Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! I slept really well last night but I am moving really slow this morning. I have my first cup of jo down and about to start working on my second. The kiddos got off to school in their costumes. And I just found out that it is supposed to rain this afternoon. ☹ I’ll have a story and pictures for you tomorrow. The only hint that I will give is that Nick, the youngest, made a comment about 5 weeks ago that I couldn’t embarrass him at school!

I’m wondering if I am sleeping too much. I slept 9.5 hours last night. I take trazodone to help me sleep. Before this, I was lucky to sleep 4 hours at a time and I was tired all the time. Now I sleep well. I think that I will cut back on the amount of the medication to see if I have a good sleeping pattern now. It is taking me a couple of hours to truly wake up and get moving. I don’t feel sluggish, just takes me a bit to warm up.

My grandson, Eli is now part of the UIL chess team. I am so impressed and proud of him. I’ll have to challenge him to a game. I love chess.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the amount of homework that Pheby and Bubba have almost every night. They struggle, and it takes them more time to do assignments, but this is getting ridiculous. They come home at 4:00, they get a drink and start their homework. I usually have dinner at 5:00 – 5:30. We eat and clean up the kitchen. Then they are back to doing their homework. At 7:30, I make sure that they start showers and get ready for bed at 8:00. So, on average, they do 2.5 hours of homework every night. And they are in school for 7.5 hours. Does this seem a little excessive to anyone else? There is no time for down time. Just my opinion.

I’m going to close this blog by wishing you and yours a safe and Happy Halloween!

My Kids!

Good Morning to you! I hope that this morning finds in high spirits and feeling blessed. I am up early. It’s 3:30 and I have already had two cups of java. My hubby and I have been up and talking. It’s nice to have the morning to reconnect. There are times that we need this. We are so busy and sometimes forget to spend some alone time together. If we aren’t busy, we are so tired that we just fall asleep! 😊

I think that I am feeling disconnected from my family. I started crying Sunday after my daughter headed home with her family. We talk all the time but sometimes that just doesn’t seem to be enough. I try not to be an overbearing or demanding mother. I saw her on Friday as well, but it was her daughter’s birthday party, so she was extremely busy. The holidays are coming, and I know that we will have time to visit. She is so busy with her doctorate program and her family that there is little time. She always makes time for me when I ask. I love her so much and just want to hold her and know that she is ok.

It’s not just my daughter that I miss. I miss my son, Danny. For reason’s I would rather not talk about right now, I haven’t seen or talked to him since my birthday. He was always a momma’s boy. I know that he must grow up but does growing up mean that you must cut ties with your family? We used to go camping and fishing all the time. He would call me on a Friday and invite us for the weekend. His fiancé and I have some issues and some perceived differences. I am willing to let bygones be bygones. She doesn’t seem so inclined. I would work on anything to make things easier for my son. Because no matter the situation, I never want to make things hard on him. But I believe that he is the only one that can fix this!

I also miss my son, Justin. He has so many things going on in his life that I worry about his choices. I’m afraid that he is running from his responsibilities. I think that he doesn’t believe that he deserves to be happy. And that he is exactly what he is hunting. Happiness doesn’t come from outside things, it comes from within. Life isn’t always about butterflies in the stomach. As adults, we realize that there are more important things in life.

My kids have always meant the world to me and still do. It is so much harder when your children are grown. At least when they were small, they lived at home and I had some control over what happened in their lives. Now, I don’t know anything but what they tell me, if they even talk to me. The not knowing is harder than anything.

Thank you for listening to a lonely momma vent. I hope that you all have a wonderful day.

Do you have a voice?

Good morning all. I have been so busy this weekend. I will post some of my pictures so that you can see what we did. Eva turned 3 Friday and I felt very honored to be a part of her party. I had never been to a “Princess Tea Party”. I will say that she is definitely 3. She reminds me so much of her mother! The mothers curse ‘I hope that you have a daughter just like you!’ works! 😊 And Ezra was such a sweetie this weekend. I have the best toy for him! Our little round laundry basket doubles as a push toy for him. I think that he drove it for miles through my house over the weekend!

 


I’m not sure where I want to take this blog today. During our Sunday school yesterday, the several things came up. One of those things was how Sunday’s was supposed to be for church, family, and friends. Growing up in Texas, we had what was called the ‘Blue Law’. This is what Wikipedia says about it:

Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, are laws designed to restrict or ban some or all Sunday activities for religious reasons, particularly to promote the observance of a day of worship or rest. Blue laws may also restrict shopping or ban sale of certain items on specific days, most often on Sundays in the western world. Blue laws are enforced in parts of the United States and Canada as well as some European countries, particularly in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Norway, keeping most stores closed on Sundays.

I’m guilty of allowing things to ‘just happen’ around me. When the Supreme Court ruled to separate Church and Schools, I didn’t fight it. I don’t go to school board meetings and have a voice about who oversees our schools. I don’t make sure that I vote Christians onto the board. But I sit here and complain about why God isn’t allowed in schools.

I know that people are worried about offending others but one of the great things about this country is that there is freedom of religion. Someone else’s religion might offend me, but does that mean I have the right to stop their belief? No, but this country was founded on Christianity but no one (including myself) stands up to defend it passionately.

I am very passive in a lot of areas in my life and I don’t like confrontation, so I don’t make waves. But isn’t that what is wrong with our country? We are like ostriches, we bury our heads in the sand.

Just a little food for thought on this beautiful Monday morning. I know that this is something that I need to work on. Do you? I hope that you have a wonderful day!

I Feel Awesome!

Good morning everyone! I hope that your day has started out great. I got to visit with my bff yesterday and had coffee and some homemade breakfast burritos. They were awesome but not as awesome as visiting with Bernice. I love you lady and miss you.

When I left her house, I headed to Victoria to get tires for my vehicle. They are aftermarket tires and are expensive. On the way, I started thinking about how I am so blessed. I remember how I couldn’t afford tires. When my cars tires would get bald and about to blow, I would usually have to wait until they blew and then try to find a decent used tire. And this was with most of my cars. So, as I headed to get tires (dreading the cost) I was prepared to buy 4 new tires. When I got there, the young man went out to check for all the numbers he needed to get the right tire. He came back to tell me that I only need the 2 back ones replaced. My front tires were still good. Wow, that was such a wonderful surprise. I now have 2 new tires and don’t have to worry about traveling.

These thoughts also brought up the old feelings of worry. I used to have to worry about how I was going to feed my kids every week. Leg quarters were my friends! 😊 I can make chicken so many ways! My ex would give me $40 a week for groceries. That amount was supposed to feed 4 of us and buy all hygiene products as well and cleaning and laundry supplies. Of course, things were cheap back then. I could get leg quarters for 29 cents a pound.

I look in my cabinets and deep freeze and refrigerator and realize how blessed I am. I still buy leg quarters, but I don’t have to worry about having food. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t have any money saved up, but we are making it one week at a time. We have everything that we need, and the kids are allowed a few wants. I have already got some of the kiddos Christmas. I also have some of the other grandchildren’s Christmas. I just need to get busy sewing.

My hubby and I worried about how we were going to take care of these kids when we first got them. We didn’t even have a vehicle that would carry all 6 of us. God has provided in so many ways that it brings tears to my eyes. I surely don’t deserve the blessings that He has bestowed on us. I just hope that I can follow His will for my life and let my life be an example to bring others to Him.

Thank you, God, for everything that you do for my family!

I hope that you all have a wonderful day and count your blessings!

What to do?

Good morning y’all. How are things going with you? Today, I’m at a loss as to what to write about. Today is my grandson’s, Kai, birthday. He is 3. I can’t believe that it has been 3 years since he was born. My oh my, where does the time go? Happy Birthday Kai!

I’ve been feeling a little down the last couple of weeks. I am not sure exactly why. I haven’t felt like doing much. I’m not sewing, not cleaning, and not wanting to cook. And I am tired a lot. I know that these are all signs of depression. I know this but can’t seem to figure out why I’m feeling this way.

Am I overwhelmed? Maybe! We have court with one of our grandson’s this Friday and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I don’t have any emotion about it. This is what seems so odd to me. We got custody of 4 of our grandchildren. The judge thought that the kids would be better off with us than their mother. We have struggled physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially since getting custody. I’m not complaining because I wouldn’t change our decision for nothing in the world.

These kiddos bring so much life and happiness to us. I’m so impressed with all the growth that I see within them. I am so proud of them. The oldest on is 14 and has gotten into some major trouble. We knew that the kids were in a bad place and sought counseling for them. We caught the oldest stealing from us, his sister and brothers, and even school.

I made him return the items and suffer the consequence of his actions. We talked to him about where he was headed if he didn’t start making better choices. We even had a local policeman come talk to him. But as you can tell, we never got through to him. What could I have said to get him to listen? What should we have done differently?

He was a victim and now because he never received any help, he has done it to someone else. And there is a chance that it could mess up his whole life. I feel as if we failed him in some way. I’m hoping that he gets the help that he needs but a lot of that depends on his choices and from his past record, that scares me. He is getting a chance to change his life and learn how to make better choices but what are the odds.

The other 3 children are doing so much better since he has been gone. What does that mean? He had so much influence over them that it scares me. They don’t deserve that. They have all had a hard life and deserve so much more.

My heart just hurts because I don’t know what to do or how to go about finding out what I can do. I feel like a failure and that is one thing that is NOT ok for me to feel. I know that I have failed before, but I learn from it and grow so as not to make the same mistake again. But in this instance, what am I supposed to learn and how do I protect the other 3 children?

I’m going to stop writing for now. I hope that you have an awesome day. I am going to try to find my mojo and get busy. Christmas isn’t getting further away!

Back in the Old Days

Good morning to everyone! I hope that your Monday is going great. Mine is going great.  I am on a liquid diet through tomorrow morning. Then this evening, I get to drink some really awful tasting stuff to clean me out. You guessed it, I am having another colonoscopy tomorrow. Most people go in for one and are told “everything looks good, see ya in 10 years” but I’m not so lucky. But all is good. We are going to make sure they got everything and see how fast polyps are growing.

What did you do over the weekend? We took the kiddos bowling Saturday and, on our way back, I drove through Edna to where I use to live as a young girl. It was a little bit sad to see how the place is so run down. But I got to share some of my stories with the grandkids. It brought us some wonderful memories.

We moved there from Louisiana. In those days, kindergarten wasn’t required. I went to kindergarten at the Methodist Church in Edna. I remember that we got our vaccinations at the courthouse. I also remember that Johnny (my middle brother) always passed out when we got to the benches in front of the courthouse. He didn’t do shots very well. Lol

This blog is going to be all over the place because it is just memories and when you are that young (at least for me) time didn’t mean much. We moved from Edna half way through my 4^th grade year. I showed the grandkids where I went to kindergarten and elementary. I remembered where I took tap and ballet lessons. I believe that I took piano from the same lady.

Our house was a big one. We had 3 bedrooms, a formal living room, a formal dining room, big kitchen, and a family room that doubled as Mom and Dad’s bedroom. Their room was at one end of the house and all of us kids were in the other end of the house. I remember that when I had to go to bed, I would run down the hallway and flip on my light. I would look around and under the bed, turn off the light and run and jump into bed because I was afraid that the boogey man would get me. My room was the first bedroom down the hall. Randy and Johnny shared a room and Mark had his own bedroom with a bath.

We played outside most of the time unless it was raining. We had 9 barns and a lot of animals. So, of course, we had chores. We had chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows, sheep, and a horse. I don’t remember everything that we had. And we usually had some animal that we were bottle feeding. We didn’t tell our parents that we were bored because they would find chores to do.

I recall that we had a dirt bike. Randy and Johnny were going to teach me to ride it. One of them held it up and the other put me on it. They told me to pull the handle bar to make it go. I couldn’t even reach the shifter by the pedal so they put into gear and told me to go. I ended up wrecking right into a ‘broncing barrel’. They picked me and the motorcycle up, dusted me off (as I was crying), and told me “now steer it”. They were so sweet to me 😊. I’m pretty sure that I learned to ride!

What is a ‘broncing barrel’ you ask? Well, it was a barrel that had 4 springs that was hung between some trees and we would act like it was a bull. We would try to throw each other off of it. We made a lot of our own fun. We would take hot wheels cars and make roads and towns and play for hours with army men and cowboy and Indians. When it was hot, we swam in the horse trough. We didn’t have a slip and slide, but we made one out of plastic and took turns holding the water hose.

We had a green broke horse named Jim. I remember going out with Randy and Johnny behind the barns (because we didn’t want Momma seeing) and we would race the horse. It’s a wonder that we never got hurt really bad. The boys had to get up early and go milk the cow and feed. My job was cleaning the chicken pen. I got paid a quarter for it. Back then, I could buy 25 pieces of gum for that! Kids now days would just laugh at that and refuse to do it. We didn’t refuse and to some degree we were afraid of our dad. He never laid a hand on us when he was mad, but he would spank when we needed it.

Mom and Dad took really good care of us. They raised us with manners. And they led by example. We had responsibilities, and there were expectations, but we were happy. We got into mischief and we were always plotting something. We were very close when we were growing up. I miss that now. I have a close relationship with Randy but not Mark and Johnny. I wish we could all be close again.

I’m going to close this blog for now. I hope that you have a wonderful day.

Spiritual Gifts

Good morning y’all. I’ve had an enjoyable weekend so far. Saturday morning, at my church (Austin Street Baptist Church) we had a LIFT (Ladies In Fellowship Together) meeting. It was awesome. We had a guest speaker and we talked about spiritual gifts. It says in the bible that the greatest gift from God is love. Now I’m not a bible scholar but I do believe that it is. The ability to love and to be loved is so great. The feeling that it gives you inside is inexplainable. I know that when I look at the people that I love, the feeling that I have gives me such great joy. I am getting a closer relationship with God but at times it has been such a struggle.

One of the hardest things for me has been “love thy neighbor”. I’ve been hurt over the years, just like most of you, but I have a hard time letting those feelings go. I know that I am supposed to let go of those feelings but sometimes I don’t know how. Jesus went through so much torture and died for me and yet he forgave me even though I don’t deserve to be forgiven. I think that part of my struggle has been ‘how can God forgive me when I can’t forgive myself’.

One of the other things is that I wonder what my spiritual gift is. And if I don’t know what it is, how can I use it to glorify God? I wish that God would just write it down and say, “This is your spiritual gift, and this is what I want you to do.” But I guess that he has done this by giving us the bible. But the catch here is that I must read it and let God tell me through His word what I am supposed to do. As like most things, I want the quick and easy way, ‘just tell me’. So these are the thoughts running through my head this morning.

After the meeting, we went with a couple of people from church and took the kiddos bowling. They had such a great time. Thank you, Christina Cherry and Lisa Harris, for the wonder time. I hope that we can do it again sometime soon.

I’m going to say that I hope that all you have a wonderful day. I challenge you to learn something from the bible that you don’t learn in Sunday School or a Church service. That is what I am challenging myself with.

New Horizons

Wonderful Wednesday to you! I’ve had a busy day. My bff, Bernice, had some time today. So, we spent the morning cutting material for her quilt. We both went to the Yoakum Garden Club meeting. Learned a lot about herbs that I didn’t know. Then we had lunch together. After we had lunch, I went to have my lab work done along with two x-rays and an EKG. I’m home now and don’t feel like doing much else today.

Tomorrow isn’t going to be too hard. We have to go to San Antonio for an appointment with the eye doctor. We are going to have to take the kiddos out of school because we wouldn’t be home until 6-7. So, it will be a family trip. I hate when appointments are late in the afternoon.

I wanted to add a little to my post from Monday. The counseling group that I went to was called New Horizons. I have so many wonderful things that I could say about them. Starting with the staff, there are two nurses and two counselors. Desi is usually the first one that you see when you walk in. She always has such a warm welcoming smile. And she is always genuinely happy to see you. The other nurse is Stephanie. She also has that infectious smile. You can tell that it is sincere because it is in her eyes as well as her mouth. She always seems to have time for you even as she is running around doing other things. One of the counselors, who is new, I don’t know very well but as time goes on, I’m sure that I’ll get to know her. My counselor, Sara, is so sweet and soft spoken. She has that genuine smile as well. She laughs easily but don’t think that you can get away with not being honest with her. She’s smart and can see through a lot of my BS. And don’t think that I haven’t tried. And of course, the doctor. He is honest and direct with you. He seems like he can read you without you saying a word. That almost makes it scary.

It wasn’t always easy to go because you know that at some point it is going to be your turn to share with everyone. And you will have to look at yourself and how and why you do the things that you do. Coming out of depression isn’t about blame but it is about how you react and think about things. You can’t change other people, you can’t make them do what you want. The only thing that you can do is change how you think or react to different situations. This is where the counseling comes into play. They give you different ways of looking at things and ways to help you change your thinking.

I am so thankful to them and would recommend them to anyone. If you don’t live in my area, then find something in your area that works for you. I hope that the rest of the day is awesome for you.

Depression, What it looked like on Me!

Happy beautiful Monday morning to everyone! It’s raining and cooler here this morning. They are saying that our high temperature has already happened. The low tonight is supposed to be 50. I’m loving this. I think that I am going to work on the grandkids Christmas gifts today. I kind of messed up on figuring the yardage of material but I think that I will be able to make it work by using some of the material that I have in my stash. I am also trying to help Bernice design a quilt for her mom out of that same stash. We are kicking around some ideas right now.

I wanted to share with you about my battle with depression. I didn’t realize how it affected my life until I got help. So, I’ll go back a bit and give you the background, then bring you current:

My mom was on antidepressants. I don’t know everything that she was on, but Prozac was one of them. Back then, my mom and I didn’t see eye to eye. I thought that she just used ‘depression’ as a way to get what she wanted. I also thought that she was really weak because ‘she had to take medicine’ to help her. Why couldn’t she just handle it? I didn’t know any other mom’s that had to take medicine to make them ‘normal’. I thought that it was just an excuse for her to act the way that she did.

After the birth of my son, I started feeling that something wasn’t right. Of course, my husband had beat me for the first time by this point. So, part of me attributed my feelings to that. I even got to the point of wanting to kill myself. I actually went to a psychologist and after one visit, he prescribed me some kind of antidepressant. We didn’t have the money or the insurance for me to go back and see him. I took the medicine for a couple of weeks and felt like a zombie. I felt like I was walking around in a haze.

I didn’t know that it takes almost a month for the medication to get into your system and level out. I also didn’t know that I should have called him back and explained how I was feeling. I just knew that I couldn’t be much of a mom when I was zoned out. So, I quit taking them. I didn’t know that just stopping them could be dangerous as well. My thinking was really messed up because I didn’t think that I could be a mom on mood altering drugs but really, I couldn’t be a mom if I killed myself either. Of course, I never thought of it that way either. I was in my mid 20’s at this time.

My mental state didn’t get any better. When I left my husband, I started trying to make myself feel better, first with men then with drugs (illegal). I was trying to fill a void in myself. But of course, none of this made me feel better, only made me feel worse. After finally getting caught and going through SAPF, I learned a lot about how I think of things and how I react about things. I went through a bunch of therapy and counseling.

I felt like I was healed! I wasn’t doing drugs, I was working, and getting a relationship back with my kids. It was a struggle, but I did it. One thing at a time. Again, I met another man with whom I tried to fill that emptiness within me. Once I figured out that I was headed down the same ole path (which took a while), I finally told myself that enough was enough.

I met my wonderful husband when I went to work for a cement plant. He was a driver and he trained me on a cement truck. We got married and as I have shared, I got really sick. I had neck surgery and got sick again. It seemed like as soon as I got better, something else would happen. I didn’t realize just how bad this was affecting me mentally. I kept my focus on my husband and my family. I had one friend but didn’t care to make any more.

My daughter, who is a Nurse Practitioner, started trying to talk to me about getting some counseling. I guess that was 3 or 4 years ago. I dutifully listened to her but didn’t think that I needed it. After all, I didn’t want to kill myself. That’s what depression is, right? I was just physically sick a lot. I hurt and didn’t feel good a lot of the time. She brought this subject up occasionally but each time I zoned out and didn’t take any of it to heart. I just concentrated on my hubby and my kids and grandkids. I slept a lot, but I was tired and didn’t feel good and what was wrong with sleeping?

Now, I don’t want you to think that I don’t value Tiffany’s opinion because I do. She is highly intelligent and good at what she does. I call her with so many medical questions that would probably irritate most people but not her. I just didn’t want to hear it about my mental state. I still had these crazy thoughts that depression was a weakness. And I’m not a weak person. I’m strong and can handle whatever life throws at me!

We got custody of 4 of our grandchildren in January 2017. In the summer of that same year, I pinched a sciatic nerve. I couldn’t even stand up straight. It shot pains down my leg and anything that I did hurt. I was back to using a walker. My doctor referred me a physical therapist. I started going 3 times a week. I had a couple of therapists that I saw. After several weeks, the therapist that I saw on Friday’s, mentioned a counseling group that was next door. She knew that we had the grandkids and said that I should look into seeing someone to just listen to me. I really didn’t want to hear it but said that I would go talk to them. On my way out, I looked at the door and it said, “New Horizons Geriatric Counseling”. WHAT? GERIATIC? I’m not old enough for that! NO WAY!

The next Friday, she asked me if I had gone by yet. And after listening to her, I kind of felt obligated to at least stop by. I stopped by and the nurse Stephanie greeted me at the door with a welcoming smile. None of the other staff was there on Friday’s but she took me back to her office and we spoke for about an hour and a half. At the end of our counseling, she told me that according to her assessment, I was severely depressed. I was polite and told her thank you. She said that she was going to check into my insurance and would get back with me. As I went home, I was thinking that “of course they say that I am depressed, they want the money”. So, to prove it to myself, when I got home, I took 3-4 online assessments, and do you know what they all said? You got it, that I was severely depressed. Now, if one person tells you that, you can ignore it. If a second one says the same, then you might want to consider it. But I had my daughter, my physical therapist, this nurse, and 3-4 online assessments telling me the same thing!

So here is what my depression looked like: I was in pain a lot of time but did not want to kill myself. I didn’t have friends. I quit going to the store because Wesley could just stop by on his way home. I stayed in my pj’s because I was saving money on electricity by not having extra laundry. I stayed in one room in our house. I had excuses for each one of these but never realized that these were all signs of depression. I started attending New Horizon’s group sessions. I still did not believe that I needed to be there but I’m so thankful that I did. It was one of the hardest things to do.

Now, I have friends that I go and do things with. I rarely sit home now. I always seem to have something going on. I am a member of the Yoakum Garden Club. I am also a member of Austin Street Baptist Church. I am more involved than I ever have been. I am happier than I have been in a very long time. My marriage is happier than it has been in a long time (this is a story for another day). Below, you will find a link to a video that I encourage you to watch. It features several of the people that went to counseling at New Horizons. And yes, my hubby and I are in it. We are the only couple in the video.

https://www.facebook.com/814090398787442/videos/830586547137827/

I hope that you have a wonderful day. I’m going to enjoy this cooler weather.

The ripple effect

Good afternoon y’all. I feel awesome today. I went to church. I needed that today. So how was your morning? I hope as good as mine. Yesterday was wonderful too.

I’ve been writing this blog now for 4 months? I think so. I’d have to look back to make sure. I can tell the weeks that I am feeling overwhelmed or depressed. I won’t write as much. I know that I have shared some very personal things with all of you.


I wrote in one of my groups about the importance of my life. No matter how dull or boring it might seem, I know that God as a purpose for my life.

My daughter told me once that I may never know the impact will have on others. That our grandchildren might carry something that we’ve said or done to their children and so on. I don’t always feel like anything I do matters. But I may never know so I must keep going and doing the best that I can.




So, if I may be so bold as to say that you don’t have time to give up. You must keep putting one foot in front of the other. Someone may be looking up to you to see how to handle situations.



God loves you! Look at what He did for you. I’m sending hugs and kisses your way!

                     

Special Blessings

Good morning to everyone. I woke up this to our little spoiled puppy crawling over my head to wake me up. Once I woke up, she jumped off the bed. I’m going to have to do something different with her. My hubby was awake and had coffee ready.

I have a birthday party to attend today. It’s supposed to rain all day, so it should be interesting. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive there, two-and-a-half-hour party, and the trip back home. It’s going to be a long day but I’m excited.

I’m feeling a lot of love within me today. Nine years ago, I had my first biological grandson. I never dreamed the love that would overwhelm me would come from such a small package. He’s not so small now but the love has just continued to grow over the years.

I now have 21 grandchildren and I can’t describe how that feels. In my wildest dreams, I never thought that I would have so many. Each one is a blessing.

My bff is going through a hard time. Her mom went through brain surgery. They removed a tumor which they found out was cancer. She is one of the strongest women I know. She is so selfless. She goes every day to her moms to take care of her, then she comes home and takes care of her own family. Bernice, I don’t know how you do it. I love you and pray for your family every day.

I will be here anytime you need someone. This is what friends do! I truly miss you and our time together, but I know how important this is.

I hope that you all have a wonderful day. I’m going to go for now. I’m really excited about the approaching cold front.