Company's Coming

Daddy and his sister Myrtle Lambert Webb

When I was a little girl growing up, I would get so excited when I found out one of my great aunts and uncles were coming for a visit.  Even though I was an only child, I had plenty of people around me.  My grandparents ran a country store which was always buzzing with activity.  I knew every farmer for miles around, his wife and children's names, what he liked on his bologna sandwich and whether he was a democrat of republican, but my family was small.  My father was the youngest of a family of 11 children, but unfortunately, most of them had died at an early age and my mom was an only child. I never knew any of my true aunts, but was close to my great aunts.  My Aunt Hazel and Aunt Mildred were my grandfather's sisters.  They had married brothers and lived just a half mile from me. Aunt Hazel was a petite woman who took great pride in her cooking and her outward appearance.  I loved her shoes. She had really small feet so her shoes fit me.  She let my cousins and me play with all her shoes, sometimes even her brand new ones. She lived in a two story farm house and just like the characters on the television show, The Waltons, she and her husband, Uncle Albert,  lived with their son and his family in the big house. She raised turkeys and chickens.  If a chicken pecked her when she gathered eggs, it would only peck her once because she could wring it's neck faster than you can say oops. My Aunt Mildred was Grandpa's youngest sister.  She loved life and was always smiling. Her husband, Uncle Jack and her daughter, Kaye were her life. She had a good time where ever she went.  On a visit to the peditrician in Somerset, Aunt Mildred declared that her girdle was killing her so she proceeded to pull it off in the car.  This proved to be a tougher job than she had anticipated.  Now that I have worn those constricting garments from time to time, I do not see how she ever accomplished that task, but she did, much to the amusement of my cousins and me. When I think back on my childhood, I realize those two great aunts played a huge roll in making me what I am today.  They each taught me so much.  The good thing was that  I could visit them anytime I wanted unlike those aunts and uncles that lived in Dayton, Ohio. I guess that was the reason it was so special to me to learn that my family from Ohio would be visiting.

Helen (seated) Anita, Connie and Cathie

When those special aunts, uncles and cousins would visit, momma had to keep it a secret that they were coming because I would drive everybody crazy asking what time they were coming, how long were they going to stay and other questions that are very important to six year old excitable little girls.  When they visited it wasn't for an occasion it was just to be with each other and enjoy each others company.  As they say, "a good time was had by all."  Granny or Momma or both would cook all day and we would all eat together.  I can remember the sound of every one's laughter and I can still see the smiles on their faces and the twinkle in their eyes.  They didn't bring me gifts nor did I expect anything.  I just wanted to sit beside them or in their laps..  I felt so loved and so special just to be allowed to sit in the same room with everyone even though most of the time I had no idea who or what they were talking about.  When my grandmother's youngest sister Audrey Jean, Aunt Jeannie to me, and her husband, Uncle Ed visited, we sat up half the night talking.  When Uncle Lon and Aunt Molly were visiting, we went fishing or boat riding.  When Aunt Lois and Uncle Herbert came I sat and listened to Uncle Herbert's stories until I fell asleep.  Aunt Lois was only eighteen months older than my grandmother and looked like her twin.  Customers would come in granny's little country store and give Aunt Lois their order. They didn't know they were talking to the wrong person until Aunt Lois laughed then they would look a little closer because she didn't sound like my granny when she laughed.  Poor Granny ran her legs off running from the store and her trailer, which was behind the store, to my house when we had company.  She would try to spend time with her sisters and keep the store open all at the same time.  Momma helped her as much as she could.  All this was just too much excitement for me.
Sometimes Momma's cousin, Helen and her husband Ray Adkins, would visit.  They had three daughters about my age.  I would be so excited then that I'm sure I made Momma a nervous wreck.  I played with Anita, Cathie and Connie although they probably would say I followed them around more than played.  I idolized my older cousins my whole life.  Looking back it seems like one day we were little girls not yet teenagers and the next we were grandmothers.
It was during one of Aunt Lois's visits that I did probably the worst thing in my life.  Before she left, Aunt Lois would always say to me, "Don't you want to go home with me?" and would start telling me all the neat things we would do.  I was only about eight years old and would have been crying for momma before we got to Berea, but I was determined to go home with her.  Of course Momma and Daddy said no and tried to explain to me that I would have to stay away from them for a month because it would be that long before aunt Lois was coming back, but I had no understanding of time. Momma had a kitchen table with a green Formica top and green padded chairs and for some reason, I decided that if I cut those chairs then they would let me go home with Aunt Lois. I must have figured they wouldn't love me anymore and would just give up and give me to aunt Lois.  Well, it didn't work, but it did get momma a new table and chairs.  I should have been punished to the highest extent of the law, but I was only given a good talking to.  If my parents thought that living with the shame of defacing my momma's property would be punishment enough for what I had done, they were right.  To this day, I don't like to even think about being that mean and destructive.

Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Ed Coffey

As in every one's life, changes came with every passing year.  My daddy, grandparents, aunts and uncles have all passed away.  Helen's husband Ray as well as Anita's husband, Walter have also passed away.  I married Mike, had my own children and now grandchildren. The store closed in 1990, I gained a new father and met my best friend for life in that same year.   I've worked several jobs, cooked lots of meals and cleaned miles of floors to get where I am today and where I am today is addicted to social media.  I remember sending and receiving my first emails, talking on my first cell phone, sending my first text message and especially remember when I joined Facebook.  MySpace was more popular, but I had read that Facebook was geared more to the "baby boomers" so I joined Facebook because according to the talking heads, that is what I am, a "baby boomer."  Through email, I reconnected with my grandmother's brother, Uncle Bentley Parkerson.  Uncle Bentley made a career out of the Navy so I didn't see him much when I was growing up.  By the time computers and email came to be, Uncle Bentley had retired and settled in Jacksonville, FL. He gave me his email address and that started years worth of daily correspondence.  I even emailed some of mom's friends and some distant family members that I had never met just to get back in touch with those  Momma had lost contact with.  Last spring, Momma received an invitation to attend her first cousin Helen's 85th birthday celebration in Dayton.  Sadly, after the passing of Granny and her sisters, momma and myself hadn't kept up the visiting tradition.  We had been too busy working and mothering to travel.  We ran our own businesses, momma the grocery store and me a hair salon.  When you have your own business, you don't get any time off.  Helen had moved to FL for awhile and her three daughters, Anita, Cathie and Connie had married, had children and careers of their own, so we had lost touch.  I viewed the invitation to Helen's celebration with excitement because at the bottom of the card was the email address for Cathie.  Mom also turned 85 last year, she's two months older than Helen, and has arthritis which leaves her in almost constant pain.  There was no way she could make the trip to Ohio.  I emailed Cathie to tell her that we couldn't come up there and also to re-connect with her.  I was hoping that through Cathie I could also find out about Anita and Connie.  In my email I asked Cathie if she was on Facebook.  She sent me mail back saying yes, they were all on Facebook.  She gave me all their married names and asked that we start a Facebook "relationship."   Patience is a virtue that I don't have so I was determined to get in touch with those three cousins plus three younger cousins that are my aunt Jeannie's granddaughters.  My determination paid off  because I've become good friends again with Anita, Cathie and Connie.  Mike and I visited them and Helen last August. This past April they invited me to go to Las Vegas for Connie's birthday and last weekend Connie visited us. Momma and Helen are pleased that this generation has taken back up the visiting tradition and that we are making new memories together.  Momma says, "I don't know why we grew apart anyhow." We talk about how special our grandparents were and how close our mothers are.  We hope they will be able to get together soon.  It's sad that they aren't able to share the laughs with us.  Their minds are sharp, but their bodies are tired.  We are amazed at the similarities in our lives.  I know that twins separated at birth and later reunited find it amazing that they have chosen similar spouses, named their children the same names and other interesting tidbits, but I didn't know that cousins would do that too.  Connie and I are especially similar.  We like the same music, like to do the same things, i.e, zip lining over Fremont Street in Las Vegas, and some other crazy stuff that I better not mention. Every time we talk we notice something new that we've both experienced.  So far we've discovered one thing we don't agree on, I say a mouse is sooo cute and will not hurt you, Connie, on the other hand, swears it's a huge, hairy beast that will eat all women and children alive. Screaming is necessary also, according to Connie.
I still have cousins that I want to visit after having chatted with them on Facebook. Some are my cousins on momma's side of the family that I remember from when I was a child and others are from daddy's side of the family that I have never met.  They are the grandchildren and great grandchildren of daddy's sister, Lula Thomas.   Aunt Lulie died before I was born, but I know all about her through the stories momma has told me. After talking with her family, I realize that we all get our feisty streak from her.  I enjoy reading Facebook posts from her family, because they are so much like me.  As much as I treasure my family, it's sad that I have so many second cousins that I've never met.  I am thankful that God has allowed me to seek them out and enjoy learning all about them. I am going to be busy in the months and years to come planning a meet and greet with all those cousins that share so many family traits with me.  My generation dropped the ball when it came to visiting family, but we are making up for that misfortune by being friends on Facebook.  I think this will work out fine because the bottom line is to enjoy your family.

Uncle Lon and Aunt Molly with Momma and Daddy

Uncle Bentley Parkerson