I read somewhere that parents do not create children, children create parents. I think that’s true in a lot of ways because no matter how many of your siblings or cousins or neighbors you helped “raise”, until they are completely and totally your responsibility, you never get the full impact.
It’s also usually the little things you tend to remember most. Everybody remembers the day they were born, their first day at school, baptism, graduations, and those type things, but I’d be willing to be that when you are actively thinking about them, those “monumental moments” usually pale in comparison to some of the little thing they did – at least memory-wise.
The way Amy used to slide down the steps on her butt when she was about 2.
Christopher crawling up into a friend’s lap, who happened to be very “endowed” and had a low cut blouse on, and asked her what that was, pointing to her low cut blouse, and she said “My cleavage”. He replied, “Oh, boobies”
Douglas not being satisfied when we were driving in the rain until I would hit a big enough puddle to cover the entire car.
Sarah being afraid of going through car washes when she was a baby.
The way Amy always asked for a cookie, and when I said okay, she would hold up two fingers and say, “Twofums”
After following Douglas around as he sold magazines for school, Michael, at 5, decided he could do it too and walked around the neighborhood with a coffee can collecting pennies. We made him put them in the collection plate at church.
Christopher at 2, dressed from head to toe in a green felt dinosaur outfit, parading through the mall.
Amy turning out to probably be the best baseball player, (okay, so she played softball, but she was better than either of the boys).
When Sarah gives a hug, she just sort of lays against you and lets you hug away. She always has.
Michael, losing a helium balloon out the car window at 5 and not understanding why we couldn’t just go back and get it.
Christopher walking up the street, after he had fallen off his bike, holding his broken arm out to the side. It looked like he had two elbows, but he was smiling and looked so proud.
Sharing fried egg sandwiches with Sarah and Christopher when they were little, while we watched old westerns on TV.
Douglas taking off on his bike to go visit and friend and coming back almost immediately with one of his toenails almost completely ripped off. He was barefoot and dragged his foot on the street.
Having to put Amy on a plane in Charleston to fly by herself to California when she was scared and crying.
Christopher’s pacifier. He called it his baby, and it was with him constantly for 2 and half years. We were about to panic because we couldn’t find a way to get him to stop using it, then Sue hit on the idea around Christmas that when we left milk and cookies for Santa, he should leave his baby for Rudolph. It worked. He only mentioned it one other time, shortly after Christmas when he said with a pouty bottom lip he said, “Rudolph took my baby!”
And there are more and more special little memories that keep them all so very close to me. I’m not a very demonstrative person when it comes to faith, but when it comes to my kids I can say with all certainty, I have been blessed!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Nobletucky
Sue’s job took us to Memphis, and in 2001, it was responsible for us leaving Memphis. By then we had both left the company where we worked together. She left in early 1998 and I left in November 1998. Her new employer closed their Memphis office in 2001 and offered her a chance to move to either Wichita, KS or Indianapolis, IN. Now, I have nothing against Wichita, other than it was a bit odiferous on one of our trips through there, but Indianapolis would be closer to family and friends, so it was really an easy choice to make.
We moved ourselves (that’s the last time I will do that), and were really looking forward to living someplace new, but I almost turned around as soon as I entered the state. The truck we had was a large U-Haul filled to the brim with all our household furniture. We used an auto dolly to pull our car behind the truck while Sue and Sarah followed behind in our van. When I rented the truck and dolly the last thing the guy told me was, “Under no condition should you try to back this truck with a car on the dolly. You might be able to, but most likely you’ll just damage the car.” His point was that there is a pivot where the trailer connects to the truck and a second pivot where the car wheels attach to the dolly. So to back it up you have the car, the dolly and the truck all going in different directions.
Anyway, so we no sooner get into Indiana when I had to get some gas. The gas station was one of those stop and go places with a café attached to it. I had almost finished filling the tank when this older couple pulled up in a car and parked in front of the café. They were not in a proper parking space and were right in my way. I asked Christopher to go ask the guy to give me a second to move and his smart ass remark was something like, “If he don’t know how to drive, he shouldn’t be out on the road,” and went on in and sat down. He had a point of course, but I couldn’t back up. So I go to talk to him and these 3 or 4 bikers came walking out. They told me not to worry about it, they would move their motorcycles and I could swing wide around him. You don’t know how badly I wanted to clip his fender or something as I went around him, but I didn’t. But it goes to show you something; the old couple, who you would expect to be nice; weren’t, and the bikers who have a questionable reputation with some people, were.
Anyway, Indiana has been great and it will soon be 10 years here. We settled in a little town north of Indianapolis called Noblesville. Yes, it can get cold in the winter and it does snow frequently, but they do a great job in clearing the roads and the cold only makes the spring time that much nicer. In fact, all four seasons here are distinct and enjoyable.
The people are also great. They sometimes change the last name of some cities to “tucky” to account for southerners who moved north in search of jobs, but there are times you would think you were right back in the south from the way a lot of people talk. Some of the area around the University of Indiana looks like someone scooped up a big chunk of Loudon County and dropped it in Indiana. It’s hilly and green and a lot of folks have a twang.
Come up and see us sometime!
We moved ourselves (that’s the last time I will do that), and were really looking forward to living someplace new, but I almost turned around as soon as I entered the state. The truck we had was a large U-Haul filled to the brim with all our household furniture. We used an auto dolly to pull our car behind the truck while Sue and Sarah followed behind in our van. When I rented the truck and dolly the last thing the guy told me was, “Under no condition should you try to back this truck with a car on the dolly. You might be able to, but most likely you’ll just damage the car.” His point was that there is a pivot where the trailer connects to the truck and a second pivot where the car wheels attach to the dolly. So to back it up you have the car, the dolly and the truck all going in different directions.
Anyway, so we no sooner get into Indiana when I had to get some gas. The gas station was one of those stop and go places with a café attached to it. I had almost finished filling the tank when this older couple pulled up in a car and parked in front of the café. They were not in a proper parking space and were right in my way. I asked Christopher to go ask the guy to give me a second to move and his smart ass remark was something like, “If he don’t know how to drive, he shouldn’t be out on the road,” and went on in and sat down. He had a point of course, but I couldn’t back up. So I go to talk to him and these 3 or 4 bikers came walking out. They told me not to worry about it, they would move their motorcycles and I could swing wide around him. You don’t know how badly I wanted to clip his fender or something as I went around him, but I didn’t. But it goes to show you something; the old couple, who you would expect to be nice; weren’t, and the bikers who have a questionable reputation with some people, were.
Anyway, Indiana has been great and it will soon be 10 years here. We settled in a little town north of Indianapolis called Noblesville. Yes, it can get cold in the winter and it does snow frequently, but they do a great job in clearing the roads and the cold only makes the spring time that much nicer. In fact, all four seasons here are distinct and enjoyable.
The people are also great. They sometimes change the last name of some cities to “tucky” to account for southerners who moved north in search of jobs, but there are times you would think you were right back in the south from the way a lot of people talk. Some of the area around the University of Indiana looks like someone scooped up a big chunk of Loudon County and dropped it in Indiana. It’s hilly and green and a lot of folks have a twang.
Come up and see us sometime!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Memp'is
The developments surrounding my retirement from the Air Force came unexpectedly and I had no leads on any kind of job. The company Sue worked for had just opened an office in Memphis, or Memp'is as some of the locals called it, and offered her a promotion if she transferred. We talked it over and agreed that it would be better for everyone if we moved there, so in January, 1990, Sue moved while I stayed in the South Carolina to sell the house.
At the time, I was happy with the move. We would be back in Tennessee, albeit on the western end, but either way, Christopher, and later Sarah, would be born in my home state. So, after selling the house I moved into an apartment to finish out my time. Meanwhile, when Michael got out of school that spring, he joined Sue and when I got ready to retire in November, we made arrangements for Douglas to stay with friends so he could complete his senior year.
I retired on November 15th, and moved to Memphis to be a stay at home Dad until I found a job. Looking back, that was one of the happiest times in my life. Christopher and I spent every day together and I bonded with him deeper than I did with any of the other kids. We were a team. Whether it was for his doctor appointments, grocery shopping, picking up Michael from school, job interviews, getting our new house set up, or whatever, we were together.
I tried getting a weather related job but couldn’t, so in February I was offered a job at the same place Sue worked and I took it. I started out processing the paperwork for items imported into the country by Fedex. That lasted 6 months or so when I moved into a new section they were starting up to develop reports and forms for use by my company, Fedex and U.S. Customs. A couple of years later, I moved into the computer/network support department where I eventually became supervisor.
So, family-wise and job-wise, everything was great. Sarah came along in 1992 and the 5 of us were happy. Over time though, Memphis started wearing on me. It was a very racial city, with both the blacks and whites trying to one-up each other. Everything, it seemed, revolved around skin color; even the politics. The city council wasn’t so much Republicans versus Democrats, or conservatives versus liberals, it was blacks versus whites. If one side was for it, the other side was against it, while neither side seemed to care one way or the other what was best for the city as a whole.
There were a few things to do, but not really that much. Minor league baseball and college sports, or college basketball anyway; football wasn’t that big of a deal. Then which college do you root for? Memphis State, which later became the University of Memphis, Ole Miss, or Mississippi State, or Arkansas, or Arkansas State or even LSU? I didn’t leave out the University of Tennessee or Vanderbilt. They were the “other schools” in the other part of the state. I saw a lot of local sports reports in Memphis that didn’t bother to give scores for these "other schools".
There was the annual festival called Memphis in May. Lots of stuff going on there, but for the first several years you could go to the BBQ contest but not get any of the BBQ, which made absolutely no sense to me. You basically just walked around and watched people cook BBQ. The music festival was usually good, I will give them that much.
Oh, I forgot Beale Street, which could be fun, and people partied there a lot, but all I ever really needed to know about Beale Street was when I saw the police substation right in the middle of the small 3 block area. Well, to be fair to Beale Street, the whole downtown area was like that -- very foreboding.
Then there is the economy. It’s as if Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi never got together and figured out what they were going to do with this city that is actually a part of all 3 states. The economic structure in each state is different and Memphis can only grow north and east. That being said, there has been a marked growth in northern Mississippi over the past 10 years, but barely any in Arkansas. That’s a little sad too because at one time Memphis was the equal to Miami, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans, but now those cities have all passed it up and Nashville, Little Rock and Montgomery aren’t that far behind.
Okay, I realize that most of what I just said was personal opinion and that there are a lot of people who live in Memphis who love it there. I’m glad, because someone has to live there, it’s just not me. When it came time to leave, I was more than ready.
I will say this much though. I met a lot of good people there. The ones I worked with became almost like a family to me. Sometimes I wish they had moved to Indiana with me.
At the time, I was happy with the move. We would be back in Tennessee, albeit on the western end, but either way, Christopher, and later Sarah, would be born in my home state. So, after selling the house I moved into an apartment to finish out my time. Meanwhile, when Michael got out of school that spring, he joined Sue and when I got ready to retire in November, we made arrangements for Douglas to stay with friends so he could complete his senior year.
I retired on November 15th, and moved to Memphis to be a stay at home Dad until I found a job. Looking back, that was one of the happiest times in my life. Christopher and I spent every day together and I bonded with him deeper than I did with any of the other kids. We were a team. Whether it was for his doctor appointments, grocery shopping, picking up Michael from school, job interviews, getting our new house set up, or whatever, we were together.
I tried getting a weather related job but couldn’t, so in February I was offered a job at the same place Sue worked and I took it. I started out processing the paperwork for items imported into the country by Fedex. That lasted 6 months or so when I moved into a new section they were starting up to develop reports and forms for use by my company, Fedex and U.S. Customs. A couple of years later, I moved into the computer/network support department where I eventually became supervisor.
So, family-wise and job-wise, everything was great. Sarah came along in 1992 and the 5 of us were happy. Over time though, Memphis started wearing on me. It was a very racial city, with both the blacks and whites trying to one-up each other. Everything, it seemed, revolved around skin color; even the politics. The city council wasn’t so much Republicans versus Democrats, or conservatives versus liberals, it was blacks versus whites. If one side was for it, the other side was against it, while neither side seemed to care one way or the other what was best for the city as a whole.
There were a few things to do, but not really that much. Minor league baseball and college sports, or college basketball anyway; football wasn’t that big of a deal. Then which college do you root for? Memphis State, which later became the University of Memphis, Ole Miss, or Mississippi State, or Arkansas, or Arkansas State or even LSU? I didn’t leave out the University of Tennessee or Vanderbilt. They were the “other schools” in the other part of the state. I saw a lot of local sports reports in Memphis that didn’t bother to give scores for these "other schools".
There was the annual festival called Memphis in May. Lots of stuff going on there, but for the first several years you could go to the BBQ contest but not get any of the BBQ, which made absolutely no sense to me. You basically just walked around and watched people cook BBQ. The music festival was usually good, I will give them that much.
Oh, I forgot Beale Street, which could be fun, and people partied there a lot, but all I ever really needed to know about Beale Street was when I saw the police substation right in the middle of the small 3 block area. Well, to be fair to Beale Street, the whole downtown area was like that -- very foreboding.
Then there is the economy. It’s as if Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi never got together and figured out what they were going to do with this city that is actually a part of all 3 states. The economic structure in each state is different and Memphis can only grow north and east. That being said, there has been a marked growth in northern Mississippi over the past 10 years, but barely any in Arkansas. That’s a little sad too because at one time Memphis was the equal to Miami, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans, but now those cities have all passed it up and Nashville, Little Rock and Montgomery aren’t that far behind.
Okay, I realize that most of what I just said was personal opinion and that there are a lot of people who live in Memphis who love it there. I’m glad, because someone has to live there, it’s just not me. When it came time to leave, I was more than ready.
I will say this much though. I met a lot of good people there. The ones I worked with became almost like a family to me. Sometimes I wish they had moved to Indiana with me.
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