Easter Memories

Brandon's first Easter, 1977. He wasn't interested in his basket at all...at first...

With cousin Ardell eating shells and all.

With their rabbits from Grandma Dayley.

Easter 1979

Chantel and Brandon Easter 1979 with the bunny rabbit.

Clayton, Easter 1984. Oakley, California
Chantel , Easter 1984. Oakley, California
Brandon, Easter 1984. Oakley, California.Chantel and Brandon, Easter 1984. Oakley, California.Clayton, Brandon and Chantel, Easter 1985. Oakley, California

Easter at Pop's House 1966

Martha, Rachel and John, hamming it up (pun intended!).

These pictures go with an entry I posted on May 7, 2007.

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What will a quarter get you?

I'm sitting in a bathroom stall in Walmart and Owen is waiting for me outside the stall. Chantel and Soren are across the store.
"Grammy, what's this?"
Since I can't see what Owen's talking about, I tell him to wait and I'll let him know when I come out. Then I hear his little mind going to work..."Well, let's see, it takes quarters...I wonder what will happen if I put my quarter in here...maybe this gives disposable diapers! I can get one for Soren...let's see, right here..."
"Owen? Owen?" Too late. I hear the sound of a knob turning, and another woman's laughter. When I come out, Owen is laughing too. "Grammy, look what I got!" It isn't a disposable diaper! I telll him to put it in his pocket and give it to his mother. Right before we get back to Chantel, I see an older man coming toward us on the same aisle and before I can know what he's thinking, Owen whips out his 'prize,' holds it up and uses it like a musician's baton, accentuating every word, "Hey, can I tell you a funny story?" The man is in his sixties or early seventies and he looks from Owen to me and back to Owen while Owen tells his story and I can't shut him up nor can I get the 'prize' out of his little hand, so excited is he to share the humor. Finally, the man says, "Do you know what that is?" And Owen looks at him as if he doesn't know anything. "It's a tampon of course!" "Oh, I see," says the man and he grins and shakes his head while I try to herd Owen back to his mother.

Another Lesson (Re)Learned

I withdrew from grad school. I know it was the right thing--the only thing, actually, that I could do given my present circumstances, but I still felt sad about it. What I realize in looking back, is that I shouldn't have enrolled this semester to begin with and here's why.

I have long been of the mind-set that when I'm trying and trying to do something and everything I do doesn't work, it's almost always because I'm on the wrong path. Now I can't describe exactly the feeling between what I'm talking about and the natural opposition we get when we KNOW we're doing the right thing, but this "signs" experience happens occasionally and if I had paid closer attention to the signs, the details and the feelings, I'd have saved myself some grief.

When I was trying to register for school I ran into all kinds of problems, from registering for classes, to reaching people in the right departments, to being registered as a 'non-degreed' student even though I was accepted otherwise, to getting financial aid. There were so many indications that I shouldn't force school, and the most prevalent was the feeling, even the idea coming into my head that maybe I should hold off. But did I listen? Listen and trust? Noooooooo. I think I was so anxious about having a plan for my life, having a reason to get up and having goals to work toward, that I forced the issue anyway.

Had I waited just a little longer, I would have arrived at the same place without all the unnecessary stress. I know why I'm not supposed to be in school and what I'm supposed to do and why. Feels wonderful. I'll keep you posted.

I have done so much genealogy

that I know some families really well. Above is a picture of my grandmother with three of her five sisters and below another picture of the whole family from about 20 years earlier.

Eva (Granny), Josephine, Katheryne, Clara.

All the Pearce's on 5th St in Memphis (house is no longer there) 1916. The couple on the front right are my grandparents with their first baby, my Uncle Lester.

I know who Granny and her sisters married and when, where they lived, whether or not they had children, which children died, when, why and from what, how far apart they and their spouses died, which ones divorced, which ones remarried, who had money, what they did for a living, and all kinds of other details that naturally appear when putting family puzzles together. One thing I know for certain: My granny and her sisters loved each other and were the best of friends, especially as they got older. Granny's parents, Ora and Edward, were gentle people who loved their children and had a deep faith in God. I have the same picture of my granny and her sisters on my laptop as I do here. I've seen it every day now for over two years. I showed Owen the picture the other day. "Look, Owen! There's your great-great Grand Aunt Clara, your great-great Grand Aunt Katheryne, your great-great Grand Aunt Josephine, and there's your great-great Grandmother!" He looked at the picture a minute and then said with an excited smile, "Did Granny come over on the Mayflower?" I could almost hear her laughing...

There's a down side

to having a blog, I just recently discovered. That is, that everyone who checks in knows whats going on in my life so I assume you feel up-to-date. Drawback is, that most of you don't comment or respond which makes it a little lonely out here. Last I heard, relationships are still two-way, so think of my blog as a look into my personal scrapbook, not a substitute for calling or emailing. I miss you!!