Taking a Trip!!

Probably the daughter most like her mom  (Rhonda) 

I have a wonderful friend whose name is Martha Bennett who has had the courtesy & kindness over the many years of our acquaintance to invite me on several trips with her, some near & some far away. We both love to travel, explore & see what's going on around us. I first met Martha approximately 45 years ago when she, Gene, & Patti moved to a beautiful home on highway 25 in Bloomfield when he was transferred to this part of the country as an employee of the telephone company when most everyone still had landline telephones. Patti & my brother, Joe, were in the same class in BHS & that's how we initially became acquainted. She & I took some college classes together, she finished her degree & later taught several years in Bloomfield. I, however, dropped out because I kept becoming pregnant! I did become associated with our school system as a secretary to the elementary principal for 22 years & later as a classroom aide (those experiences are yet another blog).

I immediately "took" to Martha; she had such a wit about her that I loved, a spontaneous sense of humor, loved to read, travel, was interested in school activities, church, music, many of the same things I was & she loved coffee & was a great cook! I'll never forget the first time she invited me to ride with her to Thayer to visit her large, extended family. I just loved her mother, Clara, & those of her siblings I met. One sister, Kay, & I are also good friends. The drive to Thayer is such an awesome one during the spring & fall - it is absolutely breathtaking! It will make you thankful to God for the beauty He gave us in the form of nature, tress, wildflowers, creatures, etc. Also, during their early years of coaching when the famous Hewgley & Spoonhour coaches were at Bloomfield, they scheduled a bb game somewhere quite a ways off, or so it seemed at the time; seems like it was Cabool. Joe was a "second stringer" & the Bennett's invited me to ride with them to the game (Patti was a cheerleader)& we spent the night in Ava (maybe). We had such a great time with the families who went. I think we gave Gene a migraine from laughing & singing in the car on that trip!

The years passed, Joe & Patti grew up & one year Martha came to the office & said, Barb, let's go to New York City this summer. Oh, sure, I thought. Guess I'll stand down at the 4-way stop with a coffee can for the next year to raise the funds for this one but most are not overly prone to donate to an overweight 40 year old. Maybe I could put a pic of a starving child on the can, but God might frown on that one. But, Martha Flo had a plan. Our dear government sponsored a migrant program in our school at the time (I'm not kidding) & we would see if we could get summer jobs in this program. She, of course, would teach & I would do clerical work. It was a part of the summer school program. We applied & low & behold we were hired, not that I was surprised at her because she's a great teacher, but these government programs truly amaze me. It went on for 6 weeks, then we were off on our eastern bus tour with our summer school windfall! We saw historical sights, the Statue of Liberty, the Rockettes, a Broadway play, (a 15 year old boy on the tour recommended a wonderful play for us to see), & I was petrified, a country girl in the city. I wore a cape in mid-July over my purse because I was so afraid someone would snatch my purse. We saw Civil War battlefields, Washington D.C., all those things that we Americans need to see before we meet our Maker. It was experiences I will never forget including all those who traveled with us, memories I treasure. I keep a bag of souvenirs to this day from that trip.

Martha has taken my youngest 2 to varied historical local settings, caves, cemeteries in an attempt to teach them an appreciation for their forefathers. She's a generous soul, very giving of her time, talent, to others & again tomorrow she & I are setting off on a short trek to the beautiful south. Her children moved there several years ago, but after the death of Gene, she moved back home & now lives in Mammoth Spring, AR, the town next to Thayer, where she began. She has traveled many miles over the years, including to Scotland, Ireland, Israel with Patti, many other places. She is truly a global traveler. She has also written 2 books including "Where Golden Apples Grow". She celebrated her 80th birthday this past September, but still looks great, still plays the piano at the Thayer Methodist Church, still loves to travel & have coffee with friends just as we used to each day after school at Mac's Pizza in Bloomfield.  BTW, she is the one who will be doing the driving, I'm along for the good time!  Plus, her daughter told her she couldn't drive through Memphis alone!

Let me digress just a little; I'm sorry that we didn't take our family on more vacations/trips (short or long) when they were younger. Ken worked very hard; way too hard as far as I'm concerned, & we just didn't take the time to do some of the things I wish we had; not that I live in regret because I certainly know how blessed we are/were! We did go to the zoo, went to Nashville one year, did some other smaller things, but I wish we had spent more time with them showing them how to help others, taking day trips to places of interest, etc. I love my blog te. idea of packing lunch & touring Mingo. It doesn't take lots of money, just a little thought & planning. God has given us so much to see & experience & share. I had lunch today at the senior center in Puxico & had a conversation with 98 year old Wiley McGhee, who graduated from BHS 80 years ago - what a treat! He didn't begin to pursue his dream of becoming a minister until retirement age; he said he keeps trying to retire & let someone younger "take the pew" but they keep calling him back; we discussed the fact that the ministry is not an easy vocation. Talking with Rev. McGhee was a vacation moment/s for me!

I had my dream vacation in the summer of 2010. My youngest daughter, Jennifer (JJ) & her husband, Tom, own a condo in Destin, FL. One Sunday at our Sunday round table, she sort of dropped a bomb shell when she said, how would all of you like to come down the first week of June?  My heart jumped out of my chest - TU, Lord, I've always wanted a family vacation, & even though I'm not interested in laying in the sand & sun, I would just love, love, love going & watching, enjoying, being with all of them. I've had skin cancer, so I just don't take chances, besides, I have yet to see the bathing suit I would don. I keep thinking some ingenious stylist will come up with one, but I've yet to see it. The pic of Rhonda (daughter #2) at the top of the blog is sort of what I might have been several years ago; with a hat, etc. The tops of  her feet were beet red & she was slathered in oil, had on sun glasses & sat under an umbrella on the beach when not in the water. Two carloads of us drove down & joined the Hamptons who were already there, unloaded our gear, spent a wonderful week together & came home still speaking. It truly was a dream vacation for this mom & grandma;  many unforgettable experiences in this beautiful area of  FL as well as Mobile, AL where we stopped on the way down on Memorial Day & toured the USS Alabama. Wowzers (as Jake says)!

After this earthly journey, I will be on an eternal vacation with many others, one that will never end  for lack of money, time, or any of those other hindrances. As the song goes, "When I take my vacation in Heaven, what a wonderful trip that will be"!  I love vacations, short, long; looking forward to being with my friends in Mississippi for a few days & catching up with Martha & her brood again. I think I have everything "battened down" here with mom; lots of folks seeing to her, (what in this world are you doing that for, she asked)? I've fixed potato soup, beans, mac & cheese, greens hoping & praying & instructing her to stay off the stove. Thanks so much to the ones who donated their services at our auction so that we could give to others in Haiti because with that donation came the sweet gal who will be checking in on mom each day while I am gone along with my girls & Peggy & Jane.  I have the greatest family & friends, the very kind I would like to be! Forever grateful to all of you for all you do; pray for us while we are traveling - these are now 2 great grandmas traveling down the road together; how in the world did this happen so quickly?  We've both been widows now for several years; I'm so glad that in God's infinite plan, He provided family & friends for us to make this earthly journey with!  Don't have too much fun while I'm gone - see you soon; Blessings!

Basketball Has it All!

Bro Joe, Joey, Tanner, Joe Rice, Chris

#1 & only son, Loyd

 My blogging mentor/friend, Annette, reminded me earlier this evening that "March Madness" was taking place as we were communicating by cyberspace. I rarely watch basketball on tv unless it's a local team or unless my son, Loyd, is the referee or unless my brother or someone else is here to whom mom will reluctantly turn the remote over to. I call her "flicker finger" because just as sure as I show the slightest interest in anything that is showing on the tube (which is rare), she switches it!  Some real drama has taken place when she couldn't locate the remote & I have been awakened from naps, showers have been interrupted, & chairs turned upside down looking for the misplaced/lost device. Either Loyd or Joey (forgot which) bought us a new one but she didn't care for it, so she just got out the gray duct tape, repaired the old one & it's the one we still use.

I first recall loving basketball during my high school years when we had a pretty good team. I didn't get to attend all the games since we lived several miles out in the country, but dad would go on occasion, & I would catch a ride with friends when I could. I can still recall having a heart wrenching crush on coach "Gunner" Bill Gatlin. At that time, I thought he was such a "hunk" as the gals of today would say. I thought his wife, Shirley, was the luckiest woman on the planet. It was so ironic that they later divorced & he married a woman from my grandmother's hometown in Swifton, Arkansas, that my grandmother knew well.  Fred Pulley, who was a classmate of mine scored more points than anyone to date one season. So, we had some excitement during those years between 1957-1961. 

I can't recall the exact date the "new gym" was built, but I think it was completed around 1960. What a facility, especially for a town our size. We moved  from very small, cramped quarters to a facility that was hailed statewide. The famed Christmas tourney is still held every year. Even though the parking is horrendous with folks having to park almost out in the street, on the ball diamond, blocking people's drives, people come from almost the Arkansas border to participate in & to see this event. There has been SRO on many occasions, not only for the Christmas event, but county tournaments & other games. Basketball has it all in our part of the country. We've also witnessed some very exciting volleyball matches in this gym - my daughter, JJ & several of her classmates & friends had the fortunate experience to play under the tutelage of coach Barb Dalton who won a state championship one year. Their team sure gave us some excitement & thrills that JJ considers such a wonderful part of her high school memories. This lady was not only a great coach & teacher but such a great mentor for these young ladies. 

Our only son, Loyd, had the good fortune of being part of a winning basketball team. It was a sport he played the year round with his buds. He made lifelong friends, 2 of which have since died, such a difficult loss for him & our entire community. His coach, Ken Jackson, was also a very good role model. I am so thankful to God for this. He really enjoyed the sport & it helped make his school years very enjoyable & he is still very much into the area of sports today. He manages a sporting goods store & much to his mother's chagrin, refs college basketball games. It's difficult for me to attend a game that he is calling, because, Lord forbid, when someone disagrees with a call he makes, I just want to go up in the stands & have a "come to Jesus meeting" with them of which Loyd would highly disapprove. I think it can be a very effective teaching tool if we allow it to be; if we remember never to take the fun out of it, never purchase our victories at the expense of their losses or achieve satisfaction at the price of their agony. The pleasure must be in the playing, in being together; winning & losing can destroy the best that life has to offer. 

Lots of exciting basketball continued for me when Joey & Chris played in the 90's & I look forward to the years ahead with Joey's Tanner & Chase who are already practicing here at the house at the same bb goal that Loyd installed for his nephews. Mom & I have had lots of fun sitting under the carport watching our kids, grandkids, neighborhood kids, brother Joe, various & sundry others including lots of girls while away lots of time playing basketball. 

I have spent many happy hours & chalked up wonderful, joyous memories in the Bloomfield gymnasium watching basketball, volleyball, plays, musicals, graduations, (we even had our prom there back in the day); I have laughed, cried, gossiped, yelled, screamed, (it's one of the best places on the earth just to sit & observe people), it just ruins you from going to other high school gyms to watch events in my humble opinion. It's also one of those places that I've absolutely wanted to "jerk a knot in someone's tail" when in the middle of some performance, speech, etc.someone would get up & traipse across & up the steps, open the rr doors loudly & totally disrupt the moment! 

Our little community is small, but we have a beautiful veteran's cemetery, gorgeous city park, beautiful churches, a wonderful county court house that still sits in the middle of town, AND we still can boast that we have had the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament for over 50 years now. I have lived here all my 67 plus years and don't know most of the names of the streets in town, but I know many of the fine people who live here in this little piece of Heaven to me where you see lots of bb goals when you drive down the street/s.

I must close on a somewhat somber note; for the first time in many years, I do not have a Wildcat. JJ gave me a Bearcat t-shirt yesterday, & I admit I had to swallow hard. When Jake & Joe moved to Dexter, that took the 5th generation of our family who had been Wildcats; Aunt Movidene, me, Joe, my 4 kids, Joey & Chris, Jake & Joe. When they look up in the stands, they may just see a purple & red t-shirt. I would always yell for them, of course, encourage them to do & play their very best, but this blood will always run purple!  

RIP Elizabeth Taylor

Yours Truly

I have no choice but to listen to cable news all day when I'm in the house since that's mom's main form of entertainment (after reading the Bible & I'm not making jokes here); if you watch CNN all day, you  need to read the Bible!  So, of course today one of the main things mentioned has been the death of Elizabeth Taylor, a beautiful Hollywood star. I've never been a huge movie fan; I occasionally watch a tear jerker, a comedy, or one that someone tells me I absolutely cannot miss, but that's about it; however, I have always been fascinated by their personal lives. I used to read movie magazines voraciously, saving my money to buy Photoplay, Modern Screen, & when I was a newlywed, I was always slipping People magazine into our grocery cart when it was a strained budget to begin with. I have weaned myself from this habit in my older years, sticking mainly to books & my new Nook & the computer(I think my daughters are now magazine readers).

Mom finally said, oh my Lord, let the woman rest in peace! She was married a dozen times, took away I don't know how many women's husbands's & I don't guess those men cared about their kids - (she was really getting wound about now)! She's been in the hospital for a month - at least she's not having to lay up in a nursing home somewhere; no doubt SHE got the best of care. Probably never had to cook or clean house or take care of her kids. No wonder she gave money to the AIDS people (this is still mom talking, not me) with the kind of life she lived. You know how people get AIDS. She could have given that money to hungry kids. I bet she never darkened a church house door - (I wasn't commenting, I haven't a clue on this matter; I did say to mom that she had time while she was ill for some time to talk to God). Well, that's what they do, she said, wait until the very end, when they get real sick then mention God's name.  I can recall being very upset with Liz when she took Eddie Fisher away from Debbie Reynolds (not allowing for the fact that the path goes 2 ways). For some reason, we seem to always want the women to bear the brunt of the blame, especially if the women are beauties, just like David & Bathsheba in the OT.

As I ponder, there's a lot of truth as always in what mom had to say about Liz. I don't always agree with her either. I've never lived, nor do I wish to, in the limelight. I do regret that many people look to so called stars as idols & mentors rather than everyday folks who live life with joy, kindness, awareness of God & others. My personal hope for Liz is that her latter years were spent in reflecting & coming up with answers & conclusions to life that brought her joy & peace. I know that Jesus forgave the woman at the well that had committed adultery & had been married 5 times - he has a tender heart for all of us; Elizabeth Taylor with her beautiful violet eyes is certainly no exception. I'm glad He's my Redeemer! 

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Recipe 4 Living

Imogene on her 90th

Spring is in the air, thank God, & Imogene's juices are flowing! She may be very sight & hearing impaired, but that doesn't stop her from getting on her head scarf, picking up her cane to take walks in the yard so she can spy on our neighbors, Peggy, & any others that might be visible. Peggy is so special to us; she shares our grandsons, Tanner & Chase Guiling, & has been such a good neighbor for many years. She is a nurturing person, often brings over soup, cookies, & shares her newspaper with us.

I'm always fearful that she is going to fall while out punching around for moles, voles, going to the mailbox, whatever, but as my brother says, you can't stalk her & she deserves to do whatever she feels she can & she's a pretty good judge of that situation. I'm constantly hearing pans, dishes, falling & I've learned to just let it be unless she calls out, Cumi! I usually rewash the dishes, but always leave some for her to do. I wait to redo them until she retires for the night around 7 p.m. She is a lady of much pride.

She won't ask anyone to repeat things (as a rule) except me. So, I get asked things repeatedly, some of them are so funny because she can no longer hear complete words. For instance, trying to explain paperless banking, not having to pay taxes or insurance due to a home improvement loan,(they are paid as a part of the loan payment) getting those medicare explanation sheets when she thinks the amounts listed are amounts she owes. Don't growl about Obama, mom, remember, President Johnson was the one who gave us medicare & what would the two of us do without it?  I was trying to explain to her this past Sat. morning that I was going to go out to pick up some trash on a roadway & her reply was, they ought to empty that jail & get these roadsides cleaned up! That would stop some of this rabble rousing & dope smoking. Also, of course, she feels they should be made go to church every Sunday they are inmates. Her theory is that would save us money; they would change their lives, get jobs, live their lives as God & their mothers intended.

One of the biggest four letter words in mom's life has always been work, so these past few years of not being able to do much has been difficult for her. She can't do those spring cleaning chores that she usually attacked with such vengeance. We took off her electric blanket the other day & flipped her mattress. That satisfied her for that day. I'm hoping & have strongly hinted to our children that for mother's day they paint our house. She used to do that herself, & she would "spot paint" it. I would drive up, take note of that & it was obvious to me that she didn't notice that when you don't paint the whole section, it shows!  She never, ever disposes of anything "of worth" that might could be used later. One time she painted the utility room as far as she could reach behind the washer/dryer a hideous shade of green. It remained that color until just a couple of years ago when we did the "house flip" job from which she has never quite recovered because they painted the kitchen paneling white!

One thing we don't miss a great deal is mom's cooking. She's never been a great cook - never took the time to follow a recipe or spend the time or money on ingredients. To this day, she mostly eats soups, beans, corn bread, apples. She always took her lunch to work while dad always went somewhere outside to eat (I am his girl)! Presentation was not a big issue with mom, cook it, eat it, wash the dishes. She eats healthier than I do, however, & is always chastising me on this matter. She saw the price of a corn dog the other day on a Sonic ad & almost had a meltdown because Chase had left about half of an uneaten one here at the house.

As I watch Imogene struggle in this time of her life that I am journeying toward, I ponder & muse about her recipe 4 living & thank God for lessons learned each & every day past, present, future. She has shared her undying faith with me, the foundation of my faith, a faith that I have tried to pass on to my beloved quartet. I love recipes; I enjoy reading, trying & living them. Thanks, Imogene, for a recipe 4 living!   Cumi

Reach up, Reach out, Reach In!

Ladies in Red

The above title is one that one of the ladies in red wrote for a praise song that we periodically sing explaining that our Lord is worthy to be praised. The pic of the trio to the right was taken at our Christmas party at yet another dear friend's house, a good photo of these minds in action, which, if you are acquainted with these ladies (not limited to these 3 - after all, I'm not in it) you know is usually taking place where 2 or 3 of us are gathered together.

We have been having small groups at Trinity for the past 6 weeks again, something I always enjoy, but I have especially enjoyed this particular one. We have met together for blogging class, which I have thoroughly & have actually learned a little in spite of my technical literacy problems (TU, Annette) we have supper together courtesy of Chef/s Gibbs, then another class if we choose, which, in my case was taught by Dale Williams. It was entitled "Miscellaneous", which for the most part was quite spontaneous & very enjoyable. We took an oath that everything said would remain inside the class so we could feel free to say anything we wanted, so it's been very interesting.

There is nothing on earth like the fellowship & love of a church family! Nobody looks, acts, reacts, cooks, etc. like my wondrous church friends. They are talented, creative, thoughtful, kind, giving, caring, sharing. Of course, this isn't 100% true, that's not humanly possible. They inquire about my family, pray for me, take me places, brag on me & mine, are more patient with me than my own family (as a rule), & if some of them get mad & leave, others come along & take their place!  I like my friends! I like people! I have childhood friends, neighborhood friends, coffee shop friends, classmate friends, family friends, e-mail & facebook friends, but none of them are like my church friends!  This is a unique, special group of folks! 

I certainly don't always agree with them, nor they me, but I still love them. We should approach friendship with diligence; it is a special gift from God. Each year Forbes magazine lists the hundred richest people in the world. I don't know why so many measure wealth in these terms, we have certainly seen the evidence of that displayed across our tv screens many times. The richest people in the world are those with LOYAL friends whose hearts are filled with JOY - Jesus 1st, Others 2nd, Yourself last. 

So, blogging classmates; teacher Annette, the Daltons, & Mary Lee, just wanted you to know how much I have enjoyed being in small group with you. I hope we will continue with small groups; I feel they are very effective, especially as they were conducted the past 6 weeks. THANKS to all the teachers, all participants & contributors. May our faith in the Lord & in each other continue to grow & strengthen.  Blessings & Prayers, Barb