Thursday, December 08, 2005
JULY AND AUGUST....2000
July came in on a Saturday and the crew from the Basketball Camp came wheeling in around suppertime again and I was ready for them. I had the 11-pizza crusts made the day before with toppings galore. Becky took orders and each pizza was made to order. I doubt Pizza Hut could have done any better than Becky and me. The guys were all happy to see pizza and we adults had a spirited evening around the kitchen table while the guys piled up in the living room to watch TV and eat.
We followed the same sleeping pattern of their first visit…..Mr. Roy and son Roy went to a motel which was down the road and would be on the way home. John and his crew was to hook up with them early the next morning so they could travel together. They left early and Becky and I sat down to have a hot cup of coffee and some breakfast. Suddenly the house seemed very empty. We pitched everything in the dishwasher and decided to go shopping…..a girls answer to everything. The Golden Girls always settled for cheesecake around their kitchen table while they poured their hearts out……..why do that when you can shop?
On the 8th George called to tell me a good friend of his, Nikki, was killed in an auto accident. Nikki was an older woman who worked at the apartment complex where George lived….she worked part-time cleaning the club house and pool area back then. She had 10 children and just sort of included George in with the rest of them. He went to family birthdays, gatherings of all kinds and he and Nikki ate on Sunday mornings at a First Watch restaurant together. They had a “meet and eat” time to exchange news and visit after she didn’t work there anymore and he didn’t live there anymore.
Nikki eventually had a job at Sam’s Club passing out samples of different foods. Every year she made all sorts of baked goods for her family at Christmastime, and a box for George. The day she was killed she was on her way to a doctor’s appointment when she was struck by another car and her jugular vein was severed. She died before they could get her to the hospital. George was invited to sit with the family at the funeral and I’m sure Nikki would have liked that. I liked Nikki….she wasn’t a whiner and certainly had worked hard in her life.
I was getting ready for a cousin of Bear’s to visit the next day. I got a phone call from him a day early….they were in town and wanted to know how to get to our house. I was in panic. I like to prepare food ahead for company and didn’t have a thing I could offer them lunch with…..it was noon and they hadn’t eaten. I loaded them up and took them to lunch at a local restaurant. When Becky came I took them all to a cafeteria in West Plains for supper as we continued our visit.
George Rosenbaum and his wife were Morman so didn’t drink any caffeine and had several other restrictions in their eating habits. He was deeply into genealogy and wanted information as to my former husband, his family…all of mine and so on. I can’t imagine anyone being so involved in genealogy….I have often stated that I’m leaving a “story” of our family as I heard and saw them growing up. That holds merit for me…..names and dates (only) do not. They left early the next morning and I was sorry Bear was no longer here as I was sure he would have enjoyed meeting his cousin. They lived in Washington State.
Later in the month, two other cousins of Bears, Helen and Alta, stopped in on their way home from Branson. The next several days we shopped and enjoyed scenery around our area and they left on a Friday morning, intending to stop at Carthage, MO. to see the Precious Moments Chapel. It is a beautiful area that Sam Butcher is continuously building (to give back to the public) for the love and support given his art over the years. I bought a first piece that ever came out in a figurine and still have it.
That afternoon when Becky came from work we loaded the car and drove to the Lake of the Ozarks to visit the Bryant’s again. Besides the good visit we always went to the Outlet Malls (which are beautifully designed) to shop. We went to church with them on Sunday and came home after lunch. We always enjoyed our visits to their home.
I had several groups of company the rest of the month and before I knew it, August was here. July had been busy but August passed with little fanfare. It was miserably hot and dry…..the worst month of the year for Missouri. I spent a lot of time watering my flowers and trying to keep things alive until the rains began again in September.
As I write about these years of my life I see a pattern of living which evolves around the seasons…..and events….and people who have passed my way…. Some I only saw once and others, more often. John once asked in his blog….“if you only had two hours to live, what would you do?” I knew at once! I would call everyone I could think of who has impacted my life and let them know how much I loved them. Love is the most powerful and uplifting device that God ever invented….and he gave it all to us……and for us.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
We followed the same sleeping pattern of their first visit…..Mr. Roy and son Roy went to a motel which was down the road and would be on the way home. John and his crew was to hook up with them early the next morning so they could travel together. They left early and Becky and I sat down to have a hot cup of coffee and some breakfast. Suddenly the house seemed very empty. We pitched everything in the dishwasher and decided to go shopping…..a girls answer to everything. The Golden Girls always settled for cheesecake around their kitchen table while they poured their hearts out……..why do that when you can shop?
On the 8th George called to tell me a good friend of his, Nikki, was killed in an auto accident. Nikki was an older woman who worked at the apartment complex where George lived….she worked part-time cleaning the club house and pool area back then. She had 10 children and just sort of included George in with the rest of them. He went to family birthdays, gatherings of all kinds and he and Nikki ate on Sunday mornings at a First Watch restaurant together. They had a “meet and eat” time to exchange news and visit after she didn’t work there anymore and he didn’t live there anymore.
Nikki eventually had a job at Sam’s Club passing out samples of different foods. Every year she made all sorts of baked goods for her family at Christmastime, and a box for George. The day she was killed she was on her way to a doctor’s appointment when she was struck by another car and her jugular vein was severed. She died before they could get her to the hospital. George was invited to sit with the family at the funeral and I’m sure Nikki would have liked that. I liked Nikki….she wasn’t a whiner and certainly had worked hard in her life.
I was getting ready for a cousin of Bear’s to visit the next day. I got a phone call from him a day early….they were in town and wanted to know how to get to our house. I was in panic. I like to prepare food ahead for company and didn’t have a thing I could offer them lunch with…..it was noon and they hadn’t eaten. I loaded them up and took them to lunch at a local restaurant. When Becky came I took them all to a cafeteria in West Plains for supper as we continued our visit.
George Rosenbaum and his wife were Morman so didn’t drink any caffeine and had several other restrictions in their eating habits. He was deeply into genealogy and wanted information as to my former husband, his family…all of mine and so on. I can’t imagine anyone being so involved in genealogy….I have often stated that I’m leaving a “story” of our family as I heard and saw them growing up. That holds merit for me…..names and dates (only) do not. They left early the next morning and I was sorry Bear was no longer here as I was sure he would have enjoyed meeting his cousin. They lived in Washington State.
Later in the month, two other cousins of Bears, Helen and Alta, stopped in on their way home from Branson. The next several days we shopped and enjoyed scenery around our area and they left on a Friday morning, intending to stop at Carthage, MO. to see the Precious Moments Chapel. It is a beautiful area that Sam Butcher is continuously building (to give back to the public) for the love and support given his art over the years. I bought a first piece that ever came out in a figurine and still have it.
That afternoon when Becky came from work we loaded the car and drove to the Lake of the Ozarks to visit the Bryant’s again. Besides the good visit we always went to the Outlet Malls (which are beautifully designed) to shop. We went to church with them on Sunday and came home after lunch. We always enjoyed our visits to their home.
I had several groups of company the rest of the month and before I knew it, August was here. July had been busy but August passed with little fanfare. It was miserably hot and dry…..the worst month of the year for Missouri. I spent a lot of time watering my flowers and trying to keep things alive until the rains began again in September.
As I write about these years of my life I see a pattern of living which evolves around the seasons…..and events….and people who have passed my way…. Some I only saw once and others, more often. John once asked in his blog….“if you only had two hours to live, what would you do?” I knew at once! I would call everyone I could think of who has impacted my life and let them know how much I loved them. Love is the most powerful and uplifting device that God ever invented….and he gave it all to us……and for us.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
