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The Concert

6 Sep

Judy is still on break and I am sharing this one from the archives, September of 2012.  Enjoy~ Onisha

Sunday Memories

 Judy Wills

JUDY

 

I always remember there being a piano in the house.  Mother would sometimes sit down and play her favorite hymns from memory, with embellishments.  Occasionally we four would gather around the piano and sing along – Mom playing, Daddy on bass, brother on tenor, me on soprano.  Fond memories.

I started taking piano lessons the day I started first grade, and continued until I graduated from high school.  Now you might have thought that I was some kind of whiz on that instrument – and you would be dead wrong!  Talent?  Yes, I think God gave me some talent.  But not the GIFT.  I always have to have that piece of sheet music in front of my face, or I can’t play anything.

As time went on, I honed my talent, and became fairly accomplished.  My usual fare was church pianist, and occasionally the organist.

Our new Minister of Music wanted to do something new and different – so he organized six of us pianists and we began preparing for a six-piano concert!  One of the local piano stores had a room full of Clavinovas (digital/electronic pianos), and allowed us to practice at the store.

Close to time for the concert, and the pianos were moved to the church.  Up on the stage they went, and our practice time was closer to home.  We played two or three pieces all together – different parts of the song, like an orchestra.  Then we each played a duet with one of the other pianists, then a solo.  We were each to introduce ourselves to the audience and tell something about ourselves – just to get acquainted.

Friday night came – and the first concert.  The sanctuary was nearly full!  And then it became a labor of love – for the instrument and for our God who gave us all the talent to use for His Glory!  A labor of love, but such fun, as well.  My sister-in-law said, “WOW that was Great!!  What a glorious thing to hear SIX pianos played by six talented musicians all at one time!  I can sense God’s hand in this concert and in these musicians.”

I like to think that all those piano lessons have paid off.  I may not have the gift, but what talent I have, I use for God’s Glory.

Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done marvelous things!

His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him.

 

Psalm 98:1

 

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There’s a Squirrel in the House!

30 Aug

Judy is on a blogging break and I’m enjoying going through Judy’s older post and choosing favorites to share. I hope you enjoy this one. I did-Onisha

Sunday Memories

Judy Willis

JUDY

I love to watch squirrels.  They are such fun to see – digging in the grass for buried treasures; chasing each other around the tree; sitting on their haunches, tail up and curled, eating some delightful morsel….

For some time, I had been feeding pecans to the squirrels in the back yard.  I would stand in the doorway and place the pecan closer and closer to my foot, just to see how close they would come to me.

Why is the dog, Maxie, running through the house?  Is she chasing something?  Then why isn’t she barking?  As I looked down over the bannister….who/what belonged to that gray tail?  Then I understood, and….FRED!  THERE’S A SQUIRREL IN THE HOUSE!!

As Fred ran to get a broom, I ran down the stairs and grabbed Maxie.  I took her to the front door and opened it and the screen door.  I crouched down, holding her wiggling body by her collar, next to me.  Fred ran into the living room.  Then I heard him scream a word that I had never heard him say before!

Next thing I know, the squirrel is racing for the open door.  And I just let go of Maxie and let her chase that squirrel to her heart’s content!  She didn’t catch it, of course, but not for lack of trying.

Seems the squirrel had jumped up on top of one of the picture frames over the couch.  As Fred swung the broom at it – it jumped at his face!  Hence the “word.”  But he was after that squirrel as fast as possible.

From then on, any time Maxie saw a squirrel outside the house, she went crazy, trying to get to it.  She never barked, but boy! did she race back and forth in front of the windows.

I shall never feed a pecan to a squirrel again!

John 10:10

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Sunday Memories-Safe

15 Aug

Judy is taking a break for the next month. She suggested I go back to her first post and repost it. I liked the idea and for the rest of her break, I will choose some of her most popular post and share them again.

Old Things R New

We at the OldThingsRNew blog  are  so pleased  to be growing and adding a new feature, Sunday Memories. We welcome Judy Wills as our very first contributor and hope she makes it a weekly event.

Judy Wills

Safe

“I’m sorry……….but it’s cancer.”

Those words are probably some of the most dreaded in the English language.  I certainly never expected to hear them about myself.  My husband was standing by my side as I took the phone call, and laid his hand on my shoulder as I immediately looked into his face and told him the results.

“It’s very small – it’s probably only been growing a few months – since Christmas perhaps.”

Well, that’s one bright spot in all this – if there can be such a thing in………cancer.

Make the appointment to see the surgeon.  Take time off work to see the surgeon, then schedule the surgery.  My boss…

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Growing Up~Part 1

9 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                 

Frequently, when I’m trying to find something to write about, I will go back through my pictures and find something that teases my interest. I did that recently, and discovered that I have some really delightful pictures of myself and my brother as we were growing up. Therefore, I would like to share those wonderful memories with you all. Here’s the first installment.

Billy and I were both born in Dallas, Texas.

Billy Lites
Judy Lites (later Wills) bBeing held by her Mother

And by-the-way – we called him “Billy” until he was about 14 years old when he decided he wanted to be called “Bill.” But for this purpose, he will be Billy.   He is about 3½ years older than I am, and while we had our ups and downs that most siblings have, we are overjoyed to be living within an hour of each other now. We really like each other much more now that we are adults!

Since we have Google and other browsers at our fingertips now, I looked up our old house in Dallas, and was pleased to see that the latest owners have really kept up the house – including adding an in-ground swimming pool in the back yard! So I guess the neighborhood has not gone downhill as I feared it might! Here’s a picture of our Mother with Billy and me in front of our house. Billy is 4½ years old, and I am one year old.

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You can see by this picture of the neighborhood that Billy, by the age of about six months or so, was already into trucks and such.

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Those of you who enjoy really old cars, will get a kick out of the cars in this photo and others to follow. These pictures were taken in the late 1930’s-to-early 1940’s. Enjoy! Here are a few other pictures of him….with a model airplane – see, he really DID start at an early age loving airplanes.

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Remember his post about having that toy parachute (August 27, 2014)? Here is a picture of him with it.

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And do you remember my post about the furniture that our grandfather made out of empty spools of thread (October 26, 2012)?   Here is a good picture of Billy with the child’s chair Grandpa made.

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We don’t have those chairs anymore, but we do have other furniture he made for the family. Our mother had some, and her sister, our Aunt Jessie, had some, and now Bill and I each have some of that furniture, to remember a man who was so creative.

Here’s a picture of Billy and a second cousin, Jimmy Mac. Billy was only two years old.

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And here’s another picture of the two of them – with me in the mix – when they were three years older.

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And here’s a good picture of our Mother and Father, with Billy, when he was two years old.

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And this one is of the four generations – Billy, our Mother, her Mother (our Granny), and Granny’s father.

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Neat, neat, neat. I just LOVE these old pictures!

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

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Granny~Part 4

2 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                    

 

In my previous musing, I spoke about my Granny’s gift of sewing. She was a master at it. And all on her old Singer treadle sewing machine.

 

Back in those days, we girls wore either hoops under our full skirts, or lots and LOTS of crinolines, to make our skirts “stand out.” Some of the things that Granny made for me fell in the category of very full – probably a full circle – skirt made from heavy felt. I loved them all. I remember a fuschia skirt,

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a turquoise skirt,

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and especially a red skirt that was made for a 1955 Christmas parade in which I took part. I was in Junior High School then (equivalent to Middle School these days). It was named Jefferson Junior High School, and our colors were red and white. Here’s a picture of a bunch of us girls in our red and white, spelling out “Jefferson.”

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Granny also made a taffeta dress for me for Easter in 1955. My, I was such a young thing then!

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Granny had a bit of a green thumb – which she did NOT pass along to me! Her favorite was the African Violet, and she had many small pots of them in the kitchen corner window. She had a real knack of caring for them, and enjoyed all the different colors of the plants she had.

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Occasionally Granny would travel back to Texas for a visit with her sisters (Loa and Lillie).

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Since Aunt Jessie was the working one in the family, Granny went alone. Here is a picture of her at the original Albuquerque airport.

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Notice the Pueblo Indian architecture (adobe) as well as the vigas protruding from the building (horizontal roof beams made of logs, usually protruding from the side of the house). We had those on our house, as well, although I think ours were more decorative than useful. When we were children-into-teens, we would go out to the airport, sit on the stone wall and watch the airplanes come and go. The original landing strip was also used by Kirtland AFB, so we got to see quite a few airplanes. And it was spectacular at night! That was also a great place to watch the July 4th fireworks!

I also mentioned Granny’s great sense of humor. Here is an example from DiVoran – my wonderful sister-in-law (love), and published author:

I recall one thing Granny said that tickled my funny bone. We were all in the kitchen washing and drying dishes, except Jessie. I had just put a plate I had dried quickly in the cupboard and Granny reached up and touched it, then she said, “Hmm, feels like it sweated during the night.”

Another thing, I asked my mother why she thought Jessie didn’t help with the dishes like all the other women did. I don’t think Mother’s answer held much water. She said it was because Jessie worked every day just like the men did and that exempted her. At the time, I bought it, but thinking back, who else worked their forty a week? Your mom and mine.

I loved my Granny, and memories of her still delight me.

 

~~~~~~~~~~The End~~~~~~~~~~

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Granny~Part 3

26 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                      

I’ve mentioned before that Granny was a great seamstress. I don’t know whether or not she made Mother’s wedding dress, but it is quite possible.

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And remember – she and both of her daughters (my Mother and Aunt Jessie) all three worked in the Rochester Handkerchief Factory in San Antonio for a number of years. So she was well-versed in the art of sewing, and with a machine.

I know that she was partly responsible for teaching me to sew fiesta dresses (please see my post on December 9, 2012).

I remember my brother, Bill, telling me how she would make Western shirts for him. Seems she had the pattern for a long-sleeved western-style shirt on hand. He would go to Sears or Penney’s or a fabric store where they had fabric by the bolt, and he would purchase 3½ yards of fabric of his choice. He would take it to Granny, and she would sew up that shirt in no time. Bill had a “kit” that enabled them to anchor pearl topped snaps on the shirt. They would get together; Granny would mark off where the snaps were to go; and Bill would make the attachment. Fun time for both of them, and lots of shirts in his closet.

Remember now……Granny had an old treadle Singer sewing machine.

She did all this work on that machine. I seem to remember it was “commercial grade” – they probably purchased it from the handkerchief factory. I believe in later years they removed the treadle and upgraded to an electric motor. But I’m not sure about that. One thing I really do remember about that machine is that, off to the left side, was a long button drawer. And it had tons of buttons in there – all kinds, colors and shapes.

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I would spend hours just sifting through those buttons. It was such fun for a child. (Don’t be alarmed – I never swallowed any!)

Bill told me that Granny also made him an “Ike” jacket, which was very trendy during that time.

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She made it out of red corduroy – and he loved it! He had a pair of red corduroy pants to go with it, and he wore that outfit to school. He thinks that is what captured DiVoran’s attention after they had met. Interesting story, huh?

I also remember that she made a turquoise velveteen jumper. I wore it a lot.7

She also made a turquoise wool coat for me –

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and later a blue wool coat. And along with those, was a turquoise bathrobe. Think I might like the color turquoise?

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

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Granny~Part 2

19 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                    

I’ve mentioned before that my Dad was 20 years older than my Mother. When Mother had been dating Daddy for a while, she showed Granny a picture of Daddy, and Granny exclaimed: “Why…..he’s an OLD MAN!”   But that didn’t really make any difference to Mom and Dad, even though he was only six months younger than his mother-in-law.

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Granny was really a good cook. And back in those days, more women stayed home and did the cooking for their families, than we do now. For some reason, I remember being in San Antonio with Granny and Aunt Jessie, and the smell that I remember is one of Frito Lay Corn Chips™ that she had spread out on a cookie sheet and warmed in the oven, because they had become “limp” from the moisture in the air. Heating them in the oven would “crisp” them up again. It was a unique smell, and one I’ve not smelled since. I guess Frito Lay now has a better way of sealing their packaging.

I remember that whenever I had the flu or strep throat (which I had a lot as I was growing up!), she would make a pot of potato/onion soup for me to eat. It was so good and was just what I needed when I didn’t have much appetite. Unfortunately, I never got the recipe from her. I have a recipe for a delicious potato/leek soup (from my wonderful sister-in-law, DiVoran), but it just isn’t quite what Granny made, but as close as I can come without Granny’s recipe.

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One of my favorite things to eat is popcorn. I remember one time when I had either the flu or a very bad cold, and Granny was staying at our house. She asked what I wanted to eat, and I told her a BIG bowl of popcorn! She popped it up, fixed it just the way I liked it – lots of butter and salt – and brought it to me. Unfortunately, my sinuses were so stopped up that I couldn’t taste anything – and the popcorn held no appeal to me. To say that she wasn’t happy with me, goes without saying.

Granny had a terrific sense of humor.

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She could tell a joke with the straightest face – then just howl with laughter when I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.  I’ve seen this look of mischief on her face so many times. She was such fun.

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Aunt Jessie always had a dog around the house. And she and Granny both loved those dogs. They came to Albuquerque with Ginger, a beautiful red Cocker Spaniel.

I don’t remember just when Ginger died, but I do remember when they got Trixie – a little Pug. As my Mother said when Trixie was just a puppy – “She’s so ugly she’s cute.” And she was.

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As Trixie got older, along came Bubbles – a black Poodle.

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They were all fun dogs. We had cats at our house, and dogs at Granny and Aunt Jessie’s house – so we had the best of both worlds.

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Granny (Addie) with Judy and Bill Lites, 1956

~~~~~~~~~~To be continued~~~~~~~~~~

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Granny~Part1

12 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                  

 

I call her my “favorite” Granny, mainly because I didn’t know my other Grandmother very well. The “other” Grandmother lived two states away, and we only saw her once in a while – I would like to think we went there every Summer, but I’m not sure.

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But Granny lived in Albuquerque near us (with my Aunt Jessie), and we saw her quite often. She and Aunt Jessie moved to Albuquerque in 1952, but before that, Granny would come and stay most of the summer with us. One of my strangest memories, is of coming home from school and realizing that she wasn’t there anymore – she had returned home to San Antonio. It was a very empty feeling.

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But then they moved to Albuquerque, and she became a very real part of my life. They lived about 10 minutes away from us, and then in the years I could drive, I would spend nearly as much time at their house as I did at ours. So that house became as dear to me as our house did.

4I remember that Granny could make the best meringue pies ever. She could seal that meringue to the pie crust so I could never tell what kind of pie it was – until it was cut.

I would come home from school and she would have a pie cooling on the rack, and would challenge me to guess what kind of pie it was. It could be one of her wonderful chocolate cream pies, or perhaps her butterscotch pie, or then again, it could be her great lemon meringue pie. And by George – I could never tell what it was. When I make a meringue pie now, even if I seal that meringue to the crust, it ALWAYS pulls away from the crust as it is browning! Shucks!! I’ve never gotten the knack – and she never taught me how to do it. I have her recipes for the chocolate and butterscotch pies, but she died before I could get the lemon. I’ve never found any recipe to match the one she had.

One memory I have of her pies is a fun memory, but wasn’t too pleasant at the time. She had made a coconut cream pie especially for my Dad, since it was his favorite. He took one bite of it and didn’t really say anything about it – most unusual for him, as he always complimented Mother and Granny for their cooking. Then Granny took a bite and exclaimed, “Whoa! Who put the salt in the sugar bowl?” Apparently she had mistakenly replaced the sugar with salt and didn’t know it until she tasted it! Into the trash THAT pie went! And Daddy was too much of a gentleman to tell her how horrible it tasted!

I have mentioned in other musings that my Aunt Jessie owned and operated a small diner in downtown San Antonio in years past.

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It was small, but well attended and even earned a write-up in the San Antonio newspaper.

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While they had a “cook” for the diner, Granny made all the pies. And people would come in for a slice – or even purchase an entire pie to take home to their families! They were that good.

~~~~~~~~~~To be continued~~~~~~~~~~

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Janet and the Paint Puddle

7 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                          

Fred and I waited until he graduated from college before we married. We had known each other about three years and engaged for half that time (I invite you to revisit my October 5, 12, 19, 2014 posts on “How We Met”).

As soon as we left the wedding, we headed for Fort Worth, Texas, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where Fred was to study for the ministry. While there for four years, I went to work, getting my “PHT” degree – you know – Putting Hubby Through, while Fred achieved his MDiv and MRE (Master of Divinity/Master of Religious Education).

When no ministry openings came available for Fred upon his graduation, and his Draft Board became interested in him, he began checking into the military openings. And so we found ourselves in the United States Air Force.

We spent one year in San Jose, California, while Fred studied Meteorology. We then spent three years in Wiesbaden, Germany. Our next tour was 13 months in northern Maine. And the follow-on tour was in San Antonio, Texas, where Fred was an instructor in the Air Force Officer Training School.

After living in apartments and government housing all that time, we decided it was time to finally own our own home. And we found one that was quite comfortable, and a new construction.

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The entry to the house was divided from the living room by a half-wall, with spindles to the ceiling.

After we had been in the house for several years, we thought of painting that half-wall and entry way, and set about to do it. We laid out a cover for the carpet, just in case. We had a step-stool to get the higher-up areas. We had our rollers, brushes, and paint trays that we kept filled with paint.

Roller
Roller
Brush
Paint tray
Paint

Karen was in school, but Janet was still at home with us. We were busy painting, and had warned Janet to stay either in the living room or her room, but do NOT come in the entry way. However, I frequently found her edging her way around one of the half-walls and into the entry way, rather than going the other way, through the kitchen and family room. And then, as you might surmise, I looked up, saw her squeezing by that half-wall again, and I yelled, “JANET!” Startled, she looked up, whirled around and lost her balance, and SPLAT! landed right in the middle of the “puddle” of paint in the paint tray!

Fred was rather furious, but I picked her up (she was bawling by this time), and took her to the nearest bathroom. While she was in the tub, with me “hosing” her down, the whole thing just tickled my funny bone. I began to giggle – as did she – and we had a great time cleaning up.

She survived the paint – and we survived the painting. And it’s a sweet memory.

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CLOWNING AROUND

28 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 Growing up in Albuquerque, my first friend was Shirley. She lived down the street, through the side yard of a house, down the alley, and into her back yard. We were fast friends. I was at her house so often, that her mother had a jar of dill pickles in her refrigerator, just for me.

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We were visiting with Shirley and her husband, Jim, a few years ago, as they live just one-and-one-half hours away from us. At that time, they presented us with a couple of pictures. Shirley said, “that’s you (Judy) and me, but I don’t remember what was going on, or why you are on the ground.”

And instantly, the memory came back. Shirley and I were with a youth group from our church (we were about 16 years old), and we had gone to Glorieta (New Mexico) Conference Center for a retreat. As you can see, I was a bit of a clown back then. Shirley was NOT impressed!

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As for my being on the ground:   Not only was I clowning around, but some of the others were, as well. One of the guys picked me up and slung me over his shoulder. Fun thing to do, huh? Something guys and girls do a lot for fun. Unfortunately, however, my nose met his back with such force that it gave me an instant bloody nose! So there I was, on the ground, swallowing blood and trying to get my nose to stop bleeding!

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Shirley remembered that she had been trying to get the attention of one of the guys – and he happened to be the one who hefted me over his shoulder! She was NOT a happy camper at that point!

But all turned out well….the nose stopped bleeding….the retreat proceeded successfully….and neither Shirley nor I married the guy in question.

But it’s a fun memory of a simpler time.

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