A Matriarch's Birthday

Today, November 30, 2006, is my mother's 89th birthday!

Born Virginia Pearl Salyer in November of 1917 to Pearl Wade Salyer and Sarah Elizabeth Chapman, who were married December 9, 1916, in Anadarko, OK. Mom was named Virginia for the state in which her mother was born. Her middle name was her father's name.

She had a younger sister, Laverne, and a younger brother, Basil. They moved to Texas where she spent her teenage years. She attended Kilgore Junior College and is listed on that college's first honor roll and was a Phi Beta Kappa. She played basketball in high school and was captain of her team and had the lead in the senior play. She liked school and had fun. Her goal was to attend Baylor University and teach high school English.

Her plans changed when she met Fred Cherry, a young petroleum engineer. They became engaged on Thanksgiving Day in 1936 and were married after Wednesday night prayer meeting on January 27, 1937.

Just a few months after their wedding, Virginia's younger brother Basil, eleven years old, was killed in the New London School explosion. Recently I found the Web site which has a lot of information and recollections about this explosion in East Texas. I told Mother she should write her memories. She did and gave the pages to me and I sent it in.

This morning, Mother's 89th birthday, I received word that they had posted her entry.

New London School Explosion

(I hope this link works; it's the first time I've tried the html linking. If it doesn't, and you're interested, you can copy and paste the URL: http://www.nlse.org/cherry_virginia.html) I thought this was a pretty cool (or neat or whatever is the current appropriate adjective ;-) birthday present!

Mother and Dad had twelve children; I'm the third. Their last child, a girl, was stillborn. Fred died in 1970 at the age of 58.

Mother lives in the home where she raised eleven children. She still drives, enjoys a weekly art class, attends Faith Bible church, and socializes with the Single Sisters.

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to a wonderful Mom, and I hope she has many more.
MB

Thanksgiving 2006

At our church they've opened a place on the church's Web site for everyone or anyone to log in and write an anonymous "What I am thankful for" entry. Then all of these are posted.

Last Sunday morning two people read some that had been picked from the many postings. And between readings we sang a new chorus called "I will remember." It's been a wonderful Thanksgiving time.

And it's prompted me to want to write about what I'm thankful for. So, here goes:

Family, friends, friction (makes me a pearl), fearful things (makes me faith it), fat (makes me warm and not so cold), fights (sharpens me), and facts (makes me smarter and wanting more). And, of course, alliteration! ;-)

One of Paul's (as in Burleson, not Apostle) teachings/sayings is, "Whatever comes my way, I want to make it mine, as God's gift to me." And he emphasizes the "whatever." He bases this on scripture, but I forget which one.

That's the basis for my thankfulness this year. Oftentimes this is a challenge, but it's a great mantra and helps keep my eyes on God, my heart on Jesus and His love, my mind on things that are pure, lovely, of good report, . . . ,and my whole emotional/spiritual self thankful and not bitter or frustrated or disappointed or worried. It's often a struggle, but I have the goal of, "I want to make this mine." Amazing!

Happy Thanksgiving to you. May we all be full of thanks as well as turkey!
MB

Enjoying this Fabulous Fall

I just can't say enough about this weather and about the beauty of Oklahoma this fall. It's been just about perfect. Cool days and warm days alternating, sunny and cloudy days also taking turns, not too much wind, and a gradual moving into cooler temperatures.

I'm so glad our home roots are in OK and we get to live here. I used to love TX and never wanted to move back to OK; however, these days I get to visit TX once a week and it always feels really good to come back home to OK. (Think I'll apply for Tour Guide with the OK Tourist Bureau. I can sell OK to anyone. ;-)

We've been concerned these last couple of weeks for two of our own. Grandma West was seriously ill and in the hospital for more than a week. She's back in the nursing home now, but she's quite weak. They whisked her off to the hospital in the middle of the night because she was having a hard time breathing and they couldn't rouse her. When we saw her the next day, she was very weak and upset that she didn't get to bring any of her things with her. We gathered what she wanted and took them back to her. She was on the verge of pneumonia, but she's rallied and is doing better.

Dara has also had quite a week. Cherri has detailed it very well on their blog. (I was going to try to link it here, but I've not done that before so I'll learn another time. The link is on our blog links.) Dara went in the hospital last Saturday and had an eight and a half hour surgery on Monday. She was in ICU for a couple of days and is now recovering in her room on the fourth floor.

Dara's had lots of company and received flowers and gifts and you'd think she was princess of the floor. She's also had some tough times and she's been a real trooper, along with her wonderful parents, who have also had some very tough times and been real troopers. This has not been an easy or fun experience, but we all think it's going to be well worth everything they've gone through. Dara got to start on broth yesterday and will gradually get to eat solids, depending on how well she tolerates each stage.

If all goes well, she's looking at getting to go home sometime next week. She'll be home tutored and then hopefully get to go back to school in January. Her church youth group is planning to come up to the hospital this evening and Dara is eagerly looking forward to that.

Other things: We have our third driveway and new single gate with a double-wide gate. Paul had a sidewalk and steps put in for his office out back. Everything went very well and we have no graffito written on our concrete. (I looked up "graffitti" to see if I had spelled it right and I found it was "graffito"! Huh? 'Tis true.) We have some teenagers in our neighborhood and we held our breath until the concrete dried. All is well and smooth and unadorned, no graffito!

OU basketball has started and everyone is looking forward to seeing how the new coach does. Paul got to go to the first game Friday night. Of course, OU football is doing well, but alas coming to an end. Last night was perfect football weather. And a perfect game--OU won, of course.

One fun item: Our nephew, John McMonigle, Jenny and Tom's son, is going to be on Oprah this Wednesday, November 15. He's a real estate agent and has a $72 or $75 million dollar home listed on the market. Tune in.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Looks like everyone's on for Wednesday afternoon and evening for fun, games, and food. We're looking forward to it. Plan is to spend Wednesday at the retreat center, everyone who can and wants to, head for Harrah (the Cherry dinner) about 11 a.m. Thursday and then that will end our Thanksgiving time together. We'll close out at the retreat center that morning. Too many had to leave to go home on Thursday, so that looks like what we're planning. Sounds good to me, hope it does to you.

That's it! Have a good Sunday!
MB

Happenings

It's November already. Gasp. Where does the time go?

We have our third driveway. It's really nice. The men who did it are the best. This is the third try (thus the charm) of trying to contract with someone to do this, and it's obvious that it was worth the wait. They still lack the part that connects to the street and they'll finish that up next week.

We also have our fence repaired, and E.E., our handyman, is making us a two-part metal gate, and he worked with the concrete men to set in the posts. That will also be finished next week.

Last Tuesday we had a new washer and dryer installed and gave Cherri and Mike our used ones, which were still very good; so we both got new appliances installed last Tuesday. Paul and I are trying to get all of our appliances replaced while I am working. This is our start. Cherri met us at the appliance store last week and bought Dal and Megan a used washer. Dal and Mike got that installed Monday.

(Isn't this what everyone wanted to know? About our driveway and appliances?) LOL

On to more important things:
Yesterday Brett had Lasix (? I think) surgery on both eyes. Kelly took Thursday and Friday off to be with him. He said he was scheduled for 7:30 a.m. and would be through at 7:50 a.m. He called about 9:30 and said all went well and he was amazed at how much better he could already see. Yeah!!

Cherri and Dara found out yesterday that Dara will have surgery next Monday and will check into the hospital tomorrow. (I think I have the dates right. They are second-hand so could be off a bit.) Hopefully, they can do both types of surgeries at the same time, but they have to see and make sure her blood flow is sufficient. If she has both surgeries and after full healing, Dara will be able to care for herself and be much more independent. Yeah!! She will be about ten days in the hospital and four to six weeks recovery after that.

Other snippets from others:
Wade is flying to India on Thanksgiving Day to visit the orphanage that his church sponsors. Boe has a football game tonight at Crooked Oak and Paul and I are planning to go.

Beth and Bryce broke up. Surprise! I thought that was a done deal. Cody had his fifteenth birthday party last Saturday. He got to have more than twenty friends over and sounds like they had quite a bash.

November is a big month for birthdays. Logan's is the 15th, Dal and Pierce's is the 27th. I have three siblings' birthdays, Mark's yesterday, Ronnie's tomorrow, and Ruth's the 14th. John Mark's is Monday the 6th, and Grandma Cherry will be 89 years old on November 30! Lots of birthday celebrations.

Saturday Paul flies to Burlington NC to be with Bob and Debbie Felts in a meeting. He comes home Wednesday. Tuesday I fly to Austin and will get home Thursday.

I got word yesterday that the lease was signed for our new office, so that means my little group will be intact for at least two more years. I received permission to hire another person, and was told yesterday that a superb former Saxon person (whose husband is the OU band director) is interested in joining up. Yeah! Life is good. ;-) We're getting a new office in the same complex where we are, and it has three times the space we have now. We have a wonderful team who get along great and are all very good workers. How has this happened? I love working and I love my job!

My company is very supportive. We'll be in our new office area within the next few weeks. We've got people coming from Orlando and Austin to direct all the remodeling and setup and moving. The guy in charge says they will move us and we will not miss one day of work. Beats how we moved last time. I had to do it all; and it was a headache. Yeah for company support!

We need to have a family discussion about Thanksgiving. We have the retreat center reserved for Wednesday and Thursday nights. However, Melody has to work Friday, so they will leave Thursday. Wade's flying to India on Thursday. Dara will be healing, and Cherri's not sure what that means for them. I haven't talked with Brett and Kelly about their plans. If each of you could call or e-mail and let me know your plans, we can make ours accordingly. We're very flexible and will work with everyone's schedules. Let us know when you can.

Have a good week and a good November! (Love this fall weather.)
MB