I love those dear hearts and gentle people...

I got to spend a great weekend with mom.

I picked a bunch of iris here at our house and took them up there. Then I picked some tulips at her house and put together some flower arrangements to take to the cemetery.

This was the first year I could remember when it has been cool enough this late to still have lots of tulips blooming. I picked some pretty yellow daises and some filler too. It was fun to do flower arrangements again! I sure enjoy doing that! Anyway, they turned out pretty cute.
We tried to get to the cemetery in between rain storms.

Mom couldn't walk around, so I tried to park as close as I could so she could see.

Daddy's headstoneBruceGrandma and Grandpa TibbittsThese are infant twins that are mom's cousins. She always wants to put some flowers on their graves, just because no one else ever does.Mom always remembers this man too...no relation, he was the janitor at the elementary school and mom feels like someone should remember him.

While I was walking around looking for the headstone for mom's best friend Margie, I came across this one. Mike Earl. Bruce's friend and the one he was flying with when their plane crashed.

Aunt Pat and Uncle Clyde ...my favorites. Special people that were loved by everyone.

Some of my favorite memories of them were sitting on their fireplace and singing some of the old songs while Clyde played the guitar and Pat played the ukulele. "Detour!...there's a muddy road ahead detour!" They were the kind of people who made everyone feel welcome and special in their home, and were friends with everyone.
Even with all the challenges they had to deal with, both with polio and in wheel chairs, they were happy positive people and accomplished so much in their lives.

Great Grandpa Tibbitts

The other side of Daddy's headstone. Strange yet comforting to see your name listed there.

Feel so blessed to be a part of this wonderful family

Great Grandma and Grandpa Yost

Great-Great Grandma and Grandpa Yost

I love walking around the cemetery looking at all the headstones. Besides many of my relatives, there are so many people there now that I had known growing up in Providence.

Most of mom and dad's friends are there now...neighbors, teachers, friends parents... people I didn't realize had passed away. I guess I somehow expect people to stay the same as they were when I lived there...then when I think about it, that was 30 years ago!

It got me thinking about how quickly time has flown by, and that there is an end to this life, and it will come for all of us. One day, I will be there too.

Made me wonder if people would remember me like I was remembering the older people in our neighborhood. What would they remember about me? Gosh have I done anything at all worth remembering?
I was reminiscing with mom about some of her neighbors that I grew up with. It was funny the different things we remember about some of them. We both thought of Eliza Zollinger that lived down the street. She seemed really old to me when I was a little girl, but she lived till after I was married. She had a huge goiter and her ear lobes hung about down to her shoulders. I used to walk down there with mom to get geranium starts. She had a big hound dog named Henry that I would play with while mom gabbed with her.

We were talking about her good friend Elaine Carpenter who lived up on the corner. I remember mom and her working together in mutual for many many years. She even had a special drawer that she kept all of her mutual things in that we still call the "mutual drawer" (now it's got treats and such in it) Anyway, when I was a teenager, Elaine got breast cancer and went through a long painful period of treatments. I remember mom spending a lot of time with her before she died.

(Her daughter had both of her breasts removed even though she was healthy, for fear of getting the same disease she had watched her mother suffer and die from.)

Mom was in a ladies club called "cherie octa" (I think that was it) with a bunch of ladies from Providence. They would get together every month and have a luncheon, or go to a play or something for some cultural refinement or do some service. They usually had their summer party at mom's because the yard was so beautiful. They would invite their husbands and have quite the event. (kind of reminds me of my bunko group) We (my sisters and I) used to sing for their mother's day club get together over at the Coppermill. Mom would play the ukulele and sing with us. That's got to be one of my favorite memories. Each one of these ladies have a story...I'll have to get to that another time. I think mom is the last one of all of her club friends that is still living.

When we were driving down the steep hill in River Heights to go over to the cemetery, mom told me about her mother rolling their car going down that hill. She said her mom didn't get her license till she was about 40 and was not a good driver! She said when she crashed, it seemed like it was happening in slow motion. It's a pretty skinny road and another car tried to pass her so she went way over to the side of the road to make room for him...then went right over the side and down the side of the hill!

Oh I wish I could have known her! Mom has some good stories about her and she sounds like she was a great lady! She had a stroke when she was 60 and died. I was only one. I think about the relationship I have with Olivia and I'm so grateful that we can know each other and be close....something I didn't really have with my grandparents.

I only have vague memories of Grampa Tibbitts. He remarried a few years later then died not too long after that... and the woman he married, that was the grandma Tibbitts I knew.

I could go on and on about the fun my cousin Margene and I had at Grandma's house and out in their old barn. I remember picking strawberries in her garden. We spent many hot summer afternoons floating on an old inner tube in the canal in front of Grandma's house.

I always feel so lucky when I get to thinking about my life growing up there in Providence. I felt safe and loved as I was surrounded by generations of family and good friends and neighbors. It was a simpler time. Everyone knew everyone and you could call on a neighbor for anything you need.

Anyway, talking with mom about the good old days made me realize how precious those memories are! Those memories are my roots and have made me what I am today. I've been feeling a deeper appreciation for the sweet moments with those I love lately. I realize I sure can't take for granted the fact that those I love will not always be here. I don't want to have to look back on my life and say "I wish I would have..."