Monday, January 17, 2005
AUGUST....1985
August was traditionally the month for the Stricklett reunion in Blair. We made plans to attend and were making special efforts to get all of the grandchildren there, this year. We were a group of seventeen and great-grand-children were increasing right along. Before we headed for Nebraska, we had a one-day trip to Arkansas to see aunt Beulah. Our visits with her were always fun and we looked forward to going there as well as her coming here.
The trip to Blair had to be on my four-days off so we loaded mom and all the luggage….then got away by 7:20am on a steamy Friday. After four stops we arrived at 5:15pm and headed right for the motel close to the Stricklett home. After unloading and freshening up we went up to greet the family and see how many had arrived. Uncle Tom and aunt Inabelle, Louis, John and Barbara…and George had just arrived on his motorcycle.
After greeting everyone we drove to the Pizza Shop where other local family met us, Uncle Roger, aunt Phyllis and their daughter Julie and family. We had quite a bunch by the time we were all seated and accounted for. The laughter and story telling went on until late when we finally broke up to go our separate ways. There was a full house at aunt Mary’s and several of us were at the motel. Louis had the room next to ours, which we shared with George.
The next morning Bear and George went after doughnuts and coffee so we ate in our room and then got ready to go back to aunt Mary’s. Another cousin, Mary Powell and her three boys had arrived by the time we joined the family for dinner. Later, we took John and Barbara to Omaha for some shopping and that evening most of the grand’s and great-grand’s went back to the Pizza Shop….while mom, aunt Mary, the Powell’s and their daughter, Mary, went to Calhoun for their evening meal.
Sunday morning we attended church where I had gone with grandma and my aunts as a little girl. John and Barbara and George were with us and it was nice to worship in that little church after all those years. It had grown very small in reality for I had always envisioned it much larger in my memories. Memory plays a lot of tricks with the pictures you carry in your mind for a long time. I suppose that’s what they mean when they say, “ You can never go back….” Nothing holds true to the pictures we place in our mind.
That afternoon we joined everyone at the park and there were a great number of us when the roll was called. We had wonderful food, picture taking, games and visiting. It was a time to touch each others lives for a day and then we all scattered in different directions.
We came home on Monday, I worked two days and then we left for Rock Island. We drove from work on a Wednesday evening and ran into a bad rainstorm between St. Louis and Springfield, IL. Due to the hazardous driving we didn’t get to John and Barbara’s until 12:30am but they were still waiting up for us. We visited a little before turning in …..Barbara had to work the next day but John was off. He worked on my typewriter and got a gothic head for it which made me a happy camper. When Barb got home we fixed a good supper and I finished up a country goose I had been crafting for Barbara. It turned out to my satisfaction and she loved it.
We did a lot of shopping when Barbara wasn’t working and on Saturday we drove over to Davenport to a craft festival on the river bank. A large paddle boat was docked at the location and made a nice addition to the festive air. After we wore ourselves out looking at all of the hand made articles we ended the day with a steak supper at a nice restaurant.
Of course we enjoyed little John….he became 4-months old on our visit and was beginning to do lots of cute baby things. He was all snuggled down in his bed when we left the next morning so we didn’t wake him. It rained all the way home and I crocheted on some Christmas items I was making. We made it home by 5:30pm and unloaded the car. It seemed we’d been living out of suitcases the whole month. Summer ended unceremoniously and our travels were now over for a while……
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
The trip to Blair had to be on my four-days off so we loaded mom and all the luggage….then got away by 7:20am on a steamy Friday. After four stops we arrived at 5:15pm and headed right for the motel close to the Stricklett home. After unloading and freshening up we went up to greet the family and see how many had arrived. Uncle Tom and aunt Inabelle, Louis, John and Barbara…and George had just arrived on his motorcycle.
After greeting everyone we drove to the Pizza Shop where other local family met us, Uncle Roger, aunt Phyllis and their daughter Julie and family. We had quite a bunch by the time we were all seated and accounted for. The laughter and story telling went on until late when we finally broke up to go our separate ways. There was a full house at aunt Mary’s and several of us were at the motel. Louis had the room next to ours, which we shared with George.
The next morning Bear and George went after doughnuts and coffee so we ate in our room and then got ready to go back to aunt Mary’s. Another cousin, Mary Powell and her three boys had arrived by the time we joined the family for dinner. Later, we took John and Barbara to Omaha for some shopping and that evening most of the grand’s and great-grand’s went back to the Pizza Shop….while mom, aunt Mary, the Powell’s and their daughter, Mary, went to Calhoun for their evening meal.
Sunday morning we attended church where I had gone with grandma and my aunts as a little girl. John and Barbara and George were with us and it was nice to worship in that little church after all those years. It had grown very small in reality for I had always envisioned it much larger in my memories. Memory plays a lot of tricks with the pictures you carry in your mind for a long time. I suppose that’s what they mean when they say, “ You can never go back….” Nothing holds true to the pictures we place in our mind.
That afternoon we joined everyone at the park and there were a great number of us when the roll was called. We had wonderful food, picture taking, games and visiting. It was a time to touch each others lives for a day and then we all scattered in different directions.
We came home on Monday, I worked two days and then we left for Rock Island. We drove from work on a Wednesday evening and ran into a bad rainstorm between St. Louis and Springfield, IL. Due to the hazardous driving we didn’t get to John and Barbara’s until 12:30am but they were still waiting up for us. We visited a little before turning in …..Barbara had to work the next day but John was off. He worked on my typewriter and got a gothic head for it which made me a happy camper. When Barb got home we fixed a good supper and I finished up a country goose I had been crafting for Barbara. It turned out to my satisfaction and she loved it.
We did a lot of shopping when Barbara wasn’t working and on Saturday we drove over to Davenport to a craft festival on the river bank. A large paddle boat was docked at the location and made a nice addition to the festive air. After we wore ourselves out looking at all of the hand made articles we ended the day with a steak supper at a nice restaurant.
Of course we enjoyed little John….he became 4-months old on our visit and was beginning to do lots of cute baby things. He was all snuggled down in his bed when we left the next morning so we didn’t wake him. It rained all the way home and I crocheted on some Christmas items I was making. We made it home by 5:30pm and unloaded the car. It seemed we’d been living out of suitcases the whole month. Summer ended unceremoniously and our travels were now over for a while……
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
