Seems We Just Got Started

Y’all, I wanted to share something I did just about every year before taking down the Christmas tree.  Shoot, I don’t even think my girls knew I did this back in the day. Sammy didn’t even know.  Now, It may sound silly to some but whatever floats your boat, right? I always, somehow someway, got our Christmas tree down from the attic alone.  I remember going down the ladder was way better than going up.  I will say, there were times on the way down, that I may or may not have given the old tree box a shove.  Going up, I had to take it one piece at a time.  Everyone in my household, surprisingly, found that they were needed somewhere else when I announced that the tree needed to go up or come down.  I would get all kinds of excuses.  “I need to mow the yard (December) with scissors.”  “ My legs need shaving.”  “I gotta go climb a tree.” After a few years, you learn to do it yourself if you want it done.  So here’s the part they didn...

... but I bet this Paw Paw's new eyes were awful blurry.  I'm sure he had a big old smile on his face when he got a glimpse of Alex at a radio station, sitting on a stool with head phones on his ear and a mic in his face; chattin' it up. Not to mention, Alex is learning to play drums, possibly Darwin drums. I can just hear him say, "Aww...Now, that's cool and btw.. he has my vote!" You can catch Alex on 94.3 "Super Talk" and WTVA. Remember to vote November 6th Above it all, Click Clark. Nathaniel Clark for Chancery Court Judge, District I Post I Paid for , I mean, written by; One Proud Mother-in- Law and Grammy.

I don't mean to brag, and some may beg to differ, but I think our parents did a pretty good job of raising us three, Keith, Lisa and me. And as Daddy and Mama get older, we want the best we can give to them. They are both on the front side of 80 and, as we know with age, we all get to slipping a little. Whether it be our health, our bodies, or our mind as with the case with them. Oh, we're all gonna be there one day.  Time please slow down. Daddy and Mama are very independent, PTL, and they got each other. What one can't remember the other can on good days. Hehe!  But occasionally, they need our help. They don't really like to ask for it. Keith helps out with the handy man stuff and lawn work when Daddy will let him. Lisa helps out in the business department and doctors appointments / medicine and then there's me. Let me just say, it's a good thing none of us are jealous or get our feeling hurt because I was once their cook and out- of -town driver but not so mu...

As long as I can remember growing up on Graham Road, my brother Keith, sister Lisa, and I had a friend for life, Tommy Enlow. He lived a few house up the road from us. Tommy was about 3 years older than me, but in reality, he could be any age of a kid. He was always taller than me. I could never catch up. When he would get excited he would stutter and talk loud no matter how close you stood by him. He saw no bad in anyone and didn't know how to hate. I like to think of him as" God's Special Edition". He was my playmate until my brother and sister came along; then I had to share. I can remember us riding tricycles, bicycles, making mud pies, and catching lightening bugs. When I was about 9 years old, we would stand at the end of our driveway and hit rocks with a bat and see who could hit the farthest. One afternoon, we got in a real battle. Tommy was not paying attention and some how his bat connected with my head and hit me near my eye. Blood was everywhere a...

 Looking back on this school year, my mornings started with a cup of coffee in the cup holder and the radio cranked up just to get my day started because I knew what was awaiting once I stepped through the doors at IES. There is nothing like going to a place where hugs are free, smiles are contagious, and learning is fun. Mondays aren't so bad because the kids and I have a lot of catchin' up to do. More often than not, they are standing in line telling me about their weekend. Oh, the stories I hear ( my lips are sealed and I threw away the key) hehe! I also have Monday morning bathroom doo-tee (duty ). Now, I know that is everyone's dream and the only thing good about it is I get it over with. However, the best part is seeing all the first grade and kindergarten students.  You know when I first started working in kindergarten some of Mrs. Michelle's former students that had moved on to first grade would come in ju...

7:15 am: leaving to take my two little grands half way back to meet their dad after spending some time with the Iuka family. My car was loaded, kids strapped in, and "everything" in reach in case I needed to hand them something. I had planned on leaving around 6:00 am but my clock and GPS must have been talking to each other. We get about 5 miles down the road and Mac (4 year old) wants to know how much longer. Then, Mollie Bryant (2 year old), that is strapped in, opens her door. Not all the way, but enough for the lights to come on and all the blood to leave my body. So that meant everything that was all organized and within my reach shifted forward and hit the floor because of my sudden stop. OH my, we only had 5 hrs and 55 minutes to go. I look back, after getting back on the road, and Mac is not saying a word but he had put his football helmet on. Can't say I blame him. We get about an hour on down the road and Mac announces he has to go POOP. Well, wouldn't ...

I may not understand but.... by faith, I'm gonna give it my best shot and move forward. After 3 months of me sleeping with house plans and then Lisa (my sister) trying to please me with house plans she has drawn up, I finally have one. Yep, I have a plan. I bought a house. Lol!!!! Finally, the middle of November I had settled on my new dream house. This may seem a little weird to y'all but it was so hard coming from a huge house to a 3 bedroom home. Also, it was hard not having my side kick with me. Although Sammy and I had the same taste in things I missed him making decisions. To this day I still hate doing that. Anyway, Lisa and I met with several contractors and finally settled on the perfect one. He put me on his list and promised to have it built by May or June. So, I was really ready to sit back and wait. Kinda like taking a loooong winter's nap with Mama and Papa Bear. But, guess what? God had another plan.... his plan, the perfect plan. I get a message from a s...

Gosh, I know y'all have heard people say, when your children move out, don't get to comfortable 'cause they may come back. Well, I'm one of those children, yeah... almost 41 years later I moved back home. Never would I have thought that of me but we just don't know what tomorrow holds, do we? Thankfully, I had plenty of family members that wanted me and my 3 dogs. Well ...me for sure. Lol!!! My 5 month stay hasn't been bad once I got that curfew thing worked out. It didn't take long for my childhood memories to come back to me. Aww.. waking up on Saturday morning with the smell of Mama cooking breakfast and I had forgotten all about dinner being ready at 5:00 each day. What they didn't know?  I was ready to eat again before I went to bed. Sad to say but my kids never experienced any early meals. Yeah, I failed in that department but they got fed before midnight anyway.   Being back home we have made some new memories. I loooove football, whether it...

                                                        Young Love Strong Love On this cold morning driving to my "Happy" place, kindergarten, (work) I was trying to find that perfect song. You know, the one that stays with you all day. Well ..... I found it. But.... it wasn't a song, however, it stayed with me all day looooong. It was a radio station's bottom of the hour ID, 101 "The Worm".  Now, I'm all about that voice, Rusty Walker/ Sammy Darwin. Just hearing that voice really warmed my heart but I sure did have a bunch of tears. Funny thing, when I got in my car to leave for the day, the radio wasn't even set on that station. How weird is that!!!! Just wanted to give a "shout up" to him..... until the Twelfth of Never, I'm still loving you. 41 years ago today we stared our journey.  What memories I have to hold on to. Feelin...

Have y'all ever heard the expression "you can dress her up but you can't take her out"? My girls have often said that to me over the years and still do. Today, I thought that was gonna be the case. Last Friday, I got a call from MORA, the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency.  They wanted to see if Monday, June 9th would be a good time to do an interview on organ donation. They tried to do this last fall but something can up and had to cancel at the last minute. So I knew sooner or later I would be doing this. The sooner was today. This is how my day went: I got up early and around 7:45, and went for a walk with some good ole girls from school. I went directly home and started getting sick.  Just nerves. I was told to bring pictures, awards, plaques, or whatever I wanted for this taping. So I packed the car. Thank goodness Nikki helped me get some pictures together and I ran to Wal-mart to make copies. Then I had to preform a miracle on yours truly. By this time, I w...

                                                    TODAY IS YOUR DAY!               YOUR MOUNTAIN IS WAITING SO..... GET ON YOUR WAY! --- DR SEUSS   That's what I was thinking last summer when I applied for a kindergarten teachers assistant job.  Honestly, that was the only job I really wanted, so I didn't apply anywhere else.  On August 3rd, I started climbing my mountain, and the best part was I was never alone. You see God was pushing me up; one step at a time.   We started out with 20 students (10 little boys and 10 little girls) couldn't get any better than that. At first,  leaving mommy, daddy, grandma, or grandpa was not easy for a 5 year old. Not to mention, 3:00 was forever to them (us too on some days). Lol! I once read, "students who are loved at home come to school to learn, and stud...

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.                                                              ...

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...