Happy FATHER's Day to...

Julian A Cluff
That would be my DAD on the right.  He died when I was a mere 11 months old when his plane crashed near Payson, AZ.  I only got to know him through the stories that were told.  But, those stories let him be a HERO in my mind.  Flying airplanes - riding motorcycles - and he was sooo handsome!  The visits that I had with him were frequent trips to the cemetery with Mom to take him bunches of oleander and wipe down his headstone.  I loved being in that green, cool oasis.  Listening to the birds singing in the trees and feeing the soft breeze against my little tanned body I could feel peace and happiness there.  But, he wasn't there to put his arms around me, or hold me on his knee...  I have to be honest and admit that I felt abandoned by him and somewhat angry.  My big brother, Jim, took me to the crash site when I was much older.  After hiking in from the highway Jim pointed out to me the canopy of the plane still leaning against a treeon the little hill, pointed in the direction of the tiny airport.  Some of that anger began to melt.  My DAD had been returning to the airport  - he knew there was a problem and was going back.  I sat right down in the dirt and let the tears come.  As I sobbed the 47 years of pain and longing and yes, anger, all washed away.  My Daddy had been trying to come home.  I know now that he has been watching over me my entire life!  Happy Father's Day.  I love you! 

Eddie Lee Jones
That would be my DAD on the left.  I was almost 6 years old when my Mom married him.  I really wanted a daddy, but knew there were going to be many changes for this little girl.  From their courting, I could already feel the sterness.  I could tell that the discipline was going to out-weigh the tenderness he may feel towards me.  I was right.  I had lots of moments of his harsh discipline.  I was too sassy and was always punished for "talking back".  But, I really only wanted to be a "daddy's little girl" and make him love me.  I learned a lot about life from him.  He taught me the importance of doing a job well, and smiling while doing it (I may have had the hardest time with the smiling part), being frugal (straightening used bent nails to re-use), respecting the animals that would feed us, bring money to our family on their sale, or simply be our friend.  He was a hard worker,  soooo Handsome, loved to sing, and was so much fun on family camping trips.  I really became close to him in his later years, and learned how much I loved him as I became more involved in his care.  Thanks for making me yours, Dad. Happy Father's Day!

Toni & Todd

Two Birthdays exactly 4 years apart.

Each one treasured within my heart.

O, day of JOY!

A baby Girl! A baby Boy!

How miraculous and sweet,

That tender moment when we meet -

Mother and babe.

One shared but a moment -

One, twenty five years.

Only my heart knows the sorrow and tears.

But, how miraculous and sweet -

When in Heaven again we meet -

Mother and child.

So Much to be THANKFUL For!

God has blessed my life with such bounty!

I am so thankful for my FAITH - knowing that I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father, and that His son, Jesus Christ, is my savior.

I am ever so grateful for my FAMILY who lift me and sustain me. - My parents, my siblings & their families, my cousins, aunts & uncles - my precious children (especially my daughter Andi who teaches me so much and brings me such joy) and my grand daughter, Haylee!

I thank my FRIENDS who stand beside me through thick and thin - you all know who you are!

I am thankful for all those necessities that sustain my life

and

for all the blessings that bring me ease and comfort.

I am grateful for the beauty that surrounds me in this corner of the world - the colors, textures, contrasts, sounds, and delightful memory invoking scents that are part of God's wonderful creation.

I am blessed with the ability to see, hear, taste, smell and feel.

I've been given the ability to love unconditionally, forgive freely, and feel compassion.

How THANKFUL I am for all the love that has surrounded me all my life!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Birthday WANDA!

I wanted so badly to call you this morning and wish you a Happy Birthday... O, how I miss you!

Even though you were only 7 years older, you were always like another mother to me. Protecting me, teaching me, spoiling me.

Like our MOM, you were always there for me.

I could talk to you about anything.

I wanted to be like you.

Most of my early memories include you.

Many times you rescued me from the big mullberry tree in our yard. I would have met certain broken-bone fate if you hadn't caught me as I jumped from a limb o so high. You saved my burning bare feet by packing me on your back after my whining about the hot, thick, powdery summer dust we had to trudge through to Grandmother & Grandad Cluff's house. (I sometimes wonder if I had any shoes to play in.) I can remember walking home from Rendevous Park after swimming and begging you to carry me 'cause the sidewalk was scorching my little brown feet. And, speaking of swimming ~ there was the time that you and Linda Payne were in the deep end of the pool hanging on the side (I'm sure just looking cool for the guys) and I jumped in beside you. I only went under a couple of times before you grabbed me, sat me on the side and scolded me. But, you were my hero! You saved me!

I remember you orchestrating "freak shows" on our huge front porch (well, when I see it today, it was really just a small step). We dressed up in Mom's old clothes, sold tickets to neighbors, and did I-really-don't-remember-what, other than we called it a freak show. You were always organizing something for the family to do. Organizing was one of your strengths.

I remember going to a mutual party at Halloween sitting on top of your shoulders with a long yellow formal gown on to hide you, and having people wonder who we were. I felt so grown up being there with big people and getting to dance (of course it was your feet doing all the dancing).Oooo, and of course you put lipstick on me!

I was so thrilled that you showed me how to do backbends, cartwheels, headstands & handstands, splits, and to walk with my hands. I knew how way before any of my friends did, and was able to teach them, thanks to you!

I loved watching you draw, and felt so pleased that you would take the time (it seems that you always had time for me) to show me how to draw a realistic looking tree with leaves. You were so talented.

Musically speaking, some of my favorite oldies are songs that you listened to as a teenager.

It totally broke my heart when you married and moved away, but O, how I cherished the summers that I got to spend with you! When I got to fly with gramma Strebeck to visit you in Playa del Rey and spend time, I thought I was in heaven. I remember going to the little market with you (you made friends with every one there, and I was so proud that you introduced me to them), to get things for our lunches - cottage cheese, peaches and Wheat Thins (still a favorite of mine). You said you were trying to get your figure back after having Jay, but I thought you were just right, and even more beautiful for being a mother. You were so cool to let me go to the beach with Skipper and his friends. How fun that you let me get a treat from the bakery truck or the ice cream truck that came through your neighborhood.

As your family grew, I got to spend summers and watch your kids while you worked. I love your kids. I learned so much by watching you be a mother.

You introduced me to so many books. "A Girl of the Limberlost" is still one of my most cherished books to read. Mom instilled the love of reading in me, but you pushed it along.

You stood by me in all the trauma and drama in my life. You and Jordan were pillars for me when Todd was born.

Your letters buoyed me up when we lived so far apart. You and Hallmark (you had a closet full of cards and gifts for every occassion!) lifted me more times than you will ever know.

Your example of compassionate service inspires me. You were always doing for someone else.

You were my rock when Todd died. I relied on your love and strength. There you were to see to it that I not have to worry about anything. I was in such a daze I couldn't have accommodated all the people that came to mourn with me. Just being wrapped in your arms and gently rocked seeped some of my pain away.

I have always looked up to you ~ wanting to be like you ~ knowing that I could never reach that perfection. You see, you always seemed so perfect to me! So many of your talents and skills I can just admire and appreciate.

So, HaPpY BirTHdAy, dear Wanda! I hope you and Mom and Lena and Norene are having a celebration! Once my hero, and now my angel ~Until we hug again ~ I LOVE YOU FOR ALWAYS!

P.S.

Please give my Toni & Todd a hug for me!

Mommy ~ Mom ~ My Mother

Me and my MOMMY

My mother ~ the most amazing woman!
Her loving, nurturing nature made me feel so safe and cherished. Not that I didn't ever feel her wrath - rather the fly swatter - on my backside. I always knew that I had it coming, though. She totally believed in spanking - on the bottom - NOT with her hand - the rivits on our jeans hurt her hand.
She made home so comfortable, but thoroughly CLEAN! Our floors shined, beds were always made, dishes done and put away, porches swept, and laundry so white it was the envy of the neighbors.
She had a green thumb when it came to growing flowers. She loved having a pretty yard.
She had a strong work ethic. Being a widow with 4 little ones and not willing to go on any type of assistance (whether it be from the state or the church) she did many things. She tended neighbor kids, ironed and cleaned for people in our ward, cleaned a motel down on south Country Club Dr. All this and kept up the yard and house and chickens. Later after dad and 4 more little ones were added to our family, she kept up the house, yard, babies, and helped with the animals, and in the fields.
She sewed, mended, quilted, bottled fruit, made bread, and made sure the cookie jar was full. She read to us every night, and the cadence of her voice was so soothing. She had a knack for reciting poems and readings. She loved to sing and taught me sunday school & primary songs, nursery rhymes, and finger plays that I loved then, and can now teach my grand daughter.
She made life a joy for us kids! ...played board games with us. ...made sure we always had books to read, crayons to color with, and stuff & things to do whatever with. Before plastic wading pools, she filled wash tubs in the back yard for us to cool off in . She allowed us to roam the neighborhood and have the freedom to stay out after dark in the summertime. She hauled us to grandma & grandad's and to family reunions ~ family was everything to her! She was willing to stop at scenic byways & overlooks and let us eat junk food in the car as we sang together or played 20 questions. Traveling with her was always fun.
Her service and compassion to others was stellar. Her tenderness in caring for her mother and her mother-in-law, and dad's step mother (even though at times that was really hard) was such an example to me.
I will always admire the dilligence with which she performed her church callings. I never heard her complain. Her obedience is something I need to strive to match.
I loved talking to her as a teenager ~prying stories of her youth out of her.
She taught me so much in my young married days over the phone ('cause I didn't pay enough attention when I was still at home).
As a new mother her advice was so welcome.
As a working woman it was such a comfort to be able to stop by her house and get a hug at lunch time.
I will never get over the urge to crawl up on her lap and breathe in her scent and feel her softness...

Mom, I miss you! You are my heroine! If you weren't my mother, I would have chosen you for my best friend. I aspire to be like you. You are the most beautiful woman I have been blessed to know. I LOVE YOU!

Words to LIVE by...

This tile trivet hangs in my kitchen near the sink, so I see it every day!

It was given to me by a co-worker almost 24 years ago!

I really do try to govern my life by

GREATFULNESS.

I also try to spread a little JOY and SUNSHINE every chance I get.

I have been blessed with a happy spirit - O, I can get down and depressed, but I just can't stay there. I will wallow for a moment only, and my heart just floats right back up to

HaPpY!

I have always been surrounded by people who love me, and things to give me comfort and ease and beauty! I recognize that I have more to be thankful for than not. Yes, I have had sorrows - many and deep - but, because of them I can appreciate the everyday little joys that come my way!

Thanks to my co-worker friend for giving me this beautiful tile, and to it's author, Amanda Bradley!

It gives me something to muse on...

To Those Who Served...

How blessed I am to know and love selfless, strong and brave men & women who served in the armed forces!

I am so very proud of my brother Jim the MARINE. I remember my heart swelling with pride seeing him in his Marine uniform. He was already good looking, but that uniform made him even more so! I think all my girlfriends had a crush on him! I loved hearing him tell stories about serving. The one I recall most is his telling of how proud he was being one-of-hundreds holding a huge gynormous United States flag from underneath and having tears in his eyes while telling it. Thank you Jim. I love you!

Thank you uncle Benny and my uncle Buster, my cousin Fred, and ex-cousin-in-law Terry for serving in the NAVY!

Thank you Aunt Nelda for your service in the AIR FORCE. I have always looked up to you!

Thank you Bill for your service in the AIR FORCE. It wasn't easy letting you go to Viet Nam and wonder if you would be coming back home to me. I know how very hard it was for you to witness the horrors you saw and try to make the world seem normal when you came back!

Thank you to my uncle Cotton and uncle Kenneth for your service in the Army. Thank you Ted for serving in the ARMY and for the sacrifice in pain that you experienced losing friends and being wounded in the jungle of Viet Nam. How tender must have been your feeling knowing that your child was being born when you were so far away. Thank you for taking time to write to me. I cherish those words. I loved you then and still.

Thank you my Grandad Cluff for your service in WWI. You will always be one of my heros!

HEROS ALL!!

Blast From The Past!

Almost daily I experience the warm memories of my childhood in our little white frame home - you know the one - with the white picket fence and fragrant colorful flowers lovingly tended by my mom's hands. More specifically I hear the voices of my siblings and my mother gathered round the kitchen table. That soothing background noise for all our meals. That table had some miraculous meals served on it. I am so amazed that Mom could feed herself and four kids with one can of tuna, or one can of soup. I remember fried okra - still a treat to me - salmon patties, scalloped potatoes, cakes, raisin filled cookies (sure could love one of those right now!) and even frog legs at least one time. But the dishes that some of those meals were served on grace my table today!
These are the only two left (pictured above) that I was blessed with out of I-don't know-how-many. I recall eating fried eggs off these plates and thinking how the white spots were egg left on the plate. Almost every morning I now eat eggs on one of these plates and think the same thing. Of course I love eating desert from them!
I wish I knew their history. Were they from a box of detergent? I do know mom got some dishes from detergent, green stamps, the service station and such. Did she pick them up from a family member, or were they a wedding gift? O, how I wish I had asked her! They are beautiful! Small plates with large simple brush strokes that form a beautiful flower... but more than that they bring a rush from the past of blissful childhood memories! I simply adore them!

DRESSING OF A PRINCESS

Some of my fondest childhood memories are sitting on the cool linoleum floor at my mother's feet as she made dresses for me and my two older sisters. There were three small drawers on the left side of the sewing machine, and the bottom one was filled with all sorts of fanciful things to keep me occupied as my mother sewed. Jacks, marbles, plastic coins {I swallowed a play dime once causing a delay in the making of that particular dress}, a few stray buttons, string, and rubber bands. How I loved listening to the rhythmic sounds of the treadle sewing machine, smelling the new cloth {something wonderfully anticipatory in that smell}, feeling her warmth as I lay my head against her thigh, and watching as she removed pin after pin from the seam before the needle went over them, and putting them in a bright red tomato-shaped pin cushion...

How I loved trying on the dress as she took the pins out of that tomato-shaped pin cushion and pinned the hem just so - to be finished by hand by lamp light later! There were plaid dresses with prim white collars - for the coming school year. There were dresses for church. But the fluffy clouds of organdy and lace and ribbons that went into the Easter dresses were the ones that made me feel like a princess!

LET FREEDOM RING!

GOD BLESS AMERICA

...and He did!

It is now up to us to help protect and preserve those blessings.

May we be ever appreciative of this

AMERICA the BEAUTIFUL,

and those brave and courageous men and women who serve-

May we stand up for the principles that our founding fathers intended-

May we be united in keeping our nation

ONE, under GOD -

I pledge allegience... do you?