HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US:)

Oh happy day…or rather happy weekend!  Hubby and I (who graduated together) spent 2 days celebrating our 70^th birthday with some of our best high school friends (we were missing a few). Our friend Kaye and her husband Chip (who didn’t graduate with us) hosted us, just as they did for our 60th & 65^th.  (Bless Chip!!!  He puts up with all our craziness and takes us all in stride😊)  They had a beautiful home but just “down-sized” to a gorgeous townhouse with 4 bathrooms (is that really down-sizing???) 

If you’ve read my blog in the past you might recall that I have 8 best friends that graduated with me.  We live all over including 3 different states.  We do our best to get together at least once a year for an “all girls” trip.  However, we include some of our guy friends for our birthday parties.  And when we get together you can be sure to have lots of 3 things….talking, laughing, & eating!!!!  I am so very blessed to call each and every one of them my friend.  

(From our 65th Birthday Celebration)

 It’s really hard for me to believe we have reached this milestone in our lives.  Are we really turning 70 this year????????  Whoever first said “time flies” sure knew what he/she was talking about.  Seems like just a few years back we were walking the halls of our beloved high school, having spend-the-night parties, going to football games, and getting ready for the prom. 

Our group of girls (we call ourselves the VALLEY GIRLS), all basically went our separate ways for almost 40 years.  Then (long story short) we got together for our first girl-trip and it was like we had never been apart.  Since then we have taken trips both in and out of state.  It always takes awhile to plan our trips because trying to get 9 busy ladies on the same schedule is next to impossible.  But God blesses us and we usually find a way! 

(Wearing our Tiaras:) 

If you’d like to read about each of these fabulous ladies in my life, you can go to a blog post from several years ago (here).  I can promise you that if you could get to know them you would love each and every one.  I can also promise you if you went on a trip with us you would have one of the best times of your life.  WE ARE A REALLY FUN BUNCH!!!

(Us trying to convince one of our Valley Guys we would make beautiful bridesmaids:)

Our guy friends are great as well.  One lost his sweet wife a couple years ago & we sure missed her this birthday celebration; one has been divorced for awhile but looks like is about to tie the knot again this summer; two bring their sweet wives who didn’t graduate with us but who fit right in; and my hubby and another hubby were part of our class.  We also have a few "adopted" Valley Guys who "seem" to enjoy our shenanigans:)  You won’t find greater guys anywhere and we are so happy to call them our VALLEY GUYS.

The only problem with one of these get-togethers is…..having to say good-bye.  Each year as we age, I know we are getting closer and closer to the day when we won’t be able to travel and won’t be able to spend this time together.  But for as long as we are able and God is willing, we will find a way to celebrate life together and when we can no longer do that we will have many wonderful memories that we will hold dear to our hearts. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Valley Girls & Guys.  I love each and every one of you and my birthday wish is that we will have many more celebrations together.  Until I see you again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand and may all your birthday wishes come true.

And to my blog readers, my wish for you is that you have good friends like I do because they sure do make life richer and sweeter!

Valley Girls and Cousins:)

In Memory….we lost this “adopted” Valley Girl (married to one of our Valley Guys)  a couple years ago.  Sure do miss this sweet lady.

HEAVEN'S GAIN

On Saturday we lost a very dear and long-time friend…we lost Wilkie.  He was this tall, lanky guy who was funny and wise, a great family man who loved his wife, two daughters, and four grandchildren.  We often laughed together but we would also sometimes meet up on our morning walks and discuss (and try to solve) the world’s problems.  He had this wonderful sense of humor, sometimes cheeky, sometimes downright naughty, but oh so funny.  He was a whiz with money having a banking background and his wife and daughters will tell you he knew where every single penny went!  Wilkie was a little bit of a worrier and had his serious side, but he could always make me smile.

Wilkie had been sick for a few weeks and (long story short) he had some internal issues which led to some liver problems and also the discovery of pancreatic cancer.  However, the doctors said that it was found early and they felt he could survive it.  He had his first round of chemo last week and did well with it, but last night he had a heart attack and gained his wings almost immediately.  This was a known possible side-effect to the chemo, but it was very unexpected.

I spent most of the day with Diane and the rest of the family helping in what little ways I could…I just needed to be there; I needed to be close to this family I have loved for so long.  Our families have many wonderful memories.  When we were much younger, Wilkie’s & Diane’s family, our family, and 4 other families did just about everything together, including going on family vacations to Panama City.  We all live within walking distance of each other; our kids grew up together.  We spent many years in Jaycees & Jaycettes together, going to conventions, having parties, doing service projects, having family cookouts and so much more.

Wilkie absolutely loved to dance.  One of my favorite memories will be how he and I used to do “the Bump” together at Jaycee dances…remember that dance?  Funny part though was Wilkie was very tall and I’m quite short so “bumping” our hips together was a challenge😊 

My heart is broken for myself but even more for Diane and the girls…one daughter lost her young husband to a heart attack just a couple of years ago and left her as a single mom to twins.  But the three of these ladies are strong and I know they will eventually make it through.  They are a very close-knit family and they will help each other along, and we will all be there for them anytime we are needed.

Wilkie, you were a special guy and will always hold a very special place in my heart.  I will miss our walks and our talks.  I will miss practically having to run to keep up with those long legs of yours, I will miss your hugs, I will miss your teasing.  I know your mama and daddy were tickled to meet you at Heaven’s gate and I know I will see you again one day.  Until then rest in peace….and don’t go doing “the Bump” until I get there!

A BEAUTIFUL SOUL

At the end of January I posted about my aunt Macy & uncle Dick who have occupied a large piece of my heart since I was born.  (You can read that post  here.)  At the time of my post my aunt was in the hospital after suffering a brain bleed.  With a very heavy heart, I now have to write that we lost Macy last week.  She was laid to rest on Sunday with standing room only in the church.

This is such a huge loss for all of my family, including my uncle & their daughter, my mother (Macy was her last living sibling), and my many cousins.  I can honestly tell you that if you had had the privilege of knowing Macy you would have loved her….everybody that knew her did.  She was truly one of the gentlest souls you could ever encounter.  She was extremely dedicated to her family, especially my uncle to whom she was married for 67 years.  To me and all who have known my aunt and uncle, their marriage has always been the most outstanding example of the kind of Christian marriage that God intended.  I don’t know if they ever even had an argument.  They found such joy in each other, in their children and grandchildren, and in their many nieces and nephews.  They made each of us feel so very special in our own individual way.

The world will not be nearly as sweet without Macy in it, and I know my uncle is going to have a huge adjustment not being able to see and talk to his “baby” on this earth ever again.  I don’t think he will ever again find true happiness until he is reunited with her in heaven.  Dick has always been such a blessing to me in my life, someone I have always adored and looked up to, so my heart just aches for him.  He will now have to make some decisions for his own future, and I am praying each day that God will guide him and Lori to make necessary changes that will bring him peace.

Thank you to any of you who said even one prayer for these precious people.  It was time for God to take her home, but our family surely will feel the void.  Thank you, God, for giving me such a wonderful aunt and uncle to bless my life in so many ways.

Rest in peace, Macy, and enjoy your new heavenly home with your mama & daddy, your precious son who went on before you, and your brothers & sisters that were waiting for you.  We will look after Dick and love him for you until God joins you together once again.  I love you so much and will miss you terribly, but I know Heaven is just a little more beautiful with your arrival.

A Love Like Theirs

Isn’t this one of the sweetest pictures you’ve ever seen?  These precious hands belong to my aunt Macy and my uncle Dick.  They have been married for 67 years.  These two are the greatest role model of a loving, Christian marriage that I have ever known or even heard about.  Their devotion to each other is both exemplary and immeasurable.  Since Dick’s retirement several years ago, they have literally been almost inseparable.  When you see one, you see the other😊  In fact, my husband and I were talking recently about how Macy and Dick just never leave each other’s side for more than a few minutes and my husband said to me, “Honey, I love you with all my heart but I don’t think I could do that.”  (I totally understand!  I need my “me” time, too.)

Unfortunately they have both been dealing with health issues for awhile now, and then a few weeks ago Macy fell and broke her hip.  This was the first time in MANY years that they had to spend the night apart.  However, Dick would go visit her every single day while she was in the hospital and rehab.  He would even call her first thing in the morning before going to the hospital and again at night after he got home.  This picture was taken during Macy’s hospital stay.

Macy is my mama’s sister and the baby of 8 siblings.  There are only two left…Macy and Mama, the two youngest.  Because of such a large family I was blessed to have MANY wonderful uncles and aunts, and they were all very special to me.  However, Macy and Dick have always been my favorites.  In fact, my youngest memory is of time I spent with them when I was a toddler.  It seems they loved to babysit me, and they spoiled me silly.  I have to admit that I always “thought” I was their favorite too, but after growing up I came to realize that they somehow made all of us nieces and nephews feel we were their favorite. 

         This is me with my sweet aunt & uncle

Macy is the sweetest lady you will ever meet, soft spoken and quick to tell you that she loves you.  You never see her that she isn’t dressed to perfection and not one hair out of place.  In my eyes, she has always been the perfect wife and mother.  Most of her married life she was a stay-at-home mom with my cousins Timothy and Lori.  Sadly, they lost Timothy several years ago.  Dick has always been my knight in shining armor, so handsome, and one of the biggest teasers to anyone he loves and cares about.  When you are in his presence you can be sure that there will be lots of laughter.  They are such exemplary Christian people, always letting others see Jesus in the way they live their lives and in the way they love BIG. Dick has been a deacon in his small Baptist church (where I grew up) for as long as I can remember.  I love them both more than words can express.

Right now my heart is heavy because yesterday (after a slow & difficult but steady recovery), Macy had a brain bleed and as I write this she is awaiting decisions on how to proceed.  I’ve been awake most of the night worrying and praying.  I’m now sitting by the phone waiting to hear what is next.  She has had scoliosis for years and has suffered valiantly through a lot of daily pain, yet you will not hear her complain.  And furthermore since she and Dick still live in their home, she has taken care of her beloved husband without missing a beat.

If you are a praying person, may I ask that you send up a prayer (or two) for my aunt Macy, for peace, comfort, and total healing…and also for my uncle Dick, for wisdom and courage to know how to proceed as well as for his own health concerns.  Also for my cousin Lori who has willingly and lovingly stepped in to help them as much as she can, although she lives several hours away from them. 

If you could meet Macy and Dick, I promise you would immediately fall in love with them and they would make you feel as if you had known them all your life.  This old world sometimes gets me down when I see the evil that is broadcast on the daily news each day, but when I look into the faces of my aunt and uncle I am reminded that there are still some wonderful, loving, caring, gentle people out there; and I am so thankful to call both of them MINE.

I love you, Macy…please get well because you are such a special part of our family and because you have always been and always will be someone I look up to and love dearly. 

             Your niece, Cheri

A Life Well Lived

Life can sure be filled with surprises…some good, some bad.  We never really know what is around the corner.  Sometimes we turn the corner, and we are confronted with something beautiful, something wonderful, something we are so happy to be a part of.  Other times we encounter something unpleasant, something frightening, something we wish we didn’t have to face.  Two weeks ago I turned that proverbial corner to be faced with the loss of a long-time friend.

Nancy and I began our friendship years ago when we taught together…I taught second grade and she taught third.  I was always so glad when she got some of my students the next year because I knew they would be in great and very capable hands.  Years later she became my asst. principal, principal, and finally superintendent.  She was a strong and formidable leader, one of the strongest women I’ve ever known.  Some people mistook that strength for aloofness and perhaps even hard-heartedness, but those of us who really knew her knew she had a very tender heart.

Nancy found out she had a very aggressive cancer only 5 or 6 weeks before we lost her.  At first I grieved over the fact that she went so quickly, but after thinking about it I knew that Nancy would never have wanted to linger and be without the strength she had always had.  She retired only three years ago and was so happy having much more time to spend with her son, daughter, and grandchildren.  She had been divorced for many years, and her family was her number one priority.

Another good friend and co-worker gave Nancy’s eulogy, and I just have to share this…partly because it’s such a funny story but mostly so I will have it written down where I won’t forget it.  One day Nancy and a co-worker from her office were driving down the interstate when they were flashed by a naked man riding in a bus of some sort.  He didn’t “moon” them…he flashed in full glory!!!  Nancy and her friend took down the tag number and called it in to the police.  The man was caught and Nancy was called in to “identify” the guy.  While being asked this in the police station, Nancy promptly told the detective, “I wasn’t really looking at his face but if you show me a full frontal view I can definitely pick it out!”  You would have to know Nancy to really get the full effect of this story, but take my word for it….you would have laughed really hard if you had been there!

So, to my friend, principal, and superintendent Nancy…you always made me want to be a better teacher.  You made me want to give 100% because you were always giving 110!  Thank you for the times you visited my room to watch me teach and then left me a little note patting me on the back…no other principal I ever had did that!  Thank you for caring about the children of our community and for working hard to be a good leader.  Rest in peace, dear Nancy…job well done!

 

And even though my heart has been sad over this loss, this week my heart was filled with joy because one of my former students who I still love dearly and am still close to became a daddy for the first time to TWIN BOYS.  After a rough pregnancy with a few scares, both boys were born strong and healthy.  God is good…all the time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAMA

My mother turned 90 this week and last Sunday we celebrated. 

 All Mama's children and their families attended her church where we placed flowers in her honor.  My sister played the piano for the whole service and my son sang a solo.

Then that afternoon my three siblings and I hosted a reception for the birthday girl.  It was well attended with about 150 family, friends, and her church family. 

Mama has often said when she reaches 100 she is going to buy herself a red convertible.  So…as a surprise for her my nephew arrived to escort her to the party in his red jaguar!  Don’t she look sassy?

We decorated with PINK, PINK, PINK at her request, and tables were filled with pictures and lots of feminine details.  We even brought in a comfortable chair for her to sit in to greet her guests, but she refused to sit down for even one minute. 

Mama’s only remaining sibling (her sister) and her sister’s husband were special guests.

This is one of my favorite pictures.  These are the 3 remaining members of Mama’s high school class.  Ms. Mabel turned 90 a couple months back and Mr. Barney will be 90 in September.  Don’t they make a cute trio?

Of course, we had to take lots of family pictures too.  This is my son, DIL, and grandchildren.

And this is my husband, Mama, and me.

It was a very special day and one I’m sure we will all remember for years to come.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAMA…we’ll do it again on your 100^th😊

VALLEY GIRLS SAVANNAH-STYLE

Back in 2010 I wrote a post about the VALLEY GIRLS ’67.  As I explained, there were 9 of us who were best friends all through high school in Fort Valley, GA but after graduation we all went in different directions.  After being apart for many years, we began getting together for yearly trips and have been doing so for about 12 years now.  If you’d like to read about each of these special ladies, go here.

        Kaye, Jackie, Christy, Olivia, Jerri, me, Evelyn

This past week we hit Savannah, GA for a few days of fun and fellowship and AS ALWAYS we had a ball!  

                                                   Beautiful Savannah

We talked and laughed and ate and talked and laughed and toured and talked and shopped and laughed and ate some more!  There are NO dull moments when we are together.

        You haven’t heard anyone laugh until you hear EV laugh!

                       Olivia (on right) flew in from Texas

We stayed at the lovely LIVE OAKS HOUSE…you can read about it here.  It’s one of the oldest homes in Savannah and was built when Thomas Jefferson was president!  It has been remarkably restored and had everything we needed for a comfortable stay.  My bed was like sleeping on a cloud😊

We got our exercise for the week by going up and down all the steep stairs since there were 4 levels.  (I can’t imagine treading those stairs wearing a big hoop skirt like in the old days!)

The house is located right near the heart of downtown so it was very convenient for us to walk to nearby shops and restaurants, like THE PINK HOUSE, Boar’s Head, Husk, and Vic’s.   

         My lunch of pimento cheese at  HUSK…it's in there somewhere!

                                                   Great food at Boar's Head

The famous RIVER ST. down by the river wasn’t far, and we enjoyed seeing the huge ships and barges arrive from ports around the world.

This was the perfect photo opp for Jackie because she is always saying LIFE IS GOOD!

We enjoyed a tour of downtown via OLD SAVANNAH TOURS.  Our guide Mr. Komedy was very informative and entertaining.  

We were even met by some “famous characters” like Juliette Gordon Low and an old pirate.

Our last night we took the PediCabs to the Historic Savannah Theater.  We had some awesome young men to escort us.  Many of these guys are students at the local colleges.

                    Christy, me, & Kaye with our great driver “G” from Brazil

We were greatly entertained with the musical SAVANNAH LIVE  where we heard some wonderful “oldies but goldies” and were serenaded by Mick Jagger, the Bee Gees, Patsy Kline, and many others…even Elvis!  If you are ever in Savannah I highly recommend this show…you won’t be disappointed.

Of course, we made sure we had plenty of time just to relax and share some good conversations to catch up on what’s going on with everyone. 

 Stopping by CITY MARKET for some refreshing peach sangria

We even had a GRANDMOTHER SHOWER for Evelyn who next month will become GRANNA to her first grandchild (a boy).  He will have 8 special aunts:) 

Two of the Valley Girls weren’t able to make this trip and we missed them so much.  You can imagine how difficult it is to juggle the schedules of 9 busy ladies.  In fact, there was only one week this whole summer that we could all get together. 

I am so very thankful for each and every lady who is a part of this group.  Each one is unique in her own special way, and each brings something special to the group.  I am very blessed to have had them for my friends (and partners in crime) for 54 years.  All but 2 of us have actually been together since kindergarten or first grade!  They “adopted” me into the group when I moved to Fort Valley at the beginning of our ninth grade year.  I can’t imagine doing life without them.

                      Jackie is absent from this one cause she’s taking the picture!

So….until the next VALLEY GIRL TRIP, we will stay in touch via email, phone calls, and texts and look forward to when we can be together again.  And whenever that is I can promise you there will be lots of talking, laughing, giggling, reminiscing, eating, and a little sleeping!  Valley Girls, until we meet again MAY GOD BLESS YOU and may you anticipate our next great adventure!