Blogs from 2016
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Christmas Memories.
When we lived on Main Street, my mom worked in the Prosecuting Attorney's office. How ironic that that was my first real job, not employed by my step dad, that I had too. Of course mom arranged that one for me, thanks mom. It's nice to have friends. ;) Plus, when you work in the courthouse, aka fishbowl, you never leave, so mom still had her same connections. Heck she worked with them! :) LOL.
Mom was single and worked very hard. Thanks to friends and my grandparents, we always had presents under the tree. But mom was gone all day long and seeing wrapped presents under the tree for two kids about 8 and 10 were just a bit more pressure than we could endure. Plus we knew what we'd asked for and we had shows to put on. LOL! So, one day when she was at work, we carefully unwrapped our beautiful new bright, sparkling, white roller skates. THEY WERE AWESOME! Oh and did we wrap them right back up? Oh heck no. WE SKATED IN THEM! We skated in them every single day for two weeks! :) HAHAHAHAHAHAH! We truly believed that mom had no idea this was going down. So Christmas morning FINALLY came and we FINALLY got to open our awesome new skates. Well they were now dirty and used, and not so white. The wrapping was awful because we'd opened them for days. Stephanie and I trying to act surprised had to be hilarious to watch. We didn't get in too much trouble that I remember but dirty skates are probably not what you really want to open on Christmas so we never did that again. :) I will never forget it though so totally worth it. LOL!
We skated every single day on our back patio, down the street, our dog Shasta would pull us. They were the best gift ever! And, we were professionals. LOL. We put on shows for ourselves and the neighbors. We were super stars.
The next best gift I remember was my own phone. Also white, and the cool round ones that looked like a big O. Not only did I get my own phone, but my own NUMBER. The kids had a line and our folks had a line. We were hot chit. LOL. I was grounded from that quite often. LOL. Kids today and these cell phones. Jeeesh.
On Christmas morning directly after we opened our gifts at home, we went to grandma and grandpa Kelly's. If we weren't there fast enough, grandpa would be calling. "Merry Christmas! Where are you?" Same with Thanksgiving. "Are you watching the parade? Get over here!" I watch the parade every single year and think about my grandpa. In bad weather, "It's getting ready to storm are you safe?" As I'm backing out of the driveway, he'd walk me all the way into the road having checked my oil for the 400th time." LOL. "You be careful and you come back!" You know I will Papa. :) Gosh I miss my grandpa. :(
You'd walk in the door to the smell of bacon EVERY SINGLE DAY. It was the best house ever to exist on the earth. We'd eat breakfast, open gifts and then grandpa would pass out envelopes. He wore the same overalls every single day or his yellow and green John Deere shirts but he'd give anyone else the shirt off his back. Actually buy them a new shirt. He gave all of us $50 and this was when $50 was hard to come by. They were precious. Everyone would be dressed and pressed and all the little ones in their Christmas outfits. So darling. Such a fun time for the tinies. We'd get Mary Kay lip gloss from my Aunt and Uncle and darn you Mary Kay for stopping making that. The was the best lip gloss EVER! After the Kelly's, the parade of homes began.
Since my folks were divorced, and my grandparents on my dad's side were divorced, we had to go to 40 different Christmas's. It was fun but exhausting. As a parent now, I don't know how my folks did it all. It's nuts. When my kids get married I'm gonna hate it, but I'm going to allow them to go and enjoy the other parents for a whole weekend or a whole day, not go to one, go to the next, go to the next. It's miserable that way and you need to enjoy every single minute of it because it goes by so fast. Of course they will have to be here Christmas day. LOL. And Thanksgiving day. And Easter day but I'll be giving. Hahahahahaha! Only joking Quincy and Emma. Kind of. ;)
Even though I wasn't as close to my grandpa Baker, Christmas at his house was SO MUCH FUN. It was the wild Christmas. That one and the one at grandma Jean's. There was alcohol so, need we say more? Let me just clarify something right here. We occasionally drink but we don't drink all the time. It seems like all my stories involve liquor, and most of the funny ones do but alcohol is a real bone of contention with me because someone told me I couldn't do it once. I will tell that story later. We actually rarely drink but at a social event or a celebration, we will have a couple of drinks. If you do not approve, I'm sorry. We are not alcoholics. If we were, we would be in AA and stop it. We drink in moderation, except the Cowboy on Halloween. Bahahahahahahah!
Grandpa Baker's house was this cool old two story house in Webb City. It smelled great because he smoked a pipe and I LOVE the smell of a pipe. Maybe I'll get one of those for Cowboy for the next Halloween party, hahahahahaha! 5 o'clock was drink time at grandpa's and not just on holidays. They a martini, every single day at 5 o'clock and if you were there and underage, you got a Shirley Temple. And they were fabulous! I loved bellying up to grandpa's bar and watching him make me a Shirley Temple. Always with extra cherries of course. He had this cukoo clock, coo coo ? I have no idea how to spell that. A clock with a bird in it. LOL. It would shoot out of there and scare the crap out of you every single hour but it was awesome. I hope Aunt Karen has that clock. I loved it.
On Christmas we had the infamous "kids table" which I hated but we always had a blast with my cousins. Then they'd tell their adult stories and we'd be stuck in the basement sucking our Shirley Temples crawling up the stairs to listen to Uncle Steve when grandma would pass around the rutabaga that everyone hated. LOL. BUT IT WAS TRADITION! :) One year, she wrapped one and gave it to him for Christmas. He opened it and yelled at the top of his voice, "IT'S A F#@%ING RUTABAGA!"HAHAHAHAHAHAH! It was hilarious. She was rolling. My step grandmother's name was Patricia also. We called her Pat. She was a funny but stern woman. She trained dogs and trained them in German. Ok, she was a little scary. You didn't screw with Pat. Well...that's another story. LOL.
After we'd open presents they would read the dirty 12 days of Christmas and then we had to go upstairs. Well of course we would sneak back down and listen. Grandpa would literally cry like a baby laughing and had heard Uncle Steve read the same poem, year after year. It really is hilarious. I have got to get a copy of that thing.
Then we'd head to my step grandma's in Joplin/Carthage. Grandma Jean's. Also drinking and my Aunt Lin who I cannot believe is not really my blood relative because we are so much a like. She is so funny, loves animals, especially dogs and is a shopping machine, just like me. One of the most fun people on the entire planet with the coolest taste in all things. You rock Lin. And all of her kids were there and the boys were older than us and not "actually" related so we would rather enjoy gawking at them all Christmas long. LOL. They were kind of, in the words of cousin Frank with regard to Angelina Jolie, "freak nasty hot". LOL. And so much fun. Todd had us rolling all the time. He was so funny and just cool. I miss Todd. I miss all of them. I miss the smell of grandpa's basement and his laugh. I miss the rutabaga. I miss all the food at grandma Jeans. I miss her dog Schnapps that I wasn't smart enough to know was named after liquor until I was much much older. LOL.
People grow old and die, some die young and your lives have to just keep going. It really sucks that time doesn't stop and give you a chance to catch your breath. To mourn your loss and recover. You lose your dad and people are shopping at Walmart. That just pisses me off! Life goes on.
Your traditions change around them being gone and although you miss them so much, you have to keep on keeping on. You start new traditions for and with your own children and just do the best you can. I know I will see them all again one day and praise God for that!
We are so blessed to have so many Christmas miracles this year. Doug is doing well. Add is a miracle. John is alive. Jennifer is better. We all have aches and pains and look 100 when we get up in the mornings but we keep getting up to this wonderful thing called life. I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas. And in the words of Ellen, "be kind to one another." Let's make 2017 the best year ever. The year of forgiveness, kindness, sharing and love. It doesn't matter if you are black, white, red, yellow or green. It doesn't matter if you are gay or straight, drink or don't, we are to love each other, one and all. Love your neighbors people. Love them! Just do it!!! And...Merry Christmas! :)
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
The party's over.
Growing up, after mom and Dick got married, we lived in this big beautiful house out on Whitten Road. My parents left town often and we'd usually be left to stay with our other parent or a friend, or the grandmas would be in charge. I was never supposed to be "on the premises" until the folks returned and certainly not "in the house." Unless of course someone was staying there with us. How on earth I always managed to find a way in is beyond me, but I did. Brenda and I woke up in my bedroom one night, locked in the house and had no idea how we got there. Let's just say that when I was in high school, my guardian angel worked over time.
This particular weekend my friends and I decided to have a party. Well word spread fast and a little get together ended up being the entire Carthage High School with some Joplin folks and problem some other towns too. :( People were parked all the way to the golf course which was more than a mile, I believe. It was awesome. :) LOL.
All sorts of love connections were made that night. In fact, Chad and Brenda Reed met that night. I made her go out with him by the way, and they've been married ever since. Your'e welcome. Or, I'm sorry. :) LOL. Some guy gave me his ring to wear and we were all just having a hooting good time. Well after I managed to get everyone, including my siblings, out of the house and back to our respective weekend homes, Michelle and I had to sneak back out and get back out to my house to clean up the mess. Our plan was to walk. In the rain. And she lived about 10 miles from my house. WE WERE 15!!! :(
So we began our escape. Her sister was ALWAYS ruining our fun. She'd tell on us for everything and we were horrible to her in return. We loathed her. Sorry about that MP. LOL. I once did a little "Wooooo" you don't scare me thing to her and she pushed me off a flight of bleachers so she really wasn't one to be messing with. LOL. Turns out that she was really pretty fun and if we'd just pooled our resources, we could have had twice the fun. Hahahahahaha!
We somehow got Mary Pat distracted, probably by making a tape of ourselves laughing and talking which we did often. We'd record a tape of all of us having a great time for about four hours and then we'd start the recording, and leave. We had four hours. :) Children...DO NOT DO THE THINGS THAT MOMMA TRISH DID. They are so bad. LOL.
We decided the only escape was out Michelle's bedroom window, which is upstairs, off the roof, sliding down a tree. Well it was cold and pouring. About the time we both crawl out the window, we see this Nova driving by really slow. An older guy friend of ours was just out driving around and happens to see some stuff going down on the roof so he just pulls in to watch. Coincidence? I think not!! I'm saying it was divine intervention. Hahahahahah! So we jump off the roof into this big ole cedar tree and guess what rain does to cedar??? Makes it nice and slick. We looked like we were sliding down a fire pole with sticks poking out of it. Man did that hurt. And of course I lost that guys diamond ring. :( But of course I didn't realize it yet because we were making our great escape and a mad dash to the Nova. LOL!
We baled into this guy's car all wet and gross and he was just dying laughing and drove us out to the house to clean up our mess. We apparently did a lousy job because I told you my mom came in, stuck to the floor and the rest was history. I was grounded, again, forever.
I'll have you know that over that guy giving us a ride to my house, his nutty girlfriend came into my room at cheerleading camp and rubbed pizza all over my face and hair and entire body. I'd just gotten out of the shower too and my wussy friends just sat there and let it happen. If this would have been happening to one of them, I'd have opened a can of whoop ass. But ohhh no, they just sat there, the cowards, watching this nut job rub pizza all over me. In my hair!!!! Over a car ride! Jealous much??? I'd like to see someone try that now with my mad farm skills. I will end you. LOL.
We went back to the tree later and found the ring. Another miracle. I gave it back to the poor sap a couple of days later, probably through a friend because I was still grounded LOL.
My dad used to come and get me at parties in his gigantic station wagon. It was mortifying. He'd be singing "The party's over". It was bad. And guys were terrified of my dad. Much like a certain cowboy I know. LOL. He once took me to a dance in that awful thing with a dog house hanging out of the back. I swear he was laughing so hard, tears were rolling down his cheeks. I didn't pull nearly as much over on my parents as I thought I did but boy I thought I was smart.
My bedroom was also upstairs growing up. And I had a balcony with a DOOR and a tree with a LADDER on it. It was the fire escape. Wrong O. It was the Trish escape. Most of the time, I didn't need the ladder, I just walked out the front door.
Oh my gosh Michelle could shimmy that ladder like no other. Heck she didn't even need a ladder. She could climb that tree like a monkey and it didn't have a solitary limb on the way down. It was so impressive. We came sneaking up to the tree one night to sneak back in, and shocking I know, but we'd been drinking. I could see the glowing hot red cherry of my mother's cigarette burning in the night. Man we were soooooo busted. So we just walked up the porch and took what we had coming to us. I'd probably have not been in so much trouble but I tried to pet her shoes laying next to her, thinking they were the neighbor's puppy. :( I also washed my eye makeup off with nail polish remover. TWICE. I just busted myself over and over. Not a good drinker, this one. Also not an expensive date. LOL.
We were really ornery with the drinking and the sneaking out but we weren't doing drugs and we weren't thieves. Well, except of the cars. And the road signs. Omg one night we'd been taking signs and Bill Barksdale, a local police officer, knew it. We got up to the square and we literally have a Bus Stop sign hanging out of the window. Here comes Barksdale. Michelle says "I've been looking all over for you!!! " He said "I heard you had!" She said "We found all these signs and we've been trying to give them to you." He said "I knew you were!" :) He took them and that was that. No cuffs, no punishment, the good ole days. When police were your buddies and people weren't trying to kill them. :(
We were pretty harmless really. Most of the time we snuck out just to be together and we were usually just us girls. There were four of us "the four" that were together ALL THE TIME and four guys, and we were like the sitcom Friends. We were just friends. There were more that hung out with us too but those particular 8 were together all the time. We all had to ruin it and try to date from time to time but from grade school until college, we were all just really good friends. I crack up to this day when I see any of them. They were the Moon Dogs and we were their little sisters. LOL. Good times.
To this day I wonder if my children were switched at birth. My kids are SOOOO GOOD. I know they aren't perfect but they are pretty darn good girls. I just got Emma's grades and she had like six A's and one B. In college! I think I had to declare academic bankruptcy my freshman year in college. Quincy all A's and B's as well. She will graduate in May with honors, having played ball the entire time. Emma is rodeoing and taking care of three horses! I didn't have diddly squat to take care of and barely found the time to go to class.
I AM SOOO THANKFUL to have found the husband I have and to have made this amazing team we have made together to help our girls become the successful young woman they have become and somehow by the grace of God NOT END UP LIKE ME. :) I have people asking me for parenting advice all the time, which I find hilarious BTW, but I can tell you exactly what it is. It's the four F's. Faith, Family, Friends and Fun. Without those things, you cannot do it. You have to always put God first. We go to church, we pray, we make sure they understand that God is always there for them and that so are we. Always, no matter how bad they screw up, we are here for them. And so is their heavenly father.
Family goes without saying. We are so blessed to have a close, extended family, not to mention our softball and rodeo families. My goodness the list goes on and on.
Fun. Sports saved my kids. They didn't have time to get into trouble. And with sports come friends. Kevin told them a long time ago that if they would work at their sport, they would never have to get a job in high school. That would be their job. We would pay for everything. If they wanted to quit, that was fine but they would go get a job somewhere else. They rarely had to be told to practice and kept that deal they made with their daddy, both earning college scholarships in their sports. They are pitching and riding, as I sit here and write.
I have no idea why I was so ornery. I truly believe staying married is huge. I'm not saying you can't have stellar kids and be divorced. It's certainly possible. I'm just saying that NO ONE loves YOUR kids they way YOU AND THEIR OTHER PARENT DO. No one! So when they do something awesome, you are both there to celebrate it together, with them and it's doubly awesome. Gosh their first steps and first words and first homer and first time they caught a calf. NOBODY is more proud than the two of you. Same way with discipline and sadness. You back each other up. There is no I in TEAM. You are a team and your kids see that, and they thrive on it. The world is so different now. People give up on each other way too easy. Our marriage has not always been a cakewalk. But when you see what you've done with all your hard work, 24 years later. Gosh what a joy. :)
I wouldn't change any of the wild things I did in my life because I wouldn't be the person I am or have the man and two daughters that I have without that long crazy haul. I'm not proud of a lot of it. But it got me here. And I'll take it. The good with the bad. And it's all good now. :)
My Peeps
I am part of kind of a strange phenomenon. Apparently, it doesn't normally exist. I guess after high school, people aren't usually still friends. Heck anymore I don't know if friends in high school really exist. I know my children had about one good friend each and I thought that was pathetic. Of course they are in every sport known to man and had their "teams" but it was just not the same as how I knew "friends" should be. I blame cell phones. And boys. LOL.
Well I have the same best friends that I've had since not only high school, but some of them, grade school. Some of them are my partners in crime when I stole the cars. LOL. I thought it was a small town thing but I guess that's not even it. I guess we just have some little special, rare, gift from God. It's the craziest thing. We can go months and not talk and literally just pick up where we left off.
We get together once a year and go on a trip. We stayed in Carthage this year because it was our class reunion, although we stayed in a beautiful home (thank you Jack and Mareese), and we had a blast, it's better to go away, because we are trapped together. In Carthage, us Carthage chickys would just take off and leave. I got really sick this year too, so I was thankful I was so close to home. Plus, I was the only one who wanted to bring my husband to the class reunion. LOL. He's super fun and I was taking him no matter what. Plus he's smoking hot and I love to show off my goods. :) But it's too convenient to just "go home" when we are in town and that's not the point of the gathering. We must endure each other for four days, without end, no matter what. We are all always ready to get there and we are all always ready to leave. LOL. Well two of us. Hahahahahaha!
Me, Michelle, Kelly, Shelly, Lara, Gina, Sarah, Misty, get together every year pretty much without fail. Not all of us can always go, but most of us always show. It's cool. We are blessed and we know it. Lately we've started this group texting. I love my friends but please shoot me. I hate group texts but they are very beneficial so I'm trying not to "unfollow" the group. LOL. All groups. All group messages on FB suck the life out of me. If you love me, don't add me. ;)
We have our yearly ritual where we dress up in these hilarious dresses we bought in Florida, put stuff on our heads and well, the rest is super secret so I can't tell you anymore about that or I'd have to kill you. Not really. We are basically the Ya Yas but old and drinking. :) This year I wore my just indian head dress so you get the idea. It's a blast. We share our thoughts, problems, dreams, and pump each other up for the next year. It is awesome. I'd post pictures but Gina is a fun hater and won't let me. LOL.
We have been through all of life's most difficult times together. From divorce to losing parents, to now sickness. It's hard to grow up. I will not rat out my friends on my blog, and I will only partially rat out myself. I'm getting pretty deep but I'm not stupid. LOL. The best thing about our get togethers is that we have managed to not get into too much trouble. We keep it just us, don't allow men, don't allow other women, and basically cook, drink, eat, dance, laugh and cry. And of course shop. LOL.
I want to tell you all how much I love each one of you and our strange friendship. I love you each individually and as our whole.
Shelly. I love Shelly's laugh. I love her sense of never wanting to grow old and how hard she works at trying. I love that she still says whatever she wants and doesn't give two farts in the wind who is listening. I love that she still calls me T Meister. Hahahahahaha. And TT. I love that she still occasionally calls me at all. I love that she continues to invite me to what used to be our annual Thanksgiving drunken brawl but knows I can't come anymore. I love her parents like they are my own and her daughters too. I love Shelly.
Kelly. I love Kelly because she is so strong and independent and is in charge of everything. I hate Kelly because she WON'T QUIT WORKING. I want to play with her and go to lunch and shop and she just works, works, works. She's a total workaholic, and she knows it. I love Kelly because she has become everything she's ever wanted to be and has earned every single bit of it all on her own. I love her family and Scott and the fact that they have stuck it out through thick and thin and remained victorious. I love Kelly.
Michelle. I love Davis because she still drunk dials me. She also calls me sober and we have these long in depth conversations that started in high school. Michelle and I have done some of THE FUNNIEST things that any two human beings on the planet have ever done together. The night we climbed out of her bedroom window, (which was upstairs BTW) to sneak out to clean up the party I'd had the night before, still remains the number one funniest story of my entire high school memories. I will share it later. LOL. Michelle is strong and smart and funny and "likes big Cox and I don't know why." I love Michelle.
Gina. I love Gina because she loves Jesus and republicans and is not afraid to tell the world about both. LOL. Gina is beautiful and funny and loving and our little chef. She's comfortable and fancy all in one. I can tell her anything and she can keep a secret. In fact she's the first one that knew we owned an....well, I'm not sharing that yet. LOL. I love Gina.
Misty. I love Misty because she is the most positive person I've ever met in my life. She can be living in the pits of hell and still smile and hug you and cheer for you and tell you to have a beautiful, sun shiny day. She is gorgeous and vibrant and full of peace, energy and love. She is the best mom and cheerleader and I love Misty.
Sarah. I love Sarah because she is so loyal. She is a good mom and a good person and has endured the loss of both parents and a divorce and still forges on. She is beautiful and giving and loving and has been my longest friend. Speedy and I have been friends since Kindergarten and we can both still sing our song that we wrote on our Patrol Posts in the 6th grade on demand! "On Valentines Day 1980." Ask us, we will sing it for you. I love Sarah.
Lara. I love Lara because she is the epitome of a good time. Lara laughs and laughs and laughs and laughs. Lara loves our get togethers more than any of us put together and has to travel the farthest and struggle the most to make it happen and wouldn't miss it for the world. Lara is kind and beautiful and the BEST MOMMA. I love Lara.
Brenda. Brenda never comes anymore but I love Brenda. Brenda is the BEST WIFE ON THE PLANET. I'm number two. HAHAHAHAHAHA! She really is. She's loyal and kind and loving and wonderful. Brenda loves Jesus and is helping to spread the good news and I love her for it. I love Brenda.
The thing that all of these woman have in common and why I think we find ourselves back together, year after year, is that they are just so strong. The things they have each endured in their lives could be books on their own. I know that none of us are perfect and I know that we occasionally get on each other's very last nerve, but thank you for your strength, and your courage, and for always being there for me and each other and most of all, for not voting me off the island. LOL! Even when I'm screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night because there is a hand in my bed. Even when the hand is my own. Hahahahahaha! That is another story and I will share it I promise.
I have about 30 or more other friends that I consider "BEST FRIENDS". I'm not even kidding. I bet I have 30 people that I could call right now and they would come and get me in a heartbeat. Friendships are the BEST GIFT YOU CAN GIVE YOURSELF AND OTHERS. And you don't have to have just one best friend people. They are like potato chips, LOL. You can have hundreds if you want to. There is no quotas on friendships people. Now go make some. Just not with me, I have to many friends already. Bahahahahahaha! Just kidding. ;)
Monday, December 19, 2016
Losing my dad.
Dick was gone and my dad was getting worse. He was no longer telling me he thought he could beat it. He describe the chemo treatments as "getting gasoline pumped into your body." It was hell on earth. I hated it for him. We'd go as often as we could, as often as I thought he wanted us to to visit. He didn't want us just watching him and I respected that. The day I knew he was really dying, I was sitting on the couch with him. I kept telling my stupid jokes and saying funny things trying to make him laugh, keeping things light, doing what I do. I remember my grandma Berta kind of shooting me a dirty look and dad still trying to laugh. He always laughed but this particular day, all of a sudden he just kind of fell over onto me and rested his head on my head. He stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, My heart broke wide open. :( I knew he was giving up. He'd fought a long hard battle and he just didn't have the strength to do it anymore. I didn't blame him one bit. :(
My grandpa died, my step dad died and six short months later, my daddy died. We were all with him in his room and watched him breathe his last breath. We all got to tell him how much we loved him. We told him he could let go and that we would be fine. I swear it was almost instantaneous when we told him that. We'd been there all day long and had finally called hospice. His breathing was labored and we wanted him comfortable. We were trying to give him ice chips and morphine and I swear he stayed alive until every last one of us was there. He was kind of incoherent until a new voice would come into the room and we knew, he knew, we were all there. I remember sitting there with my brother and sister and Cookie Ma and telling him, "Dad, we will be fine." Every single person that he wanted to see one last time had arrived and he just breathed his last breath, and he was gone. It wasn't peaceful like I'd hoped. It wasn't scary but just, not peaceful. I will never get that look on his face out of my head. He was still fighting but just kind of...died. It was awful.
I remember being FURIOUS with God for making him suffer so much, but looking back, my dad worked until Tuesday and died Thursday. He had a tumor the size of a grapefruit coming out the side of his leg and was at work until TUESDAY! That is tough. He was in hell but he just kept on keeping on. People today will stay home for work with a headache. My dad had a grapefruit hanging out of his leg and didn't miss work. He'd go to chemo, and back to work. He was probably the best employee Flex O Laters has ever had.
His death was agonizing for him but kind of closure for us. He was so sick and stayed alive for years! We got to tell him everything we wanted and more while he fought this awful battle. I feel so selfish for wanting him to stay. :( Cancer is the most evil of illnesses. It sneaks in and steals your life away if you let it. Dad knew something was wrong for A YEAR before he went to a doctor. He was that kind of a guy. I'm not sick, I'll be fine. PEOPLE DON'T BE STUPID!!! IF YOU ARE PASSING BLOOD FOR A YEAR, GO TO THE DOCTOR. IF YOU ARE PASSING BLOOD FOR A WEEK, GO TO THE DOCTOR!!!! ARGH! :(
As I struggled with his death I began to search my Bible for answers. I'm kind of a weirdo and do this sometimes. I will just open my Bible to a random page and see if God will give me answers that way. He does. "WHY DID YOU MAKE HIM SUFFER SO???? WHY DIDN'T YOU TAKE HIM SOONER! HOW COULD YOU BE SO MEAN???!!!" As I skimmed the pages, it was as if it was highlighted for me...."Your daddy wasn't ready to go until that very second. And I took him the very second, that he was ready to be with me." I sat in complete and utter silence. In awe. In reverence. I can't remember the exact passage but that's what it said. My heavenly father gave my earthly father the time he needed to have eternal life. What a gift! It was tough, but worth every single awful treatment to get to spend eternity in heaven and I have absolutely no doubt that that is exactly where my daddy is right now. I hope he is laughing. I hope he is playing that stupid harmonica. I hope his bird dogs are there. And I hope he can clean a deer and a fish without gagging. Hahahahahaha!
My step mom was a rock. She never left his side. Never once. I hope I never have to go through that hell with anyone again but if I do, I hope I can be half the woman she was.
As we all waited for Neil to come and get dad, we noticed out the window, our weirdo neighbors were looking at the house WITH BINOCULARS! BINOCULARS!! Dad died, Neil came and took his body and the lights of the Suburban were not even out of our line of sight and the neighbors came bouncing over with a piping hot tater tot casserole. I AM NOT KIDDING. :( We literally all just stood there with our mouths open. Are you serious right now? We can still see our father in the back of that Suburban and you think we are hungry?? They just stood there smiling with their outstretched arms full of casserole. UNBELIEVABLE!!! We took it and put in on the counter and never touched it....EVER! I cannot stand the sight of a tater tot casserole to this day. I swore I'd write a book of funeral etiquette someday because I'd been to so damn many of them and rule number one would be...give us at least 4 hours with no food. We are not hungry. Thank you. :( Rule 2. Bring liquor. :)
When Dick died we got so many flowers, that I kind of started to loathe funeral flowers. Especially peace lilies. Gross! Those things just give me the willies. I remember walking back in the house after Dick's funeral and into all those flowers. Mom said "God it looks like somebody died in here." Hahahahahah! Sick but really funny.
The best thing to come out of my dad's awful death, was my new found relationship with Sandy, a/k/a...Cookie Ma. We'd never been close. We weren't enemies or anything, we just weren't how I would describe as close. When dad died she said, "Since your dad died, I have realized that the most important thing in life, is your family." Well technically, legally, we were no longer family. I truly thought I'd never see her again.
Not a week goes by that we do not text, talk or get together. She has become one of the most important people in our lives and that has to be a God thing. She eventually remarried and we love him to pieces. It's just bizarre trying to explain this relationship to people. Well, it's my step mom's husband. "So, your dad?" Well, no. :( LOL. Wes has a car lot and set up a deal for Kevin and I to buy a truck once. We got over to the Dodge dealership and the guy looks at Kevin and says so Wes is your father in law? Kevin looks at me and says well? I said, ummm, okay. LOL. I'll gladly take him. They have traveled the country to watch my girls play ball, rodeo and don't miss a holiday. They are so close to little Jackson, my nephew, well you'd just never know we weren't blood relatives. It's amazing. It's love. It's God. And I know my dad would be pleased with the man she chose.
Christmas is always hard but we haven't stopped any of our traditions. We have just added some new ones and some wonderful men in our lives to fill the voids that we lost. We are blessed. Some people really fight it when their parents remarry. I'll never understand that. I want my moms to be happy and certainly never to be lonely. Life is so short. I know I keep saying this but it is true! You blink and you are 48, your kids are 21 and thinking about kids of their own. It's fast!
Love your kids. Love your parents. Cherish every single minute with them and TAKE THEM TO CHURCH. Introduce them to Jesus Christ and teach them to have an intimate relationship with their heavenly father so that someday, you will get to spend eternity with all of them. :) Forever and ever. Amen.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Papa Dick
Again I would like to remind everyone, these are my memories. You may remember things differently, which is absolutely fine. This is my life, the way I remember it.
When mom finally agreed to go out on a date with Dick, I think he'd already asked her twice and said this was the third and final time he was going to try. She was playing tennis across the street from his house, I guess just taunting the poor guy. LOL. He asked her again and praise the Lord she said yes. My sister was in preschool with his youngest son, my now step-brother, Scott. Steph called him Cotti Manifiel. LOL. When Dick came to pick mom up for the first date, he had on these fancy black and white shiny shoes. Stephanie said "Does Cotti Manifiel's dad march in a band?" Hahahahaha! He did not. Turns out he was just fancy that way. Always wearing the best. Always had the best.
Dick worked his way through college, went through a nasty divorce, got custody of his two sons, and was President of Broadview Lumber Company before he was thirty years old. He liked everything nice and perfect all of the time. I loved the perfectionist in him. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist myself I but I learned a long time ago with a farm, and children, if you let it, that will make you straight up crazy. Sometimes, you just can't sweat the small stuff. Now I still keep my house clean. Not sweating the small stuff is one thing but nobody needs to live like pigs. I hate that nonsense. Besides, I have ADHD and can't set still so cleaning just happens. I'm Monica from Friends. Move my crap around and see what happens. My mean children used to play and game and do that to me. They would show their father what they were doing too, rearrange my knick knacks around the house and wait for me to come home and have bets to see how long it took me to put it all back. I literally walked in the door and began redecorating instantaneously. I didn't know this was happening for quite sometime but you can bet your bottom dollar I put an end to that chit in a big fat hurry when I finally found out. LOL.
Dick loved his yard perfectly manicured. I mean perfect. The yard on Grand Avenue was a bit of a legend. Certainly something to be proud of. When I was in high school, my friends would come over and hang out when it was time to watch Dickster hang the Christmas lights. He was the Clark Griswold of lights. He made up new cuss words. First time in the history of EVER were Christmas lights referred to as Mother Fu______ Whores. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! We would just sit by the windows crying with laughter, learning our new words for the year. He also used colorful descriptions while tutoring my poor brother in math. Gosh those were the good old days.
He was really funny too and terribly clumsy. He fell through the attic into the garage. Wiped out on his bicycle after a Ducks Unlimited meeting and broke some ribs. Had an extension ladder shut while he was on the top and he rode that sucker all the way to the ground. It was awful but so funny to watch. He almost cut his leg off with a chain saw. He'd shoot squirrels on a daily basis because they would eat our shake shingles and get in the attic. Hahahahaha! I met one in there face to face one day and talk about pee your pants. It'll get ya.
One Christmas mom wanted some greenery. Real stuff that smelled good. We always cut real Christmas trees too. He decided to get this tree with two trunks. Let me repeat that. The tree had two trunks. He truly believed he could just cut it off and fix it all up. He was out front with a little hand saw and he'd saw a little here and a little there and this went on for about a half an hour. He'd saw and try and put it in the stand. Saw a little more. About that time we hear the chain saw fire up. That poor tree was in about a thousand pieces. We were all hiding inside as the door flings open and he starts chucking pieces of tree in at mom yelling "YOU WANTED GREENERY, WELL YOU'VE GOT GREENERY." HAHAHAHAHAHA!
When he was building his new house, every room had an intercom. Well the genius sheet rock guys had covered the hole for the intercom in the master bedroom. So Dick says he's going to go in the next room and just tap on the wall and have mom tell him where it sounds hollow. :| So there he goes, "tap, tap, tap." Poor mom. "Is that it?" Well maybe? He takes a hammer and claws a little piece out of the wall. Not it. :( Again, tap, tap, tap. Is that it? Um,..... ok. Tears a hole. Nope. After about 4 tap, tap, tap attempts, "WELL SON OF A B____" and he took the claw of that hammer and tore that whole wall down. My little brother and his friend were both hanging onto mom's legs for dear life. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Omg it was funny.
He was always dressed and pressed, just like Kevin except a preppy, not a cowboy. He was sitting at the dinner table one night and bent his arm to get something and the whole sleeve just ripped open from all the starching. He then performed a Hulk number for our entertainment. It was great. He had a big deep laugh that was just contagious and we all loved it when he was laughing. He also had the worse temper, next to Kevin, of any man I've ever known. In all my years, I only mouthed off to him one time. We had a huge spiral staircase and I smarted off and I shot up those stairs and he was right behind me. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck and I guarantee I didn't hit but about two steps out of 30. He caught me in my room and said "Young lady you are grounded for two weeks and I will enforce it." He did. I didn't leave my room for two weeks.
I was grounded often so I was pretty used to the surroundings. LOL. I had a GIGANTIC party one time and I mean a big one. All of my siblings attended the grand event but when it came time for the punishment, it was Trish's party. Jerks. Mom and Dick got home from a trip and walked in and stuck to the floor. LOL. I really thought I did a much better job cleaning than that. LOL. She called the next door neighbor and said "Did we have a party this weekend?" Whinny said "Boy did you." Darn neighbors. I was getting my speech and my punishment. Dick said I hope it was worth it. I said it was and got a couple more weeks tacked on to my sentence. Everyone hated school but I loved it. Heck it was the only time I wasn't grounded. It was basically my weekly social event. Hahahahahaha!
As I grew older my relationship with Dick got better. I really respected him and he had great advice for anyone who would ask. He would never just give his opinion, unless you asked. He, again like Kevin, always thought before he spoke. THIS is a trait I have not mastered. LOL.
When they built their house on Grand Avenue, Maple Leaf and Halloween instantly become Dick and I's most favorite days of the year. He loved to entertain and so did I. Everyone would come to Maple Leaf and drink Bloody Mary's all day and eat chili. It was great fun. He just laughed and laughed all morning long. On Halloween I would dress myself and my girls in extravagant costumes, usually from Disney, which costed a fortune and he knew and it totally believed it was worth every penny. He would get such joy out of those costumes and the work I would go to to make their special holidays even more special. My dad loved Halloween too and getting to see my gals. Those were great times. Kevin would always go with us but never dress up. I've only gotten him to dress up with me in the last four years and honestly, he has more fun than I do. I said "See what you've been missing?" LOL. He admits that I was actually right for once. LOL.
When we lived in Sarcoxie, we were having a cookout one time and Dick decided he wanted to ride a horse. He climbs on Kevin's horse Skip. Skip had no stop. OMG. This horse shot off like a rocket and poor Dick was hanging on for dear life and I mean this horse just kept lapping circles around the house with Kevin chasing him. We were all totally freaked out but dying laughing at the same time. He managed to get off somehow, unscathed and I will never forget that scene going down as long as I live. Funny, funny stuff. :)
The country went into a recession and Dick lost his business. He started a new venture and bought a bonding company. He was gone all hours of the night and I swear the stress level was intense. He seemed to love it but he'd have to leave in the middle of a rodeo, or Thanksgiving. He hated that part and so did we. He'd still go on his annual hunting trips but be exhausted because he'd come home and right back to the terrible out all night long hours that those poor guys endure. I think looking back now, it was taking more of a toll that we knew.
My dad was diagnosed with cancer in about 2003. I don't remember the exact year. He had colon cancer but dad was the toughest guy I'd ever known and I knew he'd beat it. He convinced me that he would beat it and so I believed him. I believed everything my dad ever told me. He never lied to me. He'd survive it.
In 2006, I think, I get this phone call in the middle of the night from mom. She was screaming, "He's turning blue, he's turning blue! Help me!" I jumped in my car and headed home and the police were in the front yard. They said "They've gone to the hospital." I head to the hospital and I walk in and the first thing I see is my step father, laying on a table and NOBODY DOING ANYTHING FOR HIM!!! I remember screaming "Why isn't anybody working on him!!!" I guess I scared people because they kind of tried to like touch him and pretend to do stuff to appease me but someone said "Trish he's gone." WHAT????? WHAT?????? What do you mean he's gone???? I assumed he was having a heart attack or something and I'd get to the hospital and they'd be working on him and everything would be fine. Never in a million years did I expect to walk into the hospital and find him just gone. Gone. We never got to tell him goodbye. Never got to tell him how much we loved him. Never got to thank him for all of the wonderful things he had done for us. He bought me my first car. Paid for my college. Took care of all of us for years and years and years. Do not misunderstand. He knew we loved him. We'd thanked him 100 times over for all he'd done for us. But we were robbed of our final goodbyes. ROBBED. And we were furious about it.
Kevin had stayed with the girls so he finally got there. The girls have some weird memories here of how they learned of his death, that I won't discuss here but probably should at some point with a therapist. LOL.
Little towns are so famous for word spreading like wildfire and man it did. But it was a good thing. We were so lost. We were all just...lost. Angry, sad, devastatingly sad, and lost. Bill Putnam was the first person at the house. People from Grace just came in droves but Bill didn't let us answer the door, answer a phone call, I mean we didn't pick up a newspaper. He is the very reason I attend Grace Episcopal Church to this day. (My church is a whole other chapter and I will get into that later.) Those people were at our beck and call and just literally ran our household as we all just walked around like zombies for a week solid.
Dick jogged three miles a day. THREE MILES A DAY! His heart exploded in his chest. The doctor said had he been in the hospital, they could not have saved him. :( When it's your time, it's your time. My grandfather had been gone for two years. (Also another story I will tell you later.) My dad was dying of cancer and my step dad, who was the epitome of health just died in his sleep. It was the greatest way to go. I doubt he felt anything. It was wonderful for him but hell for us. In hind sight, it's selfish of us to want it any other way. But I'm a lot more selfish than I knew.
His visitation and funeral was a week later. Like 6 days later. It was a long week. Father Steve was wonderful. The visitation was brutal. The hardest part was watching my sweet dad come in the back door, he was so sick, but he came anyway. I remember hugging him and pleading with him not to leave me too. It was awful. He promised he wouldn't. And man did he try not to. :(
My ex husband showed up to the funeral because Dick had been like a father to him. He had given him such great business advice and he'd lost his father a very young age. Kevin stood behind me as Troy hugged my family and told my mother how much he'd meant to him. And then he hugged me. Kevin leaned over and said "That's the classiest guy I've ever met." :( He was.
At the cemetery, Father Steve cried. I knew I loved that man from that minute on. I'd never seen a priest or preacher for that matter, cry at a funeral. He was real and he loved Papa Dick and it made me want to be a part of that church that Dick had pleaded with me for years, to be a part of. I really let him down there. :(
We finally get back to the church and have to eat. We hadn't eaten all week. My brother Blake looks at me and said "Excuse me if I poop my pants because my body just said what the hell is this, and where is the Vodka?" Hahahahahahahaha! It was the laugh we needed to carry on. Life is so short.
So much has happened since that awful week. Some horrible things and some wonderful things. Life just keeps going even when we just want it to stop for a while. I remember sitting out in the barn in kind of a trance and this cat climbed up in my face. I hate cats. I was never in the barn. It's like this cat just knew I was in pain and needed to help me. It helped me. I have no idea how, but it really did.
Tell your parents you love them. Tell them thank you and that you appreciate them.
I still miss you Papa Dick. I hope you see how well we are all doing and how much we love the church that you loved so. :) I hope we are making you proud.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
"It's just a man on a horse baby girl. Just a man on a horse."
The first day we ever worked cattle together consisted of me, him, some dogs and his dad. We had driven to a pasture several miles from home that we rented and kept some cattle. I don't remember the details. What I remember was leaving him there. I explained in great detail some nasty things and then I just left him there. I'm not sure how I survived that encounter but I assume John had his own vehicle on the premises. He got home somehow. :) Hehehehehehe.
The next time we were at our own home, our rental and I remember looking at the beautiful irises that were growing along the fence rows. It was a gorgeous day and I was in such a good mood and BAM, the next thing I remember, I'm storming back to the house screaming "You talk to your dogs better than you talk to me!" And I didn't come back and he didn't dare ask me to. ;)
The next several times, went very similar. I don't know what it does to people but it makes you seriously nuts. It's funny, I thought we were really bad until I started witnesses other married couples do it. Ours is a cake walk compared to some. Seriously, there should be a realty tv show called "Couples Working Cattle." It's hysterical and awful all at the same time. I honestly cannot believe people stay married after the cussins they give each other. It makes you LOSE YOUR MIND, well the men anyway and then they want to come over and give your a little kiss, or pat you on the butt. I'm like ARE YOU FRIGGING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW??? I'M GOING TO STAB YOU IN THE FACE!!!
One Sunday fun day we had to go catch some wild cows. It was me, Kevin and Emma. Did I mention me? And did I say wild cows? We took three horses and two, yes two bridles into the wooliest, nastiest pasture I've ever seen in my life. As soon as we pulled in I said, "I believe this is more of a Jake, Kevin and Bill job, not Emma and Trish. :( I started out just waiting by the gate on no horse, just on foot, and somehow ended up riding Mare Mare, basically just going in a circle because I had no bridle and I am not great on a horse anyway. I believe i was crying. LOL. Emma had to trade horses because hers was like, foaming over because it was so hot. I wanted to get off so badly and just walk but those cows were so crazy you'd be risking your life if you dared step off your horse. I remember Kevin just screaming at me constantly GET IN THE HOLE! GET IN THE HOLE! My lord if I had a dollar for every HOLE I've had to stand in, I'd be a millionaire. Not to mention in this particular pasture, IT WAS ALL HOLES. The only thing we caught that day was one blind cow that couldn't see us to get away and a whole bunch of ticks. Emma slept on my shoulder the whole way home like a baby. LOL. Dumb, mean cows.
We actually have had some fun times catching cows. The annual cattle drive from our house to his folks was a hoot. Jana and I absolutely loved it. Our butts were super puckered passing Ms. Georgia's place, making sure nothing got in her yard, but other than that, it was a hoot. And one day Emma and I rode into some woods and thousands of monarch butterflies just filled the air. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It was like we were in a movie. We were just sitting there in a trance until we hear "GET IN THE HOLE! GET IN THE HOLE!" I'm gonna show him a friggin hole.
He'd yell and cuss and hollar and I'd hate him with the depth of my soul and the white hot intensity of a thousand suns, (that's from Cheers btw, best show ever) and then he'd ride up on his horse. And just look at me. OMG I hate that. Fine! I'll go. :( I will hate you, but I will go. LOL.
After my girls left for college, Cowboy has become this relaxed, different kind of man. It's so strange. It's almost sad because I think he feels like I'm all he has left so he's forced to be nice to me. Hahahahah! I'm not gonna lie, I love it. It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me in my whole life. I mean, him, my kids, those are the greatest things but this being the number one again? It does not suck. I am loving it. :)
Don't misunderstand. Not everyday is a party. Just a couple of months ago I took a beautiful picture of him on a horse while we were trying to catch a cow. It was getting dark and his silhouette in the sunset was just more than my heart could handle so of course the phone came out. Wow. What a beautiful evening I thought. And then..."You don't drive fast enough and is this the first time you've done this?" And "Hurry up and shut the gate dumb ass." And apparently I have to buy all new dishes because mine don't go in the microwave and I can never wear those particular shorts again. :( Holy cats. Ohhhhh, and one of the cows had cancer and that was also my fault because I hadn't been checking on them enough. My not checking on you apparently causes cancer so for the loved of God people, make sure I'm checking on all of you, all of the time.
Lucky for the Cowboy, I wasn't packing. Ever. LOL. And well, he had a horse to ride in on. ;)
Dogs, goats and Art the fart.
We have always had stock dogs. Kevin has always used dogs and horses to catch cattle, until recently and our poor dogs don't get to do too much anymore. In fact I'd give two really good dogs away if anyone is looking. I've got everything so broke to come to a bucket, it's just not that necessary to use a dog with my feeding program. We raised Border Collies when we first got married and then moved to Catahoulas. Catahoulas are really bred to be hog dogs. They are catch dogs where a Border Collie is a herding dog. Sometimes Border Collies will do both, which I learned in Ireland watching a Border Collie training exhibition, which was AWESOME by the way. I've also raised Jack Russells and I loved the Border Collies and Jack Russells the most. They are about the cutest puppies in the world. Well sometimes Catahoulas are mean. Like people, sometimes there are some just born mean. They will sometimes cross them up with Pitbulls or Rottweilers to be more aggressive and sometimes that's fine. Aggressive is one thing. Sometimes, they are just born mean. We owned one such dog.
Years ago before I quit my job, we raised these puppies and I also have always tried to have chickens, goats, and back then, rabbits. My girls loved rabbits. Emma had a rabbit named Snow White and one night I look out the window and Snow White is standing in the middle of the backyard. YIKES! I screamed for Kevin. Our dogs would inhale a rabbit in about 2.2 seconds. :( Emma LOVED Snow White. Kevin shot out the back door and I swear I knew he was fast but I had no idea he had the mad skills I saw him perform that night. He took off after that rabbit, I mean rabbits can move people and that big Cowboy was right behind him. It was hilarious. That little sucker dove into a brush pile and Kevin dove right in after him, head first. This is love for your little daughter right here. I heard the worst scream I'd ever heard in my life. If you've never heard a rabbit cry, it's terrifying. No wonder they get killed. I wanted to kill it just to shut it up. Scared me to death. I mean it let out this death cry and the dogs came a running. He caught her and back into her cage she went. He saved the day. I'm telling you, don't mess with that large man. He is cat like.
Well I'd come home from work one day and one particular dog we had was just awful. I mean if he was lose, he'd kill everything in his path. And maybe even hurt a person. I hated this dog. But Kevin thought he was a good cow dog so we kept him. I came home and this dog had gotten loose and I mean my back yard looked like a war zone. Nothing was alive. Nothing. There were dead cats, rabbits, chickens, just strewn about everywhere. It was a bloody massacre. :( And it'd have been one thing if he ate the rabbits and the chickens. I can understand killing something for food. But this creep just killed to kill. I was done.
So Kevin called his buddy Art Davidson. If you had the pleasure of knowing Art, well then your life was blessed. Nobody had more fun that Art. So Art came and got this awful dog because he'd been needing one for his cattle. Well I didn't know Art yet and Kevin had left town on business. Art came to the house one day and said "I have this dog to return to Kevin. He won't work the way I want him to and I'm not keeping him." I said "Ok that's fine but do you have a gun?" "Um what?" I said "Do you have a gun? Will you shoot him? I mean I'll shoot him if your want but I won't feed him. Kevin's gone and I'm not gonna feed this dog." The look on this man's face was priceless. I was serious and he knew it. "I can't shoot Kevin's dog Blondie without talking to Kevin." "Well call him if you want to but he's gonna either die quick or die slow. Your choice." That's the first time I ever met Art and the day he started calling me Blondie. LOL. He just laughed and laughed and went in and called Kevin. He walked out the door, got his gun, and he shot that mean bastard for me right there. :) We were instant friends. :)
One day Kevin calls me at my office. He sounded terrified. "I got home from work and the front door was wide open!" What??? We've been robbed!! He said "that would have been better." WHAT???? We were in our new house and it wasn't very old. I bet the girls were probably 8 and 10 maybe. Maybe 8 and 6. We had 3 goats at the time. One big nasty Billy goat and two females. They lived on the north 40 in a pen, apparently not a very good pen, but a pen. There was a man here building our barn who later said "Oh yeah I saw those goats walk by." :( PS- If three goats just walk randomly by you while you are working at my house, please tell me in the future people. :( Kevin walked in the house and he said "I saw what looked like Milk Duds all up and down the stairs." He said I thought to myself, "Man those girls are going to be in trouble when their momma gets home." And then he looked up at the top and this big Billy goat peeked around the corner at him, standing at the top of the stairs and said "BAAAAAHHHH". Kevin let out some kind of gasping OHHHHH and took off up the stairs. I'd have paid money to see this go down. It's funny now. NOT FUNNY THEN. He caught all three of them, I had no doubt, I mean I told you about his mad skills earlier. He somehow caught them and put them back in their cages all by himself. AND THEN HE LEFT! HE LEFT THE REST FOR ME! ALL OF IT! I picked the girls up from the sitters and enter the house. :(
They peed on EVERYTHING! I mean everything. :( They peed on the girls beds! On their backpacks! On their clothes. Pooped all over my house. My plants were mowed down to stubs. I just went around surveying the damage, crying, getting madder and madder. Much like their father, the girls bolted. They both saddled up their horses and just stayed outside. Kevin comes pulling in hours later and it's dark outside and the girls are still horseback. He said "Why aren't you girls inside?" We aren't going in there with her. :( Hahahahahaha! He was now panicked and so he calls Art. I mean I wouldn't even let my own children back in the house. LOL! He tells his buddy what went down and he said, "Man I need some backup. I need your help. Blondie needs to laugh. It's a bad deal." LOL. And so a few short minutes later, my phone rings. I'm still in tears. Hello?? "Oh hey. I have a friend whose needing a place to keep some goats and I understand that you run a goat motel? I hear it's really nice, has beds and everything. Do you have room for a couple of more goats there in your goat motel?" And then I hear Art just dying laughing. "Oh Blondie, It'll be ok." :) And it was. All was well with the world again with one funny phone call.
Years later Art got flipped by a big calf at his sale barn and it paralyzed him from the waist down. In almost 24 years I've only see Kevin really cry a couple of times. This was one. :( I really believed he'd walk again. He was the toughest man next to Kevin that I'd ever met. Nothing kept him down. I went to the hospital to see him while he was still in Joplin every single day. I made signs for his window and came and tried to make him laugh as much as he'd always made me laugh. He was a dandy. Art was a lot older than Kevin but seriously one of his best friends in the world. Arthur died this last year after living like that for ten years. Time got away from us and we didn't go see him like we should have and I'll always regret it. Friends like that just don't come along every day. So if you have one, cherish it. They are worth more than any job. "Nobody ever laid on their death bed and said I wish I would have worked more." Quote unknown.