Mr. and Mrs Robison

This week has been a whirlwind of wedding activity. My 22 year old grandson married the girl he tried, and failed, to hold hand with in the 6th grade. the love of his life who said "I'm not marrying him." But God had a plan. I'm so glad He always does. So in the spirit of good grandmothership, I feel duty bound to dedicate this week's blog to the new MR. AND MRS. ROBISON..

This is Derrick when he was just a little guy.  I couldn't resist posting this picture. Wasn't he just two yesterday?

They grow up, fall in love, and get engaged way to quickly. We love Kyia like she was our own.

Kyia had plenty of help getting ready for the big day.

and when all was said and done, she was a beautiful bride.

Kyia and her attendants:

Derrick and his groomsmen:

Derrick and I. How handsome he is. Like I said, wasn't he two just yesterday?

Time for the wedding.

The happy newlyweds

And thus begins their life together...

Wedded bliss??  Nuff said

***I hope you enjoyed your visit and a look at my grandson’s wedding. The wed ding was the last piece of six weeks of vacation, camp-out wedding frenzy. Next week we will be back to our regular visit to Garfield and the characters that populate it. In the meantime please take a few minutes to check out the page tabs to the right. Terri has an author interview on her page. Stop by for a visit with Dani Pettrey and check out her debut novel SUBMERGED. Leave a comment on any page for a chance to win a copy of her book. Karla has two upcoming releases for you. Paula Mowrey’s The Blessing Seer and Linda Rondeau’s America II The Reformation. Pam has a whole list of recipes for you and Callie posted a new devotion. Check it all out!***

Steve Evans Pt. 2

Steve Evans shifted in the old folding chair. The legs wobbled under his weight and he froze in place, his hands coming to the edges of the seat in a white knuckled grip. The audience would never take what he had to say seriously if the chair gave way and deposited his butt on the makeshift stage.

He tried to refocus his attention without much success. The chaplain at the podium droned on about shelter hours, rules, and programs. The announcement of next week’s job fair and transportation to the event caught Steve’s attention, but left the gathered men unaffected. The men scattered in the audience whispered loudly to companions or sat alone in zoned out silence. Not here to listen by their own choice, but simply as a guarantee for a hot meal the next day.

Steve bowed his head and said the hundredth prayer of the day. Jesus please give me words. If this is part of your will for me, help me reach them. There’s so much at stake. No one knows that more than me. His chest swelled with a deep breath and Steve completed his prayer with the words that ended every prayer of every day. And wherever my girls are, keep them safe ‘til we’re together again.

When he looked up, nothing in the room had changed. He caught a glimpse from the chaplain and nodded. Why was this so hard? How could writing about his life and experiences be so easy and speaking about them be so difficult? He went over his mental notes, his attention brought back to the present when he heard his name.

He stood carefully, praying continued strength into the fragile legs of the chair, and walked to the edge of the platform. He stared out at the group of homeless men ranged around the room, trying to make eye contact, trying to establish a thread of connection between their despair and the hope he’d come to offer.

“I’m Steven Evans, and I’m a drug addict.”

***I hope you enjoyed your visit and the second installment of Steve’s story. I can’t wait til we can get better acquainted with him. Next week, I’m afraid I’ll be doing the “grandma thing” and posting wedding pictures. For now, please take a few minutes to check out the page tabs to the right. Terri has an author interview on her page. Stop by for a visit with Dani Pettrey and check out her debut novel SUBMERGED. Leave a comment on any page for a chance to win a copy of her book. Karla has two upcoming releases for you. A Case of Fatal Attraction by K. Dawn Bryd, and Joy Takes Flight by Bonnie Leon. Stop by and get a sneak peak of both of these books. Pam has a whole list of recipes for you and Callie posted a new devotion. Check it all out!***

FATHER'S DAY

This is a picture of my dad when he was very young. Charles Lester Clements. See that gleam in his right eye? I think that’s me. I chose this picture of my dad for this special Father’s Day post because I think, as we grow older, we tend to forget that our parents were once young. We grow up and our parents age as we do. We don’t see the people they were, before we were. 

My dad served in the navy before he was my dad. Look at this picture. Uniform bare of any decoration. He had dimples. I never noticed that before. I wonder if my mom thought they were cute. I’ll never know. Can you see the possibilities and expectations on my dad’s face? He had dreams, and hopes, and visions for his futures, just like we do. He  traveled to exotic  places, did jobs I’ll never comprehend, courted my mother, dealt with my grandmother, I say dealt because the wedding pictures I’ve seen…grandma looks like she’s attending a funeral more than a wedding. Not a lot of joy on her face.  Maybe she knew something these soon-to-be newlyweds didn’t?

 

I’ll be honest here and say that there were some years, when I was a teenager, then a young wife and mother, that I wasn’t as close to my father as I would have liked. He made some choices that took him out of our lives for a while. He tried to make up for those mistakes, to some degree, in his later years, so we won’t debate the wisdom of those choices here. 

I’ve tried to count the times I saw him between my 12^th birthday and his death, three years ago. I came up with fifteen. Fifteen visits in forty-two years. I never stopped to count before today. Counting made me sad.  This is a shot from 2006, I only saw him one more time before he died.

We missed so many opportunities…

But, back to the young man in the picture. Right after their wedding Dad took my mother out of Oklahoma and transplanted her to California, where they lived for eighteen months or so. I happened during that eighteen months. Mothers are mothers, and since I am one, I was always pretty sure how Mom felt at my coming. But, Dad’s are a different breed of animal and I always wondered how he fit into that equation. 

I found a letter that my mother wrote to my stern faced grandmother right after I was born. I never saw it till after my mom passed, but it revealed a side of my dad to me that I’d never considered. A young man, on his own, just beginning his family and in awe of the possibilities that lay before him. My mom told my grandma that, “Charles comes home every day and goes straight to the crib. He stands there for a few minutes and just watches her breathe.”  

Do you see the hope and expectation in those sentences? What did he dream of in those moments while he watched me breathe and smiled at me with those fresh, cute dimples? I have to wonder if I fulfilled any of those dreams? 

Happy Father's day!!

***I hope you enjoyed your visit. Please take a few minutes to check out the page tabs to the right. Terri has a new author interview on her page. Stop by for a visit with Dani Pettrey and check out her debut novel SUBMERGED. Leave a comment on any page for a chance to win her new book. Karla has an upcoming release from Keli Gwyn featured on her page. Pam, bless her heart, has an unusual new recipe posted for you. Breakfast cookies, made with corn flakes and crumbled bacon. Check it all out!***

A Magical Week

I just got home from taking my 12 year old granddaughter on her Orlando vacation. We had a a Terrific time and I wanted to share some pictures of our week with you. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as we did.

We started our adventure with a flight to Orlando. Hailey had never flown before so I really tried to make it an unforgettable trip.

 

We arrived at our first destination, fresh and anxious to see new sights and experience new things. 

We survived spinning tea cups.

Tests of strength...

 Battle with trolls

And a little time out.

We met with royalty...

And super Heroes.

We made lots of new friends:

 

 And met some old favorites.

We sampled other cultures

And saw some of the most beautiful landscaping ever.

I hope you enjoyed your visit. With another mini vacation, Father's day, and a wedding in my future, it's going to be a couple of weeks before we get back to our weekly stories. Bear with me. In the meantime, please take a few minutes to check out the page tabs to the right. Terri has an author interview on her page. Stop by for a visit with Lacy Williams. Leave a comment on any page for a chance to win her new book, The Homesteader's Sweetheart. Callie has a new devotion, and Karla has an upcoming release from Mary Ellis featured on her page. Pam, bless her heart, has an unusual new recipe posted for you. Breakfast cookies, made with corn flakes and crumbled bacon. Check it all out!