The Past Is Good To Revisit Sometimes

Hi Everyone,
 This kit is by Snickerdoodle Designs. I first saw this kit back in January, right in time for Valentines Day. I almost bought it but I decided not to when I went to the website and fought with the store because for some reason it would not accept my credit card. I also had a $5.00 coupon off of the regular price.

 I really wanted this kit. I normally do not buy them. Thanks to my wonderful friends Kyra, Rosie, Anita and a few more I have more kits than I ever dreamed possible just for taking the time to download them.
 But when I seen this kit I knew I wanted it and I also knew just the photo I wanted to use. The other day I was looking at the Mermaid Shimmer kit and I went looking to see if this one was on sale. It wasn't but I still wanted it.

 I debated over it. I made myself a cup of coffee and I went out to the patio and I sat there thinking... Ok I will love the Mermaid Shimmer but honestly I cannot use all of it really. Just for those Beachy pages and that is ok because it really is a pretty kit. But my heart was still set upon this one. It is called "My Heart Lives Here".

 So I made myself a deal. If I could think of 3 good reasons not to go ahead and buy it then I would put it out of my mind until next month.
 I came up with 2. The first being the price of $7.00. The second reason was I really do have a lot of kits. But I really couldn't think of a third good reason so I made another deal with myself.
 IF I still wanted the kit as bad as I did before I went outside with my coffee I would buy it. But first I would go back to the previews and have a closer look.

 Coffee finished I came back to my room and sat down at my computer and I went to the previews. If I could only just have one kit this was the one I wanted. In the end I bought them both because Mermaid Shimmer was on sale with a big discount!

 I also knew the photo I wanted to use. I wanted the one where I had all of my kids together. I don't have any of all of them together anymore. Between floods, and divorce and moving all over I have lost so many of my kids pictures. The ones from long ago have been hard to come by, but thanks to Facebook and the internet and family I was able to get some of my pictures.

 The Story:

 July 4th, 1990 something, I want to say 93 or 94.

 The Place :
 East Texas, Palestine and Rusk Texas

 The Time:
 Fairly early in the morning before the brutal heat set in.

 July 4th is not one of my favorite holidays. I know it is our Independence Day and before July 1990 I was the All American Girl who celebrated it in full Glory. Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Baseball and Apple Pie with Parades and Watermelon. If we were not grilling out and doing our own thing, then we would head to Main Street two streets up where we would engage in everything from the kids being in the Parade, buying our meal, strolling along the craft section, watched as the old timers played dominoes and anxiously awaited the Square Dancing competition.

Even our dog Duchess tagged along working the horses as that was what she was made for. She was in her element and cried and whined and moaned as we had to leash her up and leave her at home until the Parade was over, after that someone would go and let her loose. Those were the good old days. We could let our animals be just what they were. There was no such thing as a leash law. But Duchess did indeed love trying to work those horses, get them rounded up so to speak  so the city would call me and say... "Beth can we do something about Duchess until the Parade is over?" and that became a thing that happened as we had lots of events, not just July 4th, but Homecoming, Christmas and The Lords Acre and a lot of other things, but after the Parade and the horses were gone, Duchess was in heaven as she went around to be petted by everyone, had snippets of BBQ and had her picture taken with others as she photo bombed the photos.

 Here Jonathan is explaining to Duchess that she couldn't go to Church with us one Sunday morning. See how she was lifting her paw as if to say Please? She was a wonderful dog and we had her for 9 years before our neighbor poisoned her. We filed charges against him. He was seen in town buying rat poison the same day/night that Duchess must have eaten what ever he gave her. My mom seen him under our carport late at night  so we know that it was him. Not that the police or anyone ever did anything about it, but those neighbors were horrible to us. Duchess would lay at the end of the driveway and on his side of the yard waiting for the kids to come home from school and he didn't like her laying on his precious grass plus anything that they could do to hurt us they did it. She was a car dog and usually went everywhere with us.

 Anyway to get back to my story,  We usually dragged ourselves home for a rest before we would go into the biggest town in our county to the football stadium and watch the firework display. We rounded that off with a trip to Brahms's which is an ice cream and burger place. Now they have everything from bread and milk to a full menu, all made from the wonderful Dairy in Braham Texas. I spelled that wrong, but anyway that is how we would usually spend our 4th of July.

 July 4th, 1990:

 My husband, the kids dad was a long haul truck driver and he might be out on the road 6 weeks or longer at a time. It is sad to say that he missed a lot of things with the kids growing up and some of it was his fault but there was a lot of it that wasn't his fault. Many holidays found us alone but this particular July 4th found him home. It was a Sunday. I had made a pot of coffee and took him a cup and we laid in bed talking about doing something different for the 4th. We still hadn't made any plans when the phone rang and I almost didn't answer it but at the last minute I snatched it up.
 It was the Veteran's hospital telling me that my dad had a heart attack.
 My dad was not going to make it. I stayed with my mom all that night at the hospital. We all knew it was just a matter of time.
 My girlfriend had my kids and told me not to worry about them, that she would keep them for as long as I needed her to.
 I stayed in the waiting room with my mother. Everyone else had left. My sister Linda told me, "I can't stay here and wait but I can go and make the funeral arrangements". That was something that I couldn't face. I just couldn't think about a funeral when there was still life, a chance, a miracle.
 My husband's father was having prostrate surgery the next morning so he left. My sister Susanne was living in Tennessee and daddy had taken a turn for the better so she went back home and was on the road and this was before any of us could afford a cell phone. I was waiting on my brother James and his wife to get there but he was having problems getting his check from work and getting it cashed because of the holiday weekend.
 My daddy died at 9:45 am July 5th. He died on a granddaughters birthday and he was buried on a grandson's birthday. So It is a very hard holiday for me. For years I couldn't even enjoy the fireworks. I would pretend for the sake of my kids, but my heart just wasn't in it.

 Fast Forward To The Photo:

 My husband knew how hard it was for me every year. He somehow and I give him credit for this, he tried to make the day a little easier. He suggested that we take the kids to go and ride the train and then drive to Lake Livingston and go to the Indian Reservation that they had there and spend the day and watch the shows and firework display.
 I agreed. It would be a change and so that is what we did.
 We left early  and drove to Palestine Texas. The July heat was harsh and the humidity was so thick that when you hear people say "You could cut it with a knife" that is exactly the right way to describe it. Soupy and thick and miserable.
 Palestine was such a pretty little town. It was one of those little May-berry towns where you could walk down the side walk with your sweetheart, and window shop, and stop for an ice cream treat. Mother's could let their children walk ahead of them with out fear of them being kidnapped or harmed.
 There was charm and the Flag was flying every day. Little craft sections set up on weekends offering a variety of wares and the kids could close their eyes and reach into an old ice cream or pickle barrel for a paper sack that we called Grab Bags for a dollar. We would go a lot since it was so close to our home, but this day our destination was the train first.
 An old steam train that would take you down the line to Rusk Texas. Mainly the train ride was nothing that spectacular, just a relaxing ride over creeks and thru the woods. Once we got to Rusk, they gave each passenger a brown bag with a sandwich, a piece of fruit, chips and a drink. We could sit under the trees at the picnic tables and eat and then browse thru the small museum and then from there we could watch the movie they played and then boarded the train and headed back to Palestine.
 I snapped this photo at one of the small museum displays of the kids. It has always been one of my favorites of mine.
 Jonathan didn't eat his lunch that day. He said that his throat was sore. I was like Uh Oh but he said he wasn't sick and so we went on to the Indian Reservation.
 Oh wow... what a place. We had an awesome time. We watched the dances, the rituals and the best part of all, we went inside a large Tepee and it was nice and cool and dark. It was a lazor show... Eagles flew around us, Medicine men explained the old ways, the water fall appeared to fall on you.. the magic of the adventure. It was just beautiful and so very awesome.

 After the show Jonathan said that he wasn't feeling good and I took my hand and put to his forehead and he was burning up with fever. I told my husband we needed to go home. We had planned to stay for the fireworks but we made the decision to just go home. By the time that we got closer to home I told my husband for us to stop at the Emergency Room. We had to go right by there anyway and all of the kids were sound asleep anyway except for Jonathan who was crying by this time.
 It didn't take the doctor long at all to diagnose him with Strep Throat. They gave him a shot and some fever reducer and got his fever down and said that I could get the prescription filled the next day since the shot should start working faster and last until morning.

 That was a long 10-14 days for my family because of course we all got Strep Throat. By the time one was getting well another was getting sick. Finally my doctor did us all a favor and put us all on antibiotics.
 And I learned something then.... I still do it to this day. I guess the mom in me always will revert back to those days.

 I have a medical to do list. No matter how sick I am or someone else is, this is such great ideas and I wish I could thank my doctor for the advice but he has long since retired.

 1. Go to the dollar store and buy several packs of toothbrushes. You can get them cheap. They come in a pack of 10 for a dollar. Use once and throw away.  Place your toothbrush that you always use in a little bit of water with bleach.

 2. If you do not have a dishwasher, add a bit of bleach to your dish water and your rinse water. Just a cap full will do.
 Better yet, use paper plates, plastic disposable cups, and plastic utensils. But still add bleach to clean your pots and pans and serving dishes.

 3. Give everyone a set of clean towels, hand towels and wash cloths. And change the bed linen daily. I know it is a bit costly to wash and dry but well worth it.

 4. Watch little ones to make sure that they do not eat or drink after anyone else. Kids do that without thinking and as much as we love hugs and kisses, this is no time to be doing that kind of thing. It can be a stomach bug, a cold or the flu so it doesn't hurt to take precautions.

 5. Strep Throat can be dangerous. Once the fever breaks you might feel better but that is an illusion. Strep Throat has to be treated with antibiotics because it can damage your heart. It will lead to Scarlet Fever and that is when the damage to the heart can occur.

 So anyway I know that this post is a bit long, way longer than I intended it to be but I wanted to share this in case I have readers with small children or as in my case even big children.  I do these things even today.
 I keep extra toothbrushes, paper towels and make sure there is plenty of good soap on hand. I am diligent about spraying with an antibacterial spray and I wipe down surfaces with soap and bleach. Door handles, light switches, and I even give our electronics a quick wipe down with a damp cloth, not a wet one.

 We still catch the bugs, we live in a dirty world. Jonathan said his boss called in sick today with a stomach bug she caught over the weekend and 2 more employees called in as well. We have already had it but it could be a different strain going around.

 So anyway, this is my post for now and I am heading to bed. It is late here or I should say early Tuesday morning. It is almost 1:00 am and I didn't even have a nap today. I wanted to be sleeping long before now.

 I had a story to share of Cisco and pictures but that can wait until my next blog post. For now I am going to say Take care and be kind to one another... BB