February is a busy month for our family. First of all, my parents 68th anniversary and my sister and husband's 44th anniversary falls on February 2nd. February 10, '68 is when Wayne and I met. Valentine's Day is special to me because Wayne, after just knowing me 4 days, ran thru pouring freezing rain to hand deliver a valentine to me. I cherish that memory. Then there's 16th, which is my mom's birthday followed closely with our grandson, Phoenix's 2nd birthday, on the 19th. And even though she's not with us in body, Wayne's mother's birthday is the 21st. She would have been 78, I believe. She passed away of lung cancer October of '95. She always had something good to say about everyone. We used to joke, saying she'd probably have something good to say about Ted Bundy. She just couldn't believe O.J. Simpson could do such an awful thing. Now THAT's seeing the glass not just half full, but overflowing. ha!
Wednesday, the 15th, I traveled to West Monroe for my mom's upcoming birthday. In a get well card she had sent me in September, she mentioned her favorite songs were: It Is Well, Peace In The Valley and He Touched Me. I decided then, if I could get the keys lowered enough for me to sing melody, I would team up with my sister who is an alto and we would sing these for her birthday. I have a sweet friend, Mary Fowler, who was delighted to take part in this. She recorded the songs on piano for our accompanying music to sing by. It was not an easy task, as I am an alto also. Getting too low would make it hard to sing the very lowest notes and also make the harmony too low. We compromised on a certain key and she completed the task.
Thursday, we met other family at the local Cracker Barrel (at mom's insistence)for the birthday lunch. Suspicions of wanting to use up her gift cards from there, were spot on. They paid for everyone's meal. She's sneaky like that. We argued it was her birthday and she argued back, "that's right, I'll do what I want." How do you argue with that?
Family who joined us were my cousin, Gwen and husband, Charles; my cousin, Marilyn; my Aunt June and my Aunt Bernice. And of course, my sister Deby. We enjoyed a good time together but one missing was my favorite Uncle Henry, Marilyn's dad. He passed away last summer at 96 yrs. old. It is this family I spent so many of my summers with, growing up. He called me- Wibby and I called him- Slim.
So we get home with just our parents and prepare to sing the 3 songs. I was getting over a sinus infection, so on top of being an alto, my part of the mission was a bit to be desired. Hard to reach notes and being emotional didn't help my cause at all but Hey- it was just the 4 of us, so no critics were present to pass judgement. She was sweet to thank us and started discussing how we would present these songs at her funeral service. So we assured her we would take care of it.
I have to mention, we had Johnny's Pizza, Wednesday night when I arrived. And leftover pizza, Thursday night.
Friday, I woke up at 6 a.m. to be back Conroe by 12. Mary Ann and I were leaving for Austin for Phoenix's party the next day. He's usually real shy with us because he doesn't see us very often. In his own surrounding, he was quite the friendly guy, letting me hold him, running around the den, throwing himself on us and babbling on about all he knew. The next day at noon was a "Cars" theme party with a cars cake Lisa made and pizza galore! Soon after the party cleanup, Ashleigh, the kids and I were on the road to Conroe. I kept the kids while Ashleigh went to the benefit Matthew was playing at. We had some play time the next day before their little family were back to Austin. I opted not to go to church, exhausted after such a busy week.
This past week has been emotionally exhausting for reasons I will not go into.I am praying God's will and God's best.
So there you have it...labeling as I see it, once again.
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