Doin' Great!

It was a glorious Sunday! Ollie and I drove to Marble Falls and met Mom and Dad after Church at the River City Grill for lunch. We are borrowing their Suburban for a trip we are taking to El Paso to participate in the Texas State History Association's Annual Meeting. We are going to be vendors with books and documents as well as attend some of the meetings and the auction which will be at the banquet. The Suburban works great for that kind of trip because Ollie's boxes of books fit in the back, along with our luggage. Otherwise, we would have to tow a trailer. We certainly appreciate Mom and Dad lending us their wonderful vehicle! I intend on going to the antique malls and stores in El Paso and may drive to Las Cruces NM, which is about 40 minutes from El Paso, and check out the antique shopping there! I also found out that there is a great outlet mall down there! Poor Ollie will have to do all the work while I play!!! Luckily, he loves his work!!!

Mom and Dad were great! We were seated for lunch and I told Mom that she looked beautiful! Her hair and make-up were so pretty and she just seemed to glow! While I was complimenting her, Daddy, with a huge grin on his face and nodding "yes", pointed to me and then pointed to Mom in total agreement! She said that a couple of the younger women at Church had also commented on h ow pretty she looked! I think she is perfectly find with the way their life is going. "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies." How could Dad or his children have been any more blessed?! I keep saying it, but Mom is an amazing woman! She will be 85 years "old" on May 3rd, and she runs around like someone half that age! And, she always has that beautiful smile and positive attitude! What an inspiration!

Dad looked perfectly healthy and happy! He has regained his appetite and seems to have a good bit of energy and strength. Mom takes such great care of him!

By the grace of God, Mom and Dad will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary on May 5th! Again, they are an inspiration to all of us!!!

I found this quote while surfing the Internet that made me think of my relationship with my husband Ollie. It was said by an 8 year old boy who was being asked about the nature of love. "Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too!" We all must have our priorities and keep them straight!!!

Ollie and I will be away until March 7th, so I will miss blogging with you for a while! Meanwhile, please keep Mom and Dad in your prayers and go see them if you can!

Hello All!

Glenda, Austin and I went to Mom and Dad's Thursday. Jean had been on Wednesday and Danny went on Tuesday! Needless to say, Mom and Dad were very happy!

Danny went out there early Tuesday afternoon. He visited with both Mom and Dad and then took Daddy out to the deer camp with him. That night was the guys' monthly steak dinner and poker game! Ollie is in charge of the seasoning and grilling and Dad used to say that it was the best steak he ever ate! He will rarely turn down an opportunity to have one! The guys try to get Dad to go every month. Some months he feels like going and some he doesn't. It really seems to perk him up when he does go. Ollie said that Dad had a lot of fun during the poker game. Of course, all the guys give each other a very hard time and Dad gets a kick out of that! He laughed a lot and had a great night. Danny took him home when he was ready. It's great that they can work that out so Dad can go. Leslie Stephens, our great friend, usually takes Dad and has steak and plays poker with them. However, Leslie's daughter is on her high school basketball team and they play on Tuesday nights. I'm sure Leslie will go back out there as soon as basketball season is over!

Glenda had brought lots of great food (from Whole Foods Market, of course) so we had a wonderful lunch. It was a gorgeous afternoon and Austin persuaded his Papaw to take him for a ride on his scooter after we ate! They loaded up, both grinning from ear to ear, and drove over to the shop to see what was going on over there. Dad and Leslie's employee, Juaquin, was cleaning up the lawn mowers and sharpening the blades in preparation for Spring. It was good for Dad to get out and Austin loves spending time with his Papaw!

Later, Dad was sitting napping in his chair. Austin noticed that he had woken and went over to him, very lovingly rubbed him on the shoulder and then took his hand and then rubbed him on his cheek. It was a precious moment between the two of them. I wish you could have witnessed that expression of love. It was 100% unconditional love from a child. I must admit that I had to leave the room and shed a few tears. "Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven." Matthew 18:10

While we were at Mom and Dad's the nun from their Church, Sister Claudia, came to visit. She is very down-to-earth, upbeat and happy...good for the spirit! She visits often and keeps Mom and Dad updated on news of their co-parishioners. Mom and Dad are attending Mass on Sundays but Sister always knows what's going on with the members of the Church. I don't mean to sound like she comes with gossip. She just mentions those who are ill, in the hospital, etc. She also brings Mom and Dad communion. Their Church Deacon, Pat, also comes weekly to bring communion. They greatly appreciate those and all their visitors!

I will be so happy to see Spring arrive so Mom and Dad can have more outdoor activities! We have a few outings in mind. Glenda recently asked Daddy if he would like to ride a horse! He laughed as if he thought she was kidding. When he realized that she was serious, he said yes, that he would like that. I am in contact with a facility in Georgetown whose business is therapeutic horseback riding. I have to go visit it because it is geared towards handicapped children, but they do have saddles for handicapped adults. I had great conversation with one of the ladies there and she said that they would absolutely be able to accommodate Dad, but they have a waiting list. Dad is currently on their list, but I want to go check it out and have further conversation about how they would treat Dad. For instance, we wouldn't want someone leading him around, but we would want someone walking by him in case he needed assistance. So, I need to find out their parameters.

I have just found out that Dad's sister, Dorene, fell yesterday and fractured her hip. She is in the Georgetown Hospital and is scheduled for surgery either today or tomorrow. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

I am constantly reminded to be thankful for my blessings. I recently found this to share with you...

BE THANKFUL...

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have NEVER experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death...you are more blessed than 3 billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep...you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet and spare change in a dish someplace...you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married...you are very rare, even in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful...you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder...you are blessed because you can offer God's healing touch.

If you can read this message, you just received double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over 2 billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we are.

- Author Unknown

Amen!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Whoa! How can it be that I haven't posted anything since January 26th?! My how time does fly! There hasn't been much action at Mom and Dad's house! The cold weather has kept them in, but has not dampened their spirits! Mom bundles up every morning, despite the weather, and walks down to the road to retrieve the newspaper! She really enjoys that! On the morning that the temperature was 13 degrees, she said her face got cold, but that was all because she wore plenty of layers! Isn't she amazing?! YES, in many more ways than that!!!

Dad is doing great. He and Mom are staying happy and warm in the house. They have a great routine in their day, one that works perfectly for them. Mom seems very unstressed these days since she has worked out a schedule with Jerry, the male caregiver, coming a couple of times a week for a couple of hours. He does anything Mom asks him to, a little housekeeping, washing dishes, changing light bulbs, staying with Dad while she goes to Wal-Mart or the grocery store, etc. She is so much more comfortable asking Jerry to do those things than family or friends. I think she hates to inconvenience any of us and there's a bit of pride involved also! But, like I said, it works for her and Dad, and that's what's most important!

Sadly, I have not been to their house in two weeks. It makes me so sad when my work or something in my schedule interferes with going to see them, but they are so supportive and make me feel okay about it! I won't let anything stand in the way of seeing them this week.

Being that today is Valentine's Day, I think so strongly about how Mom and Dad's love started this incredible web of family and taught all each of us about true love. I recently read that, "Love is a condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." ~

Robert Heinlein ~ That quote seems to fit Mom and Dad perfectly. Often Dad will stop Mom as she walks by, take her hand and look into her eyes. Their eyes twinkle spontaneously and they have this moment that expresses true, unconditional love. They smile at each other, share a teenager-like giggle, as if they are sharing this secret that they're not going to tell, and then give each other a sweet little kiss to seal their lips! It's precious! We could only be so blessed to have a love like theirs! It's a fine God-given example for us to follow!

"We learn to love not by finding a "perfect" person, but by loving an "imperfect" person perfectly." And, the perfect example of this is God's love for each of us! "For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." ~ 1 John 3:11

Amen!