Archive by Author

It’s Music To My Ears

16 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 

Seems like I have always loved to sing. I vaguely remember being in the Christmas program in my 1st grade class, and sang a solo. I think it was….Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

I’m sure I sang in the children’s choir in our church. I don’t remember much about that. However, I do remember being in the youth choir in our church. And when I turned 17 years old, those of us that age, were allowed to sing in the adult choir. I was rather appalled to realize that some of those older women really needed to stop singing in the choir! And I made up my mind then and there that, when I got to that age, and if I found myself “warbling” like they were then it was time to stop singing in the choir!

I remember singing in my Junior High School chorus. Back then, Elementary school was 1st through 6th grade. Junior High was 7th through 9th grade, and high school was 10th through 12th grade.

I do remember singing solo’s in church – and not just in my home church, but in churches that Fred and I were members of years later.

But my best memories of singing came about during my High School days. I remember that we had to choose between singing in the chorus (or being in the band if that was our talent) or taking P.E. I chose music.   I was in the girls chorus all three years of my high school.

But there were two other groups within the music at my high school that I was interested in:  All-State Chorus and a hand-selected group they called Dreamers. I had to audition for each of those groups each and every year. The first year I auditioned for All-State Chorus, I had a cold and didn’t qualify. However, the final two years of my high school I was able to be a part of that group. High School choruses from all over New Mexico came to Albuquerque for the concert. We met in the University of New Mexico (UNM) gymnasium for rehearsals and the concert. As you might imagine, the acoustics were not the best, but we needed the space. And since Albuquerque was more-or-less central in New Mexico, it was always held there. What a fantastic experience that was!!

 

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1959 All-State Chorus from my high school

 

But I think, outside of All-State Chorus, the best thing about high school and singing, was to be a part of Dreamers all three years of my high school. There were 12 of us each year – four voices on each part of a trio. We always had a great blend, even though many of the voices changed out each year, as some graduated. We traveled to sing for other group meetings around the city. It was great!

 

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1959 Dreamers

 

Our chorus director was Arthur Loy. He was also the director for those of us in the All-State Chorus as well as the Dreamers. He had a great love for music, and his students, and the talent to direct us. He picked great songs for us to sing – some of the old great ones: Night and Day was one of my favorites. I was sorry to graduate and leave his tutelage.

 

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As you can see, music has been a large part of my life. I am grateful.

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Psalm 96:1

 

 

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Surprise!!~Part 2

9 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy  Wills

 

I recently wrote about a surprise that my family played on me – a delightful surprise, I might add (please see my post of September 18, 2016 – Surprise!!).

 

judy-family

 

There are some in my family that LOVE to do that kind of surprise on other family members. Our son-in-law, Brian, is one of the best.

I remember once, when we were living in Virginia, and Karen and Brian were living in Harrisonburg, VA (and attending James Madison University) (before children), and they surprised us by showing up in our morning church service. As was my custom, after we (the choir) entered the choir loft, I would peruse the congregation, to see who all was there. I’m sure my jaw dropped to the floor, when I looked at that section of pews and there they sat! They both ducked their heads, grinning.

And then there was the time that Karen and Brian with their two children, were going on a cruise with Brian’s parents, leaving from Seattle, Washington. When I informed them that Fred and I would be up there at that time, visiting with Fred’s parents and sister, Brian asked if we would like to surprise Fred’s family with their visit. That one didn’t work out as we had hoped, unfortunately. They had hoped to just show up in the church service that morning. However, with the time frame they had to get to the cruise terminal, we just didn’t have the time for a surprise visit and unplanned lunch. They all did come to church, but we had planned with the restaurant for the meal, and it was ready for us to sit down and eat when we arrived. And then they were off. It would have been a lovely surprise, if it had worked out. Fred’s parents were delighted.

 

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I think the best surprise that I ever managed to pull off, was Fred’s 70th birthday party. Several months before his birthday, I had asked both of our daughters if they and their families would be able to come – as a surprise for their dad. So the plans were made. As it turned out, our oldest grandson, and Tom, our Janet’s husband, were unable to make the trip. Everyone else made it. Our grandtwins were only three years old, and Janet managed with them on the airplane by herself. My brother and his family live just one hour away, and we had invited them all to come – with Fred’s knowledge.

The day arrived, and we all had arranged to meet at a shopping center, where I would pick up the food we were having. It was February, and the weather was beautiful. Brian and his family picked up the salad from Olive Garden, while I picked up the main dishes from Romano’s Macaroni Grill. When we all arrived home, I went in the front door and hollered for Fred to come and help. And then his girls and their families walked in! Again, it was a lovely surprise!

Most of the group
My brother, Bill, and his son-in-law, Ron
Connor and Hannah with ALL the toys!
Cousins

A good time was had by all. Janet had the twins make this “picture” for Fred, and we display it in our family room. The color has faded through the years – the left side was blue paper and right side was pink paper, representing Connor and Hannah. But it’s still a fun thing to look at, and remember.

 

I love Family

I love family!

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Enmu

25 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 Enmu

Is that title intriguing? Does it add a touch of mystery? You might figure out the “U” is University, and you would be right. Remember I said in previous musings that I grew up in the great state of New Mexico? That’s where the “NM” comes in. The only letter left is “E” – and – you guessed it – it stands for Eastern. Okay, all together now: Eastern New Mexico University.

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credit Google search and ENMU website

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ENMU Admin Building – credit Google search

 

 

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Concept Art for ENMU stadium – credit Google search

 

That was my first venture into the collegiate world. It is located in Portales (por-tal’-es), New Mexico, about 18 miles from Clovis, NM – also Cannon AFB – and a little farther to Texas. Several girls in my dorm had come over the Texas line to attend ENMU. Portales is about a four-hour drive from Albuquerque, so it wasn’t somewhere where I could hop home very often.

 

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Photo credit Jimmy Emerson

 

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Photo credit Google search

 

I tend to be a “people person” so it would not have mattered too much to share a room in the dorm with someone new.

 

 

However, as God planned it, my best friend, Billie Ann, decided to attend ENMU as well, so we were roomies. Too many times, that situation can break apart a good friendship. I’m pleased to say that Billie and I continue to be super good friends to this day. Here’s a picture of Billie and me the first day at ENMU, before we headed off to church. We hadn’t even had time to unload our bedding and suitcases. (See…we wore those pointy-toed shoes back then! Nothing new here!)

 

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Back in high school, Billie’s older sister, Becky, Billie and I formed a singing trio. As a child, Becky had contracted polio, and wore braces on her legs, and walked with crutches. Billie and Becky are not very tall people, so it was funny to see us – two shorties and one tall girl in the middle. Actually, Billie played the piano for us, so she was sitting during our singing times. Becky and I sang along with her. We were actually pretty good – not bragging or anything, of course. Fred said he thought we could have cut records – but we never did.

Here is a picture of us at my house, during one of our rehearsals. I’m the tall one. Becky is 4’7″ tall, Billie is 4’9″ tall, and I am 5’6″! Can anyone say “Mutt and Jeff?”

 

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We did imitate some of the current trios, and thoroughly enjoyed our time together. I remember Moon Over Miami, Mr. Sandman, and several others.

However, back to ENMU – I was not a terribly good student in high school. And I really can’t remember why I didn’t apply to UNM right there in Albuquerque. But I didn’t, and so went to ENMU. It was a small town, and a fairly small campus, and my first experience with dormitory life. Interesting – and not one I cared to repeat. Fortunately, Billie and I returned to Albuquerque after one semester.

But I found the academics to be quite good, and felt that I learned quite a lot. I actually made good grades while there, but of course, Fred wasn’t there to distract me!

Billie and I attended the BSU on campus (Baptist Student Union), and made some good friends while in that organization.

It was a fun experience, and I’m glad I had that opportunity.

 

 

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Surprise!

18 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 

Fred and I have just returned from a nearly-two-week stay with our youngest daughter,

Janet, and her family in Virginia. You see, since Janet and her husband both work,

our 10-year-old grandtwins go to a before-and-after program at the local YMCA during the school year. During the summer, when school is out, they go to the Y every day. However, the final week before school starts, the Y closes down. They either “clean” everything, train new employees, or…..we don’t know exactly what they do during that week. Consequently, the twins have nowhere to spend their days. Upon several occasions, Fred and I have gone there to watch over the twins during that week, since they aren’t quite old enough yet to stay alone.

Before we left home for our trip, Janet had told us that the Saturday we were there, Tom had reservations for supper at a fairly nice restaurant, so we should bring one set of “nicer” clothes with us. Sunday “best” do? Yep.

Saturday was a nice day – a bit rainy, as the tropical depression was headed to North Carolina and heading up our way, and we were getting rain from that, but a nice day, all-in-all. Come time to go eat, we all dressed up and headed out. We arrived at the restaurant and waited in the foyer while the guys parked the cars.

When the hostess asked us to “follow me” we proceeded down the corridor. When she stopped at a large table, she held out her hand, as if to say, “Here ya go.” I glanced at the table, and my first thought was, “there are other people already seated there. Why is she seating us here?” Then I did a closer look at the “people” sitting there grinning up at me – and gave a screech! Sitting there was our other daughter, Karen, her husband, Brian, and also our granddaughter, Katie – all the way from Chicago!

Turns out, they all had planned this for a couple of months, as a belated surprise for my 75th birthday! We had a great meal time with them, then back to Janet and Tom’s house for dessert and just some fun visiting together. They stayed through church on Sunday, then until about 3:30 p.m. when they had to head back.

I am nearly in tears to think that my whole family was there, together, just to celebrate me (well, our grandson and his wife couldn’t make it, but everyone else was there!) Even Fred knew about it and kept it quiet for all these months.

 

judy-family

 

I love family!

 

 

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My Love Affair with Disney~Part 4

11 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 

 

 

Just a few more Disney items to share with you this time. As you can tell from the previous musings, we really like all things Disney!

During the time our daughter worked at a Disney store, she purchased and gave to us a cell of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. He is my absolute favorite Mickey character! And this cell is just the thing for us to enjoy. He hangs proudly on our wall.

 

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And this picture just caught my attention the first time I saw it. Walt Disney had such a wonderful imagination, and this picture, superimposed on another of Walt himself, is the ultimate in his imagination. He is walking through Florida dirt and sand, but picturing Cinderella’s castle in his mind – where it would go, and what it would look like. This, to me, is imagination at its best.

 

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After September 11, 2001, and the terrorist attack on our country, Disney’s animators came out with a couple of figurines that spoke to me. I’ve only purchased one, but I treasure this one. It represents Mickey Mouse honoring and thanking the firefighters from that horrendous day. The other one represents the same, but for the police officers that worked so hard that day. Beautiful.

 

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There are a few other things – especially Disney t-shirts, but I didn’t think that would be of interest to many people. But they are fun to wear!

I hope you have enjoyed this little jaunt through our Disney memorabilia – as much as I have enjoyed writing it. All things Disney are fun things for us – to have and to do.

 

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Credit Disney World website

 

NOTE: My apologies for the reflections in the pictures above. I just didn’t want to capture my own image in the pictures, and therefore, the pictures I took are a bit skewed. But perhaps you can see the main focus anyway.

 

 

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My Love Affair with Disney~Part 3

4 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 

 

Because Fred and I have Disney running through our veins, we have a LOT of Disney memorabilia around our house. Last time I shared some of our Disney memorabilia. I would like to share a bit more this time.

Fred’s sister and her husband came to visit us a few years ago. We did take them to EPCOT, which we all enjoyed. We also took them to (then) Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs). We usually enjoy taking visitors there – especially if they don’t really want to do one of the “parks.” It gives them a “taste” of Disney, without feeling like they must spend an entire day there, to justify the cost of the ticket. If they don’t want to purchase anything, that’s okay. We do enjoy showing them our favorite eatery there (the Earl of Sandwich), as it is probably the most inexpensive spot to eat within the Disney complex. And the hot sandwiches are GREAT!!

 

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In any case, when they came to visit, as we wandered through some of the shops, Jim pointed out a Mickey Mouse figurine to Sally, and they purchased it for us as a thank-you for all we had done for them on their visit. A few days later, after they returned home, we went back to Downtown Disney and purchased another figurine – one that I’d had my eye on for a while. They aren’t a true match, but I like them both, just the same.

 

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And then there’s the Precious Moments® figurine with Bambi in it. Really sweet.

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Anyone remember those old “E” tickets at Disney? They are long gone now, but we remember those tickets from the 1970’s when we first went to Disney World (which only had the Magic Kingdom at that time). Little pieces of papers littered the ground just everywhere you looked. Disney finally got smart and stopped that nonsense! However, they have brought them back – as magnets! And so I have them on our refrigerator door. Gives us a great opportunity to explain them to our grandchildren.

 

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And since we sail with the Disney Cruise Line as often as we do (our favorite cruise line, by the way!), we have reached the Gold level – five cruises with Disney. And we got this great magnet for it! We used to feel really honored to have sailed that many times with Disney – until we met a couple who had sailed 18 times with Disney!! Yikes!

 

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One last magnet for this posting – we had seen this magnet on several cars, and liked it. When we finally saw it at Downtown Disney, we snapped it up. And now it resides on our refrigerator door. I think it’s adorable!

 

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More next time.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

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My Love Affair with Disney~Part 2

28 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

  

As I said last time, I’ve been in love with all things Disney for about as long as I can remember. Consequently, we have a LOT of Disney memorabilia around our house.

 

One of my favorites is this plate.

 

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Approaching the year 2000, Disney erected Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice’s hand with the wand stretched over the top of Spaceship Earth at EPCOT (we affectionately call it “The Ball”). It was there for about 18 months, and we were sorry when they took it down. They never had the “2000″ on Spaceship Earth – only on this plate. If anyone is into “collecting,” I suppose this will be a collector’s dream in the future. But we enjoy looking at it, in any case.

I think most have heard of Norman Rockwell. His paintings – especially for the covers of magazines years ago – are famous. My Aunt Jessie was a collector of things, and plates and figurines were in her collections. (Please see my posting for July 21, 2013, titled Aunt Jessie’s Plates, for more information on her collectables) While I have some of her plates (she had hundreds!!), I was also interested in the porcelain figurines she had. I’m sure you remember Norman Rockwell’s Self Portrait painting. It’s one of my favorite things he did. Aunt Jessie had a Rockwell figurine of that same thing, and here it is.

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How does that relate to Disney? Well, Disney’s artists have fashioned one of their own Self Portraits in porcelain, and here it is. I am amused by it, and think it is really cute. It sits proudly on a shelf, just below Norman Rockwell’s version.

 

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Another Norman Rockwell painting is called Puppy Love. While I don’t have a porcelain figurine of Rockwell’s, I do have Disney’s version of it. Here is the front and back view of it. I don’t ever remember seeing the “front” of it in Rockwell’s painting or porcelain – only in Disney’s figurine. Really cute.

 

Our youngest daughter, Janet, gave us this Mickey figurine many years ago, and it has a special place in our house as well as our hearts. While it’s called Mickey’s Adventure, I like to call it “Let’s Fly Away!” It’s so light-hearted and fun. It is a treasure, for sure.

 

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Another piece of artwork by that same artist is this figurine of Lumiere and Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast. Another whimsical Disney thing for us to admire and enjoy. (Sorry, I can’t remember the artist’s name [Ron something-or-other] – just very heavy stone with the figurines atop)

 

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There are more Disney treasures for me to share, but that will have to wait until next time.

 

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

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My Love Affair With Disney~Part 1

21 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Will

 

I’ve been in love with all things Disney for about as long as I can remember. I believe the first Disney movie I ever saw was Cinderella – and I was sold! As I grew older, I kept wishing there was some way I could – personally – have a copy of Cinderella and watch it whenever I wanted to! Fast forward to this hi-tech generation, and I have Cinderella on my bookshelf! Of course, I don’t watch it all the time, but it’s there for the watching if I care to. I usually have to do it when Fred is gone!

When we moved down to Florida, it was more-or-less with the intention of either or both of us working for Walt Disney World, so we could visit the parks just any time we wanted to. God may have wanted us down in Florida, but His plans for us did NOT include working at Disney World! And His plans are so much better than ours!

So we content ourselves with annual passes to Disney World. Fred jokingly says they are our Christmas/anniversary/birthday (and any other special event in our lives) gift to each other. They are rather expensive. But we get free parking with them, and we can come and go just any time we want. Sometimes it’s for nothing more than to have a supper meal there. And we consider if we stay about two hours, we consider it a “visit to the park.”

In 1999, we thought it would be fun to keep track of how many times we went to a Disney park during that year (38 times). And we’ve kept on with that tradition. Our peak year was 2005 when we went 64 times! If it’s raining? We don’t go. We know we can go another time.

And on our anniversary each year, we stay at the Shades of Green resort, and go to each of the parks, one each day. So you can see – we REALLY like Disney!

Because we’ve been enamored with Disney for so long, we have quite a bit of Disney memorabilia around our house. And we thoroughly enjoy it all. Our youngest daughter, Janet, worked at a Disney Store once upon a time, and she supplied us with quite a bit of Disney stuff. One of my favorite things she gave us, were figurines of some of the characters from Disney’s 1939 original Fantasia. I enjoyed them so much, that I had a friend (who is a wood worker by trade), fashion a shadow box for them. That box and those figurines now grace a wall in our house. I think they are adorable! Unfortunately, I have broken one of the pieces, but have substituted another Mickey in its place. And another friend who worked for Disney, presented us with “Mickey’s House” snowglobe that rests upon the top of the shadow box.

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~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

 

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Wheat Weaving

14 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 

There are a few crafty things I enjoy doing – some I’m rather good at, some that try my patience at times, and some that I do because I have to.

One of the things I feel I’m rather good at doing is crocheting. I enjoy doing it – can practically do it in my sleep, or rather do it and watch TV at the same time. I enjoy making things for new brides, such as pot holders and kitchen towels that can attach to the stove handle or a rack on the cabinet door. I crochet the top of the towel with a flip-over “handle” that includes a buttonhole, then I add the button for attachment. Unfortunately, my hands are becoming a bit arthritic, and the really tight hold I use for the pot holders have become uncomfortable.

I was into scrap booking for quite a while, but was rather slow at it. I had set up the card table in our home “office” but that left very little room for anything else in the room, what with the computer desk, my sewing machine table (with machine), and two file cabinets. So all that equipment is now out in the garage in a storage cabinet. Perhaps someday I’ll get back to it, but not right now.

But there are other crafts that just don’t interest me. Quilting is one of them. The people I know who quilt are enthralled with it – and usually turn out some really gorgeous quilts, whether small wall-hangings, or full-sized bed quilts. I attended a quilt “show” once, many years ago, and asked that they show me one that took very little time. It was rather uninspiring and plain. When I asked how long it took, I nearly dropped my teeth when the answer was….wait for it….nine months!! I can crochet a full-sized afghan in three weeks!! So that one is out!

When we arrived in Germany for our second tour of duty, I found some of the women in the wives’ club doing something called wheat weaving. I had never heard of it before, and it fascinated me. Not so much that I wanted to try my hand at it, however. But I thoroughly enjoyed the items that were made. I admired the skill involved in the craftsmanship, so much so, that I purchased two of them. Surprisingly, they have held up for over 30 years now! No moisture or moves have damaged them, and no critters have invaded our house to devour the wheat.

I have hung them on the doors in our house – the “double wedding ring” is on our bedroom door. The heart weaving is on the guest bedroom door. I still enjoy them, even after all this time.

What do you think?

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Paw Prints

7 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

 

 Fred and I have arrived at the point in our lives where several things have happened:

1… I no longer cook as often – nor do I desire to

2…we both thoroughly enjoy eating out often

Consequently, servers at a bunch of restaurants and eateries know us by name, and smile at us when we enter their establishments. I don’t want to say that they fight over who will get to serve us, but they all seem eager. We must tip well…..

One of our favorite restaurants is Cracker Barrel™. We enjoy their food – just good old country home-style cooking. Their prices are reasonable, and the same food for the same price is for both lunch and supper. Since we have cut down on how much we eat, since we are older, we are pleased to find that we can order from the “kids” menu, as it is advertised as for “kids of all ages.” And it includes a drink with it. We have had several servers suggest that we get two kids meals instead of the same thing off the main menu and split it, as it would be cheaper for us. That says a lot about the integrity of the place, to us. And keeps us coming back.

But there is another aspect of Cracker Barrel™ that we enjoy – and that is the “store” part of the restaurant. I have purchased several t-shirts from there, and they are always top quality material. I’ve purchased other clothing for our grandchildren there, and found the quality to be quite good. They have some of the fun, old-time toys that we played with as children, still available.

So all-in-all, we find our experiences at Cracker Barrel™ restaurant to be most enjoyable.

Some years ago, as I was perusing items in the “store,” I saw something that really caught my eye. It was a 6″ square tile, or plaque, of an animal paw print. Fascinating! One was of a grizzly bear cub (unbelievable how huge a cub’s paw print is!!), and the other was a grey wolf. I purchased the grey wolf paw print, with the intention of purchasing the grizzly cub print soon thereafter. However, as with most things you see in stores – if you don’t get it right then, it probably won’t be there the next time – and the grizzly cub paw print was gone when I next looked for it. I was so disappointed.

Fast forward a year or two, and we went on our first cruise with Fred’s family to Alaska (please see my blog of November 11, 2012 titled Our First Cruise). Our final stop was in Anchorage, where we celebrated Fred’s dad’s 86th birthday before departing for our respective homes the following day. As I was browsing through a gift shop in the hotel, low-and-behold – there was the grizzly cub tile!! I snapped it up as fast as I could – I wasn’t going to let it get away from me this time!

So now they sit proudly on a shelf in our house, and I am amazed by them, each time I look upon them, and thank God that I was able to gather these “things” to myself for nothing more than enjoyment.

Such a fun memory for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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