Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Be Kind to Your Web-footed Friends


A long time ago Mitch Miller used this as his theme song. "Be Kind to your Web-footed Friends, for a duck may be somebody's mother." The following is a true story that happened to a friend of mine and for some reason it brought to mind this song when it happened.

The Inheritance

By Ann Roberts

Joseph read the letter he had just received and thought to himself "I just got back from burying Uncle John and now the lawyer wants me to come back out there to tie up some loose ends". This would mean taking more time off from his job and he needed the money badly for his family. And over the years when he would go to check on Uncle John, his wife would get upset at him. Uncle John had left home many years before and moved to Texas to make his fortune. Apparantly, all his dreams had fallen through and he lived as a pauper. Joseph was the only one in the family who ever tried to spend any time with him or help him.

Uncle John, when alive, had not been a very pleasant person to be around and the rest of his family had stayed away. But Joseph felt someone should go to see to his needs once in a while so he went.

The letter sounded as though the trip was absolutely necessary, so he took the time from his job and left the next day. He thought all the way about his uncle. Every time he had gone to see about him, Uncle John had seemed glad to see him and thanked him for his help. He just could not understand why he was the only one who ever bothered to go. Surely, some of them were better able to make the trips.

When he arrived at the lawyer's office, he was taken to a private room. The lawyer told him he had been named sole heir to his uncle's estate. Joseph thought "What in the world will I do with the few things that Uncle John had? I have no place to store them so I suppose I will just give them away." After the will was read the lawyer asked Joseph if he knew what his uncle had left him. When Joseph replied that he really didn't the lawyer smiled and said "Your uncle left you almost three million dollars and if you will sign these papers it all belongs to you."



Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Dear Nannie


I lost my mother in 2001. This is a tribute to her. She was one of the most beautiful souls I ever knew.



For a long time now I have wanted to write this to you. Remember how when I was working away all those years we wrote each other almost daily and talked often.

I wonder now if you ever knew how much I admired you for your courage in going on for 30 years after Dad was killed in the wreck and after your severe injuries in that wreck caused so needlessly by a drunken driver with no brakes.

I remember so many things about those 30 years about you and your acceptance and coping.

I did the best I could in taking care of you through your 5 month stay in the hospital and then when you came home you had already gotten an automobile ready for the day when you would again be able to drive.

You didn't have much formal education but you had a lot of smarts. True, I had to keep your books for you and do a lot of things most women can do for themselves, but Dad kept you down by not allowing you to do these things. I know now he wanted to take care of his "Southern Belle" and that is always what you were...a person to be cherished and cared for. I used to think he was wrong but now I know he was just doing the best he could.

I admire you for the way you always looked so pretty in your nice clothes when you would come in from church and I would be at your house to spend some time with you. I wish I had said to you "How pretty you look today". I always knew I would never be beautiful like you were but it didn't matter.

I remember coming home from school and starting to call your name when I got close to the house walking and then running so I could tell you what had happened that day. I remember how you played with me like you were my age and my friend and not my mother.

I remember all the funny little things you did like the time you locked the keys in the car and left it running all night and calling the next morning to ask Aubrey if he would come down and not bring me as you were afraid I would fuss at you. There was no way he was going to get out of the house without me and when I saw you I burst out laughing. It did no harm to the car.

It was said that you were not the smartest gal around but you knew how to love and that is really what is important in this life. To know how to give and receive love.

I admired you for going on with your life and for going on even at 90 to the dances we played and you always having a man to dance with and go places with.

I admired you when you had the broken hip and the stroke and how you and I together coped with it for over 3 years until you left me. Those times were hard and broke you financially and I also had to put in a lot of money but I thanked God your mind was still intact and we could communicate as always. After you left Aubrey said he didn't think I could make it without you. It has been very hard but I hope you would be proud of me.

You really should have been born when Southern ladies sat under magnolia trees and sipped mint juleps.

I hope you heard the words I said at your funeral when asked if I had anything to say about what you taught me and I said "She taught me to love". To me, this is the greatest gift a parent can give a child and you gave it to me.

Thank you for being my hero. I miss you.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Golf and Kilts




Golf and Kilts

By Ann Roberts

Joseph looked at Kate and smiled. They had just come in to Scotland for the first time. They planned to celebrate their 20th anniversary here. And Joseph had gotten a trip from his company to compete in the golf tournament at La Monga club. This was a golfer's dream. It is one of the best known in the world and has been in operation since 1626.


As they looked around them at the rolling countryside, they both took a deep breath of the fresh air. They looked at each other in disbelief that anything could be so beautiful.


The limousine picked them up and they headed to the Royal Golf Hotel. They had been told this was a place that had easy access to some of the most beautiful gardens in Scotland and also to the wild and dramatic countryside. Kate was anxious to see the gardens. Although Joseph wanted to rest for the first day of the tournament the next day, he decided to humor her, as it was their anniversary.



They rented an automobile and set out for a tour of one of the nearby gardens. While enroute there they encountered a parade. Kate had always liked bagpipes and there were 100 men in kilts performing.



And then she got the thrill of her lifetime….a swift wind came up and she got a chance to prove what she had suspected all her life. What do they wear under the kilts? The photo she took was proof positive that her suspicions had been right.



Thursday, August 6, 2009

My Beloved Aubrey




I have wanted to write about Aubrey for some time now but old memories are still so much in my mind, it was hard to do.


Aubrey Roberts was born in Utica, MS in 1927, the second of seven children. The oldest child, a girl, died shortly after birth. Back in those days a lot of women lost their firstborn because of lack of medical care.

When he was eight, his father was killed in an accident leaving him to help his mother care for the younger five. Their first knowledge of their father's death came when they got on the school bus to go home, the uncaring driver told him "Boy, your daddy was killed today".

This placed a big responsibility on a boy this age, but he shouldered it.He plowed fields for a dollar a day, worked in a store on Saturdays dipping ice cream and delivering groceries, delivered ice and anything else he could find to make some money.

At an early age, he decided he wanted to be a musician and ordered a cheap guitar from Sears Roebuck, which is still hanging on the wall. Survival of the family was the first priority of he and his mother. Somehow they managed to raise and make successful people out of his 3 brothers and 2 sisters.

He started a band and taught his brothers to play with him and they started playing country dances to supplement the meager family income.

From there, after he graduated from high school he was drafted in the army and sent to El Paso, Texas, where he got a job in his off time playing in a small lounge. When his tour of duty was up, he continued to play music, and played virtually all over the country. He played guitar, fiddle, drums, and piano quite well. He played with a big band sound for many years on drums, and then formed his own band, "Aubrey Roberts & The Good Ole Boys" and played with everyone who was somebody and lot who weren't. He also sang really well. At one time he had 3 radio shows going at the same time around the Jackson and Vicksburg, Mississippi area. I kept the band and we still play special events, especially the Snowflake Ball, which is put on by the Governor's office in Jackson for seniors and handicapped people each December. His grandson, Jesse Gandy, is now the bandleader.

His first love was the fiddle and he requested that a bow be placed in his coffin. I put it in his hand and laid his hat, which he always wore, on his chest.

It has always been almost impossible to make a living in music in Mississippi so Aubrey had to take a regular job also. After his retirement, he spent a lot of time playing for charity events and won the citizen of the year award for his work with the United Way playing for senior citizens and the handicapped. There are certificates hanging all over the walls for his work in this capacity.

He was married and had four daughters and did well in music over the years.

I was very proud to call him my husband.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Southerners






I wish I could take credit for this, but it came to me from a friend in an email and I like it and want to share it with you. It is so descriptive of Southern people, who are possibly the most misunderstood of all groups in the US.

Perhaps all y'all who are not from the South might get some
understandin' from this little lesson!

Southern women know their summer weather report:
Humidity
Humidity
Humidity

Southern women know their vacation spots:
The beach
The rivuh
The crick

Southern women know everybody's first name:
Honey
Darlin'
Shugah

Southern women know the movies that speak to their hearts:
Fried Green Tomatoes
Driving Miss Daisy
Steel Magnolias
Gone With The Wind

Southern women know their religions:
Baptist
Methodist
Football

Southern women know their cities dripping with Southern charm:
Chawl'stn
S'vanah
Foat Wuth
N'awlins
Addlanna

Southern women know their elegant gentlemen:
Men in uniform
Men in tuxedos
Rhett Butler

Southern girls know their prime real estate:
The Mall
The Country Club
The Beauty Salon

Southern girls know the 3 deadly sins:
Having bad hair and nails
Having bad manners
Cooking bad food

More Suthen-ism's:
Only a Southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a
conniption fit, and that you don't "HAVE" them,

you "PITCH" them.
_____

Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens,
peas, beans, etc., make up "a mess."
_____

Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of
"yonder."
_____

Only a Southerner knows exactly how long "directly" is, as in:

"Going to town, be back directly ."
_____

Even Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for
the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in
the middle of the table.
_____

All Southerners know exactly when
"by and by" is. They might not use the term, but they know the concept
well.
_____

Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace
for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a
big bowl of cold potato salad.

If the neighbor's trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a
large banana puddin!
_____

Only Southerners grow up knowing the difference between "right near" and

"a right far piece." They also know that "just down the road" can be 1
mile or 20
_____

Only a Southerner, both knows and understands, the difference between a
redneck, a good ol' boy, and po' white trash.
_____

No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn
signal is actually going to make a turn.
_____

A Southerner knows that "fixin" can be used as a noun, a verb, or an
adverb.
_____

Only Southerners make friends while standing in lines, ... and when
we're "in line,"... we talk to everybody!
_____

Put 100 Southerners in a room and half of them will discover they're
related, even if only by marriage.
_____

In the South, y'all is singular, all y'all is plural.
_____

Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.
_____

Every Southerner knows tomatoes with eggs, bacon, grits, and coffee are
perfectly wonderful; that red eye gravy is also a breakfast food; and
that fried green tomatoes are not a breakfast food.
_____

When you hear someone say, "Well, I caught myself lookin'," you know you
are in the presence of a genuine Southerner!
_____

Only true Southerners say "sweet tea" and "sweet milk." Sweet tea
indicates the need for sugar and lots of it -- we do not like our tea
unsweetened. "Sweet milk" means you don't want buttermilk.
_____

And a true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old
ladies who drive 30 MPH on the freeway.

You just say,"Bless her heart"... and go your own way.
_____

To those of you who are still a little embarrassed by your Southerness:
Take two tent revivals and a dose of sausage gravy and call me in the
morning. Bless your heart!
_____

And to those of you who are still having a hard time understanding all
this Southern stuff...bless your hearts, I hear they are fixin' to have
classes on Southernness as a second language!


And for those that are not from the South but have lived here for a long
time, all y'all need a sign to hang on y'alls front porch that reads "I
ain't from the South, but I got here as fast as I could."


Southern girls know men may come and go, but friends are fahevah !

Life is too short for drama & petty things.. So laugh
insanely, love and Forgive quickly! From one Former unstable person to
another... I hope everyone is Joyous in your head - we're all doing well
in mine.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Topsy-Turvy World



Jeff got off the train at a small town and was surprised to see no one around anywhere. He wondered at the lack of people on the streets. Then to his surprise he saw one man approaching. But approaching in a quite different way than the norm. This man was walking on his hands upside down. He watched for a few minutes and then several other people came from the stores moving toward him in the same way.

Curious, he went into a small restaurant and was greeted with the same sight.Everyone was on their hands. One man reversed his position and asked if he could help him. Just to see how it would be brought to him he ordered a hamburger and drink. When the waitress brought it, sure enough she was upside down with her long hair touching the floor and the food and drink on a tray on her feet. She had on a T shirt and pair of shorts and from what he could tell was a rather nice looking young woman.

He asked her why everyone moved in this way and her answer was that this town was named Topsy-Turvy and they never walked on their feet because when they did, all they could see was the ground below and this was depressing so they decided to learn to walk upside down so they could see the blue sky above and feel uplifted.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could find a way to have the whole world topsy-turvy and never have to look down at the dirt but up at the beautiful skies and clouds?

This is my thought for the day.