It’s hard for me to believe this long time famous Texas artist is the same little kid I used to sit by both on the school bus for two hours a day, going and coming from school, and in each class at school.  I spent all of my time studying and taking notes; he spent all of his – from a very early age – drawing pictures of airplanes, cars, anything and everything.

What the rest of us thought was just Bill doodling around turned out to be the beginning images of a very gifted artist, now renowned for his southern/southwestern flavored paintings of old homes, old buildings, pickup trucks, cotton fields, on and on.  (Please DO take a look at his website and some of the many gorgeous works he has done!)

The small print hanging to the right in the above photo is “Old Blue,” an ancient pickup truck in front of an old Texas plains farmhouse, our first Barrick acquisition, many years ago.  Laura saw it.  She loved it.  Unbeknownest to Mom or me, she wanted one.  It made her think of riding around our cotton farm out from Abernathy, Texas in such an old pickup with our “Daddy,” she mused.

See here (not a good image, but adequate):

It wasn’t until after July 4th when Laura was up at Abernathy at the town’s huge Centennial celebration/all school classes reunion and talked with Bill that we found out.  He told me afterward, but thought she wanted a copy of our painting – “Full Bloom” – which he did not make into prints.  I found out what she really wanted and decided to get her one, but then forgot all about it.

Fast forward to my Sept. 1-9 trip to Abilene.  Laura spoke of it, again, so secretly we conspired to get it for her.  I called Bill, set it all up and ordered it, matted and framed, at an excellent price.  (I mean – hey – we’re “family,” you know?  He & his wife were both classmates from the time I was 10 and now very close friends with Tom & me.)

He mailed it to Mom on the Thursday before Labor Day weekend.  I was leaving the next Wednesday morning and wanted it to get there so badly before I left, I couldn’t stand it.  It arrived in the mail after 5 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.  I ran yelping to the front door when the doorbell rang, knowing it had to be the delivery.

Laura had been over all afternoon and we kept thinking it would get there, but finally she had to go home.  Then, we talked her into coming back over to spend the night with us and have a “slumber party,” since it was my last night.

Here’s what happened when she got there & we finally convinced her there was a mysterious package that had come to Mom’s for her.  Pictures speak louder than words, sometimes.

You think she’s surprised and excited, or what?!  And Bill, who is a gifted writer, as well as artist, wrote the perfect inscription on the back of it in his large, sprawling handwriting, above his signature:

“For Laura

Memories of a country girl “windshield farming” with Dad -

With Love from your Mom”

Best Wishes, B B Barrick

********************************

Many blessings to each of you today.

And please keep my sweet daughter, Rebecca, in your prayers.  She has been in the hospital with a severe kidney infection since Saturday afternoon.  She’s been diabetic since 13, was not diagnosed for over a week, by which time she’d been terribly nauseated and throwing up for days, was dehydrated, lost several pounds, was running fever of 102+ and was in horrible pain for days, so severe they had to start her on morphine Saturday.

This trip, we did. 

Mom, Laura & I made reservations for dinner for 3 (all we could get together that time/day, etc) at 6 p.m. Thursday evening.

We took some photos, which I’ll have to publish here after I return home, of the ranch, us with the Texas sized armadillo and our steaks as they were being served to us.  But here’s a photo of the entrance I found on the website that really captures the setting (plus, there are several more great photos on the website you need to check out):

 We ordered 3 different things; me a 16 0z. ribeye, Laura, an 8 oz. filet, & Mom prime rib.  All had “Cowboy” potatoes and salads as included sides and we all had the absolutely fantastic Sourdough Bread Pudding w/Jack Daniel Whiskey sauce.

Our food critic review?! – Outstanding!!

The menu is varied with something for everybody.  The place is rustic with lots of fans blowing, screened windows open, along with big doors to the outside and – listen to this – no central air conditioning!  When we were there it was about 85 outside, I’d say, but with the fans blowing, we were very comfortable (late afternoon and “dry” heat, as they always say!).

Spend some time around their website, including their videoed blind taste test competitions on the Today Show and other network morning shows for world’s best hamburger (they won, hands down!) and read some of the history of Perini’s. 

Much fun was had by all and large boxes full of lots of leftovers were brought home to be consumed yesterday. 

Many blessings to you all this holiday weekend!  Dee

Oh well . . . all is resolved now, modem wise, as of late yesterday afternoon.  Although, I had to spend all morning this morning now dealing with AT&T about not receiving all of our emails.  The problems seem to corrected, except for one, which remains to be seen.  The terrific tech support young woman in Birmingham, though, is going to graciously give me a call back in the morning to check on that one.

Meanwhile . . . thought I’d offer two more of our family reunion photos from Great Wolf Lodge.  The first is my sister Laura, me, Mom & my daughter Rebecca.  Whata ya’ think?  Who looks like whom?!

This next one is a bit blurry, but it will probably be the only photo we’ll ever have of Mom, me and my older son, David, with four of his children.  His oldest daughter, Caitlin, 20, was unable to be with us as she lives in Maryland.

(Note:  Just for the record:  Caitlin has a little girl, Kiley Elizabeth, 2, making me a great-grandma & Mom a great-great grandmother.  We have FIVE generations presently in our family!  We just wish Caitlin & Kiley could have been with us. )

In the photo below are:  Victoria, 8, standing, Katrina, 10, in front of her, Tiarnan, 7, on my lap, Mom and David, with Brendan, 5, on his lap.

They are all as sweet and well-mannered as can be!  The three oldest all look much like their mom, Karen, while Brendan looks a lot more like David as a boy.  I’ll post a photo of Karen with Victoria soon.

Y’all have a great day.  Many blessings to you each today!  Dee

This link above shows you the greatest pictures and video you will ever see of a 22 member, 4-generation family reunion at the great resort, Great Wolf Lodge, Grapevine, Texas, for three glorious days in July, 2009.

Y’all enjoy!

And, thanks to my son, Mark, and daughter-in-law, Lynn, for the photos and video.

Many blessings to each of you!  Dee

Well – let me forthwith correct that.

The 19 of us arrived, en masse, Monday afternoon, the last two straggling in about 5 p.m.  Tom & I were the first to get here – about 2:30 p.m. – and Tom had swim trunks at the ready, but by the time the last of the clan arrived, we decided it was about time to gather ourselves for our evening “adults only” dinner f0r six (see last post).  However . . . the remaining parties, i.e, all three of my children and all nine of the grandchildren here, went straight to their rooms, into swim gear and down to the indoor waterpark, with  numerous water slides, including one called the vortex (think tornado), the canyon slide, and one dropping from the four-stop tower at about a shuddering 85 degree angle (think straight down), round and round and into the pool below.

That was just a foretaste of good fun ahead.

Yesterday and today have been non-stop, water logged fun, aside from lost kids, who were fine in the end – much better than their frantic parents, grandma Dee & great-grandma Jean.

What has surprised me the most is that most of the gang time has been spent outdoors at the outdoor waterpark pools and slides area.  I mean – guys – yesterday HAD to have been about 105 degrees in the shade, no wind (and this is west Texas) and absolutely miserable, even in the shaded portion next to the building.  Of course, the inside water park wasn’t much better.  It was a bit cooler, but about 100% humidity.

But, hey – when you’re a kid – or a grown-up kid, what’s the problem, ya know?!

We’ve all been sleeping in, leisurely sauntering down to the water parks and various indoor places, having lunches on our own and gathering in the evenings.  Tom had his grandchildren, Julian & Veronica, here yesterday and we all gathered here at our end of the 3rd floor hallway about 7 p.m. last night, where Julian (nearly 17) serenaded us with a selection of violin pieces, including the “Ashokan Farewell,” from Ken Burns’ PBS program, “The Civil War.”

When that finished, we all caravaned to The Rainfall Forest in a nearby outlet mall for dinner, the 22 of us at two tables next to each other.  I have to tell you – we had 7 young children, and everyone one of them was on their best behavior (lots of photos to come) as the jungle animals loudly harrumped (the elephants), chattered (the birds) and chimpanzees snorted, while the tanks and tanks of fish watched.

The only sticking point was that the place made you go through the gift shop both on the way in and out!  Smart marketing, but I don’t think they landed a sale, despite the fact that we saw two grandkids cuddling three stuffedd animals on the way out, with more right behind them.

Today, our last day here, we have all gotten into high gear.  It has been a “tad” less hot and my mom and I ventured out to set in the admittedly hot shade by the outdoor pool to watch the goings on.  Tom brought a friend’s video camera and I learned enough to be able to shoot some video around, so hope to be able to share some here after we return home, hopefully, tomorrow evening.

Mom & Laura are driving back to Abilene in the morning, we are going home and I think the rest (my three children & families) are going to check out here at 11 a.m., keep their water park passes for the rest of the day, and then retire to Rebecca’s house, which is about 30-45 minutes away, for the rest of the day/night.  David & Mark will leave from there Friday morning to drive back to Virginia & Picayune.

This evening we are gathering in the outdoor veranda on the main level at 7 p.m. to take the group’s photos and eat pizza together.  Tom’s brother and nephew are visiting Dallas from Maryland, and they are joining us, as well, so this has just been the greatest family reunion EVER!!

More – much more – to come when we get back home.  Probably on Friday.

Please pray that we all have a safe trip home and back to reality.

Many blessings to you all today and this evening!  Dee

P.S.  I have been sitting in traction, but have not had to take a pain pill since Monday morning and have been feeling great, over all!  Praise God for His kindness and mercies upon me.

Here we are 24 hours + into our big family reunion at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas, and what a day this has been!  The thing is – it’s not over, yet.  It’s 5:30 p.m. and hours to go before night falls out here in the great state of Texas.  Somewhere around 9 p.m., more or less, seeing as how we are on the far west side of the Central Daylight Savings Time time zone.

Tom & I left south Mississippi Saturday morning and arrived in Grand Prairie, Texas that evening to spend the weekend with his daughter and family.  As it to happened, Tom’s older brother and nephew arrived in Dallas Sunday afternoon from Bowie, Maryland and we all (8 of us) went to dinner at Pappasito’s where I had the BEST Mexican food since I was a kid on vacation with my family in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Wow!!  Everything we all had was outstanding.

The rest of my family all congregated at my daughter’s house nearby on Sunday evening and yesterday morning and then they all caravaned over here to the Great Wolf Lodge about 4 p.m. to meet up with Tom & me (we arrived about 2:30 in the midst of total bedlam caused by about 20 million kids and their parents, who totally filled the grand lobby and snaked out the front door in the 105 degree heat).  What chaos!  We’re way too old for this, I’m tellin’ ya!

Once we got all of our stuff in the room, we immediately went back downstairs to hang out in the Loose Moose Cottage eating/bar area open to the lobby so we could sit at the bar watching out for incomings.  Sure enough, here they came, all faces looking as if they were in total shell shock from the heat, combined 9 children, 6 adults with tons of luggage in tow.

The youngest grandchild, all of two, screamed bloody murder for the 45 minutes it took them all to check in, being totally traumatized by the sound decibel range.  Tom & I went to say our hellos upon arrival (one at a time) and then retreated back to the bar area taking comfort in the fact that we were grandparents and could let our children handle their own children.

My son-in-law, whose two sons are 20 and “nearly” 18, joined us as we plotted and planned a first night’s “adults only” dinner with Tom & me, my daughter, Rebecca, and son-in-law, Garth, along with my mom and sister, Laura, upon their arrival.

Garth treated the six of us to a Brazilian all the meat you can eat, with a fabulouse salad bar to begin with, and all I can say – again – is WOW!!

Right now it is a little after 6 p.m. and we are all gathering in the hall (our rooms are all nearby on the 3rd floor), at 7 p.m. to go to dinner together at the nearly Rain Forest Cafe in Grapevine Mills Mall.  As we gather in this end of the hall outside our rooms at 7, Tom’s grandson, Julian, will play classical music on his violin as our “call to arms.”  There will be 22 in attendance to dinner.

So far today, we have lost several children for way too long a time.  This morning, my younger son’s two older girls, Zoe, 6, and Hannah, 4, got lost in our hallway with their magic wand.  Luckily (thank God) they knocked on the room of my mom & sister and were “rescued.”  Then, this afternoon, Zoe was “lost” (talk about panic) for over an hour down in the indoor water park.  I contacted security and with the help of the staff and multiple family member urgently seeking her, she was found – safe and sound – in the water park right where (when we found her) she was supposed to be.  Again, thank God!!

Then, mid-afternoon, one of my other granddaughters, 10, was missing in action.  I haven’t heard more lately, so presume she turned up.

I did a good deed this afternoon when I met a young 11 year old boy who has been diabetic since he was 15 months old.  I encouraged him, his mom & his uncle, all I could that he could do well if he was smart and took good care of himself.  He had pale blue eyes and was so sweet.  God bless this little one.

So far, we are all having a great time!!  Wish y’all were here.  You’d really enjoyed it.

More tomorrow as we enjoy our last full day here.

Many Blessings to you all today!  Dee

Sunday, April 5th – Four Generations Meet For the First Time

The highlight of our third full day together with Mom & Laura at our house here in Picayune was getting together with my son Mark, his wife, Lynn, and their three girls – Zoe, 6, Hannah, 3 (she’s since turned 4), and Kayci, 2.

Mom had never met Lynn, much less the girls, so it was quite an occasion.  Mom, Laura and I went over in the afternoon.  I’d already had three Cokes by then, not being able to keep my blood sugars up all morning.  It had been a very hard morning for me, but by mid-afternoon I was feeling better.

We wanted to take pictures to record the event, but Kayci was asleep when we arrived and then Hannah decided she didn’t want her picture taken, despite all kinds of coaking.  So, we had to make do, as you’ll see below.

[Note:  I've had a major relapse since last Wednesday night when it comes to pain from my pinched nerve, so I'll not linger here today.  I had an epidural in my neck yesterday morning, but so far the pain has been worse (they say temporarily) than ever and I'm on strong drugs every 4 hours right now until the steroids hopefully kick in.  Please pray they will, so that I'll get relief from the sometimes unbearable pain and be able to enjoy our trip to Texas this weekend for our big family reunion (see last post).]

The first photo is of all of girls together on the sofa, save Kayci, who was sleeping.

From L to R: Zoe, Mom, Me, Laura, Lynn & Hannah (back to the camera, of course.

Next is our four generations photo, which Hannah, obviously, did not want to participate in.

Mark (holding Kayci), Zoe, Mom, Me with a pouting Hannah!

In this next one, Hannah did a bit better, but still wasn’t sure.

Mark with Kayci, Zoe, Mom, Me & Hannah, who is coming around?

Hannah finally cheered up just a bit sitting with Mom.  Hannah loved Mom’s necklace and kept playing with it wanting to wear it herself.

Mom & Hannah, who is happier now.

Finally for today, here is Hannah blowing with all her might on a clover blossom, thinking it is a dandelion and will fly to the winds as she blows on it.

Hannah is blowing on a clover blossom, thinking it's a dandelion that will blow away!

Many Blessings to you all today!  Dee

P. S.  If any of you readers live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, email me – my address is listed on the top right of my page here – to see if we can possibly get together next week while we’re at Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine.

Tom and I were both very disappointed to say the least, as we have not seen them in over two years and Tom and I have not had the opportunity to drive up there together since the fall of 2000 – nine years, y’all!  It’s a long two day trip, at best, and last time we went, Tom got sick the day we left and we spent three days on the road with me doing most of the driving.

But, the most wonderful thing has come about that is even better.  In fact, much better!   I mean, a once in a lifetime happening that spread out families (like ours, anyway, most of us being on limited means with time constraints, as well) only dream of, but rarely can achieve.

We are all going out next weekend (July 11-12) to spend the next three days (July 13-16) in Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of Dallas/Ft. Worth very near DFW airport, at a big resort/indoor water park called The Great Wolf Lodge.

And when I say “all” of us, I do mean all.  All three of my children and their families are coming, all of my grandchildren (except for my eldest, Caitlin, who is 20 and lives in Baltimore) will be there and my mom and Laura are driving over from Abilene to join us.  Tom’s daughter and family live near by (Grand Prairie) and will be coming over to join us one day and evening, as well.

Four generations will be together.  Nine of my 10 grandchildren and two of Tom’s three grandchildren (for one day) will be there.  All of our children will be together for one day.

This joyous reunion we have rather hastily planned arose through circumstance (and love for each other) in a very impromptu sort of way that none of us could have foreseen even a month ago.  I like to think that God has had a hand in it, and certainly ask for His blessings upon us all as we travel.  We are all basically pooling our money and helping each other out in every way we can so we can all do this and be together.

Be sure and check out the link above to the Great Wolf Lodge and the video below.  It is a really neat place centered around entire families and their needs.  Being indoors, the water park will be a perfect place to hang out in this hot July weather.

I’ll be sharing more with you about it later.  And, I’ll also next time get back to my next episode of our April Road Trip when my mom has the chance for the first time to meet her youngest three great-grandchildren and their mom and we capture it all with pictures.

For now – watch the video below to share with us our anticipation in going to such a marvelous place and stay tuned . . .

Click here to view the embedded video.

Saturday, April 4th – Mom’s Present View

I last left The Great Road Trip of 2009 saga with Tom taking Mom, Laura and me shopping in Slidell that Saturday afternoon at the mall.  Penney’s, to be exact, to buy knit shirts.  (See that post here – I know it’s been a while.  Sorry.)

Mom insisted on buying us all the shirts we wanted on sale and she got a couple, as well.  When Laura & I protested, she said this was something she wanted to do, and was going to do it!  She began sharing her view of life
at 87.  She had things to say and wanted us to listen carefully, paying full attention, Penney’s or not.

I’d begun to get an inkling of her current thinking before our trip had begun, but had not realized its depths.  We’d been talking about it since the prior December, but it wasn’t until late Feb. 2009 when I finalized my plans to fly out to Abilene on March 31 and mailed Mom a copy of my itinerary that I got a major clue as to her thinking.

She sent me a birthday card for my March 2 birthday with a check enclosed.  She usually sends each of us a $20 bill for our birthdays, but this check was for $60 + the cost of the plane ticket.  I was surprised and called her to thank her, asking if my worth as a person had risen in value since turning 60.

She laughed and told me that she not only was paying for my plane ticket, but also intended to pay for our entire trip.  The three of us (Mom, Laura & I) had not discussed it at all, but I think Laura’s thinking was the same as mine – we were doing this for our mom and would share the costs on the road equally – in thirds.

I didn’t get a chance to talk with Laura about it until I got out to Abilene and she began worrying about having cash to bring with her on the trip for expenses.  I told her what Mom had said and that I, too, would help her with cash if she needed it, not to worry about it.

Sure ’nuff, Mom bought the gas, whatever food we ate (which wasn’t a lot on the trip, if you remember) and paid for our night at the DiamondJack Hotel.  Since we’d been back home to Picayune, she kept telling me that she would help pay for our groceries while she & Laura (and then Laura’s husband) were there, but had not as yet done so.

Now, here we were shopping at the mall and Mom wanted to share with us her heart.  [Note:  I must say here that our mom is by no means a wealthy woman, as the world perceives wealth.  Children of the depression, she and Dad never had a lot of money, but they always saved.  She has a degree in Business Administration and always kept the "books." I never knew how she managed so well, us living on a farm and there being four of us kids, but she did.]

She began telling us that at this point in her life (she is 87!), she has
more money than she’ll ever be able to spend.  She says that money is
the least of her worries, unlike all the rest of us.  She began to relate how many Christian friends she’d had, still has, who were so tight with their money, that they would not let go of any of it for anything – even their children.  Most of all, their children, she said.

She said they would (will) wait until after they are long dead before their kids see a penny of it, and by then the kids (likened unto us) could possibly all be in their late 60s or even 70s before the remaining parents are gone.  Mom thinks that is stupid and selfish!  She says she realizes that whatever she gives us now, that means we’ll have less after she’s gone (since she’s leaving all she has to we three kids, anyway), but she knows there are things in our lives that are importance for us to do now, while we are still young enough and healthy enough) and she wants us to be able to do them.

Most important, she said, she wants to be around to enjoy the pleasure of sharing her money with us so that we can all do things together – like this very trip we were on.  And we were having a blast!!

Besides, she said with a twinkle in her eye and getting back to our shopping "spree," we’d better take full advantage of all we could get while she was in such a generous mood spending her kids’ inheritance!

For all we got, "her" bill was only about $100, which was amazing.

We stopped at Sam’s Club to pick up some thick steaks for Tom to grill later and started home.  It was now about 5:30 p.m. and Mom was tired, she said.  Me, too.  My shoulder blade had begun to hurt, but I didn’t say anything to anyone.  We were all having too much fun.

By the time we got home and laid out all of our "cute" shirts to gaze upon, we decided we were still full from the late sandwich lunch and told Tom we’d rather save the steaks for the next evening.  He agreed, but told us we’d better not fill up on sandwiches tomorrow because he wanted to grill us those steaks.

We had gotten Mom & Laura some neat night lights/flash lights while in Sam’s and Mom insisted she wanted to pay us back for hers.  She would not let us gift her with anything.  But, she’d not said a word about the $200 I’d spent on groceries that morning or the steaks, which I thought was a bit odd since she’d said she wanted to cover everything.  But, I wasn’t going to say anything because she was our guest and my mom, for goodness sakes, and we wanted to do things for her.  

She went off to her bedroom to piddle around and bring me what I thought was going to be a $20 check.  She was gone a while, but finally emerged and handed me a check, she said, to cover all our expenses, but with something extra for a special purpose, if we so desired.  I looked at the amount on the check and I was floored.  Tears welled up in my eyes so that I couldn’t see as I exclaimed, "MOM!?!

It was for at least five times more than all of our expenses for the trip and week.  It was a very generous check with a comma in it.  She said, "I want you to go on to see David (my older son in Virginia) in May, like you’d planned before your fiancial situation hit a down turn.  It’s important that you go on and go and see him and his family because it’s been two years and you need to go."

I showed Tom the check and he was stunned, too.  She told us that she had been planning this for a good while before the trip.  She had told Laura before hand what she was going to go and was giving Laura and my brother Neil each checks of the same amount – for all of us to do whatever we wanted to do with the extra gifted money.

She shared with us, again, and with Tom, how she felt about it and why she was doing it, but we were still overwhelmed at her generosity, not only of money, but mostly of heart and spirit.

I hope I can better emulate my mom with my kids, you know?  We do not have a lot, but we try to share what we can when we can.  In the end, that is all any of us can do.  May we all try to be as generous in heart and love as my mom!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you know, things did not work out for Tom & me to go to Virginia in May to see David and family because of my pinched nerve, but something even better has come up in God’s timing that will take place in just two weeks and I cannot wait to share it with you.  But, this has gone on too long already, so it will have to wait for next time, when I also get back to the next episode in The Great Road Trip of 2009.

In the meantime, Many Blessings to you each today!  Dee

To Be Continued . . .

Saturday was our second full day at home together and another day full of fun, too, thanks as always to Mom.  It was a busy one, but not too.  We tried our best to rest and relax in between "fun stuff," but then, it was all fun!  Although looking back, I think this was about the time the pain first started in my left shoulder blade. 

I was pretty hyper, still, from the trip and did too much, with trying to make sure everyone was having a great time and that all went smoothly.  I knew it at the time, but did not realize the toll it was taking or what the consequences would be.

My blood sugars were crashing on a regular basis, sometimes as many as four or five times a day.  I must have drunk nearly a case of Cokes during that two week period.  I could not keep my blood sugars up.  It’s a wonder I didn’t gain about 10 lbs., but I didn’t.

The first thing on the agenda for the day, which didn’t start too early for any of us, was coffee, of course, with a light breakfast, and then grocery shopping.  I had not been to the grocery store in over a week and needed fresh produce and some things for cooking while company was here.

So, Laura and I headed off to town to Walmart.  That’s always a challenge and especially in Picayune on Saturdays when I think the entire county’s population comes to town to shop there.  This day, it was particularly difficult to not only park, but shop, because the entire store was under major renovations with everything in the store out of place and no new signs up to point you in the right direction.  None of the employees had a clue, either, to where anything was, so it took us forever to get groceries (and a lot of money, since I was buying a lot more than usual).

By the time we got home, put everything away and had sandwiches, it was nearly 2 p.m. and we had yet to start to Slidell to the mall for some more shopping.  The plan was for us to go to Penney’s to get some cute shirts on sale -  cheap – and then go by Sam’s to get some steaks for Tom to grill for dinner. 

What we had not planned, was for Mom to pay for our shirts (we girls, that is – poor Tom was just our driver everywhere!).  But, she insisted on buying us all the shirts we wanted when we got there (and they were cute and on sale for only about $5 bucks apiece!! – Mom even got a couple).  She laughingly told us we’d better stock up while she was in such a generous mood spending all of her kids’ inheritances.

While Laura & I protested, she began sharing her philosophy of life at 87 and began telling us . . .

[Note:  Y'all - I'm tired today, and especially this afternoon, so think I'll stop right here.  Be sure and come back, though, because I think you will take away much wisdom from this lovely, delightful mom of ours.  Here's a couple of pictures for today of Mom, Tom & Laura eating key lime pie on the back porch that beautiful April 4th afternoon.  Isn't our back porch just the neatest place ever?]

To Be Continued . . .