Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Going Home

Today was a very bittersweet time for me. I drove back to Arkansas for Uncle Lester's funeral. He was 89, and had never really recovered from breaking his hip a few weeks ago. My cousin Joe stayed with him in the hospital and through the rehab process. The hospital sent him home Friday and he died surrounded by his family Saturday night. He was truly the patriarch of his family, something that is missing in so many families in these modern times. In visiting with them afterwards, I felt their closeness and saw the stability that comes from having such a great family role model. My uncle and aunt had been married for 57 years. He was a quiet man who fully supported his family in whatever they were doing.

The drive over gave me time to reflect on the past. Someone wise once told me that you can always go back to your hometown, but it will never be the same place you left. As time goes on, I find this to be true.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Marvin's Birthday

On New Year's Day, we also had an early celebration of Marvin's birthday. His birthday is January 2nd. Jonathan and Keri drove over from Nashville, and Jason, Beth, Garrett, and Hannah also joined us. At first we thought about driving over to Tiptonville and eating fish at one of the restaurants near Reelfoot Lake, but then we decided to go to Ryan's Steakhouse in Dyersburg instead. They were serving cabbage, blackeyed peas, and hog jowls as pat of their New Year's Day menu, so we didn't have to worry about eating any later in the day. We all had a nice visit. Keri and Jonathan are expecting our newest grandchild next June. We still don't know whether it will be a boy or girl. As long as she or he is healthy, it doesn't matter to us.

After eating, Jonathan and Keri came back over to the house and visited with us for a while before driving back. We watched television and wound up dozing some, mainly because Marvin and I had been out until 2am the night before at a New Year's Eve bowling party. Marvin was the designated driver and I was the designated drinker. I concocted my own original drink. I mixed Diet Rite Strawberry Kiwi with vodka (practically no calories!) and added fruit flavored Italian ice. This drink was so popular that I had people asking me to mix them one too. I had brought plenty of Diet Rite with me, so I was happy to share.

Marvin got some Henley sweaters for his birthday, a "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" DVD and a card shuffler. We watched "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" that night. It is a very action-packed movie, and we enjoyed it very much. w loud recommend it highly to anyone who likes a lot of adventure. There was a lot of chemistry between Brad and Angelina, so I can see how this would have caused problems for Brad's marriage. The romance behind the movie may have started out as just a publicity stunt, but so far seems to have turned into the "real deal" for the moment for our heroes.

Birthdays are always more special when your loved ones can help you celebrate. We are always glad when we can get the entire family together. Our little family is growing. I can remember when we could all go out and eat and only take one vehicle. This time around it took three vehicles to get us all there. We are so proud of our sons and their families.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Happy New Years!

Happy New Year's Everybody! We made it through all the Christmas festivities just great. My brother John & girlfriend Kimberly flew in from Charlotte, NC, and boy howdy! were their arms ever tired. Seriously though, we had a very nice visit. We picked them up from the airport in Memphis on Dec. 23rd and drove them back over on Dec. 26th. They got to experience a "Scearce Christmas" firsthand. John has been around for Christmas with us before, but it was Kimberly's first time here. It was a total first for all of us to celebrate Christmas with Miss Odessa not here. The celebration was nice, and she would have been proud of our efforts.

One final touch to the festive decorations came about as sort of a surprise. Last year, my daughter-in-law Beth and I had discussed with Miss Odessa the possibility of decorating the swimming pool with floating candles this next year. Beth remembered our conversation and found some silver floating decorator balls and quite a few floating candles. We lit them up just as our banquet was beginning. They dispersed quite nicely, so everyone had a beautiful view of the candles peacefully floating on top of the water. It was a nice touch, and topped off the evening wonderfully.

The biggest change though in the whole evening was that Marvin and I were now the hosts who sat at the head of the table, and all of these friends and relatives were our guests. We made it through the transition fine, but not without shedding a few tears regarding past memories. These celebrations have been videotaped for years, and as we dined, there was a television in the background playing a tape from the 1983 celebration. Everyone had changed, but still remained a little of the same.

We got to enjoy the company of our little granddaughter, Hannah Daisy, now seven months old. She was the center of attention (and not spoiled a bit!). She smiled and posed for her photos like a champ. We also enjoyed having Beth and Jason there too, of course. Garrett was at his dad's on Christmas Eve, but we got to open gifts with him a couple of days later.

We start out our banquet with a little friendly ice-breaker game. Everyone writes their name on this card and sticks it in a fishbowl. Marvin draws the first name. That person sits down and draws the name of another person who sits down until there is only one person left standing. That person wins a door prize. This year, my brother John won the door prize, a $25 gift card from Wal-Mart. Dinner was delicious. Marvin and I provided turkey, roast beef, ham, rolls, and boiled custard (Miss Odessa's recipe), and everyone else brought more dessert and vegetables to complement the meats. Marvin's sister Jeannie always does a great job with her deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, and coconut cake and his brother Ronnie is a whiz at baked beans and corn. Jeannie also used her mom's recipe for Coca-Cola salad, which is about the same consistency of cranberry sauce, but I think that it tastes better than cranberry sauce. Aunt Barbara made her eggplant casserole and Uncle Romaine brought over his famous chocolate pies. Nephew Bubba and his wife Barbara brought green bean casserole, and there was more food brought by even more people who attended, total number around thirty.

After dinner, we have a gift exchange. Everyone brings either a man's gift or a woman's gift (limit $10). We play bingo. When you win, you go pick out a gift from your corresponding side of the table. Don't clear your card though, because whoever covers up all of their numbers wins another door prize, this year that was also a $25 gift card from Wal-Mart. I was one of the first people to win. I selected a three-piece skillet set. That was because I was thinking about all of the eggs that I would have to fry the next morning when everyone came back over for breakfast.

This Christmas was very special to all of us. We survived by remembering the past, and making our own memories to look back on in the future.

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