Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

OMG! What’s this??? Can it be???  Another blog?? Three in just three days! How long has it been since that has happened??

Okay, now that you are over the shock….I did say I was going to try to post something every day!

Around 3 p.m. on Saturday, I received a text message from my oldest grandson. “We’re here.  The yard is bigger than it was there. We’re literally like 5 min. walk from the bay.” I told him when he could, to send me pictures or post them on Facebook.  He said he would, He loved me and he was going to sleep for a bit. He had driven his sister and the youngest in his mother’s car while she drove the U-Haul truck with the middle son and dogs.

Next I received a series of text messages from my grand-daughter. Of course ending with the “Ily2” text slang teenagers use this day meaning she loved me , too.

Of course, the day didn’t go without any tears.  I went to my room way early, (7p.m.!!!)…..after  spending hours on Facebook playing games, and posting pictures to my “shutterfly” account. I also made a 7”x9” photo album that once I have the funds, I am going to order. All I will have to pay is the shipping and handling as I received a coupon for a free book recently. As I flipped on the TV to try to find anything to watch, I was going through the channels and landed on the local school network.  They have a channel where anything local is broadcast; city council meetings, school board meetings, school news…(yard sales, fairs, and photos) There on the screen is my youngest grandson, receiving his “Presidents Award” for Outstanding Academics….I have e-mailed the principal of his former school to ask her to post the photos on her school’s website.  In the past she has sent photos to the network and I suggested she add them to the site and she has…Maybe she will even send me a copy, I don’t know. I’d love to have one.

Early this morning….okay so it was 8:50 a.m…..(but I was still asleep!!!) I received a text message from the middle grands0n.  “Internet wasn’t on yesterday but hey Florida is pretty good so far….71 degrees at 7:48 in the morning”.  He has an I-Pod touch and has to be near a WiFi to text. so I reply something like “cool”….(Hey! I’m still asleep!! what do I know??) Then he tells me “Yeah the drive was tooooo long. It was at least 15 hours”!  Uhhhhh….I am kind of glad my daughter doesn’t want me in her house…Although I will greatly miss the grand-kids and we used to be really close as mothers and daughters go, I can’t see me driving for 15 hours.

And I just found out they are going to a different middle school. Yesterday I posted Pictures of Bruner Middle school, which my Grandson thought would be his new school.

So I did a little more research….The 2 younger boys will go to Meigs Middle school.  Their sister will go to Choctaw High School…home of the Big Green Indians!! I couldn’t find any photos to copy that I could show you; but I did learn there is a tradition at football games for Choctaw; a student or faculty in Indian dress and full headdress ride a horse on to the field at the beginning of each game. The marching band wear headdress and the drum major wears one that extends the length of their back (or longer!).  Sounds fun.  Wish I could be there for one of their games to watch.

So in the mean-time, I will wait for messages from them on Facebook….Today my cell phones were suspended because I can’t pay them at the moment.  This is the first time in 4 years that has happened, and the cell phone company has refused to work with me.

So for now, It’s all internet access.

To all my good friends, Big Hugs and much love! Hang in there! I know I am!

 

 

The wonders of the internet

Thursday evening, I had to take my youngest grandson home for the last time.  I was trying to be strong and not cry, but that was an impossible feat.  So I tried to be positive.  After choking out the words “I love you, and I will miss you every moment of every day”in between sobs and tears,  I encouraged him to have fun. After all, He was on a new adventure.  He’d be living a block from the beach, he’d be going to a new school in a strange place and he is going to make new friends….He’s just that kind of a person.

He’s hoping to get on a new football league team in his new city. He also was getting very emotional saying it looked like he was going to be the only one in his family to miss me.  He promised to keep in touch via Facebook and let me know the name and mascot for his new team….and he promised something else….He promised he would continue his “career” as a star running back and make every touchdown for me….That really touched my heart. 

It broke my heart to see him cry.  I tried to comfort him and tell him not to cry, but that’s hard to do when,

a) you are driving and,

b) you are crying just as hard! !

So we tried laughing at our crying!  As we parted, we hugged each other tightly and never said goodbye.  Just I love you and I will miss you every day.

On Friday, My oldest grandson came over to borrow a wrench to disconnect their washer.  After the truck was loaded and while his mother was showering, he came back to return it.  The last thing they had to load was the refrigerator. He said they would be leaving soon.  We talked about his plans with the Army, whether he would have to transfer units, etc.  And I told him I was going to miss all of them.  He held me as I cried and rubbed my back trying to comfort me…  I wish that hug could last forever; but it lasted as long as it could.  I will cherish the memory of it.

And thus, begins my new life without grandchildren….

So back to the topic….the internet.  First of all; there is Facebook who has put me in touch with old school friends, long , lost relatives and made new friends.  It keeps me in touch with all 7 of the grandchildren as now, they all have their own pages; and they all live far away.

Then there is the wonders of search engines…..How did we ever get along without them??

Remember when you moved to a new place as a child?  How it was such an adventure because you were moving to a new place you had never seen before?   Not anymore!  Now you can search for photos of your new house, job, schools, shopping malls, area attractions, etc….And for me, I can see where my grandchildren will be.  So I did a search;

Real Estate Sales:  their new house!

And on the Realtors site: backyard and interior views.

Then there is their school:

And my Daughter’s new place of employment: including interior views!

Thanks to facebook, my grand-daughter was able to share photos of what they would be enjoying:

I look forward to seeing more as they settle in….

Hugs and Love to all my dear friends who share in my times of sorrow, happiness and insanity!

I will Survive

“There'd be no sun in my sky,
There would be no love in my life,
There'd be no world left for me.
And I,
Baby I don't know what I would do,
I'd be lost if I lost you,
If you ever leave,
Baby you would take away everything real in my life,
And tell me now,
How do I live without you?
I want to know,
How do I breathe without you?
If you ever go,
How do I ever, ever survive?
How do I, how do I, oh how do I live?”

Sounds like a Bad country song, Huh?  Well actually, it a very good country song. 

As many of you know, my grandchildren  moved away last night.  And try as I might, I couldn’t help from crying when I said goodbye to the 2 grandsons I did get to say goodbye to; the youngest of all my grandchildren, and the oldest….

The youngest came over a week ago after a pool party for his Dare Program at school on the last day of school June 3rd.  Earlier in the day, I attended his “5th Grade Clap Out” ceremony, camera in hand.  Now many of you may not know what a “Clap Out” ceremony is.  All the younger children kindergarten through 4th grade, parents, teachers and grandparents line the halls of the school.  The 5th grade students, this being their last day of elementary school then march through the halls out to the playground….One final ceremony….Believe me when I say , Bring tissues.  It’s kind of a small town thing, but it has a lot of meaning for it’s participants.  Here is my grandson with some of his important friends as they say not only goodbye to their school; but really a goodbye to each other as my grandson would soon be moving to Florida.  (my grandson is the one in the middle)

The day before, there was an “End of the Year” Awards ceremony.  I was going to attend and now wish I had.  You see, my grandson received a “Presidential Award for Academics” sign of course by Barrack Obama.  The weekend before, I had asked my grandson if he would be getting anything, and he did not know.  I should know by now that that means “probably yes”; but really, I don’t know how many times I could have seen him receive an award and not look like a blubbering idiot….I also didn’t buy stock in the tissue company so my “crying towels” are at a premium and I do think I will be needing them for awhile.

 Last report card and President’s Award

Last night was really tough for me, but today I made a promise to myself to look on the bright side.  I know it’s not going to be easy for me this summer, but I am going to do my best to look for things to make me happy and keep me going.  Football will be starting in July and I will miss seeing my grandsons playing on the fields; but I can still volunteer with the team and watch their friends play.  There will be the 4th of July parade and fire works, fairs and picnics to attend.  And I have my crafts to work on.  Maybe I will actually make a habit of getting up each day and trying to write at least a little blog….kind of a Day to Day Diary of my new adventures in living so far from my grandchildren. I’m sure there will be more tears and some of the blogs will reflect them. But it’s a start…

Today, I am writing 2 blogs.  This one, and one on a more upbeat note. I know…I should save the one for tomorrow….so how about I write the blogs while the thoughts are in my head….and I will polish and publish the second one tomorrow….

In the meantime, to my Grandchildren, I will miss you every day….

Hugs and Love to all my dear friends following my blogs! You keep me going and stand by me when I need it the most, and I cherish you every day for that.  You don’t know what a few kind words can do to lift this sad spirit….

For my Aunt

Sonja L. Glasco, 72, of Jackson, Ohio, went home to be the Lord unexpectedly on Wednesday, May 18, 2011, at Holzer Medical Center-Gallipolis. She was born in Wellston, Ohio, on July 14, 1938, daughter of the late Ark B. Allen and Viola Deal Allen. She was a 1956 graduate of Wellston High School and a homemaker.

Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Charles H. Glasco, in 1984; and also by several sisters and brothers including Bob, Paul, Ray, and Jimmy Allen.

She is survived by four brothers, Sonny Allen of Chillicothe, OH, Larry Allen of Columbus, OH, John Allen of Illinois and Ronnie Allen of Oak Hill, OH; three sisters, Mary Crow of Wellston, Barbara Clark of Columbus, OH and Erma Crow of McArthur, OH.

Sonja requested that cremation follow her passing. Her final resting place will be in Ridgewood Cemetery in Wellston at a later time. Arrangements are by the Jenkins Funeral Chapel, Wellston.

Sonja wrote the following: "I loved singing in church and a few clubs in Columbus, Ohio. I loved being close to sister, Mary, as she was my idol, and also my brother, Larry. My circle of life was my two nephews, Billy and Bobby Allen...they were my joy in life, along with my niece, Mary Clark, and her husband, Bud Smith. I want them to know I love them dearly, and there was never enough time spent together. Always remember, you came in through God, and you got to go out through God. Bye!"

Earlier this week, I received an e-mail update from a site where I do most of my genealogy research.  Someone wanted permission to view the photos of my Grandparents I had posted saying they thought she thought this was her great-grandparents.

Now that sparked my interest.  Could this be a “long, Lost relative”?  So I replied to the e-mail and more or less inquired as to who the person was…..after all, you never know these days.  I asked the person to e-mail me at my personal e-mail account off site.

It turns out, this young woman is my second cousin.  She was wondering about where she “came from”.  It wasn’t until my Aunt’s obit came out in the paper that she had learned of her great-grandparents names….and then she went in search of more information.  The thing is, neither her nor I knew of my Aunt’s passing until this week, and only then as we searched the on-line obituaries!

Now imagine, her mother is mentioned in the obit!!  She knows her grand-mother; my Aunt Barbara; but they have NO family photos!

I have been doing our family genealogy for over 20 years and have amassed a vast collection of photos, birth/marriage/death certificates, news articles, military documents, etc; and can not imagine not knowing what I do know of the family History. 

My Dad’s side was a little harder to trace, but I have 15 generations back on his ancestors, right back to where they were granted permission from the church to travel to the “New” country of America on the “Abigail”.  They were Quakers.  I found death certificates for 4 of my Dad’s brothers and sisters including 1 even he didn’t know about! An older brother…and Dad was the oldest surviving boy.  He always told me there were 18 children in his family, but another Aunt told me there was more like 21….I’m still looking for others.

What disturbed me was I have been in contact with many of my Dad’s family since moving to Ohio.  Not only have I sent Christmas cards, but I have visited with 2 Aunts and called others, including many mentioned in her obit; and I had shared the family photos with my Aunt Sonja.  Now I wonder, who cleared out her apartment and has those photos now?

I printed off both an Ancester chart and a Family chart for my cousin Melanie.  I went through my photos, found many extra copies of some of the photos and I have made a CD with all the photos I have.  I wrote her a letter explaining I have so much more and would be thrilled to share whatever she wants to know….

I can even give her several generations on her grandfather’s side…who died before she was born..

I love to share my knowledge with others. I hope it brings her some comfort knowing both of us were left in the dark….and maybe this weekend, since my grandchildren are moving Friday, I will make a trip down “south” to visit…

I must find things to keep me occupied…so I won’t spend my days in my room crying….

Aunt Sonja, I wish we could have spent a little more time together. Rest in Peace, and thanks for listening to me on the phone when we did talk…

Hugs and love to all my friends! Please tell those around you how much they mean to you….You never know what God has planned for you.

 

Memorial Day tribute to those who serve

Lest we forget….

Our family has had over 40 members of the armed service over the many generations… One Paid the Ultimate Price. He was killed in Action and is buried in France.

On my Dad’s side; One died in the War between the states at the Battle of Shiloh Tennessee. His name was John W. Allen. Research has found that he died from illness not from an injury in the battle. Two others, Phillip Cooker and Phillip Hall also served in this war. Each year, their tombstones are decorated with a flag noting their service.

 

Then there was my grandfather; who served in World War I;

And three of his sons including my father who served in several Wars including World War II, Korea and Vietnam;

 

Three Uncles who married into our clan of Allen’s also served but I do Not have a photo for these men. They are William Crow, Cameron Clark and Carl Crow. Carl earned a bronze star. William and Carl are cousins. Their graves have markers which I have some photos of, but not all. Next time I go “south” for a visit, I will get more photos.

My mother’s family also has a long line of Veterans, her among them. (My Mother and Father were both serving in Port Deposit, Maryland when they were married.)

And many of her cousins:

And a brother-in-law; Alvin Lewter, whom I don’t have any photos of.

I have been married twice. Both my father-in-laws and husbands have served;

As well as members of their families.

And the traditions continue….Many sons,

 

in-laws, daughters, grandsons, second and third cousins……and more

 

 

 

And these are just the ones that I have photos for.  I am Missing many.  My ex was in the Air Force for a time and I had a cousin in the Navy.   Many, Many more have served…

Our greatest thanks goes out to all.