Dogs

I only ever owned one dog as a child. His name was Butch. I'm sure he was a huge mix from the doggy gene pool. But he was wonderful. In Kentucky, the family dogs just wandered the areas in which you live unless it's not a nice dog and then they are chained to a tree. At least, it was like this when I was growing up. Butch never had to be chained to a tree and whenever I was outside (which was a lot) he was always nearby.
The day we got Butch, we were visiting someone and I think he was their dog or their neighbors but somehow we ended up taking him home. He was already an older dog and very mellow. I loved Butch.
I did not have such fond memories of other dogs though. For some reason, dogs and I just did not seem to click. For instance, my next door neighbors dog was huge and barked and barked and barked at me all the time with an added growl here and there. Fortunately, he was chained up. Another time, we had family from California visiting so I was so excited to come home from school. The school bus dropped me off at the bottom of the hill I lived on but at the end of my driveway was a dog. He would not let me up my driveway. He kept barking at me. I finally started crying and just stood waiting. My family thought this was funny and stood at the top of the hill laughing.
Another memory I will apologize now but please remember I lived in a rural area of a very small town. There was a dog and it could possibly have been my neighbors mean dog that I was terrified of. I did not want to play outside because it frightened me so much(no fences to keep ya safe). My father shot it, yes, I know. We took it down the road and dumped it over the hill. I have to admit that it was a happy day for me.
In junior high, I did have a puppy for about 3 days. Puppies are a lot of work and it was too much for my mom. So I came home from school and she had replaced Pepper with a Siamese kitten.
When my son, Cody, was a baby I would take him for walks but would avoid certain streets just because of the barking dogs.
I now own two dogs. Shocking, huh?! I got our first dog out of necessity. Cody was terrified of dogs, all dogs. He would literally climb up me if he saw a dog even if it was not nearby. Simon has been an amazing dog. Without him, Cody might still be scared of dogs.
They have been great for my children, especially Sydney who LOVES dogs. In fact, as a preschooler I think she believed she was half-dog. I love my dogs (a lot) but I never became a "dog lover". Do I hate dogs? No way. I just am not that comfortable around them. I just won't own another dog once mine are gone. I just won't have a need for one.

The Divorce.

I was nine years old and it was almost summertime. My brother and I were driving with my dad in his truck. We always went places with my dad so I did not expect anything other than an enjoyable drive with my daddy. When we got to Stanton (Kentucky) he hit us with the news. As we were turning right off the main road coming from Mt. Sterling, he told us that they (my parents) were not going to be married anymore and that my mom was going to take us and move to California, far away from him. He asked me if I wanted to be with him or move far away with my mom. I told him that I wanted to be with him. Of course, I did not want my mom to take us far away from him, from Kentucky, from my grandparent's, from my cousins, from my aunts, from my home, from everything that I knew and loved. How could my mom want to do this to us?
Well, I know now that she didn't want to do this. She had planned on staying in Kentucky, she loved and still loves Kentucky. She wasn't going to take me from everything that I knew and loved...but in the end she did. And I don't blame her one bit. She had good reasons.
After I told my dad that I wanted to stay with him, everything happened pretty quickly. I'm not sure if it was the next day or a week later that my life changed.
My mom got up as usual and went to work. I'm not sure if I went to school that day. I do remember being at my Mamaw & Papaw's house with a bunch of our stuff packed into the back of my dad's truck. I kissed my kitten good-bye and off we went before my mom came home from work.
My next memory is being at my Great-Aunt Dorothy and Great-Uncle Eugene's (my Mamaw's brother's) apartment in Bradenton, Florida. I have some really wonderful memories here during this time. My Uncle Eugene is a wonderful person with a great love for children. He was so kind and loving and fun! We spent a lot of time at the beach. I chased alot of lizards crawling up the apartment's outer walls and found a neighbor's huge pet turtle. I played video games at a restaraunt and always got quarters at the grocery store to use however I wanted; usually on one of the laying hen machines to get a "special" plastic egg with a prize inside. I remember going to McDonald's a lot too! And having pancakes at a restaraunt that had lots of different kinds of syrup. We went fishing off of the pier (a lot) while watching people reel in little sharks. This was vacation!
I was having so much fun in Florida that sadly I didn't miss my mom until my dad handed me the phone and there she was on the other end. I cried. I did miss my mommy. It was the end of summer and I had not talked to her once.
My dad had finally called her and she quickly let him know how sorry and wrong she was for wanting a divorce. She wanted to work it out. They decided that they would start over in Florida. He caught the next available flight to Kentucky and they drove back to Florida with a few of our things stuffed into the trunk.
I was so excited to see my mom! Shortly after they arrived, they decided to take a nap. Around a half hour or so later my mom came out and said to get our shoes on because we were going to go to the mall. I argued with her because I wanted to wear my leather sandals and not my tennis shoes. She quickly gave in.
We started driving and after a bit I let her know that she was not going in the right direction. The mall was the other way. She said that we were going to a different mall. I knew she was lying. We stopped at a gas station where she used the pay phone. When she got back in, I told her I needed to use the restroom. She knew I was lying. I was planning on going to the payphone and calling my dad because he had warned me that she might try to take us and made me memorize the phone number. As we were driving again, I started to panic and threatened her that I would throw myself out of the car. I tried to open the car door to do so but she grabbed me and let me know that that was not going to happen.
We ended up at a really fun amusement area/park near the airport while we waited for my grandfather (my mom's father) to fly in from Sacramento. And then the long drive to California began.
We first drove to Charlotte, North Carolina and stayed with some of step-grandma's family. There was a little girl almost the same age as me and we played games like Cootie. It was a fun sleepover.
On the drive to California I remember huge mosquitoes in Arkansas, I remember crossing the Mississippi River, I remember a huge storm in Texas that was so bad we could not see the car in front of us, I remember putting quarters in to make the hotel beds vibrate, I remember hanging up towels in the windows so we could sleep at rest stops, I remember having a discussion about Santa Claus with my brother, I remember my Grandpa yelling at us to be quiet, I remember eating cold hot dogs with cheese in the middle, I remember the desert, and I remember getting to Los Angeles.
The divorced happened and my father was not allowed into the state of California. If he did so he would be arrested. I guess that's what happens when you kidnap your own children. I did not talk to him again until my 12th birthday, almost 3 years later.
When my dad got back to Kentucky (hoping we were there), he found a check that belonged to an account that my mother had hidden from him. He took all of the money she had saved to help us after the divorce. We came to California with nothing.
While we were in Florida (on "vacation" with dad), my mother was devastated. She drove all the way to Texas because she was told we were there. We weren't. She did not know where we were, she could not find us, she could not see us, she could not hear us, she could not hold us, she could not tell us how much she loved us. As a mother, I can see what a horrifying experience this must have been and I don't blame her for taking us to California. I would have done the same.

Worst Family Picture Ever

Need I say more?

Mamaw

My Mamaw is an amazing person. I love her so much. And miss her immensely every single day. She is the best grandma in the whole wide world.
She lives in Kentucky so I do not get to see her as much as I want to. I wanted to see her this summer but because of money circumstances, I do not see that happening.
My Mamaw was born in the rural hollers (hollows) of Kentucky. I'm not sure how much schooling she had, if any. Her family lived in a one room house and lived off of the land. It was near the town of Stanton, Kentucky. At some point, her family acquired land in what is now part of The Daniel Boone National Forest. The government wanted to buy the land from them but it was too rich in minerals so they could not forcibly buy it from them. This property is still in our family and I have spent a lot of time there. It is so beautiful and has a beautiful creek with small waterfalls. It has huge rocks scattered about with moss growing on them. I worry that when my Mamaw passes away that the land will be sold by my money hungry aunt & uncle.
I am not sure what my Mamaw's legal name is. I have heard that it is Dulcina but she crossed it off on her birth certificate and wrote Ellis. She says that she was born with the first name of Ellis; I have asked her many times about this. But my source says she saw the birth certificate first hand so who really knows.
I have also heard that my Mamaw & Papaw were never officially married and have a common law marriage. Another rumor is that their first child is not my grandfathers biological child. My aunt says that she took a college course where they had to do lab work and it proved that she was not his child. She has never asked them about this. My Mamaw has 3 daughters & then 3 sons. The youngest was always sickly so she was overprotective of him which was a great disservice to him. He has a lot of issues. My dad was the 4th child born, the oldest son. I was the 6th grandchild, 3rd granddaughter. (But she made me feel like I was special, the most special grandchild). She ended up having 13+ grandchildren. I added the plus because there are a few unknown grandchildren out there including my own half-siblings.
She lived in Ohio & Florida after she was married. She loves Florida & the ocean. They ended up moving back to Kentucky and buying the farm where she still lives. When they bought the farm it had a large plantation home on it with the big white columns. But when my Papaw went back to Florida to get the family, it caught fire and burned down. Rumor is that it was foul play because my Papaw refused to buy insurance on the home. I do believe that there was another home on the property because a lot of old items have been found on the land. I had an old white gold ring that was hand made that my Mamaw gave to me after she found it in the garden. I loved this ring so much but lost it in high school at Tower Books onWatt Ave. It was too big and I was young so I never had it resized. I was and still am incredibly sad about this. So after the fire, they had to build a new, modest home. This is the home that I love and call my home.
My Mamaw loves children and would babysit all of the neighborhood kids. She also loved to garden. She is not allowed to any longer since she fell in the garden. I remember walking with her in the garden and picking green beans. We would then sit in front of the house & string & break them so she could can them. She did a lot of canning. One time my mom dumped out many and I mean many jars of "bad" green beans. She opened one and it smelled funny. Come to find out they were pickled. My Mamaw just laughed.
My sister (half-sister but she doesn't feel like half a sister) April & I would spend so much time climbing one particular tree in front of the house. We would just pick a limb and hang out for hours in the tree. I was so sad when I came back recently and the tree was gone. There also was a very large pine tree that I would lay under on a bench and just stare up the tree and be amazed at it's size and beauty. She always had flowers, lots of flowers. Lots of day lilies, sugar snaps that we always made "talk", Money plant (that I always get seeds from but never plant when I get back home) & I loved her orange trumpet vine that was right next to the front door. Sadly it is gone as of summer 2007. My uncle's wife took it out. :(
I did so much at her house. I made a gazillion mud pies at her house. That may be an understatement. There is an old brick oven outside under the walnut tree so I would "bake" my pies in there. I would swing in the backyard on the tire swing with my cousins and sister. So much fun! I loved arrowhead hunting on the farm. My dad & I found quite a few.
There was a corncrib on the farm that stored corn in my early years, I remember climbing in with the corn and walking around. But later on it became more of the storage shed. It had so much stuff in there. Actually it was kinda like a treasure hunt! Near the corncrib were pear trees that we would always pick and eat. I can't eat a pear without thinking about those trees.
My Mamaw was our nurse too. Of course, she was hands-on self taught. She knew all of the old home rememdies. She has always had an aloe plant on her fireplace for medicinal purposes. If I got hurt my mom would rush me over to her (30 minute drive).
She loves to paint. Above her fireplace, she painted a beach/ocean scene. On my last visit, I had planned to ask for one particular painting she had done that was hung up in her dining room. When I got there it was gone. She doesn't know where it went. But she would have given it to me and I would have loved it. My uncle & his wife have moved in with them and lots of things in the home and garden have changed or gone missing.
As a child I spent so much time there. As a baby, my Mamaw babysat me (see Tornado post). And we spent our weekends there up until I moved to California at the age of 9. I remember being at her home more than my own home. Most of my memories are at this home.
My Mamaw always made me feel special and loved. I was always her "favor-rite granddaughter" as I know that they all are her "favor-rite" grandchildren. But I still feel that there is something special between us that the others do not have. I wish I could visit with her more because I really miss her. She is an amazing grandmother and because of her I can't wait to be a "Mamaw" just like her someday.