They'll Always Be Your Babies

Are you a young mother? Were you ever a young mother? Then you know that feeling of wishing you were sick yourself if it meant your child could be well. You know that feeling of wanting to take the shot or the finger-stick or the bllod-drawing yourself rather than have your baby go through that. Let me tell you - they're always your baby. It doesn't matter if they're 3 or 33, you'll always feel that way. Molly (she'll be 34 in a week) had a medical crisis yesterday. Kevin said when Molly got up yesterday, he heard a muffled scream then a crash. He found her on the floor of the toilet room in the middle of a grand mal seizure. He body was in rigor, eyes fixed, small tremors and drooling. He moved her to the middle of the bathroom, arranged towels around her head, made sure she was breathing and grabbed his phone to call 911. She was unresponsive until the EMTs started moving her to the ambulance. I learned many of the details later, but this is not something a mom wants to hear. After many phone calls Laurie & I were going to the hospital. Katey was going to take me to meet Laurie, but decided she would go, too. I called Mama & she wanted to go, also. Meanwhile, Kevin called back and said the ER doctor had gotten to her quickly and into a CT scan. As soon as they finished the CT, she had another seizure. Having refused anti-seizure meds initially, Kevin gave permission for them to administer by IV. (He had refused until Molly saw a neurologist b/c he didn't want them treating what they didn't know.) But he knew after the 2nd one that they needed to prevent it happening again in such short order. Yesterday they did the CT scan, EEG & MRI and she saw the hospitalist. I was very impressed with her - a no-nonsense doctor who said emphatically, "We want to find out what happened to you and why it happened." She came back in today and is ordering physical therapy for the soreness in Molly's neck, shoulders, back and legs. This is probably due to the fall and being in rigor for about 10 minutes 2 separate times. The neuro- nurse came in and asked a lot of questions and said the neurologist would be there in a few hours. Both the doctor & nurse implied she would be in hospital again tonight for observation. Oh, I forgot to mention her heart rate went to 180 for several minutes, so she's on a heart monitor. We are so grateful for prayer warrior friends, prayer warrior church staffs (Southwoods, Belden, Parkway & others) and prayer warrior family members. What a blessing to know Molly's name was so constantly going up to the Great Physician!! We are also grateful for compassionate, skilled medical professionals who continue to take care of her. I'm grateful for a dear friend who lives in Molly's area and has made herself available to help in any way they need. Is it not an amazing thing to see, hear and feel God's people being God's people in times of need !! So as I said, this is scary stuff for a mom whose baby isn't feeling well. It doesn't matter that she's almost 34 years old. She'll always be my baby, as will her 38yo sister and her 36yo sister.

Laurie Lee

Today is my Laurie's 36th birthday. Wow! Where did the years go? Our big girl, she weighed 9lb/12oz (the exact same weight as both me and my brother). And as red as her hair is, we didn't know it was red until we got her out in the sunlight that beautiful day when we took her home. When she started talking, Katey had to translate for the first 3 years. And since then I've noticed that's not unusual with first-born & next-born. As she grew, the hair got redder - not strawberry blonde or auburn, but every single shade of red all mixed together.

Those of you who know her now will be surprised to know that when she was little, she would hardly talk to anyone besides Katey, Terry & me. Even people we saw frequently caused her to scamper behind me with an occasional peek around to see if they were still there. Yes, you read that right. Do you know Laurie now? She never meets a stranger. The first time she meets you, within 15 minutes she will have found an acquaintance, friend or family member that you have in common. And she will remember you forever. No longer that shy little girl who hid from everyone!!

I've been thinking about her all day. (And you wonder why I'm tired?!) The mother of 6 children ages 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, and 1 she still finds to cook amazingly delicious meals, make craft-y things out of sheet metal, sell Taste of Gourmet food mixes through networking and work/serve in her church. (Are you tired yet?) Oh, and she homeschools her children!!

Smart, beautiful and very artistic, she walks her own path. It's not always easy, but I do so admire her for being more concerned with what God wants her to do than with what others think of her. She and husband Dewayne trust the Lord and follow Him.

My Laurie. She'll be here soon and we'll eat spinach/artichoke dip from Old Venice. We'll talk and laugh and she'll be on her way. (Tonight she's helping Katey with Kids' Disciple Now - the craft part.) And I'll be tired when she leaves. I do love that girl. Happy Birthday, Laurie.

Happy Birthday, Katey!!

There was an ice storm in January 1973. I remember this because Dr. Walter Bourland called me and told me not to step foot outside my door. Good advice considering I was 9 months pregnant. The storm came and went, but still no baby. I use the generic term "baby" becuase in those days doctor's didn't order sonograms to determine the sex of the child. (Gee, Katey, that makes you sound old!) I also remember - and this is rich if you know anything about Katey's life today - that on January 11th (my due date) I went to an evening women's event at Parkway Baptist Church. (Katey has been going to Parkway for 16 years and is Children/Education Minister.) Someone at the event asked me when I was due and when I said, "Today!" they wanted to know why I wasn't parked at the hospital.

But it would be another 8 days before Terry & I made that trek and 9 before she would be born. On January 19th at my regular doctor visit Dr. Bourland said as I walked out the door, "I'll see you tonight." Too naive to panic, I went home, washed my hair, took a bath and waited...and waited...and waited. Terry came home from work and we went about our normal routine. Of course, by this time I was having contractions, but it didn't seem so bad; and besides, Terry wanted to watch Johnny Carson. As The Tonight Show was going off we were headed to the car because these mild sensations were a lot closer together.

Let me apologize publicly to that nurse - the one that I back-handed when she tried to put a needle in me. Too bad she was between the bed and the wall because that made her a fairly easy target. Yes, she got her revenge; the needle went in. And I was out like a light and remember nothing about the birth of our first daughter at 4:16am on January 20, 1973.

But I remember a lot that's happened since. She's a grown woman now with children of her own. What a joy and a blessing she has been and is. I love you, Kitty-Kat.

Friends & Memories

The Backstory...

In early 2009 God put an old friend on my mind; someone I hadn't seen or talked to in years. The throughts were so strong that I called Debbie (Rankin) Herring and asked if she had heard from Bethellen (Lowe). A few weeks later Debbie called me and said that out of the blue she had heard from Bethellen. We connected on Facebook and it was great. In September that same year another school friend's mom died. Several of us talked and made plans to go to the funeral. We went to the funeral and a reunion broke out. Judy (Dye) Harrison's mom, who had died, would have loved it!!

There were six of us who ran around together all through school and I wanted us to get together. We made plans for Oct 17th and along with those already mentioned Susan (Shumpert) Schlicht and Sharyn (Johnston) Knight all came to my house to spend most of the day. We stayed in touch, some of us more than others, by email and facebook and the occasional phone call but we didn't get together again until October 2010.

In 2010 we met at Riley's in Nettleton for lunch and several hours of visiting. Judy Harrison didn't get to come, but Peggy (Weeks) Burnside did. We decided then to meet again in January 2011.

Happening Now...

Through email, facebook and phone calls, we let others know we were gathering at Riley's again on January 15th. We weren't sure who would show up and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of folks who came. Thirteen of us gathered and shared some great memories and a lot of laughter. We realized that several of our friends have passed away; we would miss them. And we decided that it was important enough that we needed to gather again. Maybe in April there will be even more people there, adding to the shared memories of wonderful years of growing up in a small town.

To me, personally, it has been a true blessing from God to reconnect with Bethellen. For one thing, she has been gracious in picking me up for all these events. But more, it is such a joy to see who she has become in the LORD. There was a definite purpose that God put her on my heart in early 2009. We may not know the full reason until we step into glory, but for now her friendship has added tremendously to my life.

Our class will turn 60 this year. I'm sure that all of us begin to deal with this season of our lives, we will need each other from time to time. Reconnecting through regular meetings will strengthen bonds; we'll be more aware of needs in others' lives. It's hard to put into words how much I love these folks - the ones I know well and the ones I don't know so well. What a blessing this has been in my life. God is good all the time!!

Present: Buddy Coggin, Mem Riley, Jimmy Bryan, Bill Farrar, Shelia Morgan Sudduth & husband, Peggy Weeks Burnside, Sherry Hipps Ashley, Debbie Rankin Herring & grandson, Sharyn Johnston Knight, Susan Shumpert Schlicht, Bethellen Lowe Nicholson and LaRue Gregory Peters

Call Me Weird

There's a huge snow out there and it's beautiful. I'm off work for two days because of the weather, which I have no control over. So why am I miserable? Lots of people would be jumping for joy if they didn't have to go to work. Yet I'm anxious. Yesterday wasn't too bad. I studied my Sunday school lesson and caught up on some computer work that I had put off. We had pinto beans, mashed potatoes and cornbread for lunch and that was good. And I watched too much TV.

Maybe that's the problem. The non-stop coverage of the tragedy in Arizona can wear on the spirit. It's not that I don't feel for all concerned; it's just that a surfeit of bad news isn't a good antidote for cabin fever.

And I blame my parents for my heightened sense of guilt when I don't go to work...even if I can't go to work. Don't get me wrong - my parents are/were great. (Daddy G has gone home, but Mama G is still around to make sure I do what's right.) But surely they didn't have to instill such a sense of responsibility. Yeah, I guess they did, and it stands me in good stead most of the time. I'm just feeling.......miserable.

Are you tired of my whining? I am. So, I'm going to put the clothes in the dryer, fix some lunch, turn off the TV and go vote (later). Sounds good to me.

It's A Wonderful Life

Am I the only person i the world who has never seen the movie, It's A Wonderful Life? It seems to be everyone's favorite Christmas movie, but my attention span doesn't usually allow for movies. But I'm living a wonderful ife so maybe that's why I have no desire to see the movie.



It's the time of year for reflection and evaluation so here's a look back in no particular order of priority...



The holiday season last year was very different at work. We had some very large orders in one department from November - February so we only got the usual paid holidays and not a full week like we're getting this year. Some were a tad disgruntled at not having time off but we all kept reminding ourselves of how fortunate we are to have a job. We got a breather after the facial tissue orders, but in May we started seeing large orders in plastic flatware. Overtime, again. And this time it lasted all summer. Do you have any idea how complicated it is to schedule production when 90% of your employee group has a cap on how much they can make in a month. Talk about disincentives to work! But we have jobs!!



In our family we were anticipating the birth of the 8th grandchild. At one point he was breech, but we prayed & prayed and then he wasn't breech!! Easter morning I talked to Laurie & she was getting her 5 children ready to go to church before she went to the hospital to have Harris. After five uneventful, fast birthings, we weren't anticipating any problems. HA! Harris wouldn't drop into the birth canal & contractions were squeezing him to death. A "splash&grab" C-section (less than 30 seconds start-to-finish) relieved his distress and he was fine immediately. Then Laurie lost 2/3 of her blood volume on the operating table but Dr. Crecelius is a great doctor and Jesus is THE Great Physician. Today both Harris & Laurie are doing great.

Katelee surprised us all by going out for cross-country running and doing well. (I think she takes her athletic abilities from me.) Tucker plays baseball and basketball and loves them both. Who knows which he'll gravitate toward! The Witt family went on a cruise in the spring and then on a familymission trip with 8 Days of Hope in November.

Carter was saved in July at Kids' Camp. His dad, Dewayne (an ordained deacon) had the privilege of baptizing him with many family/friends in attendance.

We were blessed to get together with extended family several times through the year to celebrate birthdays, holidays and other special events. When I say "extended" family, I mean all our girls' in-laws. Our joys and our challenges are shared by one and all. What a tremedous gift God has given us in the Witts, the Phillipses and the Tates.

This year has seen some "old" friendships reforged. I keep using the word blessing, but I just don't know how else to describe all these events. It has been a delight to get to know the grown-up versions of childhood friends.

There have been so many other blessings this year that I can't count them all. My Heavenly Father has blessed me beyond measure and far beyond what I deserve.

Middle of the Day Thoughts

Yesterday was a wonderful day. Bethellen came down from Horn Lake to get me and we went on to Nettleton to attend the celebration of Mr. Lester & Mrs. Gracie Weeks' 65th wedding anniversary. WOW!! Sixty-five years together! He's 89 and she's 87; they married when they were 24 and 22 respectively. As Peggy, their youngest daughter, said, "In those days Mama was an old maid." Well, she didn't stay an old maid and here they are 65 years later. Their 3 daughters did a wonderful job on the reception - decorations and food. And amazingly, they cooked lunch for an indeterminate number of people. There was fried chicken, bar-b-q chicken, meatballs, roast beef, all kinds of vegetables and all kinds of salads and desserts. While the food was very good, the fellowship was even better. I got to talk to many people that I haven't seen in years - people I went to church with, former teachers, friends of my mom & dad and so many more.

And I really enjoyed spending time with Bethellen. She's one of the friends I went all the way through school with, got in trouble with, laughed with, cried with and then separated from. Funny. We tell ourselves we'll be friends forever, then life happens and we move on. The blessing is that some of us have gotten together through Facebook, email and {gas} telephone. Oh, what fun!!

This morning we woke to light snow flurries and they have continued throughout the day. Did I mention that it's extremely cold and the Weather Channel alert for tomorrow predicts a wind chill of 3*. Can you say B-R-R-R-R? It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

I have the absolute best Sunday school class of older ladies. Last Saturday we had our Christmas party at Old West. You'll never meet a group that enjoys life more. There's always plenty of love and laughter and some pretty sneaky tricks. For one thing, how did everyone get such nice Dirty Santa gifts for just $5? Methinks someone spent more!

Our Christmas lunch at work will be Tuesday. Everyone always gets a nice gift and a nice gift card to Wal*Mart. We're hoping the nicest gift will be the decision to close the plant the week between Christmas and New Year's. It's been quite a few years since we've had a full week off and we'd all love that Christmas gift!! Our orders have slowed and we have some good stock, so as one of my employees said, "I'm just having a lot of faith this will happen."

Don't you think it's about time for a cup of hot chocolate?