Seems We Just Got Started

Have you ever had any encounters with red birds or butterflies?  I never thought too much about them until last year. After Kinsley's funeral, we came home and we parked the jeep and there was the prettiest red bird sitting in a branch right in front of us. I remember telling Sammy days after about this red bird was hanging around outside. Sometimes when he would come in from work he would say, hey that red bird is out on the porch. When Kinsley's friends would come over to see us we would walk them out to the front porch when they would get ready to leave and this red bird would zip by. It was like no one could see this bird but us cause it would go by so fast. Sammy and I got to where we would just look at each other and smile. We took a trip to see Beth, Ryan and Mac a few weeks before Sammy passed away and as I was putting stuff in the car this little butterfly would not leave me alone. I mean it was going all around me, like aggravating me to death. The we

Now, I grew up in the United Methodist Church here in town and, Lord, I reckon' Daddy and Mama have sat in the same pew as long as I can remember (that would be left side as you enter the church, 4th row toward the back, and sat near the window). Do y'all have a favorite spot? Well it made things easier for finding your parents. For a few months after we got married, we would only come home on Sundays 'cause there was just something about him (Sammy) sleeping in my bed and Daddy and Mama down the hall. You know what I mean? Y'all think back. Weird, ain't it. I could just see Mama coming down the hall swinging that stick, gave me the heebbie geebbies!!! Hey and we dare not shut the door. Didn't wanna give them the wrong impression (you know "up to no good" ha!). After church we (Mama, Daddy, Keith, Lisa, Sammy and me) would all head to my grandmother's (Mama Pet) house for lunch. My other grandmother, Mama Helen would cook some Sundays for about

Some of you may or may not know that Sammy was a drummer. He played drums in the school band. He also played base guitar in a band (forgot what their name was). You know we had the Darwin Drum Company in Burnsville, where drums were manufactured. Sammy loved putting together drums, so we have a few sets here at the house. Another thing he loved to do, especially on the weekends, was put on some music, crank it up, and play along. One day, I went shopping and when I came home he had a set of drums set up in our bedroom. Our bedroom is real big and you couldn't get any more romantic than that, huh!! He would open the siding glass doors and he entertained our neighbors. One day, I came home from work (IES) and needed to take our garbage off (back then you took your own garbage way down the road to a big garbage dumpster) before mowing the yard. I came in and changed clothes (like get out of my good clothes and put on real comfy clothes, like no bra, t-shit and tight shorts, don't

MY TOWN IS THE PLACE WHERE MY HOUSE IS FOUND BUSINESS IS LOCATED, AND  WHERE MY VOTE IS CAST. IT IS WHERE MY CHILDREN ARE EDUCATED, AND WHERE MY LIFE IS. MY TOWN HAS A RIGHT TO MY CIVIC LOYALTY, IT SUPPORTS ME AND I SHOULD SUPPORT IT. MY TOWN WANTS MY CITIZENSHIP, NOT MY PARTISANSHIP. MY FRIENDLINESS NOT MY DISSENSION. MY SYMPATHY, NOT MY CRITICISM. MY INTELLIGENCE NOT MY INDIFFERENCE. MY TOWN SUPPLIES ME WITH PROTECTION, TRADE, FRIENDS, EDUCATION, SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, AND THE RIGHT TO FREE MORAL CITIZENSHIP. IT HAS SOME THINGS BETTER THAN OTHERS. THE BEST THINGS I SHOULD SEE TO MAKE BETTER. THE WORST THINGS I SHOULD HELP TO SUPPRESS. TAKE IT ALL-IN-ALL, IT IS MY TOWN AND IT IS ENTITLED TO THE BEST THERE IS IN ME.                                                                                                                            Circa 1938 This has been sitting on a table in my parents house ever since my daddy became mayor.

Today is a special day for my family.  My daddy is hoping to get re-elected for mayor. If elected, this will be his 4th term. Back in January of 2001, Daddy called my brother (Keith), sister (Lisa), and me to come to his house. He wanted to ask us something. Lord, we couldn't imagine what he wanted to ask us 'cause we were always asking him for advice. He told us to sit down. He wanted to run something by us and see what we thought. Now my daddy had been an alderman for  years, but he wanted to run for mayor. He told us he had put a lot of thought and prayers in this and wanted to know our thoughts on this. Our answer was... why hadn't you done this a long time ago? This must be in his blood 'cause my grandmother (his mother, Helen Bryant) loved to get out and hand out cards, make phone calls for whoever she believed in and wanted you to vote for. She would have been soooo Proud of her son. Daddy and I have been going door to door for the last couple of weeks asking

You know when you have more than one child there comes a time when a car just ain't gettin' it. You know it's like moving every time you go somewhere. So a van became my ride for many years. Actually we had our share of vans over time. One year for my birthday Sammy comes home from work and tells me to pack for a over night trip. What no kids!!!! Mama was keeping them. Where are we going???? Just pack!!! ....Over night... I knew we weren't going to Hawaii (HA!) 'cause I can't fly over 2 hours. While I pack, he goes and washes the van for our trip. Now he had my van all day.  What I didn't know was he had it detailed (cleaned) on the inside. You can imagine the surprise on my face when I opened the door. Now imagine 3 kids, food, and ball bags....y'all gettin' this picture. This van looked brand new. We have a great send off, the kids and mama waving and we are headed to... Memphis. We went out to eat and on the way to the hotel our van started actin

Mr and Mrs Jackie Bryant May 18, 1955 my parents graduated from high school, and four days later they had a plan. It was a Sunday morning and Decoration Day at my grandmother's (Mama Pet) church, which is a few miles North of Iuka (Fairview). Everyone got all dressed up for this, so Mama didn't really stand out. While my grandmother and her family were doing their thing, Mama was hiding behind a big old Oak tree. She was watching out for a friend of my other grandmother's (Mama Helen) to come and pick her up and take her to my Daddy. You see my Daddy was 19 and my Mama was 4 days shy of 18 and my grandparents wouldn't hear of her getting married so they ran off......sorta. My Mama and Daddy came from two different lifestyles. My maternal grandparents (Mama Pet and Papa) had more material things than my other grandmother (Mama Helen), but their love for their children was the same. Mama Pet and Papa had a car and housekeeper. Mama Helen divorced when my Dadd

You know when you've been married 38 years as we were, its kinda scary sometimes how you know what the other is thinking? Last year it was Mother's Day weekend and Sammy wanted to take me out. Kinsley had past away only 66 days ago and I really didn't wanna do anything.  I knew he was trying to cheer me up the best he could, so I went along. He had a old green truck that he was SO proud of and wanted to ride in it to Florence AL (about an hour away). He had a new radio and blue tooth installed in that thang, Whoopeeee!! A guy thing, I guess. On the way he wanted to know what I would like for Mother's Day. I told I didn't really need anything but.... I was thinking about a porch swing. Then he wants to know where I wanted to eat. I really wasn't up to a restaurant, but I didn't say anything. As we get closer to Florence he ask again. In my head I was thinking Five Guys, you know some place...in and out. So I said how about you pick and he says how about

Let us go ahead and assure you that this won’t be half as entertaining as Mama’s posts usually are.  But this blog is really special to Mama and we are at a point where the best thing about any holiday is the family and friends that we have to share it with.  So, what better way to tell Mama HAPPY MOTHERS DAY than on her blog! (No, Mama, we didn’t read any of the stories you have started writing, we like being surprised just like everyone else!) So, at this point last year we were both celebrating our first Mother’s Day.  Goodness, what a mix of emotions.  On one hand we had so much joy, celebrating our first Mother’s Days and on the other hand feeling so much pain that Mama and Daddy were celebrating another Mother’s Day without Jay and now without Kinsley.  And, of course, our hearts ached because we miss them so much, too. So that weekend, Daddy decided he wanted Mama to go to dinner and a movie with him.  Mama had said she really wasn’t quite up to it yet but, of course, she

Lori Elizabeth Darwin 7 lbs 2 ozs. and 19 1/2 inches long You know when you work in radio you move a round a good bit, especially if you wanna move on up the ladder. I didn't realize till I was putting this together that it seemed every time we moved I was pregnant and had no idea. This time we weren't moving to a new city just from an apartment to our own house. Woo hoo! We were closer to Iuka than I ever thought we would ever be... Birmingham, AL. I really considered it home being only 3 hours away from Iuka. We moved in the fall of '81.  When we three got all settled in, I went to the doctor and found out I was pregnant. I remember telling Sammy at the dinner table that #2 was on its way. Let me just say, the rooster may crow, but it's the hen that delivers the goods. This pregnancy went well.  I was never sick and never really craved anything. In May of '82 my family came down to visit, and Beth was still 2 weeks away from her debut. I remember us all

I think most of us would  just about do anything for our children, no matter what age. Heck I'm 50 something and mama and daddy still think I'm in my teens. Hey, I sorta like it.... at times. Kinda like that book  I'll Love You Forever . Back in '99 Nikki (our oldest daughter) was living in Starkville and attending Miss State. One night she called and told Sammy to tell me to call her around 7:30 the next morning. She wanted to make sure she didn't over sleep. I will admit her first semester of college (Northeast), I would call her every morning and get her up 'cause I had flash backs of her at home. She would get up , take a shower, and I would find her in her closet with a towel wrapped around her, dead asleep. Hey I even did her laundry for her, but the second semester she grew up. She told me not to call and wake her and she would do her own laundry. This was her second year of college, she had never ask us to do that, so of course I watched the clock all

If you have or had a child that has gone to Iuka Elementary School, y'all know what this is all about. For you out-of-towners, here in Iuka (probably other schools too) if your child stays on a green dot all week that was a good thing, 'cause they could get in the treasure box. Oh they got other colors to but green was the highest and our goal. As long as I can remember, on Fridays our kids got a treat. Nikki and Beth didn't do dots when they were in school. Someone thought that up later, so we would go get a snow cone on Fridays. I know when Jay and I (substitute teacher) were in school we had dots. Now some of you may not like them dots but I did. Lord, in our room you had to really do something awful to get your card turned past yellow, and I can honestly say no one got below a yellow. I think we would threaten you 3 times then... yellow was your color after that. No gettin' in that treasure box that Friday. :(  Those dots worked in our house. If you stayed on gre

3 lbs 11oz  16 1/2 inches long In the late fall of '93 I had gotten the kids off to school, and at the time they went to two different school. I got back home and started feeling a little different.  Sick as a dog. I don't know about y'all but I knew after kid #2 the difference between a virus and a pregnancy virus. Oh my goodness, I thought we were done. However we certainly didn't do anything to prevent this but nine years had gone by and Nothing. I remember it was Jay's birthday and we decided to let him have his day.  Later that evening we broke the news. We told the kids to go sit in the den we had some news to tell them. Me: Y'all see those pictures on the wall. Kids: Uh huh Me: Well we are gonna be adding another one up there. Nikki: Oh my gosh, HOW EMBARRASSING !!! I am in the 8th grade!!! And she stomps off. The other two were pretty cool about this. I don't know if it was because I was older or what but this pregnancy knocked me on m

Y'all remember practicing for your big day "getting your drivers licence". I would dream of the day Mama would be in the kitchen cooking and would need me to drive to the grocery store (by myself) and pick up some milk, just milk. I don't remember that ever happening but that was my dream ride. You see I could take the back road and it was gravel at the time. I figured out real quick if I hit the brake real hard the car would slide a little (ok, a lot sometimes). She must have known better; that's why she got her own milk. I remember having my licence only a week and we were coming back from a family reunion near Cross Roads. Y'all know Grisham Hill on 25 North (back then that hill was bigger I do believe)? I was behind a log truck (yes, a log truck on Sunday) and I thought I needed to pass it. I had never passed before and, needless to say, I forgot to run this idea by Mama. Well it was all clear, so here I go. Mama must have been looking down or swattin'

Laura Nicole  Darwin 7lbs, 11oz and 20 inches long Back in '80 we were living in Jacksonville, Florida and I was working at a store called Woolco, it was alot  like Wal-mart is today, in case you're not as old as me. One day I was telling a co-worker about me staying hungry all the time. She then says maybe you're pregnant. We get to figurin' things up and she then tells me I need to have a pregnancy test done. Well, now, back in-the-day they didn't sell them sticks you pee on, so I had to go to the doctor's office. Sammy did the morning show, so he would leave around 4 in the morning so he could prepare for his on air show at 6 a m. I didn't tell him that morning what I was up to 'cause I wasn't sure I'd go. I really didn't think I was pregnant, but to ease my mind I went. I think I help them open up the office that morning 'cause I just wanted to get it over with and get on to work. They let me stay in the lab and wait f