Mamie!

On Thursday, Mom was feeling well enough for a spontaneous trip to Elgin!  I picked Mom and Dad up at 11:00 and headed for Elgin to meet up with Danny and Mamie for lunch at Southside Bar-b-que.   Mom and Dad recognized her immediately as they all agreed that each of them looked the same, just older!  Imagine that! I had never met her, but felt an instant bond!  Mamie was delightful!  She is as excited as we are about reconnecting with our family!  She helped to clarify Cecil Smith's side of the family and answered as many of our questions as she could. After lunch, Mom, Dad and I followed them to the Elgin Cemetery.  She showed us the graves of her parents Cecil and Bill Grumble, and her younger sister, Linda Jean.  Linda passed away in 2009.  We, in turn, showed her where Clint Smith and Ida Darnell Smith, my great-grandparents, and Dad's youngest brother, whom was called Daney Boy, are buried.  The weather didn't cooperate with us and we had to quickly get in the car before the rain hit!  Luckily we did have time to find all those graves and I was able to take pictures of the headstones.  Danny took Mamie home and then met up with us to show Mom and Dad his and Lisa's new home, which is 4 minutes or so outside of Elgin.

Mamie's older sister, Willie Faye, and her husband Roy and their family lives in Tacoma Washington. However, Faye and Roy right now are on their way down to Elgin in their motor home to visit Mamie and her family, and now our family!  We will get together again very soon so Mom and Dad can get reacquainted with her!  Mamie says that Faye may be able to answer more of our questions about Grandpa Smith's side of the family.  Our cousin, Troy Smith, is working on his Dad's (Roy Dale Smith) genealogy and one of Mamie's two daughters, Cecilia, is working on her Mom's family's genealogy, so we are anxious to share information with her!  Again, Mamie's mom Cecil was one of our grandfather Sewell's sisters!  Gathering family information, when your ancestors were Smiths, is tough!  Any information that can be shared is invaluable!!  Dad is very interested in me making a family tree for him!  I need all the help I can get! 

One of my major curiosities is about our American Indian heritage.  I somehow knew, or thought I knew, that we had Cherokee heritage on Dad's side of the family.  Mamie said that was correct, but she didn't know from which family member it came.  She thinks Faye can tell us!  I will be so thrilled, if so! 

I will certainly keep the blog updated about our get-togethers with our "new" cousins and with any information they share! 

Ollie and I were out of town again this weekend for him to participate in the Texas Bookseller's Association's sale in Grapevine Texas.  We were blessed to be able to stay with daughter Neely, her husband Carl and our twin 4-year old granddaughters, Livi and Madi!  Ollie worked the sale and I played with the girls!  I kept in phone contact with Mom and Dad all weekend, of course, and she said they were as well as could be expected.  She does not complain and, I am sure, none of us really knows how much pain she really is dealing with.  The morphine does keep her comfortable without making her too groggy, praise God!  

Colossians 3:15 "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."

Amen!!