Archive | Judy Wills-Sunday Memories RSS feed for this section

The Bearded Barbet

23 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

 JUDY

 We have lived in Central Florida since 1995 – our retirement dream.  We had originally thought we would retire here and “work” at Disney, doing something mundane, so we could see the theme parks to our heart’s content.Well, it didn’t work out quite like that.  Within four months we had found the church where we felt God wanted us to be members, and so we joined it.

 1Within another six months – much to my surprise! – I became the Church Secretary.  Fred wasn’t too sure about turning in my application for the vacant position, but it just “felt right” to me, so I did.  And was hired (I was Church Secretary for nearly nine years).  I think it helped that I was an older woman, and my last position had been a Financial Secretary, and had learned to keep my mouth shut.  Financial and pastoral stuff is just something one doesn’t blab about.Within another nine months, Fred was the Church Administrator.  It was nice working together, and we made the distinction of working WITH each other – neither of us working FOR the other!  Even with our desks in the same room, we just worked together, as it should be.

In spite of all that “work” stuff, we found time to go to Disney, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios.  We especially enjoyed going to SeaWorld after a stressful day 3at work.  It just seemed like it was more restful there – not as frantic a pace as at Disney or Universal.  Perhaps it was the animals…I don’t know.  I just know that we enjoyed it and felt refreshed after spending a few hours at that theme park.

After we had been going to SeaWorld for a few years, we happened to go around a corner that we didn’t usually go around – and saw a bird “cage” along side one of the buildings.  We heard a strange sound coming from there, and stopped to see.  Inside the large cage were two of the most unusual birds we had ever seen!  And the sound was a raspy croak – called a “growling scrawk”! 4 WOW!  What were these birds??!!  The sign said “Bearded Barbet” – have you ever heard of that?  They, along with Toucans are mainly from tropical West Africa.

I rubbed my finger along the wire mesh, and one of them hopped right over to the metal frame, and took a good look at my finger.  The mesh was tight enough that I couldn’t be bitten – and it’s a good thing!  Look at that beak!!  But it did try to “peck” at my finger.  And it scrawked at me a few times, before it flew back to it’s perch.

Every time we went to SeaWorld after that, we would make sure we stopped to see 5the Bearded Barbet, and were thrilled each time.

Imagine our disappointment when we discovered that they weren’t there any more – and had been replaced by Australian Kookaburras.  Nothing wrong with Kookaburras, but they just weren’t the Bearded Barbet!

Ah – the wonders of God’s world.  They never cease to amaze me!

Psalm 8:1, 3, 8-9

Oh Lord, our Lord, how Majestic is Your Name in all the earth…

My Father’s Legacy

16 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

 JUDY

                                                     

 Since this is Father’s Day, I would like to tell you a bit about my father.  He was born in 1892.  He was 20 years older than my mother.

Daddy’s father was a circuit preacher, going from place to place in Louisiana and Texas.  He fathered 13 children.  Most remained as farmers or farmers wives.  However, several left the farm for other occupations.  Uncle Ed moved to Shreveport, LA, and owned a typewriter store.  Uncle Emory, the youngest of the 13 children, was on his way to being a church-related leader, when he was murdered on Christmas Day, 1931.  He was 23 years old.  As the story goes, he was coaching a youth basketball team.  His team had played a rival team and won.  The other team was not happy about it.  On that Christmas Day, Emory was on his way to see his fiancé, when he was set upon by the other team and beaten to death.  I didn’t learn these details until about 2000 – my father and grandmother had always told the story that he was in a horrific car wreck, and he died.

As a youth, Daddy enjoyed playing basketball.  I remember him bragging about what a great left-hook-shot he had, and how much he enjoyed the game.As I was growing 2up, he always enjoyed watching professional and college football on TV.  The Green Bay Packers were the team to beat during that day.  And on New Year’s Day, he would have four different college Bowl games going at once – a small TV on top of the large TV, and a radio in two different rooms of the house with different games on.  Used to drive my mother crazy.

My father attended Louisiana 3College.  His studies were interrupted by World War I.  He refused to carry a weapon, so they placed him in the medical corps.  He was in France, I know, and stayed there for a while after the war, studying at Toulouse University in Toulouse, France.  It was founded in 122

He graduated with a B.M. in Music from Baylor University, Waco, Texas, in 1924.  He was in the very first graduating class in music from B.U. – and there were only three members of that graduating class.

4

Baylor University Music Program Class of 1924

He was president of the Baptist Student Union on that campus.  He was also one of the original “Invincibles” – a group of young people that went to different states/cities in the summers and worked with Sunday Schools and Vaca5tion Bible Schools.

I know that he went to Baptist Bible Institute (B.B.I., founded 1917), which later became New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

He was the very first paid, full-time Minister of Education in the Southern Baptist Convention.  He was the Texas Associate Sunday School Secretary from 1927 until 1945.  At that point, we moved from Dallas to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Daddy became the New Mexico Sunday School Secretary until 1961, when he retired.  He died April 7, 1967, just one month away from my parent’s 30th anniversary in May.

f you have heard of the Southern Baptist Convention’s conference 6centers in Ridgecrest, NC, and Glorieta, NM, I am proud to say that my father had a hand in getting Glorieta established.  He was one of those that said “we need to have an encampment here in the west.”  Glorieta has a very special place in my heart, especially since my Dad was part of that.

He was very gentle man.  I never heard him speak a bad word about 7anyone.  He always looked for the good in people.  He loved being outdoors and went deer hunting every season.  We ate a lot of venison, and loved it.  The deer in NM ate a lot of pine nuts and good stuff, so the meat was not “gamey” at all, but very flavorful, much like beef to us.  He and mother both hunted sometimes, as did Daddy and my brother.

I have a picture of him and my brother each with a deer on the car.8

I remember one year they each got a deer, and later Daddy got an elk.  We ate really well that year.

9One thing about him – if he hadn’t bagged his deer before the weekend, he would have his own worship service out in the woods.  Someone asked him one time:  “you mean, if it was Sunday and an 8-point buck strolled by, you wouldn’t shoot him?”  Daddy’s reply was that he never even loaded his rifle on Sundays.  He was a very dedicated man.

Being a farm boy, he never got that out of his system.  He tried to grow a small garden in our back yard in Albuquerque, but he was gone so much that the garden usually died out.  One thing he did manage to care for was a huge peach tree in our back yard.  He would faithfully wrap the tree in cheesecloth every Spring, to keep the10 birds and bugs out of the peaches.  He was very successful with that tree, and we used to have peaches that were about 4″ in diameter and the sweetest I’ve ever eaten.  Mother would make peach jam, peach preserves, peach pie, home-made fresh-churned peach ice cream.

He was an incredible man, and I am proud to be his daughter.

THE ELEPHANT WALK

9 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

 

JUDY

                                                     

 2When I was a small child, we lived in Dallas, Texas.  My mother’s mother and father lived in San Antonio, so it was probably a short ride (about four hours in today’s time) for a trip to visit with Granny and Grandpa.  I have many pictures of my brother and me in Granny’s yard.  They lived in the country, so there were lots of animals – particularly peacocks, cats and dogs.  Interesting times.

 Mother told me once that, as I was sitting on Granny’s back step, they heard me scream and then cry out.  When they rushed to see what was the matter – they discovered that the peacock had plucked my peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of my hand, and I was furious!

 San Antonio has a lot to offer – whether you are living there or just visiting.  And we 3found that one of the best zoos in this country is in San Antonio.  I actually remember visiting there often.  Remember – we moved from Texas to New Mexico when I was just four years old – so that is a long memory!  But one memory that has stayed with me for a very long time, is the elephant ride we took.  I have pictures of my brother and me on one of the elephants.
4While I don’t know whether or not the San Antonio Zoo still offers those elephant rides, I do know the zoo was still offering elephant rides when our girls were young and we were living in San Antonio.  I have pictures of both our girls – along with me – on an elephant ride.  I’m not sure Janet remembers that ride – she was pretty young – but I’m pretty sure that Karen does.

5

Apparently an elephant ride isn’t such an uncommon event.  Fred’s sister and her husband took a trip to Africa not too long ago, and they took an elephant ride, as well!

6

It’s always been interesting to me just what my mind has stored away.  But it only takes a comment, or a picture, to bring an event back into focus.  And the elephant ride of my childhood stands out as a grand event.

THE BALLOON FIESTA

2 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

   

Have you ever seen a hot-air balloon floating overhead?  Really neat, huh?  We’ve been enraptured with them for quite a while.  The sister of a friend and her new husband “escaped” from their outdoor wedding reception in a hot-air balloon.  How neat is that?

 We had heard about the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta for years, but had never attended one.  It was started after we married and moved away from Albuquerque.   In talking with Fred’s parents, we all decided to head to New Mexico for that great event that year, 2001.  It was the 30th anniversary of the Fiesta.  Fred’s youngest sister and her husband thought it would be fun to join us, as well.  So we made our hotel reservations, airplane reservations, and were getting quite excited.

And then….September 11, 2001 happened.

We were scheduled to fly out in early October, 2001.  After September 11, all flights in the U.S. were grounded.  We were afraid that our flight had been cancelled, as well.  But the grounding was lifted, and we were able to fly out as scheduled.  I’ve heard so many people say they have stopped flying after September 11 – they were just too afraid.  And my thought is…where is your faith?!  Much safer than traveling long distances in a car…etc.

In any case, we flew out as planned and arrived quite safely in Albuquerque, city of my heart.  We connected with the rest of the family, and began our Balloon Fiesta adventure.  It was absolutely wonderful!   Completely fascinating to watch the balloons go from flat on the ground, to upright, to up in the air in a matter of short minutes!  Breathtaking!

But the best day was the day of the Mass Ascension.  If I recall correctly, there were over 800 balloons going up that day.  They were laid out in a pattern, and went up in planned sequence.  But they did all go up.  And that was the day they had the different “shapes” to the balloons, as well.  A cow (Creamland Dairy)…

 

1

a Wells Fargo stage coach (as well as a piggy bank)…

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a beer stein…

 

 4

 

 

 

Mr. Potato Head

 

Mr Potato Head

Mr Potato Head

 

Smokey the Bear…

 

 

Smokey the Bear

Smokey the Bear

 

 

a Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Cone…

 

 

Ben and Jerry Ice Cream Cone

Ben and Jerry Ice Cream Cone

 

 

Tony the Tiger cereal….

 

 

Tony the Tiger

Tony the Tiger

 

 

a shoe (Famous Footwear)…

 

 

Famous Footwear

Famous Footwear

 

and a birthday cake congratulating the Fiesta on their 30th anniversary.

 

 

Happy 30th Birthday!

Happy 30th Birthday!

 

We were able to get down close to one of the balloons and watch as they readied it for take off.  Fascinating.

 

 

Getting Ready

Getting Ready

Fred has an aversion to large crowds, so it surprised him greatly to find how “uncrowded” this all felt.  As we recall, there were probably well over 100,000 people there!  Of course, it was held on one of the valley floors in Albuquerque, so that helped – lots of room to spare.

That evening, we went to one of the Indian casinos in town, and were able to watch a night-time ascension.  Really beautiful.

 

12

 

 

 

14

 

 

 

Rising Flag

But it is one of our fondest memories – one we recall and treasure.  One year, our oldest daughter and her husband gave us a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle of that event, and we had a great deal of fun putting it together.  Brought back great memories.

 

 

 

15

 

THE SAILBOAT

19 May

MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

Growing up in New Mexico, there wasn’t a lot of water around – no swimming pools (except at the public ones), no ponds or lakesides, no oceans, etc. So, consequently, I was not really familiar with boats of any kind. That really didn’t bother me too much I had a lot of other interests.

If you have ever lived in government quarters – as we did on any military base where we were stationed – then you know that, when you leave that posting, you are required to have those same quarters absolutely immaculate! Better than when you moved into them! And there would be an inspection of those quarters by an official inspector. If they found anything wrong – you were required to “fix” it before you were allowed to leave the base.

We had lived in quarters on Tyndall AFB, Florida for five years. That’s almost too long, actually. Our usual moves were about every three years. I told Fred that we needed to leave soon, because I was beginning to put down roots – in a government duplex!!

He was finally given orders to relocate. So then the work of packing up and moving out began. After the movers had taken our belongings away, we started cleaning the unit. We had always thought we could do that ourselves, rather than hire someone to come in and do it for us. So I set Fred and the girls to cleaning, and I thought I would tackle the kitchen. I had planned on the weekend to do the entire kitchen. Unfortunately, the stove was so old that, in taking it apart and cleaning it – it took the entire weekend just for the stove!

By the time we had finished, we were exhausted.
Now….you may think there is no connection to cleaning and boats…but wait….

page1image16592 There was a gentleman who worked in the Weather Station with Fred, who LOVED boats! And especially sailboats. Not being able to purchase one for himself, he had contracted with another gentleman from Alabama to care for his sailboat.

It was a 33-foot Hunter that would sleep six people. It had a full galley and full shower. It had a small auxiliary engine to get us in and out of port. It was set up for ocean voyages and was one-person configured. Whenever the owner wanted to “play” with it, he would call and come down and retrieve it. That usually only happened once or twice a year. The rest of the time, our friend could take it out whenever he wanted.

And that’s what happened with us. He had offered to take us out for a sail, on the last day we were in town. And so we did. I was a bit confused when we motored out of port, thinking “what does this have to do with sailboating?”

But then he cut the engine and unfurled the sail. It was the most wonderful thing – so very quiet, and peaceful, and RESTFUL…just exactly what we needed after all that cleaning.

He even let our 8-year-old handle the wheel for a while. She loved it!

We’ve never purchased a boat of our own – never felt the need to. But it was an experience that we savored and have remembered all these years.

A Mother’s Day Collage

12 May

I put out a request to the contributors to this blog to write anything they wanted to about Mother’s Day. I thought it would be interesting to read how each related to the day and it certainly was, especially since two of our bloggers are sister and brother.

So let’s start our Mother’s Day Collage with a “Match the Mother to Child” game. Enter your answers in comments to win a digital copy of one of DiVoran Lites  or Rebekah Lyn’s books. If we have multiple correct answers we will put your names in a drawing. You may also comment on  Facebook under comments.

Moms and Bloggers

No.6

No.6

No.2

No. 1

No. 5

No. 4

No. 3

No.

No. 8 Blogger

Mother's Day

No.9 Blogger

No. 10 Blogger

No 11 Blogger

No 11 Blogger

No. 7 Blogger

No. 7 Blogger

As an example in comments you would write: 1/7,2/8 etc. Good luck!!

Onisha

We hope you enjoy our Mother’s Day Collage. Choosing what to share brought back such memories and tears too. In her later years my mother told me “you will always miss your mother. I still miss mine” This surprised me since my grandmother had died many years earlier and she only saw her once a year on our family vacations. I understand that ache now. So I decided to share a poem from my mother. The date was 1964 and I was twelve years old

I said a prayer for you today

And Know God must have heard.

I felt the answer in my heart

Although he spoke no word!

I didn’t ask for wealth or fame

(I know you wouldn’t mind)

I asked that he be near you

At the start of each new day,

To grant you health and blessings

And friends to share your ways!

I asked for happiness for you

In all things great and small,

But it was for His loving care

I prayed for most of all.

Bill Lites

Thank You Mother

My mother was such a great influence and inspiration in my life.  She taught me that God loved me and wanted to guide me every step of my life, if I would only ask Him.  She taught me to be a gentleman in every area of my life.  She taught me to learn all the details and to never take anything for granted.  She taught me to always give the other person the benefit of the doubt, and to do to others as I would have them do to me.  She taught me to be observant, to work hard and to be patient with others, and to always be kind and loving.  She taught by example and there was never any question about her love, acceptance and forgiveness toward others and me.

Louise Gibson

                                                    Reflections
                         What does a Mother say to her children
                         At the end of her days-
                         Those she has loved in so many ways?
                         “Oh, what joy I felt in my heart
                         When I was informed that new life had its start!
                                Each of you was a blessing from above-
                        A gift of God, the symbol of love.
                        Each is unique, not one is the same.
                        You are loved for who you are, what you became.
                        Your talents are many-
                        Thank God for each one.
                        They will nurture your being
                        When the day is done.
                        God will supply the strength
                        To face each new day-
                        I will be with you in spirit
                       Every step of the way.”
                        I love you.
                        Mom
                       A quote from Max Lucado:
“God knows that we are only pilgrims and that
eternity is so close that any “Good-bye” is,
in reality, “See you tomorrow”.

THOUGHTS OF MY MOTHER ON MOTHER’S DAY 2013

Judy Wills

How do I describe my Mother?  She was so unique in all her ways.

One of the most unique things is that she met, fell in love with, and married a man who was 20 years older than herself.  And yet, the marriage was one that I hoped to emulate with my marriage.  She created a loving and secure home for her husband and her children.  She was heart-broken when her husband died.

                                    Judy Wills Mother and father

She loved to sing and to play the piano.  She had a great alto voice.  She had a good ear and would just go and sit down at the piano and begin playing.  I’m still frustrated that I can’t remember the names of the songs/hymns she played.  My brother and I tried to remember them, and have them played at her funeral, but neither of us could remember.

She was a good cook.  She made a pot roast that would just melt in your mouth.  And that’s something I’ve never been able to duplicate.  I never learned her technique.  My Dad used to tease her by saying “this meat is no good – it just falls off the bone!”  She made the best cherry pie.  She made home-made peach jam from the peaches in our back yard.

One time, as she and I were sitting in the living room watching TV, we heard a terrible sound!  We both ran to the kitchen – only to find that the pressure cooker had “blown” out the pressure valve and pinto beans were all over the ceiling!  What a mess!

She had the most giving spirit I’ve ever seen.  One morning, early, we were told that the husband of a friend of ours had died.  He was a gun smith.  He was carrying a rifle along his side, tripped over a rock, and essentially blew his head off.  As soon as Mother heard that, she was in the car and over to that house.  Not only did she comfort the widow, but she grabbed rags and bucket and began cleaning off the blood, bone and brains from the side of the house.

Although I suspect she would have loved to be a stay-at-home mom, she worked as an accountant at Kirtland AFB, to make money for “extra” things in our life.  She bought a new piano for our house.  But one of the best things about her working there, was that she would find young military personnel – usually men – who were away from home and homesick, and bring them to church with us on a Sunday, then home to Sunday dinner.  She kept in contact with many of them throughout her time there.  One time she broke her ankle and couldn’t climb the steps to her office upstairs.  The officials were so insistent that she not “retire” that they placed a desk and lamp under the stairway just for her.  They really liked her work.

                                                         Judy Wills mother

When my Dad retired and money was tight, Mother bought a Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio, trained for the job, and set to work.  She had a really good, strong work ethic.

Judy Wills Mother

5

Oh my………so many more memories, but these fill my heart and mind.

I miss her still.

May 12, 2013, My Fifty-First Mother’s Day

DiVoran Lites

“Mom, how do you feel?”

“Fine.”

“But really, How are you doing?”

“Divine:”

My hair is gray, my socks fall down,

And I’m not going out of town,

And I must say, I forget some things,

But what matters is: my heart has wings.

I hope you enjoyed reading out Mother’s Day collage. We all view our mothers and Mother’s Day with  our own unique perspective and  I love that.

For those who read to the bottom, here is a clue. There is one more picture than there are bloggers! Don’t forget to write your matches in comments here or on the Facebook post.

Happy Mothers Day

 

Father Daughter Action Plan

28 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 JUDY

Father Daughter Action Plan 

That title in the Thursday newspaper reminded me of a time that our family enjoyed quite a bit.Back in the mid 1970’s, we were living on an AF Base and, because Fred was an officer, were required to be members of the Officer’s Club.  So, for the dues we had to pay for that pleasure, we thought to have a meal there at least once each month.  However, the food was less than great.

 While we were there, the club began giving out a “chit” for a free meal each month when they sent the bill, to encourage more attendance at their facility.

Well, we didn’t want to waste the “free” meal, even though we really didn’t enjoy eating there that much. But then a plan occurred to me – how about a Date Night between Father and Daughter?  Neither of the girls really had a lot of just “Daddy” time, so I thought this might be a good way for them to have some quality time with Daddy, and be treated like a lady should be treated by a gentleman.  And Fred is definitely a gentleman.  His momma taught him well!

So the plan went into action.  One supper evening each month, one of our daughters would get dressed to the nines, and would go to the O’ Club with Daddy.  He would help her into the car, pull out/push in her chair at the table, and they would just visit with each other while they ate.

2

 

The next month, the other daughter would get dressed to the nines, and go to the O’ Club with Daddy.  And she would be treated like a lady by a gentleman.

3

 

 

The girls loved it – they still say it is one of their fondest memories.  They would usually wear a long dress, get their hair fixed “just so,” possibly wear a “touch” of makeup, and be on their best behavior.   So each daughter had her quality time with Daddy, and Daddy got to know his girls a bit better.  Fun for all.

The remaining daughter and I would have hamburgers.

 

As a footnote to this:  when I told a good friend about this plan, she harumphed and said she would have to teach her husband to be a gentleman first!

BOOTS AND TIPPY

21 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

 Judy                                                    

 

 I have always loved animals.  And I had the best of both worlds – we had cats in my house, and my Aunt Jessie and Granny had dogs.  Jessie and Granny lived only about 10 minutes away from our house, so we were over there often, and they were at our house often.  While we didn’t take our cats with us when we visited them, they usually brought the dog(s) with them when they came to visit us.  And the animals got along together surprisingly well.

 Daddy grew up on a farm, one of 13 children, and I suppose there were cats and dogs on that farm, but I’m sure they were “outside” animals.  Consequently, he was rather opposed to our having an inside animal.  But I was just so attached to any stray that I could find – I even remember taking a stray kitten I had found into a church meeting with me!  I think that’s what convinced Mother to convince Daddy to let me get a cat of my own.  Especially since I contracted ring worm from one of the strays I found!

And so, we found ourselves at the home of a church family whose cat had recently had a litter of kittens.  We finally picked one out that we thought would be a good fit for us.  When we got him home, we began the course of naming him.  He was mostly white, with large black spots on him.  But he had black “tips” on the tips of his ears, and so we named him Tippy.

He was a good little cat, and I no longer picked up the strays.  He was not necessarily a full-time indoor cat – he was outside quite a bit.  And so, one day he just didn’t come home.  We were all devastated!  After a few weeks, we went to another house where the cat had recently given birth to a litter, and I was allowed to pick out another kitten.  These kittens were long-haired, and really beautiful.  We picked out one that was part dark tabby on his back and hind quarters, with a large white area in shoulders, chest and paws.  His head and ears were mostly dark, with a white face.  And so, we named him Boots, aka Bootsie.

 

1

 

 

We really loved that cat.  And Daddy, who was opposed to the whole idea of an inside pet, found that cat in his lap more often than not, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy it!  At least, we found him petting Boots, quite absently.

I don’t remember exactly how long we had Boots when – much to our surprise – Tippy came home!  A bit worse for the wear, but he seemed to want to stay close to home now.  So we went from no cats – to TWO!!  They seemed to get along together quite well, and even romped and chased each other through the house.  As quiet as cats are, they sounded like a herd of elephants sometimes!

 

2

 

And then, one day, we came home to find that Tippy had been hit by a car and killed.  I don’t remember that Boots moped, but that he grew to be just our one and only cat.  He lived to a ripe old age of 13.

 

 

3

 

Mother said that she entered him in a cat show once, but would never do it again.  He won a pretty good prize, but she said that, as she approached his cage and spoke to him, he looked up at her and immediately walked over to his food and water and began eating.  The officials at the show said he had refused to eat or drink before that.  So Mother decided it was just too much to put him through again.

Occasionally, when he was outside, he would stalk birds in the trees in the back yard.  If he caught one, he would wound it, then bring it to the back door of the house and just yowl his head off until one of us came to the door and praise him for being such a good hunter.  Then he would kill and eat the bird.

 

4

 

He also caught the one and only mouse that got into our house.  We really enjoyed him.  We were blessed to have him as long as we did.

 

5

 

 

THE DOLL

14 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

Judy

                                                     

My Aunt Jessie was a “collector” – of things.  She never married, so “things” became her main reason for living.  They were her enjoyment as well as her security blanket, I think.  But she also collected a variety of things that were unusual.  I’ll tell her story another time.

For now, I want to tell you about the doll.  Some of you may be old enough to remember – or have lived in a town large/small enough – that many women usually made or constructed their own clothing.  I was well into my teen years before I had any store-bought dresses.  Blue jeans, well yeah, those were garments we couldn’t sew ourselves.  But other items…..we purchased the fabric and sewed them up just to fit ourselves.

One of my favorite memories is going into the J.C. Penney’s store, and into the fabric department.  Round tables with bolt upon bolt of fabric standing upright, for our selection.  And usually, on top of that round table was a “model” doll – or mannequin –  with a dress or some type of garment made out of a sample of the fabric displayed on the table.  Someone was very crafty with their sewing machine!

don’t know when the J.C. Penney’s decided to discontinue the display on the mannequins, but I do know that Aunt Jessie was at the right place at the right time – and she acquired one of those dolls!  I have a picture of Aunt Jessie in 1950 in her house in San Antonio, Texas, with the mannequin in the background, so she had it a long time.

 

1

Eventually, she gave me that mannequin, and I was still young enough to play with it – dress it in the many different “outfits” that we had for her.

After Fred and I married and moved away, I left the mannequin with Mother.  At one point in time she owned and operated a cosmetic studio, and used the mannequin in her display window.  Very effective!

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

 

3

 

I still have that mannequin.  I’m hoping that one of my granddaughters will eventually like to have it.  It’s a unique piece of American history, and a very fond memory for me.

 

UNCLE JESS

7 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

Judy

 I have a really quirky family.  And most of them I have enjoyed through the years – or stories about them.

 My Mother’s family is originally from Ireland, with a good old name of McBratney.  I don’t know a lot about the family history, but only some from my Great-grandfather on.  He was one of 11 children, eight of them male.  I know that they called themselves “The Boys” and got together occasionally.

1

 

About the time I was “aware” of life, there were only four “boys” left, my great-grandfather not being one of them.  I made a trip to Kansas once with my Aunt Jessie and Granny, and got to see them then.  However, my fondest memories are in 1958 when those four “boys” came to Albuquerque for a visit.  They were my Granny’s uncles, my Mother’s great-uncles, and so my great-great-uncles.  But they were fun and funny to be around.

 

2

 

While I enjoyed them all, I guess Uncle Jess was the one I remember the most.

 

3

 

And this story about him always delights me – and makes others laugh when I tell it.Back in 1958, one of the favorite things to do was to grill steaks on the outside grill.  Big, thick, juicy steaks – lots of fat to flavor the meat – special seasoning to give it just the right tenderness and flavor.  You remember, right?

4

 

Well, one of those times, after the meat had been cooked and all were seated at the table, Uncle Jess began to meticulously cut all the fat from off his steak….and then proceeded to EAT THE FAT!  My Mother exclaimed – “Uncle Jess!  The doctor told you not to eat the fat on your steaks!”  And he calmly replied, “No he didn’t.  He only told me to be sure and cut it off.”

 

5

 

 

As I said, he was a sweetheart!