Hard to explain to anyone ( except to those in Georgia or Alabama) what a SNOW GRIDLOCK is like?! You really wanna know?! we have NO snow plows/ no equipment to handle snow that comes about every 25 years/no way to drive on ICE and guess what?! This has been our weathermen's worst nightmare!! This even slipped up on them!!!!! YES, we have had a SNOW EVENT that has rivaled no other! Yes,this has been unbelievable!!!!!!! A short re-cap of the past 3 days:.
I run to Dollar General to get a few things only to get a text from Katie saying she heard,( in Atlanta!), that our roads were getting bad. I looked outside and ....shocker. It was snowing hard. I buy a few things and leave. I'm so glad I left when i did! roads were already getting icy!
around lunchtime Nat calls and she had a scary ride home from "fitness Resolve", where she works, in Ross Bridge. Kids were stuck at school but parents "encouraged" to get them. By this time that was impossible. Roads were already hazardous. My calm/strong daughter was freaking b/c she had just had the scariest drive ever!
terry calls and says he is stuck at the Colannade. So, what does my brave man do???? WALKS!!!!!!!walks from the Colannade which is a long way away! He leaves his car at the Colannade parking lot and walks 13 miles home in 2 /12 hours! UNREAL!
IN THE MEANTIME: it's getting bad in Atlanta! Katie tells jon to LEAVE~ he FINALLY does, but too late!!!! Traffic in Atlanta , on a GOOD DAY, is hellish, a SNOW DAY, it's impossible. In the end, it would take him over 12 hours. With harrowing conditions/going up huge hills and watching cars plummet. HE MADE IT! praise theLord! There were TONS of people who had problems, too. Lots had to spend nights places. What's bad for Jon, tho, is he lives in Atlanta, where he doesn't know anyone/doesn't know the exits/just learning to navigate there. So his trip was made even MORE scary than most.....Natalie got the kids by a friend who had a 4 wheel drive who picked them up! SHE WAS SO HAPPY! ...Charles watched from UAB, (where he works now), below the mess and sent lots of pix!....Michael and Lily got stuck in Arby's! (I bet Lily enjoyed that!)! And Michael entertained us all with his wit. AND BRAD! POOR BRAD! Even as I write this, on Thursday afternoon, he is STILL at Advent downtown!!!! (our hero--he stayed with some ladies there so they wouldn't have to be alone, plus the fact ice was still everywhere there!)....
TODAY, 3 days later, we chill out and warm UP!!!!!! Terry just left with a friend to go get his car. Natalie is dealing with frozen pipes without Brad and Michael/Kadie are trying to warm their frozen pipes up also. Charles is waiting for the roads to get better to leave.Brad is still holding down the fort at Cathedral Church of the Advent downtown. OH! And did I mention that PATRICK is in SAN DIEGO where it's 75 degrees? Yeah.
Yes, it's true. I love to go to my special "HAPPY PLACE". When I'm HAPPY/when I'm SAD/when I'm FRUSTRATED/when I'm BORED/when I'm LONELY. And where is this incredible place, you ask???? MY CRAFT ROOM!!!!!!!! Yes, this is where I can be ME. Sometimes when I get up there I am going for a PURPOSE. Like: to make a card for someone. OR to work on an album. OR to just sit on the floor in the room and look around me at all the paper/pens/glues/glitter/un-made books. And this is where I get INSPIRATION. I'm not an artist. I'm not one who can create something out of nothing. (Only God can really do that, anyway, right?)? But, what I can do is use mediums made for making things and create my own stuff. I love my HAPPY PLACE and there are days that I want to stay in there all day long. I will often run downstairs and make a sandwich and head right back upstairs. Other days I feel quite "bleh" about it and have to lie on the floor and just BE. I pray on that floor. I spill glitter on that floor. I cut while sitting on that floor. I talk on the phone with the cell phone to my ear while gluing and stamping. ON THAT FLOOR. Yes, I have a comfy chair up there. But, I can't usually work while sitting in it. I usually have to get on the floor and lay out all my ideas. If it's a scrapbook, I put out layouts. If it's a card, I think about who I am making it for and why they mean something to me in my life. If I make something for someone I do not know, I pray that they will see past my imperfections and lack of artist ability and see the love with which I have made that item. Yes, I love my HAPPY PLACE. And with the colder air coming this afternoon? Looks like my HAPPY PLACE will only get happier.
BABY, it's COLD OUTSIDE! yes, it is. I think the whole USA is covered in a POLAR ICE CAP! I don't remember it being this cold in the past few years!!!! In fact, a couple of years ago, we had the mildest winter on record. NOT SO THIS YEAR! 2014 came in like a LION! BRRRR!
I watched "FROZEN", the new Disney Movie , online this week-end. Not a good time to watch a movie about ice and snow, I guess . (Although it's freezing in Alabama, no snow for the kids, so what a bummer. If it's going to be COLD, at least let there be some white stuff, right??)! Anyway, I was disappointed. Again, maybe I was freezing enough, without watching a movie about freezing ice and snow! HAHA! Don't get me wrong, I loved the music!!!! Awesome! Like, REALLY good music. "Let it go!" * actually, my favorite part was when Ana was singing in the castle next to the portraits in the Castle hall!!!!!!!*But , for 90 % of the the movie, to me, it seemed a rather dark movie for kids. Where was the hilarious scenes like in "Aladdin" or the funny characters like in "Little Mermaid". (Sorry, a snowman who keeps falling apart isn't funny to me). Where was the evil queen/witch/sorcerer like in most (gotta have good with evil, right?)? where was the love story , well, I guess there was kind of a love story. To me the cutest part was the interplay between Ana and her goofy , I guess (?), her boyfriend. but, the thing about the sister who had to live in another part of the castle because she turned everything to ice??? HUH? So, those 2 girls lived in a castle together and never saw each other? Did they eat? All Ana did was watch the clock, apparently. And what about the parents who perished in the ocean??? OK, I'm asking in an adult voice but I know kids wonder that too. LOL! That was odd. Letting the black curtain down over the parents portrait in the castle? Leaving the parents have to explain to their kiddos, "well , the parents went down on the ship . and, um, drowned". UGH.
Daisy and I had it on and we watched it but she kept losing interest. Case in point. And Kemp would for awhile and then say"I don't really like the music". Poor boys. NOT a movie, AT ALL, for them! ANyway, the whole frozen/snowy/icy movie was strange if you ask me (and my daughter-in-law, Kadie--she said she did her grocery list while it was on! LOL)..... And my final question: will Elsa (is that her name?) always have to wear gloves for the rest of her life? HAHAHAHA...just my take on the latest Disney adventure. I think they were already thinking "HMMMMM, this would be a great Broadway hit". And they are probably right. Hence the reason they chose the girl's voice to sing. Already thinking about the latest Broadway Smash Hit. I can promise you, it will be on Broadway sooner than later! (might be better there). Sounds like "WICKED" to me in a child form. Oh well, maybe next year they'll ask ME to write the next Disney adventure! And I can promise you I will have some Princesses/some strong and funny Prince Charmings and some evil witches for good measure. AND they will live HAPPILY EVER AFTER....(without gloves)! enuff on that. I know , I know. Most people like it. But, not me. Sorry.....
Yes, it's cold in the 'Ham. which means for me: No going to my little garden and checking tomatoes. Or walking barefoot to get the mail (OK, sometimes I still do that, hopping and squealing all the way there!). Or ice cream at the neighborhood "Whole Scoop". Or walking down to the lake to see the ducks. Or walking on my secret path in the woods. NOPE. TOO COLD. BUT, I am not complaining anymore. Trying to find beauty in the winter too. Like seeing my dogs snuggle by the fire. Covering up in my heated throw watching T.V. ...Drinking coffee with lunch. Seeing the frost on the yard when the sun comes up. And, most of all, remembering to be THANKFUL when the thermometer says 100 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*DISCLAIMER*To avoid the risk of being compared to the funniest "NAIL PLACE" Video I've ever seen, let me say my take on Pedicures is different, BUT in some ways, similar. HAHA!
Pedicures! who doesn't love them? The reason I decided to write about pedicures this morning is because I do love them. And, when my feet SCRAPE the sheets, like they did this morning, I know it's that time. Time to have the girl grab my foot (sometimes in not such a gentle way) and start the scrubbing. And scraping. And tickling..........
You walk into the salon and see these giant posters of Nails. Like MONSTER size. Like the posters cover one whole wall. Shiny posters. Posters that show these long talons colored in different colors. BRIGHT reds/ blues and sometimes black. Always with a rose. You KNOW you are in a Nail Salon, ok?? It's funny to me how the girls (and maybe a few guys, too), continue to work even as the bell rings (on the door--why they have them when they are all sitting right there is beyond me) and you walk in. NOW THIS IS THE STRANGE PART!!!!!!!! They don't even look up and ask, "Can I help you?" You: "Yes, can you tell me where the asparagus aisle is? " Scratch that, you were THINKING that, ok???? "Yes, I'd like a pedicure, please. Can you tell me how much?" Nail expert: "depends. What you want done?" You:IN YOUR MIND: "here we go again.....!" " Just the regular thing. See I'm going on a cruise......." Stop right here. You tell them you are going on a cruise, because you feel guilty that: 1. you don't really have the extra money to get a pedicure today 2. you would LIKE to be going on a cruise so it makes sense 3. you want to impress the other customers. "Ok, good. Sit down over there and start soaking your feet. But first, you pick you Culla". (yes, "you culla" . NOT to be discriminating in the least, but a LOT of nail people in the 'Ham have accents).
AHHH. The chair. It's nice. The water is nice. BUT WAIT!!!!!! The water is warm but not HOT!!!!! Do you tell them? And risk being labeled a "Hoover snob"???? Dang it, the water has to be HOT. So, one expectation is shot. Oh well, get over it , you are thinking.
THEN YOU REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!! you forgot to SHAVE YOUR LEGS!!!!!!! How could that happen??? You know what you are going to feel like as they get to the part where they rub your legs . You are going to feel like OLD GRIZZLEY has come to get a pedicure. You're embarrassed but past the point of caring as the massage feels so wonderful. Nail Expert: "YOU LIKE?" HUH?! you had just dropped off into a sea of tranquility zapped back to reality! You: "Oh yes! Thank you!!!! Sorry, I totally forgot to shave this morning!" Nail Expert: (ignoring comment) "You picka ya culla?" You: "yes. the "Sex-on-the-pool table Red" (you whisper) Nail Expert: "that culla be dolla more" Not surprising. Terry is in for some nice feet tonight. On the pool table.
Yes, that's Natalie again. I'll give her another blog spot pix only b/c it was her b'day yesterday! HA HA! No, it was a great picture of Daddy and it just captures so much in his face. That's the face I miss. Not the confused/puzzled face that held him hostage for the last year of his life. One reason I made the edges of this photo look singed was because I want to burn THAT image of Daddy in my photo bank. And tell you a funny part of me and my daddy's relationship. (OK, English teachers out there, is it "My Dad and I" or "me and my Dad"? Oh well, whichever, it's about US)!
I'm not going to blog all about how MY Daddy far surpasses yours. (Most readers have, whom they think is/was the best daddy in the world and when I read what somebody else writes about their daddy I immediately want to TOP THEIR STORY! BAHAHAHAHA!)! No, I'm going to talk about DADDY in another light. Daddy as TEACHER. not my favorite hat daddy wore. And he wore it every night after dinner with THE HOMEWORK.
First a little (short) background on my Pop. Daddy was born in 1912. He was the 4th child of 5. (there were 6 but one infant male, the oldest, died of Whooping Cough at 3 months of age--I don't know why I added that sad information but it always makes me SO SAD b/c my grandmother would always talk about it to me and it would break my heart. Now your heart can break thinking about losing a 3 month old! ANOTHER REASON FOR INFANT INNOCULATIONS , PEOPLE! Sad!). Anyway,, Daddy was basically, the middle child. One GIRL in the mix. All the rest boys. I think, from stories I've heard over the years, that those boys were rough and tough. Street fighters/fist pumpers and always scuffling! haha! Daddy''s daddy was pretty rough himself and, get this, my grandmother was barely 16 when she married her husband, my grandfather, who was 29 years old! DO THE MATH! (DOING THE MATH is exactly what this blog is going to be about, FYI! LOL) That's 14 years older!!!!!! Heavens to betsy! (where the heck did that phrase just come from? Oh , I guess b/c I'm talking about the old days! ha!). All that, kind of weird background stuff, to say this, I don't know how he did it but he ended up with some major brain cells. Daddy was smart. I know, I KNOW, I said I wouldn't brag on my dad. But, that's not braggin' that's just a fact. I mean, he knew it all. He was a STICKLER for good English and if I said the wrong word in a sentence it was "Katie bar the door". And, NO T.V. at night when allllllllllll my friends watched the latest shows, I had to sit at the dining room table and do homework!!!!!!! UGH!!!!!!!!!! (with the exception of "Bewitched", I could watch that! LOL!). Anyway, I didn't love Daddy all that much after dinner during the schools was in session. In FACT, I hated the thought of dinner being over because "come hell or high water" we were going to sit at that dining room table and do math afterwards. OH MY GOSH.The fact that he was smart was the problem. Because he knew so much and was so good at math that "after dinner homework" time was hell for me. So's here the scenario.....He would write out the numbers on the dining room table while my mom was busy cleaning up the kitchen (she wasn't good at math either) and I would just start having that pit in my stomach because I knew "here we go again". In the words of a math problem: Jan PLUS homework PLUS idiot PLUS multiplying/dividing PLUS Daddy explaining EQUAL: DIsaster!!!!!!!!!!! I JUST DIDN'T GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would lie and say, "Yes, Dadddy, I DO understand." Then he would do that thing I can see as clear as day. He would start writing out my own damn set of problems to work to SHOW him I knew what I was talking about. Now, here is where I am SMART!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS WHAT I'D DO.....
Daddy: "Ok, sweetheart. Here's your math problem. THINK about what I just showed you. Because you are going to be in a classroom and you are going to have a test and I want you to make 100!" ******** THAT BEING: KISS OF DEATH************ Jan: "Daddy, what was it like when YOU were in school? Did you use a chalkboard? Did you have tests? WHat?" *I WAS SPINNING the topic. Hey, I'm SMART at that ! At one thing at least!* Daddy: (laughing) "NO! We had pencils and paper just like you. And yes, we had tests". Jan: "Daddy, why do we have NUMBER 2 Pencils?? why not number 1 or 42?" *****picture a really CUTE (yeah, me) little girl with long hair to the waist/one dimple and pretty white teeth (not anymore, not anymore they are white, but I still have long hair and a dimple) SAYING....... Jan: "Daddy, can we go to Silver Springs this summer?" *****I;m TELLING YOU, I was the expert at SPINNING. BUT, Daddy probably had the FIRST "NO SPIN ZONE"--even before Bill O'reilly made the TV show. (Maybe HIS daddy was like mine!) Daddy: "Now listen to me. We will talk about our vacation another day. But NOW, we are going to do a little math. You're so smart, you don't use your full potential". LET ME REPEAT THAT OK?????????? BECAUSE I HEARD THIS, MAYBE TEN MILLION TIMES GROWING UP!!!!!!!!! "You're so smart, you're not using your FULL potential"!!!!!!!!!!
Jan: TO DADDY IN HEAVEN: "OK, DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM TRYING! I am now 62 and I am finally heeding your words!!!!!!!!! I'm blogging, Daddy! Daddy, you always were sooooo proud of me regarding my ENGLISH grades! Your face would beam ,(kind of like in the picture above with you and Natalie), and smile when my ENGLISH grades came in! You were soooo happy. You said I was always "wordy". FINALLY, Daddy, I am listening and re-calling your advice. Daddy, I want to thank you, too. Thank you for your UN-ENDING patience with me. THANK YOU for, yes, TAKING ME to Silver Springs. Thank you for teaching me that ,even when I failed MATH TESTS (which I failed more than I passed) it was OK!!!!!! That you would still pull out my chair in the dining room and never give up TRYING to teach me. Thank you for encouraging me to write. I remember taking you one of my little "books" I wrote when I wrote that horrible little ditty called "Heaven Help the Small Frys" and you were soooo excited. Jan: "Daddy, I wrote this little book about raising the Small Frys" Daddy: (wiping eyes) "You're a good writer". Daddy, thank you the MOST for encouraging me to READ every single day. That reading would open doors for me that MATH BOOKS might not. That by reading, I was learning how to WRITE!!!!!!!!!!
You know what? On this day, Jan. 23, 2014 my eyes are once again filling up with tears. My DADDY. My teacher. My encourager. My '"You can do this". My "I'm so proud of you, sweetheart". My "keep on writing" cheer leader.
From the moment she was born, she brought beauty into my life that was not there , previously! I remember being completely and utterly in love with her. Like: IMMEDIATE AWE INSPIRING LOVE....*Disclaimer: NOT THAT I WASN'T IN LOVE WITH MY 2 BOYS, that we were blessed with when they arrived ,but that is a different kind of love. A mother/son love. Which can't be denied. But, I so desired the mother/daughter love, too! *
This "having a girl thing" was an obsession of mine from before I got pregnant the first time .(yes, Iwas the one who asked for PINK vitamins over the BLUE ones. I was the one who stared at grocery carts with 3 kids--2 of which were boys and crane my neck to see if the 3rd was a girl!I was the one who would stare at girls dresses while buying Health Tex boys clothes! AND, I was the one who studied the Fry family history to see how many girls were born to see my chances of having one! LOL!).... OK, being honest here : Girls are just different! and let's be honest,I could not see myself chatting in the future to my sons about life! or having a good ole gossip fest! DUH! LOL! Oh, and did I mention AND I WANTED ONE??????!!!!!! ...So, imagine for a moment my reaction upon hearing those words I had dreamed of hearing for so long. The doctor holding up baby and saying: "IT"S A .........GIRL!" I longed to hear those words, truly. And when I heard them, I had to ask THREE times. (Just to make sure!). I put on FaceBook yesterday the doctor said, "judge for yourself". ACTUALLY, what he did was hold her , um, well, female parts in my face. (OK! SHE IS A GIRL!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!)!!!! !
After the initial shock of actually having a girl settled in on me, and going over her little body from head to toe (she did have a tiny crooked nose hole, but that's ok, I fixed it by sticking my little finger in it and creating a nicer one! LOLOLOL!).... But, after inspecting my new daughter and cooing and telling her how pretty she was over and over (which is why she is like she is today), I remember putting my finger on her tiny cheek and rubbing her skin and amazed at how that felt. DIFFERENT from my baby boys skin. Her skin felt like rose petals. ( My mother had told me once, " baby girls skin is much softer than boys". She was right. It was like rubbing the petals of roses). Over and Over . And her smell! I was intoxicated with her from the way she looked/to the way she smelled to the awe of God's gracious gift to me. I stared at her perfection. I was totally in awe. Tiny ears and nose and a beautiful mouth. I couldn't believe this little "real life baby doll" was mine. Back in the "old days" there were no sonagrams. You just found out at birth what you were having. But, oh it made for some fun in the delivery room---the pushing and waiting!!!!! So, when the news came, I was in SHOCK. But, Natalie was born at 7:24 P.M. on Jan. 22 and , again, BACK IN THE OLD DAYS, they took them off and kept them. SO, and this is the saddest thing, I didn't see her until JAN. 23!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO!!!! can you even imagine???? And I was a NURSING mama, too!!!!!!! (So glad things like that have changed!). I was sharing a room the first night, (the hospital was full), and the girl next to me was holding her baby and cooing and feeding her. And I was lying there, wondering what my baby looked like/how she was/crying/ and wanting more than life itself to hold my new baby girl!!!!!! But, the next morning our first "meet and greet", I was fresh and excited/Natalie was bathed and clean and couldn't wait to see that door open with my angel! it was wonderful. I can see the nurse now, walking in with heaven wrapped in a white blanket and this little black hair sticking up! I couldn't UN-WRAP her fast enough! By this time, I was in a private room. As SOON as the nurse left, I put Natalie in the middle of the bed, ran (sort of!) to my suitcase and underneath and HIDDEN in my gown was a beautiful tiny pink ribbon. I IMMEDIATELY tied it in her hair. NOW she was mine! LOL!!!!!
. Oh how I wanted a girl! (*ya think?) i can say that now!ALL THESE YEARS LATER! I AM ADMITTING IT!!!!!!!!!YES! I DID!!!! I loved everything about baby girls. Their clothes, (obviously),/ being able to put a bow in that black hair/the dreams I had for her life/the pure JOY of having a daughter to be able to share so much with!! *AND, Praise GOD, these are the exact same reasons I wanted Natalie and Katie to have a girl, also!!!!!!!*
And, I must admit it, wanting a mini-me. Maybe I could, in some way, keep her from making mistakes I did? Steer her towards reaching for the stars more than I had done? Protect her forever? Keep her from making poor decisions?? Of course, that was all the thoughts I had as I gazed upon her face.( Her BEAUTIFUL face, by the way. All mothers think their babies are beautiful, but when the nurses and doctors and everyone says so, well, you believe it! HAHAHAHA). But with beauty comes a price. And I'm talking beauty inside as well as outside here. People are ready to judge. To use. To be jealous of. To want to emulate. To try and ruin.This is where I had to give up trying to make her life how I wanted it to be and giving her life over to the One, God, who could protect her/love her and guide her with His grace. And I did......After thanking God for the gift of this daughter on Jan. 23, I felt complete. I wouldn't want another child. I was ready to say :"Family done!"! I had three gorgeous children. Two of the most handsome little boys ever born and now this Princess. I truly felt complete for the first time in my life. Satisfaction. Peace. Joy. ....
But wait a minute! Oh my goodness!!! God had other plans!!!!!!!! our family was NOT complete! We would add 2 more children! Another handsome(BLONDE!) boy and another beautiful baby girl (and, YES, I wanted another girl by that time, as bad as the first time! Just ask Katie! She told me about the diary I kept before SHE was born, "you would've had to burn the diary had I been another boy!"! LOL!)!!!!!
How could I know that as I lay on the hospital bed and gazed at what I thought was the beautiful completion to our family on that January day??? I laugh now looking back. But, for today, I will enjoy remembering how it felt to just enjoy a peace that comes only after giving birth to a perfect/healthy child. And the child I had longed for my whole life. I remember dressing my dolls as a little girl (GIRL DOLLS) and thinking, "I will have this one day". Partly correct. But,I had something so much better/so much more than I could have ever created in my mind. God knew what to give me. A beautiful baby girl? YES. But, today, January 22, so much more. Still beautiful of course. But even more: a companion/ a friend/a confidant/ someone to talk about life with/someone to cry with and laugh like no tomorrow with? Yes, a DAUGHTER that I envisioned on the day of her birth!!!! . And today, I think of that day, that cold January 22nd so many years ago, and I weep. I weep with a smile on my face. Not with sadness, but with joy. For, yes, my dream came true.Yes, God gave me those things I asked for. But so And again, today, that dream is not a dream anymore, but a total and complete blessing. And a reality.
Happy Birthday, Natalie Ruth Fry Horne. I DO love you to the moon and back. And maybe Mars, too.
As before mentioned, I was shocked to be asked to go as the spokesperson for Navy For Mom's website to NYC!!!!!! I knew absolutely nothing about the Navy and had only been a "Navy Mom" a couple of MONTHS. (wow, I sure could be a better "spokesperson" now, 6 years later! LOL). Anyway, before I could say JACK RABBIT , or better yet, ANCHORS AWEIGH, I was on my way to NYC. With my traveling companion. NO, not Terry. He said he wasn't about to go with a bunch of women to NYC. So, the only alternative was a single person and someone that could put up with my "I've lost my glasses"! and "I've lost my tickets!" and "where are we?" ! Katie went! (we tried to figure out how we could swing Nat going but she had a new baby ,aka DAISY, and trying to figure out how we'd do it with a stroller walking the streets of NYC just exhausted us thinking about it, much less doing it). So, she was with us in spirit. She is the one who really knows how to travel so Katie and I just sucked it up and off we went. And, happy to say, we "figured it all out"! (let me say here that I travel a lot. BUT, I have a husband who does EVERYThing. How I regretted not paying attention when we would travel. I always , and still DO, follow him around the airports like a blind puppy on a leash). So, the 2 of us left for our adventure in "PAINTING THE TOWN BLUE"......we made it! and so did PatPat the bear! Sitting like a little king on the seat of the plane! People were fascinated with our little bear and everyone had to hold him and make him talk. Even the hostesses/even the hotel personell, even people on the street........
we found our room and looked out the window and then looked back at each other and said, "NOW WHAT?!" LOL! We went downstairs and I recognized a lot of the ladies from the website! It was exciting to put faces with names and we had fun chatting and meeting each other. More and more ladies were showing up and it was so much fun to meet and greet. Dinner that night was great!!! Some of us stood up and spoke and told a bit about our sailors. And then, we were instructed about the next morning --we were to go to the "Today Show" and see if we could get a little spot on Al Roker's weather segement spot. Rachel, our PR girlie, asked me to be the spokesperson IF we got a coveted spot on the show. I was nervous, but ready. I was placed in front of the fence where, if the cameras panned us, I would be given the microphone to speak. (I'm not going to say I wasn't nervous! LOL). we all had on our "NAVY FOR MOMS" matching tee-shirts. Even Katie worn one-- she rebelled b/c: "I'm not a Navy mom, I feel stupid wearing this!" And she took it off immediately after we got backLOL!! We lined up on the Today Show sidewalk and waited. Then we heard , last minute, that Al was sent to another city at last minute! DARN! No talking about Navy for moms now! (and secretly relieved a bit).However, we did have our banner hung up on the fence that was shown. The cameras spanned the crowds and there we were!!!!!! During the break, Meredith Viera came up to speak to me. "Put up PatPat the bear!" the other ladies screamed. I did and she said, "My dad was a Navy surgeon!" Wow, that was cool to find out! She pushed PatPat's paw and went crazy over his voice! And signed PatPat's shirt! It was such fun!!!!!! She was very gracious and friendly and it was a joy to meet her! Going to the Today Show was fun but the best part of the trip was meeting all the ladies and getting to put faces to little avatar pix or profile pix on the computer. Soon we were comparing stories and it all ended up with a couple of things. 1. we missed our boys (girls--there are more Navy girls than you think!) 2. we bonded and met lifetime friends!!!
Yes. We made LIFETIME friends, this Navy Moms group. As Patrick is excitedly anticipating his end to his Navy career in 3 weeks, I am right there with him. COUNTING THE DAYS. However, one thing I don't have to worry about is saying goodbye to my Navy Moms.Or ending friendships brought about by his stint in the Navy. It's so strange, but I am closer to some of these friends, after having met a few in person and some ONLY via the internet, than some friends I have had since I was a young girl! In fact, LOTS closer. How about this, even closer to many of my relatives! Because we have a bond like no other. Nobody understands like another Navy Mom does when your 1. son leaves for deployment 2. saying those HORRIBLE goodbyes 3. letting your "baby" go to unknown places. They "GET IT" and it's because we have all experienced it. It's like trying to tell a pregnant girl the first time what it's like to experience childbirth! you can TELL them but they have to experience the pain of it themselves. ....So, again, There is no way I could begin to express what their friendships have meant to me in the past 6 years , in a few words. (And you know me, I am wordy! LOL!!)! I wish I could encapsulate, in a few sentences, the depth of gratitude/the enormity of their presence in my life/the loyalty and love I feel (and is reciprocated(/ the encouragement/the acceptance/the non judging/ and mostly the joy they bring and so much more. even after NYC, I met more, more recently, the past couple of years, via FaceBook (Navy4Moms.com is still kickin' but I now go to FaceBook to "visit" and chat with my Navy Moms).... Some I became closer to than others ,(you know who you are), but I can say I bonded with them all in one way or another. For many of us, having our kids in the Navy, it was truly "cutting apron strings" but not just like a kid going off to college (and that's hard, but NOTHING to compare!), it was cutting strings to let them go , some, to foreign countries (Patrick) and some to war . Some, and this grips me even as I type, LOST THEIR SONS. those are the moms with whom I admire most/whose "club" I did NOT want to join (nor did they!) that horrible group of BLUE STAR MOMS, those whose sons gave the ultimate sacrifice. The ultimate FEAR of every other mom I have ever met. Spoken or unspoken. The "Dead elephant" in the room.That fear that looms over you day and night but is hardly ever said aloud. Even to one's self.... Sadly, There were several I met that lost their sons in the past 6 years. After the news I would ask myself, "How do I respond to them?"? Or better yet, should I even say anything at all when I had my own son still alive and well? Would they act differently?
For one dear soul, I will only call her by her first name. LAURA. Laura's son, "Doc"/Michael was killed in action, a hero, tending to his fallen comrades which was his job--- a medic. I had gotten an email from Laura asking me to pray for him before he left. And I did. but, who would've ever thought.........that her precious son/her youngest son would give his life that day?...words fail me but let me say it touched me in a such a deep way that it brought me to my knees that morning when I read about Michael. WHY?!?!?!!? WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN??? And my soul was torn. How would I respond to Laura? What could I POSSIBLY say/write/express that could make a difference to the gaping hole in her heart?!?!?? NOTHING. But I did pray and of course, I responded. I don't even remember what I said, doesn't matter, b/c she doesn't either, I'm sure. But a bond grew ever deeper. Was she jealous I had my son and she didn't? No. She wasn't.And this is how she has gone through this pain and continued on: READ CAREFULLY mother's of sons who are alive and healthy! Number one, she supported , even more, the Navy/Marines and the cause for which her son died. And Number two, she loved on her friends sons even more. Wow, I'm crying as I type. That's LOVE, people. People who can take the WORST THING YOU CAN GO THRO: LOSE (a child) and , turn the pain into an action verb. She encourages/loves. She supports our boys each day by wearing RED on Friday for the military. SHE KEEPS MIKEY ALIVE BY DOING WHAT HE WOULD WANT HER TO DO! And that is, to never give up. To keep praying for the OTHER boys and girls serving. To SUPPORT our military. WHAT A LEGACY! What LOVE! and...did I mention? I love her! :)
Then, I had another close friendship. It is with a precious, adorable blonde Navy mom in New Jersey! With her only 2 sons, BOTH in the Navy! You know how sometimes you just CLICK with someone and you KNOW that you know that you KNOW you will be BFF?? well, that's my Marianne. Believe it or not, we met in NYC but only for the shortest time. I remember whenKatie and I went to our room to change clothes we both said, "we LOVe Marianne! she is so friendly and CUTE! " ! And after returning home, we just became very close via the website and then on FB . SO close, that, joy of joys, she came to B'ham in October to see us and stay for the week-end!! It was the BEST!!!!!!!!!So, for the friendships that came from Patrick's being in the Navy? I am so very grateful. And thankful . And joyful. And look forward to having those friendships my whole life!!!!!
So, Patrick will be out of the Navy in less than 3 weeks. will I hang up the US flag? will I take down everything in my house that screams "NAVY" or signs sitting around my house that show the love for our country? will I delete all my Navy moms now? Will I get out of the closed Navy Mom groups on FaceBook? well, you were screaming "NO" in your head at every question and you are right! OF COURSE NOT!!!!
when Patrick left, I felt as if my world had fallen apart. I let my baby boy walk into the recruiter's office that chilly April morning 6 SHORT years ago and the sobs that overtook me almost rocked my entire world for the next few months. YES, there were times when I still freaked over things. YES, deployments were hard . YES, our big Fry Family table always had an empty chair that sent me into a fit of tears. YES, I thought I would never make the 6 years that his time was served without crying the whole time. But guess what?
Yeah. You guessed it. I'm sad. WHAAAAAAAAAAT? LOL! whO WOULD"VE EVER THOUGHT I'D WRITE THOSE WORDS?!!!!!!! Not sad he's not coming back, I cannot WAIT. But, there IS that part of me that will be sad not to see him in his Navy uniform and have others come up and shake his hand and say, "thank you for serving". Or have that lump in my throat seeing him in his Navy whites at Katie's wedding. It was so special and I was so proud. But, now I'll have another lump in my throat. This time it will be on VETERAN'S DAY when I will be remembering.......and thanking GOD that , indeed, this was part of the plan of Patrick's life. And be thankful.
Today I'm kind of cheating! I went and make some pix of the little album I made 6 years ago! This tells the story better than I could write it, probably. NAW! I could write it better! LOL! BUT, I thought you might like to see PatPat the Bear , in his glory days. there are many more photos of our famous bear, but I don't have time to go digging for them. Lucky to find this little album I made!!!! Speaking of PatPat the bear..... Poor PatPat the bear. When Ryder arrived PatPat became 2nd banana. HA! that's ok, PatPat still looks pretty darn good after 6 years of dragging him everywhere! And he got to meet a very famous person in NYC, too! On the TODAY SHOW!!! Meredith Viera! But, that story comes tomorrow! I truly need to get a pix of Ryder with PatPat as soon as he gets here. IN LESS THAN 4 WEEKS!!!!!! WOWSER!!!!!!!!!!!!
Getting excited to think that soon, Patrick's time will be up. GOOD JOB, Patrick! It's been a LONG time but it has been good. Good in so many ways! Him meeting Kelley/falling in love and having Ryder. It seems like so much has happened in 6 years, and it has! we've added 4 children to the family since he left! BLAKELY/CARTER/RYDER and ELLA KATE!!!!!!! ....AND , Mimi is still here!!!!!!!!! Yes, she is older acting and she has a hard time remembering where Patrick has been, but she is well aware that he is finally coming HOME. I can't wait to go to see her with him and make those "WELCOME HOME" photos with his grandmother. Mimi is the only grandparent Patrick has left in his life and she means the world to him and vice versa! She loves to tell the story of "that little blonde haired boy wearing those cowboy boots!". I guess I need to take those cowboy boots with us when we go see her! Mimi and Daddy gave those to him for his 3rd birthday! I am so glad I still have them. But, even more, so glad Mimi is still here to be able to say "welcome home" to Patrick!!!!!!!!
Not #500words today. Things to do/places to go/people to see today!!!! Tomorrow I will write about my trip to NYC!
So, now Patrick was gone and I needed to find out what the Navy was all about, right??? So, that's exactly what I did. I mentioned yesterday that I found a website for Navy moms. I spent many a day/night cruising the website for info. I got a wealth of information!!! But, MUCH MORE than that, I started "meeting" new Navy Mom friends , right there on the website. I found some Southern friends (we just "understand each other, so that was like welcoming an old/new friend) and many new ones, too. From all OVER the USA!!! we started chatting and sending info back and forth. Soon, I had some new friends online.......!
Because, I guess I was bored (?), I started making up stories about a Sailor Bear named "PatPat" (LOL). (Patrick had given me a Build-a-Bear , dressed in a Sailor outfit and even with his voice recorded in it when I touched it's paw. *THANK YOU, KATIE for THAT idea! HAHAHA). Of course, I was obsessed with it and, 6 years later, ole PatPat the Bear STILL TALKS! Anyway, I started making up stories about this bear because, well, I like to WRITE ! DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wrote about PatPat's adventures . And I began to take ole PatPat with me, wherever I went!!!! Trips to the beach)/visiting the grands/going to see Mimi/visiting friends/ON the beach/out to eat and on road trips!!! AND, (unbeknownst to me, apparently a bit like FLAT STANLEY--whoever that is! Seriously, I thought I was doing something nobody had ever thought of before! I heard about "Flat" later! ! HA). Anyway, I began posting the stories AND the pictures on my Navy Mom Page of our adventures together. Soon, PatPat the Bear became a CELEBRITY!!!!!!! So much so, that one day I got a call from the NFM website person that they really enjoyed my (stupid) stories/pix.( **** I wish I had the pix on my computer!! I don't! But, for INSTANCE---PatPat the bear on the beach. PatPat the bear in front of OLD NAVY---PatPat the bear IRONING HIS UNIFORM (this one got lots of hits and ADVICE on how to iron it (I wanted to say "come on folks, this is a BEAR, this is not REA/PatPat the bear sitting on the beach watching the waves (and the girls)....! HAHAHAHA).
ANyway, what fun it all was!!!!!!!! I would wake up at night thinking of things to do with PatPat!!!!!!! Fast forward........
Now this is really FUNNY and shocking. I had only been on this web page for maybe TWO MONTHS and I was asked (by the web , what do they call them, designers? Whoever heads up the thing) of the NFM website to go to NYC as part of a group to "PAINT THE TOWN BLUE" (or was it RED? No, blue. Today they ask for Navy Moms to wear RED on Fridays) Anyway, for the NAVY MOMS. To get some interest generated for this informative and cool website. Not only that, to be the "ahem" SPOKESPERSON for it. HUH??????????? At this point, folks, I didn't know a boat from a ship. An enlisted man from a swabber. A general from a E1. Or whatever. I didn't know crap. Let's be honest. HOW IN THE WORLD COULD I GO AND TALK (possibly on TV) ABOUT IT???????? But, I'm good at faking stuff (haha) and can talk about the COLOR Navy all day long!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....I said yes! BAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Here's where it gets good. I got a FREE TRIP TO NYC, PEOPLE!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSS
In NYC, is where I got to put some FACES to some of those friends who I met online. Several , especially those who lived up NAWTH, just drove over there. Several went from everywhere. But, I, ME, got mine , ta da, free. Ahem. Because of a silly story about a bear, I suppose. SO, I owe a lot to the bear mentioned!!!! (I will try tomorrow, to find a newspaper article that was in the B'ham news about it as well as some pictures. I know I have them somewhere. ANyway....more tomorrow about my trip. I had to take Katie with me b/c I don't travel alone (just ask Terry) and wanted to take Natalie , too, but she had an itty bitty baby at the time. Katie was engaged so she was "free". So, off we went. What fun we had meeting everyone!