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We were high school sweethearts. He went to Clemson. I went to “that other school”. More scholarships were offered to me by them. Not my first choice but the best choice.
Daddy died when I was 14; we weren’t rich. About 6 weeks before he died, we had a telephone and a hot water heater installed. Before that, we used our uncle’s phone. He lived next door with his wife and 13 children. We bathed in about an Inch of warm water that had been heated in 2 dishpans and then quickly taken to and poured in the bathtub. We were always clean. Our clothes were always clean because mama washed them in the sink and hung them outside to dry. After daddy died we got a washing machine and eventually a dryer but Mama preferred the clothesline. Mama didn’t drive so when Daddy died I started driving. No permit yet. Certainly no drivers license. We lived in a small town, 2 red lights, knew most everyone, related to many. People knew. It was understood that I would only drive to the church and to town, both no more than a mile from our house. People knew and said nothing. They understood.
Fast forward a few years. Both of us graduate, get married and Rob goes into the Air Force. Oh boy, we were going to get to travel! I would finally get to fly on an airplane! Moving across the country to bases in Colorado and Nevada were exciting for us but man, what a culture shock! Where was my village, my people? My new village was the 2 of us, me and Rob. We learned rather quickly that we could figure things out together or be miserable. So glad we chose wisely.
Fast forward again. We celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary last May. Has it been a walk in the park? Ha! Along the way we had many “rainy days” but we always managed to see rainbows in the end. Those “rainy days” made us stronger as a couple; more determined to always do what was right; didn’t matter what other people thought. I’m glad we only had us at that time.
During our 50 years of marriage, God gave us 2 beautiful children, a daughter and a son. We weren’t the perfect parents, we didn’t have all of the answers but we sure tried. We tried to teach them about good values, morals, the importance of education, making and keeping commitments and the importance of always doing the right thing. We taught them to respect everyone, not just a particular group. They began going to church when they were 6 weeks old. Church has always been an important part of our life. We need to be fed spiritually, especially now. We have to keep our focus on living the life that God has put before us. It would be so easy to make excuses and stray from the very foundation that was built for us and for generations to come. Our family understands that. Our daughter who is now an angel, watches over us and I’m sure she nudges us more than one would think.
We love to travel. We loved making memories with our children that would stay with them long after any money was gone. We travelled internationally several times with our children. Visited 13 countries in Europe; was honored to be able to meet and visit with the clan chieftain of Clan Cameron, my ancestral family. He graciously invited us in to our ancestral home, Achnacarry, which is a castle near Fort William in the Highlands of Scotland. He shared some stories of our ancestors leading up to when some of the family boarded a ship for America. All of us learned more about my family from him that day than we would have ever known otherwise. We took them on mission trips to Ecuador and Honduras. Life-changing experiences for them. Precious memories.
We visited as many states as we could and they always knew it would be educational, at least in part. I always had books, travel guides, itineraries with me. There were no cell phones. No Google or Alexa or Siri..just me and my plethora of information coupled with my willingness to walk up to strangers and ask questions. You will never know if you don’t ask.🙂
With all of our travels before and after our children moved away, we never visited NYC. We talked about it several times but would always put it off “until later”. Watching the lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas tree tonight has always been something I wanted to do in person; on my bucket list along with Pops Goes the Fourth in Boston. I guess on my bucket list they will remain, however, and it makes me a little sad. Already this week we have had 4 doctor visits, labs, X-rays and that coupled with Rob’s mobility issues now, my optimism isn’t as bright as it once was. It’s gotten a little dimmer these days.
You see, it seems like only yesterday we were planning new adventures for our family; making memories was important. Our 2 precious grandsons came along and we began making plans for lots of adventures with them. We want them to have lots of memories with Namma and Papa. We continue to make plans but something happened along the way. We blinked!😳
Don’t blink!