Throw Back Thursday

1958

Four Generations

Maternal side of the family

My mother's father(the minister), my mother, 

me (18) and my first born

Mark--6 months

Paternal side of the family (sort of)

Me, Mark, my Daddy's mother, and mother, 

who had to stand in because 

Daddy was out in the barn milking cows

and wouldn't stop long enough to get a picture.

Which was okay because my Daddy was an only child

and his mother always thought of my mother 

as her  daughter

A Warm Wednesday

Today's high temperature was:  59 degrees

Sunny all day--so pleasant

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I know our friends in the south think we are nuts talking about 59 degrees being warm, but...oh it is delightful.  I was running out and about with just a light shirt on--no jacket.  I imagine Ms. Sally down in Florida would be digging out her winter jacket, with weather like we had today.  :-)

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Well--I had one hellava night last night!  I went to the Chiropractor on Monday--he never makes me hurt, but his massage girl just about kills me every time.  Yesterday, I had pain in my neck, shoulder, upper arm, collar bone and coming down into the left upper part of my chest.  Now--this is not  unusual, but it is very annoying.

I guess I could go back to the doc and get the pain injections like I had in my back (which never worked very well), but the Depo-Medrol/Cortisone they use in those injections are steroids and I don't like putting steroids in my blood stream!!!

I rubbed down really good with my horse liniment before I went to bed, but I woke up at 3:00 a.m. with such a horrible pain in my chest and left arm--and my left arm was numb.  It was almost like a throbbing pain--pulsating, but at 3:00 a.m., coming out of a bad dream, I would have bet you a hundred dollars that I was having a heart attack.

My pulse was going fast, I felt nauseous, I was sweating, but the whole trunk of my body was icy cold inside.  Scared me good.

I got up and went potty, then walked around a bit.  I remembered that I had left a twenty dollar bill laying on my desk in here.  So, I came in and got it and put it in my wallet--then I unlocked the front door so the EMT's could get in and not have to break down the door.  I walked around and looked outside--completely dark and of course, all neighbors/friends/family members would be sleeping. 

I sat in my rocker/recliner and realized that the pain was receding a bit.   My pulse rate had quieted down a bit too.  I went into the bathroom and got one of my teeny Ativan tabs and swallowed it down.  Then I sat some more and finally crawled back into bed at around 4:00.

I woke up at 10:00 this morning feeling great!

I think perhaps I had a panic attack--I have had them in the middle of the night before and woke up with pulse racing, sweating, but feeling cold and scared to pieces.  Of course, this is all complicated by the fact that I am all alone.  I might have awakened in the same condition, but if Fred were here, even though I wouldn't have awakened him, at least I would know that if I needed help or died, someone would be here to lend me aid or at least call the EMT's.   There is nothing more lonely and scary then a pitch black world at 3:00 a.m.

======================

Pearl came down today and I told her of my night.  She thinks I am silly to get so scared.

"I get up in the middle of the night almost every night.  Sometimes I am in a lot of pain, but I'm never scared."

"But...you have Merle there."

"Yeah--but he sleeps like he's dead."

"But...you could wake him, if you had too!"

She just doesn't get it and never will unless or until she is all alone.  

==========================

It was so gorgeous out and I had to run to the bank--again.  I got home from there yesterday, picked up my mail and there was the refund check from the gas company for my new furnace.

I have been thinking that I want some plants in my house again.  Maggie shredded and ate my big Peace Lily AND a new Philodendron AND a little ivy I had.  I decided to make a Terrarium--I love them and have had many.  I remembered that I had a really large glass drink dispenser stored out in the shed.  It was fancy--had it since I lived in Saginaw and use to entertain from time to time in the summer.  So, after my Soap, I went out and dug around and found it.  I had purchased it at Pier One Imports (love that store).  I cleaned it up and took off the spigot, plugged the hole with a cork and then decided to go look for something to put in it.

On the way home, I stopped at the Tractor Supply place and got 80# of bird seed to put in my big metal bin.  I had help loading it into the cart and then into my car trunk and Merle got it out when I got home and we dumped it into the metal container with two pouches of my Squirrel deterrent, mixed it up good and then I filled up all my feeders.  I think hope this seed will last through most of summer.  

Then--I came in a started playing around the the terrarium.  No way Maggie can get at these to eat them, unless she tips it over--and I really wouldn't put it past her!!!

Only one problem--I have a couple of succulents in there and...

they do NOT like moisture.  

I don't know if it is going to say in this spot on the floor--it is

rather too large to put up on an end table--we shall see

All I know, it makes me feel good to see something growing.

I was outside checking on my spring bulbs--all coming up quite nicely--after being buried under 5 feet of hard packed snow and ice.  I even have some Snow Glories coming up.  I have them planted all over my front lawn.

They are a lovely carpet when they bloom and

will be gone before it is time to mow the front lawn.

I think I will sleep well tonight.  Nothing is hurting and if I can keep my sub-conscious from trying to figure out life's struggles--maybe...just maybe...................I'll let you know for sure.

No April Fool's Around Here

Today's high temperature was: 55 degrees

A bit of rain, then sun, then clouds, ending with sun.

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This morning at 9:00 a.m.  Jackie has a lot of snow.

Her grandson is going out to chop it up into smaller pieces

I have very little

There is no green anywhere!

By six o'clock this evening, my snow was all gone

Jackie's was looking less too 

That's all I did today. 

Watch the snow melt.

Similar to watching paint dry.

A New Week--Catching Up

Today's high temperature was:  57 degrees

Sunny and beautiful

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Saturday morning, I was sitting here, minding my own business and the phone rang.  It was Pammie!!!  She has the Turbo Tax software and she had her taxes all done, but in order to do her Michigan ones, she had to connect to the Internet and...she doesn't have Internet...so...she wanted to know if she could come here and use my computer!!  I was so happy.

She came and worked in my nice clean computer room, while I watched the DVD of "Hitler's Last Ten Days".  I could hear her in here, muttering to herself, an occasional "damn"--it was great.  Then, when she went to print out the forms, the black ink jet died--luckily, I had a new one.  Then the printer ran out of paper--luckily, I had a whole ream of printer paper.  

We yakked for awhile after she was done and I sent her home with the Hitler DVD and a bunch of other movies she has never seen.

I felt all warm and smiley the rest of the day.

She and I ought to live together in that big house of hers--I could take over the 3 rooms upstairs and she could have the 1st floor and we probably wouldn't see each other, BUT--she enjoys living alone as much as I do, so-----even though it would be financially smart for both of us................

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I got up Sunday morning and felt just awful.  I have no idea why, but at one point I thought it might save time if I just drove to the funeral home parking lot and sat and waited until I died.  I was real shaky, I felt like I couldn't walk in a straight line, I was dizzy and I just wanted to go to bed.

I missed church, which I didn't want to do.  At 2:20 I started watching my Spartan's play in the tournament.  After the first half, I had to leave to drive on over to the high school to watch a ballet production of "Peter Pan'", which grand daughter Madeleine was dancing in.  Luckily, I missed the second half and my Spartan's lost.  I'm glad I didn't have to watch that close finish.  They turned the ball over too many times to come back for a win.

I got home in time to watch the last half of the Michigan game, they lost too, which made me feel a bit better.  I did start feeling a little better Sunday evening.

Susanna--Maddie's best friend, danced the part of Tiger Lily and Maddie was one of the Indians.

You've seen the two of them before in ballet costumes.  Susanna is my pseudo grand daughter. :-)

It was a very good production.

I would have gone to the Saturday night ballet, but I thought Jennifer was going then.  I asked Karen Sunday and she said that "no" Jen didn't come Saturday night, but that about 10 minutes before the performance started on Sunday, she called to see if there were tickets at the door and Karen told her, I was at that performance--so Jen didn't come.  

How stupid can this continue to be?  There were a whole empty section from about 10 rows back and the balcony was completely empty.  Jennifer could have attended and I never would have even known she was there!!!  That girl is as stubborn and unforgiving as her Father!!!

He and I could have a minor disagreement that would soon turn into a real argument because he'd bring up something that had happened a decade earlier--which had nothing to do with this disagreement, but....oh--I have no idea why he did that, but............

Nice to live along and not have to worry about any of these kinds of things!!!

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I must have slept wrong last night because I woke up this morning with a terrific pain in my neck and shoulder--luckily I already had an afternoon appointment at the Chiropractor's.  I was also out of food, milk, Diet Pepsi--everything it seems.

Dar came over, just as I was getting ready to leave.  We are planning on going to the Cinema (as she call it) on Thursday to see "Noah".  I'm not really "into" seeing it, because I hear it is full of controversy, but I need to see it and judge for myself.

I got worked over really good by the deep tissue massage.  I hurt more when I came out then I did before I went in...but tomorrow I should be much better.

Stopped at Meijer and...THEY HAD DIET PEPSI LITERS ON SALE!!!  10 for $10 with an 11th one free.  YOWSER!!

Then I stopped at JoAnn's to get some embroidery floss for the baby quilt I am working on.  All I needed was three shades of grey (not 50) and---they had none!  I could not believe it, so I walked down to the Michael's store and found it there.

You know how JoAnn's and Michael's stores are?  You can't just walk up to the cashier.  You have to get in a line and walk up to a certain point and wait until they call "Next".  Michael's was not busy at all.  There was one lady at the cashier, and I proceeded to walk along the "trail".  Well--there was a woman following me, but when we got up to the exit line, she just pushed her cart under the rope and stood in back of the lady at the counter.  There I was, waiting patiently to be called and she just walked right up there.  So--I was "first in line", but she managed to get ahead of me.  No big deal, but, sometimes I wonder how people can be so rude and impolite and it doesn't seem to bother them at all.

I headed home and one car in front of me wanted to turn left, but when she tried to get over into the turn lane, she left the back end of her car sticking out in my lane.  A quick brake, wait and then proceed.  Once again, I wondered about people who don't really give a rat's patootie about others around them.

It seems it is always an adventure when I have to drive in traffic and go to stores.

The traffic gets out onto the four lane road, the speed limit is 50mph.  I was in the right hand lane.  The cars in the left lane were going about 60-65, all I wanted to do was go the speed limit, BUT--the lady in front of me was on her phone and going 45.  The longer she talked, the slower she drove.  I couldn't pass her because the traffic on my left was continual and going fast!

I was at 35mph by the time I made it to Subway to stop and get my supper--still kind of fuming and wondering about STUPID people and walked in and there was a grandma, with 3 young children ahead of me.  I just smiled to myself.  Each kid wanted a different sub.  Each kid wanted a small plastic cup with pickles or cucumbers or olives.  Each kid wanted to sit by grandma and they were yelling, "You sat by her last time!"

The clerk looked up at me and said, "I'll be with you in just a minute."

I said, "That's all right.  Just take your time."

He finally got grandma and the kids food and off they went to the tables.  You could see she was tired and she told the kids, "You sit over there.  I'm going to sit at this table...by myself.  I'm sick and tired of your fighting!"

"I''m sorry for your wait," said the clerk.

"That's okay.  I'd like a foot long, on herb and cheese bread, Spicy Italian with Pepper Jack cheese, not toasted.  Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions."

We got done pretty quick and after I paid with my gift card, he said, "I am so glad every time I see you.  No matter how long you have to wait, no matter what, you are always smiling and....every time you come in here, it just makes my day better."

Well.

Some people are rude and impolite and then....there are some like that clerk who just made me feel appreciated the rest of today.

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I forgot to tell you, I found out last Friday that I am getting food assistance of $55.00 a month AND they are going to pay my Medicare payment of $104.91 a month.  

I also found out that IF my furnace had waited until next month to die, DHS would have given me a one-time cash assistance of up to $4000.00.

Story of my life, LOL.  So now, instead of being $300 short each month, I will only be about $150 short and I think--if nothing else breaks--I can shuffle, juggle and tap dance enough around so I won't have to worry so much. 

Well--let's see what tomorrow brings.  Okay?

Later--Jude

   

Through The Years--A Pictorial

We started out finding each other in Kindergarten/First grade.  

Arlene, Beth, Judy B. me, Sally



First grade: Here we are in our Dutch costumes--I don't remember why the whole class dressed like Dutch Dancers, but we did.

By the fifth grade, we were the typical girls--some cute, some pretty, some just...whatever.

              Arlene has such a sweet face                                                        and Sally is already beautiful

You will notice in all of our pictures--we are always touching each other in some way.

Here we are in the 10th grade.  Emma had joined us by now.

Emma, Judy B. Sally, Arlene

Of course we went to Proms and the Winter Formal Dances

Arlene made her formal--beautiful

..and the last month of our Senior year, we went on a trip to D.C. and Virginia

Taking the long journey in a school bus

Sally, Arlene, Emma, Me, Beth

...and we were goofy

Me, Emma, Arlene, Judy B.

...and we all graduated--some with higher GPA's than others

(actually, theirs were all higher than mine)

...and we got married

Arlene was my maid of honor

We played together when we were little, and when we were big

Arlene and I did a whole lot of this

Then, she went to work and

Emma and I did a whole lot of this

(I taught them both how to play and 

they both ended up much better golfer's than me.)

We had class reunions along the way.

This is our 30th--1987-Judy B. is missing

We are still looking good

On December 9, 1995, Emma had an aortic aneurysm and passed away. That kind of shook us up because we were still young--56 years

Our 47th class reunion, at Bethie's house

Sally, Beth, Arlene--two Judy's in the back

We spent a weekend at Arlene's cottage,'

every summer for 3 years.

Then--we had our 50th class reunion--back to the original five

that started school together

August 2007

Shortly after our 50th reunion, October 2007,Judy B. went into the hospital to have hernia surgery and...she never woke up.  Shook us up really bad.  So unexpected.

Then, in 2008, I got a phone call from Arlene and she told me she had Ovarian Cancer.  She said she was too upset to call the others and asked if I would send "the girls" an e-mail telling them.  That really shook us up. 

You'd never know there was a thing wrong with Arlene, except for the hair and weight loss.  She kept coming to the luncheons--always cracking a joke, always smiling.  Her lifetime motto, "If I can't put my two hands around it (a problem) and fix it, I'm not going to worry myself sick about it."

March 2012

The last time Bethie and I saw Arlene.

She was in Hospice Care at the hospital

We talked and laughed and hugged and kissed her

goodbye with a "See you later".

but we all knew.........

Arlene died a few days later--March 28, 2012

...and I will never get over it.

 ...now, there is just Bethie, Sally and me.

Sure, we still have classmates that we get together for lunch every month, but I sure feel the absence of Arlene, Judy B. and Emma.  They would still be cracking jokes and keeping the luncheon jumping.  Bethie, Sally and I try, but....it's just not the same.

My Baby Sister's Birthday

A sure sign of spring

See that rise, behind the snow?

That is where Fred and I were going

to put a double-wide.

We would have had to use a row boat

just to get to the road!!

The water running across the road and.....

into their artificial pond on the other side

Lots of water, although, in every spring, there is

always water in this spot 

I stopped at Meijer on the way out and

got a small cake and a bunch of Tulips. 

8 Candles because 6 + 2 = 8

She is Social Security age now. 

 Chuck and I are singing to her

Not only are we 13 years apart,

but almost 13 inches, LOL

She is 5'2" 

I insisted and she didn't want to.

It has been a very long time since I

held my baby sister on my lap.

You can tell by the way she looks,

she isn't real comfortable with this. 

Then, on my way home, I stopped to visit Pammie--she got her permanent dentures today and was smiling to beat the band.

Nice day--lots of laughing

Memories

It seems, as we get older, there are so many sad anniversaries.  I think if I remembered every one of them, I'd be sad all the time.

Today is a special one, however.

My Very Best Friend died two years ago.  She battled Ovarian Cancer for four years--with never a complaint, always smiling and of good nature.

I met her the first day of Kindergarten.  She was crying because she missed her brothers and sister.  I was an only child and I was crying because all the kids and the noise scared me.

I was backed into the farthest corner and she came up, put out her hand and said, "Would you pway wiff me?"  I took her hand and didn't let go for 68 years.  

We did everything together over the years.  Double dating, band, proms, parking, family vacations, weddings, funerals, canning, Christmas cookies, sewing classes--on and on.

I feel lost not being able to talk with her.  She always had the words I needed.  

Love and miss you, Arlene
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The last time Bethie and I were with Arlene