Rough Week

I didn't realize how rough this last week was going to be. Last Friday was my Dad's birthday. He would have been 72 years old. This Thursday is my parent's anniversary. They would have been married 49 years. It's just kind of a one-two punch. But on the plus side, my Mom was doing pretty good when I talked to her on his birthday. She's having some work done on her feet, that's another post believe me, this week so her mind will probably not be on too much else.

Walking The Dogs

Let's go for a walk Girls!
This is Sadie.
And of course everyone knows Buffy.
Sadie thinks they're too slow.




Time to go back inside, girls!

Pictures From My Trip

My parent's home.
This is the part of the land behind my parent's house. It was filled with trees not long ago, but they sold a lot of the timber and it's been cut down.
My Dad's Work Shop.
My Parent's Home.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's birthday. I blog on here a lot about my Dad, mainly cause he's been so sick lately that it kind of stands out, but I don't want to short shift my Mom. This picture was taken two years ago when my parents were in the midst of moving from Mississippi to Tennessee. It was Thanksgiving Day. They were spending the week with me, having sold their home and not having their new home ready for them yet in Tennessee. My brother drove over and spent the day with us. It was a nice day, the first time I remember my parents not having Thanksgiving at their home.

My Mom was born in a small town outside of Tennessee. Her father was a farmer and her mother raised 3 daughters and 2 sons. My Mom's father was one of the kindest and gentlest men that ever lived. They didn't have a lot of money. My Mom would pick cotton to help bring money into the family. If you've never picked cotton it is a very hard job.

My Dad was in the Navy and transferred to Memphis when he met my Mom. Shortly after meeting they were married and not long after that I came along. My Mom had two more sons, one who died within a week of being born and my sister who has spina bifda. I remember as a child my Dad coming home one day and telling my brother and me that my Mother had been diagnosed with severe arthritis. He said it was going to make it hard for her to do certain things. I've never seen it effect my Mom.

After my parents moved to Mississippi my Mother was in a car accident. She was driving home from work when a man driving a SUV turned to talk to his grandson in the back seat. As he turned he veered into the other lane and hit my Mom head on. I forget the car she was driving, but it wasn't a big car. Later we went to see the car, it was wonder she survived the accident, the entire front end of the car was smashed in.

I can still remember that night. I got the news around nine. I drove over to my brothers and we headed towards my Mom. The town she lived in was a little town with a little hospital, so they brought her to Biolixi and the Navy base there. The Navy base was about a two hour drive for my brother and me. I can remember driving that night, my brother and I talking about my Mom, circling the worst, at that point we didn't know how bad it was or wasn't. We had been told she had an accident and was at the hospital. It was probably the longest car drive I'll ever have.

When the other vehicle hit my Mom's car it drove the engine back into the car, pushing the dashboard towards my Mom. Somehow only her left heel got caught under the now crushed dashboard. It literally shattered her heels into pieces. When I saw her in the hospital her body was completely black and blue.

One of the things I remember about all that. They wanted her to blow into a tube and try to blow a ball up the tube. This was to help her lungs and help prevent her from getting pneumonia I think. They told her to do it every two or three hours. She was blowing into that tube at least every hour.

My Mom is one of the strongest people I know. She is stronger than just about anyone I know. No matter what happens she keeps on going. She'll complain but she's going to get the job done no matter what.

I consider myself very lucky in having the two people I do as parents. So today I just want to wish my Mom a Happy Birthday.

From the Vaults

Thinking about doing this blogging thing for two years now I was looking back at some of my old posts. Lately because of what's been going on I've been talking a lot about my Dad, but I don't want to forget my Mom. This is a post I wrote about her on Mother's Day.

How Quick Could I Get To Memphis and Back?

My Mom called earlier. She had to take my Dad in the emergency room this morning. He's been sick all week. He's been throwing up. He can't sleep and she said he has chills so bad he's shaking.

I feel so....I'm not even sure of the right word, but I just know it's not good. Helpless would be a good one. Living six to seven hours away makes it tough. I want to be able to go to the hospital to see him. She said he'll probably be in the hospital a few days. He is doing better now that he is at the hospital. They're not sure if it's a reaction to his chemo or something else. The doctor seems to think it's something from his surgery last year.

I talked to him last Sunday and he seemed to be doing really good. He sounded better than he has in awhile. He said he felt pretty good. He mentioned that he gets these chills now and then. And his lips swelled up, but that was due to the chemo. But he sounded really good.

The good thing about them being up in Tennessee is that this is where all my Mom's relatives live. One of my aunts and uncles lives just down the street from them. They called my Mom tonight to "yell" at her for not letting them know what was going on, they could have went with her to the hospital. My uncle told her he was awake and saw them leaving but didn't think anything of it. So there are lots of people around them that help, drive my Mom back and forth if she needs it, whatever they need.

But I feel like that should be me doing that. But I can't run up there everytime he goes in the hospital. I have a feeling that would be running up there an awful lot before we're through. Still it doesn't lessen these feelings I'm having right now. I'm glad they are there, there's a lot of people for them to lean on, but I wish they were closer so I could see them.

Parents

I drove up to Tennessee this week. Part of the trip is made on the highway, the last half I end up on these small so called highways that go through all the small towns and speed traps.

Once I got off the main highway I was driving I noticed a lot of white blooming bulbs off to the side of the road. This was cotton. Nowdays they use machines to do most of the picking. But back in the day it was picked by hand. And from what I gathered it was not the most fun thing to do. My Mother when she was growing up used to pick it. After school and on weekends she went to pick cotton. She would spend all day out in the fields, getting her hands bloody picking the cotton.

My Father lived in a home filled with violence. His Father was one of those old Irish men you see in movies. You know the type, filled with booze and violence. My Father left home and joined the Navy when he was 17 after having his ribs broken by his Father.

And as I drove along that highway I thought about my childhood and how sometimes I would complain about something. How sometimes I thought life was so unfair. My parents were not perfect, no where close to it. They had their own demons to battle as a married couple and as parents. I could probably make a list a mile long of things I think they did to me or didn't do for me.

But I know I never had to pick cotton till my fingers bled or run away from home cause my ribs were broken.

Memphis In The Meantime

I'm heading to Memphis to visit my parents for a few days so I won't be around. Not that I've been around a lot lately anyway. I promise when I come back to try to start blogging more serious again. Hope everyone has a good week and weekend.

Happy Mother's Day

You know, sometimes Moms can be the most infruitating people in the world. Especially after you're grown and wanting to be treated like an adult and they say something that just makes you feel like you're three feet tall and still having to ask for permission to stay up late to watch tv. But if too much time passes with them acting like you're the adult you pretend to be you secretly wish for that "Mother" in them to come out and scold you for something stupid and make you feel like a kid again.

I see some people that address their Mom by their given name. Now there's nothing wrong with that, but I just can't do it. My Mom is Mom, not Nell. She's Nell to my Dad or her sisters or her friends. To me she'll always be Mom. And that's the way I like it.

My Mom was the one that always paid the bills. My Dad came home and gave her his check and she did all the money stuff with it. I don't think my Dad would know how to pay a bill. She's never been late with a bill in her life. Me, I'm the complete opposite, if I'm on time with a bill it's a miracle. Sometimes my brother and I might think my Mom was kind of tight with a dollar. There are times when she seems to be too concerned with the dollars and cents but than out of the blue she'll go out and spend more money on a present than she should.

At Christmas my Mom always makes sure she spends pretty much the same amount on presents for all of us. I know when we were younger, my brother and I were only a year and a half apart, if one of us got what we thought was less than the other the aggrevied party would throw a fit. But now we've went and got all grown we don't count how many presents the other gets (at least too often) but my Mom wants to make sure we get treated equally.

She worked all her life. I never thought she would retire. I was really happy when she finally retired about ten years ago. With their retirement and social security my parents are doing better than ever, they have fewer expenses but they live a good life. They have been happier than ever. My mom works in her yard, they go shopping, they build things, they just enjoy life and it's something that she deserves.

So all this ruminations about my mom leads to one thought....Happy Mother's Day, Mom!