Letters to Great Grandmother Watson

 Letters to Mom, March 28, 2021

Dear Mom,  This is your memory letter from your daughter Kathy, in Tennessee.  Barbara told me that she was able to come inside and see you, hug you, and hold your hand.  I am very jealous and miss you so much.  She has graciously offered us her guest room to come see you.  We are thinking of making the trip sometime after Easter.

 Here is my Memory.  "I am a people pleaser.  I'm sure it started in childhood with the desire to please you and Dad. I also wanted to please Bobbie so she would play with me.  Probably the best way to explain this principle is the story of "Why I touched a Bumblebee!" I touched a bumblebee one day because we were outside playing with some neighbor kids and Bobbie told everyone that she was brave.

   Not wanting to be left out of the conversation, I announced to her and to our friends that I was brave too.  Bobbie immediately told me again that I was not brave.  I countered with, "Yes, I am!"  She continued to taunt me by saying, "I bet you wouldn't touch a bumblebee."

    I might not have been so quick to declare my bravery if I had seen the bumblebee on a nearby flower (as my older sibling had also told me that when you are stung by a bumblebee you have 10 seconds to remove the stinger  or you die!)

    So not to disappoint my sister I bravely went where no man has gone before and touched the bee.  Surprise!  It stung me!  My sister, (always my cheerleader in acts of stupidity) began to declare to the neighborhood kids that I was the bravest of the brave.  As she chronicled my deed of bravery I slowly began to count. (One, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand) .  I think I was up to eight of nine with death on the horizon before she detected my panic dance of death and pulled out the stinger.

   You would have thought that I learned a valuable lesson that day...(maybe I have, looking back over the event now.)  I am not so trusting as I once was.  I have found that I don't have the time or the desire to be anyone other than me.  I have decided that life is too short for anything other than comfortable shoes.  One size fits all is a myth. Look, before you leap is great advice.  I am not brave and a bumblebee will sting you if you touch it.  As for my big sister, I still want her approval and attention.  Lord help me if she dares me to display my stupidity in some other way.  You know I will....right after her!  

   I hope you enjoyed this story mom.  I am sure you never knew about this encounter other than putting baking soda on my bee sting.  Bobbie and I had stories that we used against each other to keep from getting into trouble.  She would say, " if you tell mom, I will tell her about the time you..."  Point, counterpoint, we maintained a fine balance of power.

   One thing that all three of your girls agree on is our love and prayer for you.  We pray for you every single day and can't wait to see your again and hug you, and hold your hand.  Love you, Mom.  Your daughter Kathy

Letters to your great grandmother...My life as a Brown Bunnie

 Dear Mom, This is Kathy and I have a memory story for you from my life that I am sure you never knew.  I call it "My Life as a Brown Bunny"  I hope it makes you smile.

    I have always been a person who embraced life with great exuberance and gusto.  Life was a daily mystery with strange and delightful twists and turns.  My world was a safe place where strangers smiled at children, neighbors knew your name, and it was safe to play outside till the street light went on.  Life was simple and pleasant.

   I loved kindergarten because you could color, cut with scissors, play with other children and sing.  I loved to sing and what I lacked in musical ability I made up for in volume.  I was thrilled to find out that my class would be able to sing two songs in my school's Christmas program. We practiced our two songs for weeks before the performance.  I knew those songs backward and forwards!  I could sing louder and longer than all my friends.  Imagine my surprise and delight to be singled out with four of my peers for a special assignment the day before our big day.  My teacher called the five of us over and explained that life was composed of "White Bunnies and Brown Bunnies".  "White bunnies," she said, "get up on the stage and sing, but brown bunnies are special!  "Brown bunnies get to act!"  Did she say act?

      A star was born instantly that day.  I had grand dreams of being a dancing snowflake or prancing elf.  My teacher had chosen me!  My parents would be so proud!  My sister would be envious of my success.  We all eagerly awaited our new assignments with breathless anticipation.

    "Tomorrow night," she said, "While all the other white bunnies are singing I want you brown bunnies to act like you are singing but don't utter a sound.  It's our secret, so don't tell the white bunnies or your parents. Let's see if anyone notices. "

    

 The night of our school's Christmas program came and went.  My class performed Jingle Bells and one more song.  The white bunnies sang and the brown bunnies acted our little hearts out.  The five of us became opera soloists without ever uttering one note.  Pavarotti could have learned from our performance.  We opened our mouth wide, gestured frantically, and swayed with the music.  We threw ourselves into our roles and for that brief moment, we were stars.

   

 Later that night my older sister, who I adored, asked me why I was swaying and jumping around the stage looking like a wide mouth bass out of water?  I proudly told her my secret...I was special, I was a brown bunny with acting abilities. 

   

 Had she been older and wiser, perhaps she might have let me have my moment of stardom, but  reality is cruel, and she told me that brown bunnies can't sing and my teacher didn't want us to drown out the other kids.

  

So I spent most of my life knowing that I am a Brown Bunny.  Brown bunnies don't sing, Brown bunnies don't dance, Brown bunnies......(you fill in the blanks.)  I have lived my life with the brown bunny mentality.  I've finally decided that brown bunnies are special.  We have a rare ability to not take life so seriously.  We sing off-key, we dance to the music in our head, we laugh inappropriately, we love intensely, we celebrate each day and each moment. 

Little did I know that my kindergarten teacher gave me a great gift.

letterss to your great grandmother

 Letters to Mom,                                                               March 13,2021

Dear Mom, This is your weekly memory letter from your daughter, Kathy, the one that looked liked Dad. 

 Barbara is your firstborn.  I called her Bobbie when I was young.  I remember Saturday nights you would put "Bobbie pins" in our hair to make it wavy for church the following morning. I used to think that was the reason I called her Bobbie.  Much later you rolled our hair with clips and I remember calling them "Kathy pins" and thinking I was just as glamorous as my sister.  When I was 14, baby sister Beverly arrived, and again I had another sister who always took center stage.

The three of us are entirely different. Bobbie is beautiful and smart.  She made straight A's in all of her classes and was a member of the National Honor Society.  She was a debutant and was presented to society at the debutante ball.  My beautiful brainy sister could be quite scatterbrained at times like the day she drove the car to High School with her girlfriends and that afternoon rode home on the bus because she forgot she drove that day.  Needless to say, her girlfriends were not amused waiting by the car for an hour before she remembered and got a ride from a teenage boy back to the high school to pick up her friends.

I was not the smart one unless it was something I really liked.  You and Dad gave me a lecture, "I don't care what grade you make as long as it is the best of your ability, but don't you dare bring home less than a C".  So I made up my mind that if you were happy with a "C" that was my goal.  I will admit to also being the lazy one and came very close to failing many subjects, but through frantic prayer, and tutoring from Bobbie I could somehow manage a C minus.  You and dad were always disappointed but I always thought and chuckled to myself, "If you only knew how close to failing I actually came you would be congratulating me right now!"  

 I was  "everybody's buddy" but definitely didn't stand out in the crowd.  I played a tenor saxophone in Junior High and was in band and orchestra and still can't really read music to this day.  I got a pity date to Prom 3 days before the event and you were upset that I didn't give you enough time to make my dress.  I was just thrilled to be invited and go out with my friends. All my high school friends were in the Honor Society, I was just thrilled to graduate.

Baby sister Beverly was a big surprise to all of us.  We got to name her as long as you and Dad agreed to the name.  Bobbie and I pitched out our favorite girl names only to have someone else in the family say, "I knew a girl with that name and I hated her."  Bobbie wanted to name her Joy but Dad vetoed the name.  He said, "Girls named Joy were usually sweet or terribly misnamed and he didn't want to take his chances on the name."  We finally settled on the name Beverly because the only Beverly we knew we all liked.  Barbara's middle name is Leigh, so she wanted Beverly's middle name to be Lynn so they would have the same initials.  So here I am stuck in the middle with Barbara Leigh and Beverly Lynn.  It's tough to be a Janet Kathleen.

Baby sister Bev is an island all her own.  She is very different from Bobbie and me and basically grew up as an only child.  She has a very strong personality and either loves you or hates you with very little sway in-between.  She is your best friend Mom, and a strong advocate for you.  She has a temper like your father (our grandfather Carden) and feels things very deeply.  She called you daily when you lived in Virginia Beach and would call me if she couldn't reach you insisting that I drive 4 hours to your house and comb the streets to find you.  She never married and would come home for several weeks in October on vacation from United Airlines

to cook, clean, do yard work, clean out the attic, linen closet, and your clothes closet.  She has a good heart but would frustrate you as she moved things to where she thought they should be and not where you usually stored them.

So, Mom, that's us, (Brains and Beauty) (Fun and Fabulous) and (Fire and Ice) your 3 very different daughters that adore you, pray for you daily, and would love to see you and hug you.  Hope you enjoyed the stories and will write more next week.  

Your Daughter Kathy

This picture is of Lyra Jane your great-granddaughter.  She just completed 100 days of kindergarten with a little old lady photo.  It made me laugh and I thought you would get a chuckle from it.

Letters to your Great Grandmother

Dear Mom,  This is your adorable daughter Kathy, who lives in Tennessee writing you a memory from my childhood that you may not remember.  I hope it brings you joy and lets you know how very much you are loved and cherished.  Charlie (my husband) and I pray for you every single day and are so happy that you are well.

It was the best Christmas, it was the worst Christmas.  It is the one Christmas I will never forget.  I was a spoiled princess.  I had never gone hungry or lacked anything.  When I wanted a particular toy or object I usually got it.  I may have had to wait till my birthday or Christmas but whatever I asked for would "magically" appear.

   The Christmas I was 11 and Bobbie was 14 we were told that Christmas would be very lean as we needed to replace the family car.  You and Dad had long ago revealed Santa's real identity so you both felt like we could reasonably be included in this family decision.

    Christmas at our house was always very lavish...lots of presents, toys, games and new clothes.  So even though you both had announced not to expect any presents other than what the aunts, uncles, and grandparents sent, we really didn't believe it.

    One reason we didn't believe that there would be no Christmas was the mysterious noises, whispers, paper rustling, and frantic cries of "Don't come in here right now!"  After all, we reasoned, neither of us could drive...so a new car was not a family gift if only our parents could take it for a spin. We also thought you were just telling us this just to see the joy on our little faces come Christmas morning when, "Surprise, Santa came after all."

    "They really wouldn't really cancel Christmas," my big sister assured me.  Christmas morning arrived in our household, no one was allowed in the living room until Dad went in and turned on the Christmas tree lights.  We had sliding "Pocket Doors" leading into the living room from the hallway that was closed on Christmas Eve.

    You, Mom, turned to us in the hallway and said, "Do you want to go open your presents or go sing Merry Christmas to the Car?  What kind of question was this?  Who wants to go sing Merry Christmas to the car?  Let me at those gifts.  "Gifts! Gifts!" we cried in unison.  "Okay, you said and slid open the door, revealing our glorious Christmas tree and gifts...just the way we left it on Christmas Eve.    

    One quick look at the tree was enough to depress this 11-year-old. "Let's go sing to the car, I said, clearly disappointed.  "Oh no," you replied, "Let's go open our gifts.  So we did.  It was disappointing.  It wasn't anything that we wanted and I was totally miserable. "What's that string attached to the tree?"  Near the top branches was a note that read "To the Watson family" and the string led to the new car in the garage.

     "Let's follow the string and go sing Merry Christmas to the car!" you encouraged, knowing how disappointed we were at having no presents.  We went to the garage very begrudgingly only because Dad had on his "You heard your Mother" face, and we knew it was pointless to argue.

      So we opened the garage door and there sat the car.  Our new car, the car that had robbed us of our happy childhood.  The car that neither of us could drive.  I really wanted to kick the tires or spit on the wheels but we were encouraged sweetly by you Mom and also by the stern, threatening look on Dad's face to sing "Merry Christmas to you, Merry Christmas to you, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas to you old stupid car!

    Oh look, you said Mom, "The string is caught in the trunk....maybe we should open it up and look inside."  "I'm going inside," I announced tiredly of the whole let's get a new car for Christmas incident and hoping I was adopted and my real parents might be inside waiting for me with my Christmas presents.)

   "Oh no you don't," Dad said, opening the trunk revealing the entire space filled with gaily colored boxes, packages, dolls, games, stockings, ribbons, and candy.  "Not until you help bring these presents inside."  Presents, gifts, wow! maybe this new car thing wasn't as bad as I originally thought.  My emotions went from sad, angry, and miserable to all smiles, excitement, and total joy.

    Presents, more than I had ever imagined at any Christmas before or since.  Presents, my parents really did love us more than their car after all.  "I told you so,
" Bobbie said to me wiping tears out of her face but not sounding nearly as confident as she wanted me to think.

   So that was our miserable Merry Christmas.  You told us later that was the first time you both had to sneak presents from the house into the trunk instead of the other way around.

    You and Dad really surprised us that Christmas.  Thank you for making our childhood memorable.  We always knew you both loved us and were good providers.  We would always ask Dad where he was going at Christmas time and he would just smile and say, "I'm going to see a man about a horse."  I always wondered what happened to our Christmas pony?

Thank you Momma for your love and prayers.  I hope you enjoyed this story about our most surprising Christmas. Your adorable daughter, Kathy 

Letters to your great grand mother

 Dear Mom,                                                February 19,2021

This has been a busy week for us in Tennessee.  My husband  Charlie turned 71 on Monday.  Our daughter (your granddaughter Suzy) baked him a Chocolate cake and her boys ( your great-grandsons) put 10 relighting candles on the cake.  He kept blowing them out and they kept relighting.  Thankfully they didn’t put on 71 candles or we might have had to get the fire department to put the flames out.

Barbara reminded me that your mom (our grandmother)  put relighting candles on her birthday cake when she was a teenager (over 60 years ago).  We were visiting her in Harlingen, Texas, and Bobbie’s birthday is in late August.  None of us had ever seen relighting candles so we were amazed the first 3 or 4 times they kept lighting back up. It wasn’t nearly as funny by the 10th or 12th time. It generated a lot of smoke in the room and I   remember Dad finally got a glass of water and took the candles off the cake one at a time and submerged them in the water to put them out completely.  We all had to laugh as we never suspected Grandmother to be such a jokester!

Speaking of Cakes I remember the weekend Bobbie brought Joe home from North Texas State to meet you and Dad.  She was really nervous and hoped that you would like him.  You had lots of food and multiple desserts but Bobbie decided she wanted to make a Boston Cream pie from a mix.  You whispered to me, “Stay in the kitchen with her and make sure she does it right.”  She mixed the cake batter, made the cream filling and put it in the refrigerator, and lined the pan with wax paper the way you always did.

 By the time she got it in the oven and set the timer, I felt like she could manage the rest.  That night we had a  wonderful dinner and when it came time for dessert    Bobbie was the only one who chose Boston Cream Pie.  It looked really pretty. The cream filling was in the center and iced with chocolate frosting.  Imagine our surprise when she ate a mouthful of cake and disappeared into the kitchen.

 You gave me “ the look” which meant what’s wrong with the cake? I gave you the “I don’t know shrug!”  In a few minutes, she returned to the table with the cake but no frosting on it.  She looked embarrassed but finally said, “I forgot to take the wax paper off the cake and after I split the cake and put the filling in, I frosted over the wax paper! “  We all laughed because my beautiful brainy sister was so twitter-pated she put frosting on top of wax paper.  Later on, we found out why she was so nervous when Joe asked Dad if he could have his permission to ask her to marry him

Bobbie is certainly a good cook now.  They have been married for over 50 years.  When I first brought Charlie over to meet you and dad,  you looked at his baby face and said, “How old is this guy, 16?”  We were both out of college by then and we have been together for 47 years.

I hope this brought you some moments of laughter.  You and Dad certainly were good role models for us girls.  We love you, Momma,
and pray for you every single day.  We look forward to when we can see you and catch up on all our missed hugs.

Kathy (the one who looks like Dad) and Charlie ( the now not-so baby faced hubby)

 

 

 

Lexi turns 2

 

 Dear Lexi Anne,

You and your Poppa have birthdays very close together.  He is my late Valentine because his birthday is the day after Valentine's day. He turned 71 and of course, you big boy cousins put relighting candles on his cake.  Fortunately, there were only 10 candles instead of 71 or it might have taken the fire department to put them out. 

We miss you and your sisters very much.  We are so lucky that your parents take lots of photos of you and your sisters so we can watch you grow and change right before our eyes.

Poppa has made treasure chests for all of our grandchildren.  He wrote you a note to go with it that I am posting in your blog as it will probably be misplaced as you grow.  Please know that you are a precious gift to our family and Diva and Poppa pray for you every single day.

February 10, 2021

Dear Lexi,

This is a special treasure box for a very special young lady, you. Diva and I have made it for you, to store your treasures.  There is not another box just like this in the whole world, just like there is only on Lexi.

We hope that you remember that you are dearly loved by us, and by so many others.

Your smiles light up a room, and we enjoy hearing you say, "Hi" when we are talking to your mom or dad on the phone.  We look forward to seeing pictures of you with your sisters.

Did you know that your daddy was our baby boy many years ago?  He was a good baby, and now he has grown into a wonderful man and father.  We haven't known your mother for as long, but we love her now as our 3rd daughter.

May the Lord bless you as you grow into the godly woman we hope you will become.  With all our love, Poppa and Diva

Happy Birthday to our Curly Girly.  Can't wait to see you again.  Your Diva

Poppa's birthday blow out

 

Happy birthday to my late Valentine ( February 15th).  We enjoyed celebrating with Tim, Suzy, and the grandsons.  The boys made Poppa birthday cards.  Oscar's said, Poppa, you are the best! (Sorry Diva).  Suzy baked him a chocolate cake and the boys put relighting candles on the cake.  Check out the hilarious video and Poppa's faces.  We are blessed to have family close by.

great grandmother Watson

 Dear Anne,

This is the latest picture of my mom that I have.  She just turned 94.  She lives in a nursing home in Alabama close to my sister Barbara.  I have not been able to see her in over a year.

She has lost most of her memories and so I have been writing her a weekly letter sharing some of my favorite stories from my childhood.  She doesn't remember any of them but thinks I am a good writer and a nice lady.

It's sad, but at least she thinks I'm a nice lady and that makes me happy.  Miss you!  Your Diva

Dear Mom                                          February 7, 2021

It’s time for your weekly letter from your adorable middle daughter Kathy.  It snowed last night here in Tennessee and I woke up to beautiful pristine snow on the tree branches and ground.  It almost takes away your breath by the purity of it.  It reminds me of the hymn “Brighter than snow, Yes brighter than snow, now wash me and I will be brighter than snow.”  Today is Sunday, a calm restful day of church services on the computer of our local church and of your grandson Andy’s church in Fort Worth, Texas.

I am writing memories and stories for our grandchildren (your great-grandchildren) so they will know a little bit more about you and dad and the memories I had as a child. This is part of a story I wrote about my favorite memories of church.  This occurred while Charlie and I were working at Equipping the Saints in Virginia.

‘Several days ago we had a new volunteer ( a 17-year-old girl that was very quiet) she was working on scraping off loose paint from the window sills before we could caulk, sand, and paint them. Our Suzy always plays questions and answers whenever we are on a road trip so I started asking everyone questions trying to draw her out and learn a little more about her.

The question asked was, "What is one of your first memories of the church?"

Various answers followed, VBS, church camp, a wedding, stain glass windows in the sanctuary.

[I was transported back to my childhood and the one memory that stood out in my mind was sitting next to my dad in the church service. I was a wiggler and a giggler so was assigned to sit next to my dad so he could give me "the eye" when I got too antsy. I was intrigued by my Dad's big hand compared to mine. I would study it and play with his hand. Occasionally we would play a game where he would suddenly grab my fingers and my job was to keep him from entrapping them in his grasp.

This normally would keep me entertained and quiet for at least 20 minutes till I would suddenly break into gales of laughter causing my mom to give both of us

"the look" that instantly brought both of us to attention and make my Dad suddenly stop playing and start looking stern. We both knew it was to satisfy my mom because there was always a twinkle in those merry blue eyes.

I miss my Father's Hands. He was a good hugger, tickler, coach, adviser, sports enthusiast, friend, and the first man in my life. I miss his "Dutch Uncle" talks where he would tell me what he was thinking and why without trying to spare my feelings.

Our son was named after Dad  (Andrew Wallace) and I see many characteristics in him that were in dad.  I miss him every day.}

 We love and miss you,
Momma.  Hope this was a nice story of the man we all loved.  Same time next week?  Gotcha all prayed up sweet lady.    Kathy

Oreo meets Madeline

Two old people and one Oreo between them

Oreo meets Madeline.

Oreo has a new cousin, her name is Madeline.  She was a Christmas gift for the family. Madeline has had all her shots now so today was their first meeting.

Charlie needed help with a ham radio antenna because the little old lady he lives with had a "hissy fit" about him getting on the roof.  We all know that the main cause of injury in old men is that they think they are young men.

Suzy, Tim, and the boys all came over and Miss Madeline was with them.  We decided it was time for Miss Mattie to meet cousin Oreo.

Madeline is only 7 pounds of happy hyper puppy and of course, our old man Oreo is 3 times her size.

There was no barking, growling, or aggressive behavior between the two.  Oreo sniffed her all over which any proper lady would find offensive. 

Oreo got so excited he lost bladder control in the kitchen. You could tell he was embarrassed so we took him outside to finish his business.

Suzy and I tried to get a picture of this momentous occasion.  It was hardly a " Lady and the Tramp " spaghetti moment.  Many thanks to photographer Oscar. Suzy and I found out how hard it is to get both dogs looking in the same direction at the same time.  We laughed hysterically during the photoshoot.

It will take a while before they play together but it was a good first meeting. Madeline fell asleep cuddled by her mom in a nice warm blanket around the fire pit.  Oreo found Poppa's lap and a warm blanket to snuggle in also.

Hopefully, this will be the start of a growing friendship.

Parcheesi...the game of India

 Dear Mom                                                                                             

January 25,2021

Hello for Tennessee.  This is Kathy, your middle daughter writing you.  It is a cold rainy day today and really nice to stay inside.  I am writing this on my computer while drinking some hot tea and listening to Christian music.  Our little dog Oreo is asleep in his bed next to me all warm and snuggly.

   Your great-grandsons Oscar (12), Charlie (10), and Henry(8) love to play board games.  I taught all of them how to play Parcheesi.  I told them it was a game you learned to play as a child and that you were a really great player.

    I told them how you love to build blockades and made everybody wait for you to break them.  I told them that you were very good at rolling fives to get on the board and how you always knew where to put your players without having to count all the spaces after you rolled.

   I also told them that I played this game with my grandmother (your mom) (their great-great-grandmother) when I was their age.  She always won but never made me feel bad.  My grandsons have favorite colors.  Little Charlie loves red, Henry loves green, Oscar takes blue so I am always yellow.  I remember coming home one evening and you were playing all 4 colors by yourself.  I asked you, “Who’s winning?”  You just smiled and said, “Well I am! Of course!”

   I recently saw an old black and white Christmas picture of Bobbie and me playing    Parcheesi at grandmother’s house one Christmas Day while we were still dressed in our pajamas.  Bobbie and I had gotten a child-size card table ( Red and White) for Christmas.  Again, I was losing but didn’t mind because Bobbie was actually playing with me.

   You were amazing at throwing doubles in the game and always zipped around the board before I could get a single player out.  You were ruthless when it came to sending someone back to their home place.  You would get mad at me much later on in life when I had the chance to send you home but didn’t.  I would tell you that I chose to “extend mercy” and not take you home.  Actually, I really didn’t want the game to go on any longer than it needed to be since I was already losing!     

    It broke our hearts when you lost your vision and couldn’t play any longer.  I know you enjoyed the fellowship of your card games with other ladies in the church.  Your great-granddaughter Emma just turned 14 years old.  She had an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen for her birthday.  I told her about the time you bought an ice cream cake for your best friend Violet Elliott’s birthday and planned to serve it for dessert after the card game but you got distracted by a phone call and left the ice cream cake in the garage on top of the washing machine instead of the freezer in the garage.  She laughed and said that could happen to anyone.  Emma still has fond memories of you and asks about you whenever we speak.

I hope this brought you some sweet memories for you .  Charlie and I love you and pray for you every day.  We miss you so much and pray for the day when we can visit you.                                                 

 Love,   Kathy

  

video birthday chat

Just had a video chat with this amazing 14-year-old teen.  It was good to see her art work and talk with her. It made us miss her more and this Diva is a hugger so it is really hard for me not to be able to give her a birthday hug.

I love your Lavender hair.  Did I ever tell you about the time your mom dyed her hair purple?  It was her graduation day from high school.  The color was a deep purple so in the sun it looked like dark brown.  She dyed it because your great grandmother came to her graduation and your mom wanted to make a statement.

I think she was disappointed that grandmother didn't even notice.

I love your ice cream cake too.  Uncle Andy really liked Dairy Queen ice cream cakes for his birthday when he was in high school.  I was working full time at the hospital so it was easy for me to get them.

Your great grandmother liked to play cards with her widow ladies group. One day she bought an ice cream cake for her best friend Violet Elliott's birthday. The plan was to have it for dessert after the card game.  She went out the side door into the garage because that's where her freezer was located.  On her way out the door, her landline phone rang so she put the ice cream cake, box, and all on top of the washer-dryer and ran back inside to answer the phone.  She shut the door behind her and forgot about the cake till it was time to serve it that evening.  Needless to say, she was so embarrassed.

Love you, sweet girl, to the moon and back again.

Your Darling Diva and Proud Poppa

Diva Remembers

 I am now 71 years old and you may want to know what I was like as a child, the things I did, and the games I grew up with. 

This game" Cootie"  was a favorite game of mine.  I got the game when I was about 5 years old.  Each part of the Cootie had a numerical value and you would roll the die to get the parts you needed.  1...1 body, 2...1 head, 3...  1 mouth, 4... 2 antennae, 5... 2 eyes, 6...6 legs  If you already had the body part you lost your turn and hoped you would roll a 6 the next time.  The winner was the first person to complete the "Cootie".

One of the first toys I remember was this music box that had creepy clowns on it.  It played "Pop Goes the Weasel" and a clown would pop out.  I never realized till much later that the clown would always pop up at a certain part of the song and I was always terrified when it popped up.  I think this is one reason that Diva is very skittish to this day.  I will always jump at scary movies or when I think Poppa doesn't see oncoming traffic and we are all going to die.  Fortunately, Poppa knows that when I jump there is a reason and will start braking.  I jump long before I can tell him why.

One of the first dolls I got for Christmas was called "Tiny Tears Doll"  Her eyes would open and shut and when you gave her a bottle of water she would wet her pants.  I have never been a big doll lover like my sister Bobbie.  She always kept her dolls in pristine condition on her bed. I always dragged mine around half-dressed and dirty from playing in the sandbox with me.  I was intrigued with the doll's eyes and in my medical observations I accidentally punched out one eye on Christmas Day.  I called her Winky after that!

This was always one of my favorite toys.  I love color, and designs and the Kaleidoscope was endless entertainment.  It had pieces of plastic color shapes and when you twisted the bottom part there would be a new design.  I spent hours watching the new design.  It was a good toy to take in the car to keep me entertained.

Your Cousin Charlie Gets His Black Belt

 What a wonderful celebration today watching 10-year-old Charlie get his black belt at Olsen's Martial Arts.  He had a private celebration with his family and Diva and Poppa.  He has been waiting a long time because of Covid restriction but has persisted in his training with Zoom on-line lessons and private lessons.  He was able to show off all his skills.  I was amazed at how agile he is and graceful with his forms.  He spared with Oscar and actually knocked him on his bottom.  I later told Oz it was really nice of him to take a dive to make his brother look better.

We loved watching his kicks, twirls, confidence, and agility.  I was impressed by his ability to break a board with his hand and break the last one with his heel. He earned his black belt and was given two words...Determination and Patience both of which he displayed to earn his belt.

Happy 14th Birthday Anne

 Happy Birthday to our sweet Anne.  It has been a year and a half since we have been able to see you, hug you and spoil you.  In that time you have grown into a confident, talented leader and an incredible artist.

We love your artwork and display it proudly on our refrigerator.  Your mom tells us that you are in a different school this year and that you are a leader in your class.  I know you enjoy working with younger girls in Girl Guides too.

Your mom also told me that you are experimenting with makeup, hairdos, and all things fashionista.  I love that about you.  

I hate that we are so far away from you and don't get to see you often.  I realize it isn't cool to like your grandparents and that's ok....we will make up the difference and be twice as crazy about you.

Give hugs to Poppy the cat from us.  Oreo sends his love too.

Your Darling Diva

Hope you got the pen that Poppa made for you on his wood lathe.   It is a multi-colored laminated wood.  He knows how artistic you are and thought you would like a one of a kind handmade pen.

Letters to great Grandmother

Dear Mom,                                                                    January 12, 2021

 

This is your middle daughter Kathy. I am the one who is named after you ...Janet Kathleen. I live in Tennessee with my husband Charlie.  I asked you once when I was growing up why you called me Kathy when my name was Janet.  You told me that you were always going to call me Kathy but  Kathleen Janet didn’t flow like Janet Kathleen.  Your mom, my grandmother, would send me a birthday card every year with Kathleen Janet Watson on it.  It always secretly made me laugh that she didn’t really know my name.

   One childhood memory I have of you, mom is that you would write to your mom every week.  I remember watching you type your letters on an electric typewriter.  So for your birthday, I have decided to follow your example and write you a weekly letter.  Not so much what we are doing but to remember the stories of my heart.  These are the stories I will tell my grandchildren about my     Momma and Daddy.

  Since we just had a New Years' celebration, Bobbie and I were talking about the New Year Celebration we had in Idaho when I was 5 and Bobbie was 8.  You and Dad had a New Year’s adult party the year before so you promised that we girls could have our own party the following year.  I think we just had friends who were our age that lived on the base.  I remember we had Beverly and Cami Nickel and another little girl that Bobbie knew.  We all got dressed up and went to the base movies.  We got to see “There’s No Business Like Show Business” with Ethel Merman. 

Dad got all of us popcorn and drinks and we thought we were so grown up.  The movie ended at 9pm and we got to drive around town with party hats and noisemakers yelling, “Happy New Year”. I am pretty sure we were all home and in our beds long before the New Year’s countdown.  It made me feel really grown up and important.

    Your granddaughter Suzy, my middle child and the one most like her grandmother (YOU), loves to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her boys.  They all get dressed up and she plans special food and games till midnight and she has a balloon drop from her ceiling.  This year they had a confetti cannon in her living room.  She says she is still vacuuming up paper shreds! 

     We miss you, we love you, we pray for you every day.  Much love….Kathy

Anne, Your great grandmother Janet Carden Watson has Alzheimer's Disease and has very limited memory.  So when I am with her I tell her heart stories I remember about her.  She just laughs will say," Did I really do that?"

 

 

Anne Advent Ribbon 2020

 

Anne, you will never know how upset we were to not be able to see you this past July.  Our celebration was not complete without our Canadians.  We were so looking forward to having everyone back together.  Your sad Diva and Poppa

 

Anne, this is one of my favorite pictures of you and your Mom.  You are growing up way too quickly for this Diva.  I heard that you like makeup and like your hair long now.  Wish we could spend some time with you.  Diva

 

  I think you will really like Oreo.  He weighs 20 pounds now and thinks he should be in our lap at all times. He is an older dog….so Poppa calls him the old man of our household.  Diva

 

 

Anne,  You haven’t seen your little cousins in quite a while, Lyra Jane is in Kindergarten this year and has been waiting for her whole life to attend.  She reminds me of your sweet momma when she was that age.   Nostalgic Diva

 

 

What happened to my little girl...now a teenager.  We are so proud of you, Anne.  Your mom likes to tell us how well you are doing in school and in your other activities.  We miss you so much and love talking with you.  Don’t forget about us!  Diva and Poppa

 

 

Anne,  Congratulations on being a brace face!  Auntie Suzy got hers in high school so never smiled much for pictures.  She is really glad now that she went through the experience.  Keep smiling...we love happy faces.  Diva and Poppa 

 

 

 

Anne, I will admit that I had to google Harley Quinn!  Uncle Andy is my superhero and villain's guy so I thought I was pretty knowledgeable on all of them.  I heard that it was a very popular costume this year.  I 

Anne, I will admit that this picture made me laugh and miss you more.  I bet you picked lots of apples.  Do you remember as a little girl picking strawberries in Virginia?  Your Mom is a great cook so I am sure there was at least an apple pie!    Miss you more than apple pie
!  Diva

 

 

 

Anne, this is my favorite picture of you and your mom for this year.  I keep it on my bulletin board in my office so I can see your sweet faces and miss you more!  This has been a really bad year for traveling and for isolating people.  Know you are loved!  Diva and Poppa

 

 

 

 

Anne, so glad you can go camping and enjoy nature.  Poppa and I stroll around the neighborhood with Oreo and had a very pretty garden this year.  I  am enjoying a Facebook group called “A view from my window”.  I love it because it has a worldwide base and pictures of places I will probably never get to visit.  Everyone is kind and encouraging.  I love that you are also very kind and encouraging to the younger scouts for your help.  We want you to know that we love you and are proud of the women you are becoming.  Diva and Poppa

 

 

 

Anne, we love your artwork.  I have trouble drawing stick figures so I  can really appreciate people who can draw.  I can use some new artwork for my fridge!         
( That was a hint!)   Miss you sweet girl! Your Diva

 

 

 

Anne, your Auntie Suzy always loved the actress Audrey Hepburn.  She was glamorous and also wise.  Your mom tells me you like to explore with makeup now.  I love this quote from her and thought you might too.  “On a bad day….there’s always lipstick!”    Diva