From left to right:
My daughter Debbie,son in law, Ray, Edward and Jennifer.
I will have another busy day tomorrow. My daughter Debbie and I are going to drive to Dayton Ohio. My grandson Edward will be married in Dayton on February 6, 2010. He is marrying a young lady from Dayton. I am driving up with Debbie for her to try on her dress for the wedding. They are all so excited. Edward is the oldest of the two sons and their first to be married.
Edward will be going to the Navy the end of this month. He will get his basic at the Great Lakes Naval Base. We will miss him terribly but will go there for his graduation from boot camp. And to see how he will look with those curly locks no longer attached.
I remember the day back in 1986 that Bill and I attended our son Steve's graduation from boot camp. He was sent to San Diego Ca for his basic training. Bill and I drove to San Diego and was on hand for his big day. We had not seen him for six weeks. They marched onto the field. Many parents were there for their son or daughter's big day. It was hard to pick out your own child. They were all dressed in their uniforms, of course. We had sent boys and girls to boot camp and now we were looking at a new group of men and women. Different people than what they were just six weeks ago.
After the ceremony, we were invited to gather in a hall to meet and greet our children. The first time I saw Steve, I caught my breath. No longer was there a head full of pretty blond curly hair but now it was all gone and he looked more like his older brother than I thought possible. His older brother had recently graduated from boot camp in the Army and of course his pretty hair was gone too. Now Bill and I had never been ones to want our sons' hair to be long like girls. But as they got a little older they did let it grow out some and both had a nice head of hair. It was blond and curly on both boys.
When Steve was a baby his hair was coming in pretty, very blond and very curly. The children and I were in a local store one day and someone commented what a pretty little girl he was. I went home and gave both boys a burr hair cut. Bill was horrified when he got home and I was never again allowed to cut their hair. Both boys were so cute and sweet and all boy. I just did not want my boys to be mistaken for girls because of long hair.
That was back in the sixties when boys had short hair and girls had longer hair. Boys and men did not wear earrings or other jewelry. In high school only the girls with bad reputations smoked and had pierced ears. No one wore a tattoo unless he had been in the Navy and on a whim got a tattoo. Girls wore shorts but they were pretty much to the knees. Bathing suits covered most of the subject pretty well. No one ever heard of a thong. Much less wore one.
My my how things have changed. Yes you have come a long way baby but how is that working for you?
Did I get preachy or what?
Anyway sometimes we just have to look back to where we have come from and wonder are we better off now or then. I do miss those days. Family life for my family was so normal. No one watched T V during "Supper". We did not go to our rooms to watch T V or play video games. No phones in our rooms and no cell phones.
There are many things I love about our lives today. Microwaves are wonderful and many meals have come out of mine. I like my washer better than the one Momma had when I was a child. I remember Monday was wash day. She started early in the morning and by night the clothes were off the clothes lines and the fresh smell filled every room in the house. She worked hard. She did not expect thanks or praise because it was normal for her. She cooked three meals a day and we ate meals together.
My parents gave us a very happy family life and a very good solid upbringing. They taught us right from wrong. They took us to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night and often on Wednesday night. We prayed and read the Bible. We never realized what a good childhood we had until we left home and started out in the world where we met people who did not have such a good childhood.
Our circle of friends were the same as we were. Mother and father raising their family. Mother was at home with the children and father was home every night for supper. Daddy was a farmer and I remember that every day he came in from the field for an hour at dinner time (that was 12 noon then) and Momma had dinner on the table. He washed his hands, combed his hair and ate. After dinner he would lay down on the floor and sleep for 15 minutes. That is known as a power nap now. Then he would get up and read the paper. After an hour he would put his hat back on and go back to the field. He did the same thing every day for as long as he was able to work. After he retired from farming he kept to that same routine as long as he could.
When he was in his eighties, my dad was still cutting fire wood for his wood stove that was in his big old country kitchen where my family shared many meals together. He was a tough old man then and still very strong for a man his age. When my father came to cut firewood, our boys would drop whatever they were doing and go help granddaddy cut and load his wood. Sometimes they were about the have the rest of the day off but if Granddaddy drove up in his truck with the chain saw, they were out the door and ready to help him. I am proud of them for that. There are still many fine young people in this world but I do know many who don't know how to work.
Well that is all until another day.
May God grant you a good night's rest and keep you in his loving care.
Regards
Mary
aka Jane Wayne is some circles.
Thought for the day
Life is not so much about the milestones as it is about the moments.
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