or 13 years old when she made these for me.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath,

but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and, on occasion,

was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks,

and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy children. And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow,
bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.

After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples

that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road,

it was surprising how much furniture that old apron

could dust in a matter of seconds!

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something

that will replace that "old-time apron" that served so many purposes.

REMEMBER......... Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.

Her granddaughters set theirs on the kitchen counter to thaw.

Awards Day

First of all, I want you all to know that Abe is home and doing better. He has posted about his illness and has some new pics on his blog. He is a professional photographer and writer and has some really great photos on his blog. Check it out at Brookville Daily Photo.

Boy, am I ever behind! I need to thank those who have sent awards my way. Below are some buttons/awards I received some time ago from Mary over at Mary's Writing Nook. Thank you so much, Mary!!! I do apologize for being so tardy in posting them and thanking you properly. I love and appreciate them so much! I need to learn how to add text to a pic so I can make some of my own to pass on. Mary seems like the type of person who would be there if you ever needed a hand or a friend! Do check her blog out...I'm certain you will enjoy your visit with her! She's really a lovely lady and has a very enjoyable and interesting blog!!!

How true the one below is!

And I am so late in getting these in a post, too! These are also from Mary! I just loved this one with the black cat! She has the cutest things up her sleeve over there at her blog!

And we all know Halloween just wouldn't be Halloween without a witch riding her broom!

And then this Thanksgiving one is also from Mary! I just love this one, too! I always have loved the story of the Pilgrims and love anything in the theme of Pilgrims! Thank you again, Mary! And I promise I'll not be so late next time in getting things posted on my blog.

And then I received more just this week....

Here's the lovely "Proximidade" award given to me by Gramma Ann of Ann's Quotes and Things. I received this one from Merle of Merle's Third Try a while back, too, so I am properly thanking you, also, Merle at this time.

This award is a fine one because it focuses not on the glory and fanfare of blogging, but in the PROXIMITY to one another through online-world. Thank you, Gramma Ann! I sincerely appreciate the award and your thinking of me. Visit Gramma Ann, and you will see first-hand just what a wonderful lady and friend she is!

"Blogs that receive this award are 'exceeding charming,' says its author. This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award."

I am to pass this award on to 8 people. I find it very, very hard to choose just 8, and I see some of you that I would like pass this on to have already received it. I am very pleased to pass this award on to the following 8 blogs:

Do Drop Inn

Home on the Range

Lib's Private Paradise

Lisa's Place

Old Lady Lincoln

Pam's Ponderings

Pea's Corner

The Clark Homestead

Below, Lib at Lib's Private Paradise had these awards posted on her blog and said to take them if we wanted them....I thought they were cute so I took them. Thank you, Lib! Pay Lib a visit as she posts some really great recipes and is quite a crafty lady!!! She makes some really lovely things!

I will look at this one, longingly, throughout the winter months while I wait for Summer to arrive!

And this one describes ALL the blogs I read!

Have a great weekend, everyone! My daughter is taking me shopping to another city tomorrow, so I'll see how long I can walk. I love to get out and shop during holiday time, but the legs and back don't allow me to do much. So I am so happy that my daughter is taking me and will be with me. It should be a fun-filled mother-daughter day!

P.S. I've had some blogger problems today...spacing, text color, etc., so please excuse the mess of this post! I've been working on it off and on all day since 10:10 this morning, and it is now 6:04pm! LOL

PRAYERS NEEDED!

UPDATES and recent hospital photos of Abe on their daughter's blog. Click here.

Patty and Abe Lincoln

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! But for everyone, it isn't a happy day, not really. You see, one of our fellow bloggers from Ohio is in the hospital with a collapsed lung. Abe Lincoln is spending his Thanksgiving holiday in the hospital! His lung had collapsed back in 1981 and then again a few days ago. If it happens once, there's a 50% chance of it happening again. If it happens a second time, then the recurrence of it happening yet another time is 80%! He had a new lung procedure, a very painful procedure, yesterday that is supposed to kind of patch the bad or weak spots in the lung, and he seems to be doing much better now. Their daughter has some pics of Abe posted on her blog with a more-detailed explaination of his lung problem.

I'm sure the family would appreciate all the prayers they can get at this time. So please add his name to your prayer list, and pass it on so that he'll have a mutitude of people praying for him. Prayer does work, we all know that, so please pray and remember him and his family in your daily prayers and also your Thanksgiving Day prayers today.

Some of you may already frequent his blog or his wife's blog. If you haven't, you need to, as they have theeeee best blogs! Patty and Abe celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary this past July! I have met some wonderful people through blogging, and this couple is on the top of my list! To know them is to love them!

Punky's Battle is Over

" PUNKY" (1991-2008)

Yesterday (Nov. 22, 2008) in Orlando, FL, Punky had her last ride. Her battle with oral cancer is over, and she is now at peace. She had started to bleed from the tumor again, so it was time for her to go to kitty heaven. Her Pops had given her radiation therapy two different times, once in March/April and again in September. Each time, the tumor shrunk entirely away for a few months, but then it eventually returned each time. She even purred as my son placed her carrier in his car for her last ride, with her probably thinking that she was going back to her home in South Carolina. She loved to ride! She was a well-seasoned little traveler. He said she never took her eyes off him during the entire ride. She traveled with him everywhere he went, as did Scooter.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will remember that Scooter, age 15, lost her battle with heart disease on October 6th of this year. It has been very heartbreaking for my son to lose both of his beloved little girls less than 7 weeks apart. It was a very sad day for our family again, but we know that Punky and Scooter are frolicking together once again.

" PUNKY" in July 1991

Punky was a shelter kitten when he adopted her on July 5, 1991. She was a pitiful little thing with an infected eye with puss running out of it and down her little face. We took her straight to the vet for a checkup and medicine for her eye. She was given a bath to rid her of fleas, as she was loaded with them. Her coat was so thin that we could actually see them crawling all over her bony little body. The vet said her eyeball was even swollen. Our shelter has come a long way since the 90's and has a great staff now. Dogs seem to get priority at our local shelter, though, so we adopt the little cats no one would ever choose. We have found that they are all beautiful on the inside.

Below is a pic of where she slept...right next to Tim's pillow. He said that she actually got on his pillow with him the night before, something she had never done. He took that as a sign that she was telling him something, maybe that she was ready to go. We have found that usually an animal will let you know, in some manner, when they are ready.

As I told my son, she loved him, and she knew that he loved her. They had 17 great years together. We have videos of her that we can watch to keep her alive forever in our hearts.

As my vet wrote in a sympathy card one time when I had to have my beloved Duffy put to sleep in 1996, also, due to cancer: "You have given Duffy one last gift...his release from suffering." So I passed those words on to my son:

"You have given Punky one last gift...her release from suffering."

My last words to you, Punky: "I know you are in a better place now, but you will be sadly missed, my little Punky, and you will always have a special place in my heart....Grandma loves you!"

Cold Day in the South

Just a little note today....that's about all I have time for at the present. I am still among the living. I have posts I want to do but need to find the time to do them. I usually spend hours on some of my posts with so many photos, so I am looking to do some shorter ones soon. I have some good stories my son wrote when he was managing editor of his college paper at Clemson University in Clemson, SC, but I have to retype them in order to post them. Plus, I have some awards from Mary I need to thank her for yet, too.

We had a cold front move in on us, so today is a bit nippy with a little wind. I kind of welcome the cooler weather myself. I have to run out this afternoon to do a few errands, and then I am taking time to visit my good friend, Wanda, who fell a week ago last Friday night and broke her lower leg and ankle...a total of 4 bones broken! She had surgery the next day and had to have a rod and pins put in. So she is now at home, recuperating. I made her some homemade rolls, so I plan to stop by and visit her for a little while. My work is taking the backseat today! LOL

A BIG "Thank You"

I want to thank Gramma Ann for this lovely award!!! Thank you, Ann, so much!!! I really do appreciate it!!! She knows how much I love animals, especially cats. She, too, is also a cat lover and has recently taken in a newcomer to her home by the name of Mr. Jones, and he's a cutie! Hop on over to her Ann's Quotes and Things and check it out....you'll be glad you did! Her other blog where she posted this award is called Ann's Reading Corner. She has a photo of her reading corner as her header, and it looks so-oooo cozy and relaxing! She is a great blogger and publishes some very interesting posts!

I know it's been almost a month since my last post, but work has been crazy working with "snowbirds" every day who are looking for winter homes in the Orlando area. I am going to try and do better. Usually, by the end of the day, I am so tired that all I want to do is grab a quick bite to eat and head on to bed, which is usually around 2 or 3am. I hope to get around and visit you all soon!

Yesterday took me to Greenville two times with my daughter's cat, Buster. We had to leave him there, and then they called when he was finished. He was due for his one-month post chemo checkup and ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that there is no reoccurrence of his bowel cancer, thus far. I just received a phone call from the specialists' facility with his bloodwork results. Everything is the same as it was the last time. He has had an elevated kidney value all along. His BUN is at 54, whereas normal is in the 14-36 range. This indicates that he is experiencing some kidney failure, but it hasn't improved, nor has it worsened, since his last bloodwork was done. All cats by the age of 15 experience some kidney value problems. Anyhow, we are very pleased with the good news, both yesterday and today! He has to go back on December 1st for another checkup and chest x-rays. They keep a close watch on them after they have received chemo and/or radiation treatments.

Our leaves are turning, but I don't think the colors are as vibrant as they have been in previous years. They are more muted in color this year, and there are a few leaves falling! We are expecting temp of 77 on Thursday! The nights have cooled so nicely, though. And then also the holidays are quickly approaching....something else added to my "To Do" list! LOL

I'll be around to visit you soon! Thank you all for being so faithful in leaving me comments and sticking with me. I want to also thank those of you who have emailed me with little notes! It's so nice to be remembered when I have been such a poor blogger lately....I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart!

P.S. Does anyone know why Blogger won't allow me to separate my paragraphs??? I have to copy and paste everything into a Word document and space it there, and then copy and paste it all over again and place on my blog. Strange, huh? But it works!