At Thanksgiving, wonderful memories permeate my heart and mind. Of course, having an inquisitive daughter helps. Christine loves for me to tell her stories about my Mom, her "Georgia Ruth," and my grandmother, "Grandma Bell." She enjoys hearing about these precious family members whom she never met, but loves them all the same.
As parents, Rob and I can share memories from our childhood along with making memories of our own. I am grateful for Rob's family and for my brothers and their families.
Recently I discovered the above picture and immediately my mind was transported back to my childhood days with my Grandma Pitt (alias Grandma Bell) on their farm in Vanoss, Oklahoma. We spent a great deal of time with them especially during the holidays. Oftentimes, we would ride the train from Houston to Oklahoma to visit both sets of grandparents. Oh what incredible and fond memories my brothers and I have.
After my Dad passed away, we needed to get his house prepared to sell, Christine and I flew to down to Houston to help my brothers with that task. While there, we made an impromptu trip to Okmulgee, Oklahoma to see Aunt Mom (our late Mom's sister, Louise).
The participants in this adventure were my older brother, Keith along with Kim, my younger brother's wife and their young son, Alex. Keith is the life of the party no matter the location. Indeed he is one of a kind. He has a zest for life and a keen sense of humor.
We arrived in Okmulgee and settled in with Aunt Mom who at that time was living in one of the Baptist Retirement Centers in Oklahoma. The next day, we went out to lunch at one of those quaint diners in the center of town. While having lunch, Keith got this brilliant idea that we needed to take another road trip. This time the destination would be to my grandparent's old home place in Vanoss. Interesting enough, our aunt agreed to this outing and voila we left on our adventure. As we were leaving the restaurant, Keith remarked to me that this may be the only time Aunt Louise would have an opportunity to see where she and our Mom had grown up. Oh Keith was so right. About two years later, she went home to be with the Lord.
As to why we call Aunt Louise, "Aunt Mom," so glad you asked? She never had any children so when our Mom died in 1985, she lovingly became Aunt Mom to my brothers and myself along with our spouses and children. What an incredible lady she was. Perhaps I'll have more to share about her in another posting.
Back to our adventure that day. Only Keith can drive across Central Oklahoma in one day and it seem like a short trip. As we were traveling, Aunt Louise shared so many vivid details of her childhood. Once there, you could see how much this meant to her. Plus it allowed Kim and Christine to have a glimpse of what my brothers and I had experienced in our childhood.
Keith saw that Aunt Louise was getting tired so we headed home. Please keep in mind, that with Keith at the wheel, there will be a possibility of an extra stop. We stopped in Stafford which is famous for their peaches. Keith wasn't content with getting peaches. Oh no, he had to buy a watermelon, a huge one I might add. Then he immediately named it, "Willard.' Oh the laughter we had talking about Willard as if the watermelon were an actual person. We all laughed so much that as we were driving through one of those very small communities Keith forgot to slow down and soon we were stopped by one of the local policeman. My aunt being the neat lady suggested we pray that Keith would receive grace and not be given a ticket. When Keith got back into the vehicle, he shared that he only received a warning. So we headed back to Louise's place for dinner.
Keith took a lot of pictures that day and Christine has a reservoir of memories to draw from. On the way back to Texas, of course, we did not take the most direct route. We took a scenic route which my older brother is notorious for doing. Upon our arrival to my younger brother's home, we had to introduce John to Willard. Keith's wife, Mary shared with us after we returned home to Virginia that Willard was a rather tough watermelon. Of course, Christine and I a belly laugh about that and had to bring Rob up to speed about who Willard was.
Isn't our Heavenly Father wonderful to allow us to remember those treasured moments we have with our family members? I am.
Imagine with me the celebration we will have as believers when we are gathered together at the banqueting table with Christ.
God is good all the time!
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