Delays can be golden moments

Mema left tonight at 8:47 for Florida.
She is visiting her youngest daughter, Donna.
I left the house today at 4:30 to pick her up
to take her to the South Bend Airport.
Her plane was supposed to take off at 5:55.

What a delay we had!

Yesterday I packed her suitcase.
We think she has been throwing away clothing,
because she only had five shirts.
I bought her five more today.
And had to repack her before we left,
because she had gone through her suitcase last night
and re packed.
I also had to sew on a button to her shirt.
Daddy had run across the missing button,
so I didn't have to hunt down a matching one.

Off to the airport we went.
Tons of people were flying Allegiant Air to Orlando.
Come to find out,
four high school wrestling teams, including Penn,
were flying to Disney for a weekend
of fancy televised matches there.
Be sure to watch for them on Wide World of Sports.

Before we even got to the desk, there was an hour delay.
By the time we were through at the desk,
there was a two hour delay.

We walked from one end of our tiny airport
to the other, in search of dinner.
The snack bar was closed....
but there was an eating area through security.

It was difficult explaining to Mema that we had to take our shoes off
without muddling things up with the 9-11 terror attack,
war, bombs in shoes or diapers.

When we got to the security,
I took all her pills and makeup out of her carry on...
that required another explanation.
I put all of our stuff in three boxes.

Then I remembered that she had a pacemaker!




I don't think she really knew what was happening
behind that glass walled room,
but she cooperated with a big smile.
Said, she had not had that much attention in years!
Silly Mema.

Off we went to get dinner.
Grilled chicken salad.
We ment to get carrot cake for dessert,
but we got busy talking while watching the planes come and go.
Funny how much I have missed that simple past time
watching plane arrivals and take offs,
waving to and greeting loved ones,
since 9-11.
It was a real treat.

The announcement came, saying that the plane
would get into the airport at 8:30.
More time to wait!

(This is the pic I tried to take of the two of us!)
I don't think Mema stopped talking for 2 1/2 hours.
I heard stories I had heard before,
stories that were a little bit different than what I remembered,
and new stories about her childhood.
I will retell these at a different time.

Two things stood out for her though.

Grandpa used to play cards, and drink beer,
after work at the lumber yard.
Mema would get in the car and go get him about midnight,
when she thought he had been gone long enough.
Varying phrases of what she said to him,
took place during these retellings.
I think she told me this story about four times!

The other was how very lucky she felt.
Growing up poor, but happy.
Making every moment count.
Wouldn't trade it for the world, her life.
How loved she felt, and these childhood memories,
were the happiest of her life.

I hope others around us
enjoyed listening to her half as much as I did.

They finally called her flight.
She boarded first, and even got to ride up in the elevator!
Made friends with another Dorothy,
who was two rows in front of her.
Hugged and kissed me more times than I can count.
At least three fourths of those times, I initiated.

She apologised for talking so much.
And that she was sorry that I had to wait so long with her.
I should have just gone, she could wait alone.
I told her that this was the best way I ever
could have spent my 26th wedding anniversary!
Any way, us two girls didn't live very exciting lives anyway.
This was a real treat.
And we made the best out of it we could!

I know she will have a wonderful time.
My cousin and his young family are visiting their mom,
my aunt,her youngest, too!
She will be asked to make cookies and listen to stories.
I hope she goes to Disney World and gets a pair of ears.
I pray for unseasonable cool weather!

I don't know what the future will bring,
but am so blessed to have been a part
of this woman's life for five years,
on such a close personal level!

How I love her!
I realise that she is the character and strength
of my family!
We all took her hard lessons
and made them part of our own lives.

So the message is:
If you are delayed,
especially if you are delayed with a loved one,
whether it be in an airport, grocery line, etc.,
take that time and make a memory.
Have that conversation,
ask about that memory,
even if you have heard it before.
It will mean so much to you!
Put that Ipad, Kindle, list, down.
Cherish as many moments as you have!
They are blessed gifts!
If you look for them!

carpet

I don't know what sparked these comments from Mema.
I had been talking about redoing my family room floor.
Didn't know if I wanted hardwood floors or carpeting.

"Whenever anyone knocked on our door at home,
I would tip toe across the floor to answer it.
I didn't want anyone to know that we didn't have carpeting,
but only wood floors.
I was so embarrassed.
I son't know what I thought when they came into the house,
surely they saw we didn't have carpeting then.
I just remember tip toeing to the door."

beginning a flower garden

This is just a side note to the flower blog I wrote earlier.
I guess my memory is getting just as bad as Mema's.
Runs in the family.

During our talks, and especially in spring,
Mema recalls how her mother,
well actually family,
used to garden.
In the spring everyone would head out to the woods.
Shovels and buckets in hand.
Her mom would wander off the paths and shout out
when she found a specimen
that needed to go into that years' garden.
As such, there were far more perennials
than annuals blooming in her early spring garden.

Can't you just picture it now?!~
Mema and her brothers and sisters,
carrying little trowels,
Digging around in the leaves and dirt from the winter.
The boys teasing the girls with fresh worms,
the girls finding small bouquets of wild flowers.

I used to, on occasion,
try this on our walks in the woods with the girls.
It is highly frowned upon now by the authorities.

I love that the early gardens were cultivated this way though.
Such a part of our homemaking history.
Great Grandma loved her flowers,
as Mema says whenever she sees l=nice gardens.

spa days!

Mema went to the salon today to have a pedicure.
We found out that it was her first pedi!
She kept telling Hilary,
"I never knew people had this kind of stuff done to their toes!"

Now, I am thinking,
that surely she must have painted her toe nails
when she was a girl or teen?
But as I hear more stories,
and remember my Grandma when I was a child,
it probably wasn't something she ever did for herself.

She was raised on a farm with many brothers and a sister,
They were not wealthy by any means.
She was married when she was sixteen,
and worked long hours before and after that.

I am so glad that she is enjoying these days now!
When she got home,
she took off her shoes and socks to show Larry her toes.
"Aren't they pretty?!"
She kept wiggling her toes, and looking at them.
This is unusual, because Mema wears shoes and socks all the time.
When I came over, she took her shoes and socks off again,
just to show me!

Last year I took her to the salon for a facial.
Again, she had never had anything like this done before.
She loved the steam, and the arm massage, and all the lotions.
Especially the lip balm.
She kept smacking her lips together all afternoon.

What a lady!
I am so proud to know her!

Plants

I took Mom and Mema to Granger today.
Everyone seemed to have spring fever
and cabin fever at the same time.
We went to a garden store.
We had coffee, after finding someone to find cups for us.
We sat and talked of plans for gardens, and the sun.


We wandered about in the coffee area for a bit.
There were metal bugs for the garden on display.
Brightly painted, huge eyed, one foot tall bugs.
Lady bugs, bumble bees, praying mantis...all types.
Mema fell in love with them.
She giggled and said she could just imagine
looking out of the window or walking in the yard
with their smiling faces greeting her!
I must make a trip next week to buy her one or two.

As we walked into the water garden area,
Mema kept commenting how her mother would have loved it here.

"Oh, she used to go into the woods every spring for her flowers.
Daddy would take his little shovel and a burlap bag for her finds.
We never bought our flowers.
Mother had the most beautiful garden.
She even had a table full of plants in the house.
It was my job, every Saturday to dust those plants.
Every Saturday.
I hated that job.
I think that is why I have always hated gardening.
Omer loved to garden with vegetables, but I never did.
Every year for Mother's Day, one of my kids or a neighbor
would send me the prettiest flower plant.
I enjoyed it until it began to die, then I would throw it away.
Sometimes, the neighbor would plant it outside,
and then I would have to remember to water it.
Most of the time I "forgot", and we had to throw it away then.

I used to have a big spider plant in the living room.
I hated taking care of that, but hated to throw it away!
It was a happy day when it died."

We walked around the tropical plants and Mema saw,
what her mother had called a mother in law plant.
It was a snakes tongue plant.
We looked all through the bushes and trees.
We all had a good time!
Mema loved the little garden critters the best.
The turtles, squirrels, and bunny statues.
I will have to get her some of these as well.

Nice deck chairs are in the plans so Mema can sit outside
when the weather gets warm.
She can watch the birds and squirrels and garden friends.
That is when she isn't exploring the neighborhood, and visiting.

Saturday Night Dancing

...Trying something a bit different...let me know what you think...


It's Saturday, early evening.
All four kids have eaten and are feeling better
after the round of colds has passed.
I am taking them over to Mom's house here in a bit.
She is going to watch them while Omer and I go out.

We usually go out dancing
every Saturday night with a group of friends.
There is a little place in town that we love.

Omer sent me to the beauty parlor yesterday.
He sends me every week.
He just loves my hair in a paigeboy style.
I remember when Mom used to wait up for me
when I was in school.
No matter how late I got in,
she would sit on the bed and put my hair in curlers for the next day.
I've never been very good at styling my hair like she did.
I hope I remembered to thank her.

Last week Omer went to town and bought me a pretty blue dress.
He loves to shop for me.
I am so lucky.
I really hate shopping for myself,
especially with four small children running around.
Blue is my favorite color too.
Soft baby blue.

I am looking forward to dancing tonight!
Omer will wear his cowboy boots and hat.
What a handsome man!
Omer loves to dance,
and I swear he would go without me if I let him!
I can keep up with him until he starts doing the jig.
Then I have to sit down!
We will both have a couple of beers...Omer more than I.

The kids will stay at Mom's and I will run over and get them in the morning.
Dad will probably have made sweet rolls this week,
knowing that the kids were coming over.
I think I'll go early to share some sweet rolls too!

What is that sound?

The one funny I can remember right now,
is the time I went to pick her up to go shopping.
When I walked in, I could hear a squealing noise.
As I searched through the house I could hear it in every room.
Aunt Dot was right behind me,
trying to find the source of this noise too.
Finally, I thought it stopped.
After I helped her in the car, I went around and got in my side.
There was the squeal again!
I then knew it was her hearing aid batteries going out.
We laughed all the way to Mattoon.
She is always such a happy pleasant person.
We love her like she was our Mema too.
Clara Ann

I shared with Clare Ann that Mema still
has some difficult moments with her hearing aides.
The are the new and improved kind, though.
When she puts them in first thing in the morning,
or after Hilary does her hair,
they beep seven times.
That is how you know the batteries are working.
We always know when this is happening,
because Mema stares at the ceiling, counting the beeps.
When it completes its cycle, she gives a little nod of her head,
says "there" and continues doing whatever she was doing.
I love that lady. And she is my Mema!
Thanks for sharing and reminding me of this Clare Ann!