Deanna on her 4th birthday! Have a good day beloved daughter.
Gratitude #83 - Sweet Biddies!
11 years ago
Saturday, February 9, 2008
change of plans
Today is my daughter Deanna’s birthday.
The plan was for her to fly up our town yesterday, spend the weekend with us to celebrate. The idea of her giving us a gift of a weekend for her birthday was wonderful for me. I even had planned a potluck of my church friends in her honor (she knows many of these friends).
But she called me yesterday morning fairly early. If she were to come that means that Josh and Griffy would have to stay home alone, because Curtis is out of town at a teachers conference. The brothers dearly love each other, but they are at the age when they would do a lot of things before admitting any affection!
You know what I said to her: My heart hurts for you to not come up, but my head says that is the absolute right thing to stay home with your boys. It was really OK.
The trip, she insists is postponed and not cancelled. I am glad.
I did feel very sad about the change though, but I'd be OK, I was sure. We were about to eat and my phone rang: Arline, daughter 1. “Well come on up.” She knew I was depressed and sad.
She lives 250 miles away over a road that has a couple of passes and it is winter and there is snow everywhere and there is no reason to go except my head. Miriam immediately threw a fit, (Alz patents don’t like change of ANY kind), and we argued a bit, foolishly.
While we were eating I turned to her and said: “We are going.’ She did not argue.
Called friends, canceled the potluck, called other friends to cover for weekend duty. Packed up and in about 3 hours we were on the road: Miriam, Leo the dog and I.
Both of my fathers were truck drivers and there is more than a little of that in my blood. I like to drive (not so much in cities, being a small state guy). Just give me a place to go and some wheels and I am ready.
The trip was fine, the roads were dry, the snow a week old. We stopped for an hour at daughter 2’s (Lora) house and had a good fast time with her and her kids (not little kids any longer). Then on 45 miles further to Arline’s. We will go back to Lora’s on our way home next week.
We have lived in this area a lot of years. It is not really home in that abstract way that we can’t measure, but somehow cling to, but it is a decent place. It is good to be surrounded by family, and love, and good food!
Last night I called my neighbor who has the keys to my house, to get the mail, feed the fish and look after things. We might not get back home for almost a week. He agreed. “Of course, Dave.”
Oh, and I took my new medicine and I am coping better, if only in my mind dreams.
The plan was for her to fly up our town yesterday, spend the weekend with us to celebrate. The idea of her giving us a gift of a weekend for her birthday was wonderful for me. I even had planned a potluck of my church friends in her honor (she knows many of these friends).
But she called me yesterday morning fairly early. If she were to come that means that Josh and Griffy would have to stay home alone, because Curtis is out of town at a teachers conference. The brothers dearly love each other, but they are at the age when they would do a lot of things before admitting any affection!
You know what I said to her: My heart hurts for you to not come up, but my head says that is the absolute right thing to stay home with your boys. It was really OK.
The trip, she insists is postponed and not cancelled. I am glad.
I did feel very sad about the change though, but I'd be OK, I was sure. We were about to eat and my phone rang: Arline, daughter 1. “Well come on up.” She knew I was depressed and sad.
She lives 250 miles away over a road that has a couple of passes and it is winter and there is snow everywhere and there is no reason to go except my head. Miriam immediately threw a fit, (Alz patents don’t like change of ANY kind), and we argued a bit, foolishly.
While we were eating I turned to her and said: “We are going.’ She did not argue.
Called friends, canceled the potluck, called other friends to cover for weekend duty. Packed up and in about 3 hours we were on the road: Miriam, Leo the dog and I.
Both of my fathers were truck drivers and there is more than a little of that in my blood. I like to drive (not so much in cities, being a small state guy). Just give me a place to go and some wheels and I am ready.
The trip was fine, the roads were dry, the snow a week old. We stopped for an hour at daughter 2’s (Lora) house and had a good fast time with her and her kids (not little kids any longer). Then on 45 miles further to Arline’s. We will go back to Lora’s on our way home next week.
We have lived in this area a lot of years. It is not really home in that abstract way that we can’t measure, but somehow cling to, but it is a decent place. It is good to be surrounded by family, and love, and good food!
Last night I called my neighbor who has the keys to my house, to get the mail, feed the fish and look after things. We might not get back home for almost a week. He agreed. “Of course, Dave.”
Oh, and I took my new medicine and I am coping better, if only in my mind dreams.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
camping comfortably
At $3 a gallon we don't take this combination out too often. It is very comfortable though.
We bought it when Miriam needed a place to live after I had moved back to idaho and she was still in Washington State.
I rebuilt the inside a few winters ago. All new insulation and cabinets.
Figure I might need to live in it some day.
names
Names. Interesting how it works out.
When I want to tease Miriam I call her by all names I can think of quickly: Miriam Marie Spears Coffin Wilson Griffith or such. The fact that half of those names belong to my side of the family makes it more laughable.
When our first daughter was born we named her after her two grandmothers: Arline Marie. I still like that combination and it helps us remember our mothers who both died way too young (57 and 65).
Our 2nd daughter we decided the name should rhyme with Arline Marie, so we came up with Lora Lea, after no one in particular, though there was a civil war song that was on a record we listened to a lot named “ Aura Lea”. The tune was the same as Elvis used for “Love Me Tender.”
The first time we got together after Lora was born we got pregnant again, so Miriam birthed two daughters 10 ½ months apart. I still the look and comment from my mother: “David, what did you do?” “It’s obvious what I did, mom.”
We struggled on a name, deciding on the middle name Cheri’ first. We wanted to use my grandmother’s name May since May Cheri’ would be “my sweetheart”, but May alone didn’t ring well. So from no where in particular we came up with Deanna Cheri’.
I was was a lot better at loving my daughters than on planning them, so when #4 came along we were running out of rhyming names. She ended up Linda Glee.
Decades later I enjoy those name combinations. Never regretted them at all.
Now, let’s see about the next generation: David James (after HIS two grandfathers) Benjamin Ryan, Jessica May (grandmother’s name did show up), Matthew Wayne (my middle name is waye); Alan Thomas; Andrew James, Brianna May (grandma would be proud); Amy Lynn; Joshua Dennis; Griffith Curtis (griffith is my family name); and Emily Blue.
Those are in birth order of the mothers!
Hmm. Griffith, Wilson, Christensen, Watson, Crawford, Spears, Coffin, Scott, the list is long and colorful.
Names.
When I want to tease Miriam I call her by all names I can think of quickly: Miriam Marie Spears Coffin Wilson Griffith or such. The fact that half of those names belong to my side of the family makes it more laughable.
When our first daughter was born we named her after her two grandmothers: Arline Marie. I still like that combination and it helps us remember our mothers who both died way too young (57 and 65).
Our 2nd daughter we decided the name should rhyme with Arline Marie, so we came up with Lora Lea, after no one in particular, though there was a civil war song that was on a record we listened to a lot named “ Aura Lea”. The tune was the same as Elvis used for “Love Me Tender.”
The first time we got together after Lora was born we got pregnant again, so Miriam birthed two daughters 10 ½ months apart. I still the look and comment from my mother: “David, what did you do?” “It’s obvious what I did, mom.”
We struggled on a name, deciding on the middle name Cheri’ first. We wanted to use my grandmother’s name May since May Cheri’ would be “my sweetheart”, but May alone didn’t ring well. So from no where in particular we came up with Deanna Cheri’.
I was was a lot better at loving my daughters than on planning them, so when #4 came along we were running out of rhyming names. She ended up Linda Glee.
Decades later I enjoy those name combinations. Never regretted them at all.
Now, let’s see about the next generation: David James (after HIS two grandfathers) Benjamin Ryan, Jessica May (grandmother’s name did show up), Matthew Wayne (my middle name is waye); Alan Thomas; Andrew James, Brianna May (grandma would be proud); Amy Lynn; Joshua Dennis; Griffith Curtis (griffith is my family name); and Emily Blue.
Those are in birth order of the mothers!
Hmm. Griffith, Wilson, Christensen, Watson, Crawford, Spears, Coffin, Scott, the list is long and colorful.
Names.
david and mandy
Grandson David James married pretty Mandy last summer. They live in the Sacramento California area. David works for a large hospital company as a computer support technician.
clean up
I was cleaning out my office today.
Since I am retired, I don’t really need an office, and the space would be better used as a small art studio. But there is a LOT of stuff in the way that has to be cleared out or reduced or filed.
Can’t just ignore it all.
But it is slow and tough. I came across the typed copy of a book my daughter Lora and I wrote the winter she was 15 or 16. Miriam’s mom had cancer and Miriam had gone to be with her mom full time. It was 30 miles away, so we saw each other frequently.
The church sponsored high school the girls attended had a dormitory, and Deanna and Lora moved in for a few months.
I missed all of my girls, Miriam, Lora, Deanna, Linda who was with her mom in Boise, so Lora and I decided to write in a journal and pass the book back and forth. Arline was married to Sid and lived in Washington State. I came across that today. It brought back memories of those wonderful times when I was the most important man in my daughters lives.
That position has changed now, but I am still their favorite father.
There was also a christmas card, received a long time ago, from a friend we seem to have lost contact with. We once were quite close in another state.
Tax forms that I better keep. Receipts for equipment bought, catalogs for wonderful tools I will never own, it all had to go somewhere.
Then, to make it all worse and so totally melancholy, I watched the movie “Iris” on my old Mac computer. “Iris” is about a lady writer from England who has Alzheimer’s. It is a very sad movie.
And it snowed again last night. Did we move to Fairbanks and no one told us?
Since I am retired, I don’t really need an office, and the space would be better used as a small art studio. But there is a LOT of stuff in the way that has to be cleared out or reduced or filed.
Can’t just ignore it all.
But it is slow and tough. I came across the typed copy of a book my daughter Lora and I wrote the winter she was 15 or 16. Miriam’s mom had cancer and Miriam had gone to be with her mom full time. It was 30 miles away, so we saw each other frequently.
The church sponsored high school the girls attended had a dormitory, and Deanna and Lora moved in for a few months.
I missed all of my girls, Miriam, Lora, Deanna, Linda who was with her mom in Boise, so Lora and I decided to write in a journal and pass the book back and forth. Arline was married to Sid and lived in Washington State. I came across that today. It brought back memories of those wonderful times when I was the most important man in my daughters lives.
That position has changed now, but I am still their favorite father.
There was also a christmas card, received a long time ago, from a friend we seem to have lost contact with. We once were quite close in another state.
Tax forms that I better keep. Receipts for equipment bought, catalogs for wonderful tools I will never own, it all had to go somewhere.
Then, to make it all worse and so totally melancholy, I watched the movie “Iris” on my old Mac computer. “Iris” is about a lady writer from England who has Alzheimer’s. It is a very sad movie.
And it snowed again last night. Did we move to Fairbanks and no one told us?
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Arline 18
This was taken the weekend of Arline's graduation from high school. I am sure she made the dress she is wearing. Love that red hair.
matching dresses
Ann asked if Miriam was a seamstress, since the girls in one picture had matching dresses.
Yes she was a very fine seamstress, but it was more than that.
I recognized early on, when Arline was just getting into clothes that I could not afford to buy her what she wanted or what I would like to buy her. This was before cheap chinese clothing, (which may be coming to and end also). Clothing was spendy, but fabric was comparatively inexpensive.
So I made a deal with Arline and then with her sisters. You learn to sew and I will buy you fabric and patterns.
When they went to high school they met Mrs. Miracle (that was her real name!). She taught sewing. She was a stickler for detail and quality work, and each of my daughters, in turn, came under her influence. Computers are wonderful, but it was good when kids learned real stuff in school.
Later they began to design their own clothing as well as sew them. Linda in particularly, including those colorful paper dresses.
I regret to say that sewing skills have not uniformly been passed to the next generation. In an age of cheap WalMart clothing, it is not a very desirable trait, and I think we are missing something important.
So, yes Miriam was a seamstress, Ann!
Yes she was a very fine seamstress, but it was more than that.
I recognized early on, when Arline was just getting into clothes that I could not afford to buy her what she wanted or what I would like to buy her. This was before cheap chinese clothing, (which may be coming to and end also). Clothing was spendy, but fabric was comparatively inexpensive.
So I made a deal with Arline and then with her sisters. You learn to sew and I will buy you fabric and patterns.
When they went to high school they met Mrs. Miracle (that was her real name!). She taught sewing. She was a stickler for detail and quality work, and each of my daughters, in turn, came under her influence. Computers are wonderful, but it was good when kids learned real stuff in school.
Later they began to design their own clothing as well as sew them. Linda in particularly, including those colorful paper dresses.
I regret to say that sewing skills have not uniformly been passed to the next generation. In an age of cheap WalMart clothing, it is not a very desirable trait, and I think we are missing something important.
So, yes Miriam was a seamstress, Ann!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
our house chapter 2
Now that I have started it, I want to tell the story of the building of our house. It was an adventure right out of my Mom’s Nebraska and my father’s Oklahoma dust bowl days.
(I wrote early on this blog that my father was killed when I was 4. He is my father, I carry his genes. Mom remarried when I was 8, and when I talk about Dad - didn’t call my step dad father - it is this step dad that I refer to. He raised me and in many ways was more influential than my own father.)
The telling is mostly for my family, the rest of you may find it really boring. If possible, I’ll get a daughter or two to write a bit about their memory of it all. In my mind it is basically a happy story. My head was in turmoil, but that story will wait.
We built the house in 1976. Miriam and I were 39, Arline 19, Lora 15, Deanna 14 and Linda was 10. Arline had finished high school and had gone to college in another state.
Officially what I did was called a “skilled trade” but it was always a low pay/low bid situation. There wasn’t a lot of money, but we got by. The girls went to church school, something that was important to us, but as 6th and 7th graders, they did janitor work at the school to pay for their tuition.
I bought used tires to go on my very used vehicles that I worked out of. We went years and years without any insurance of any kind, we ate basic food, which we prepared ourselves, from scratch. As I think back, it reminds me of the days my grandparents would talk about.
But we dearly loved each other. We had a lot of fun together. I was home every evening, and spent time with my family. We didn’t have a TV, on purpose, so our evening were spent with home work, music (there were piano lesson), talk and lot of company. The back to the land movement was in full intellectual stride, and I as one of the first among our friends (and the last as well!) Those were very happy years in most ways
But there certainly was no surplus cash.
(I wrote early on this blog that my father was killed when I was 4. He is my father, I carry his genes. Mom remarried when I was 8, and when I talk about Dad - didn’t call my step dad father - it is this step dad that I refer to. He raised me and in many ways was more influential than my own father.)
The telling is mostly for my family, the rest of you may find it really boring. If possible, I’ll get a daughter or two to write a bit about their memory of it all. In my mind it is basically a happy story. My head was in turmoil, but that story will wait.
We built the house in 1976. Miriam and I were 39, Arline 19, Lora 15, Deanna 14 and Linda was 10. Arline had finished high school and had gone to college in another state.
Officially what I did was called a “skilled trade” but it was always a low pay/low bid situation. There wasn’t a lot of money, but we got by. The girls went to church school, something that was important to us, but as 6th and 7th graders, they did janitor work at the school to pay for their tuition.
I bought used tires to go on my very used vehicles that I worked out of. We went years and years without any insurance of any kind, we ate basic food, which we prepared ourselves, from scratch. As I think back, it reminds me of the days my grandparents would talk about.
But we dearly loved each other. We had a lot of fun together. I was home every evening, and spent time with my family. We didn’t have a TV, on purpose, so our evening were spent with home work, music (there were piano lesson), talk and lot of company. The back to the land movement was in full intellectual stride, and I as one of the first among our friends (and the last as well!) Those were very happy years in most ways
But there certainly was no surplus cash.
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