Tag Archives: Memories

Family Treasures~Part 4

26 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

Previous musings have been about items in my family home, and last week I introduced some things that, while near and dear to me, were in my Aunt Jessie’s house. She and my Granny lived about 10 minutes away from us, and they were a huge part of my life – almost daily – for about 10 years. I loved their house as much as I loved ours.

As I mentioned last week, Aunt Jessie never married, and so “things” became the focus of her life. Grandpa started her on the road to loving antiques, and she never quit. She would go to estate sales around Albuquerque and pick up what she wanted. Occasionally, I would go with her on these jaunts. She furnished her house with some REALLY good antique furniture. She was, at one time, the President of the Antique Club in Albuquerque.

Whenever we go to Walt Disney World, and Magic Kingdom, and do the Haunted Mansion ride, I am always struck with the thought that Aunt Jessie would go crazy on that ride, with all the antiques they have in there!! Many of them remind me of some of what she had in her house.

Some of the antiques she had were of interest to me, but not all. I actually thought that most of her antique furniture was rather stiff and uncomfortable. But there were a couple of tables, a lamp, a mirror, and other things that I enjoyed, and have with me today.

There was just something about this pedestal table that intrigued me. And so I adopted it, and have enjoyed it all these years. There was a “ruby” glass lamp that usually sat atop that table, and it has a golden dragon chasing around the ruby globe. I believe that, at one time, it was a oil lamp, but now has been fitted with electricity. Beautiful.

There is a relatively small table that I have always enjoyed, with a marble top. It wasn’t until I had it “appraised” that I was told the top didn’t really go with the table – and realized that it really did not! It is rectangular, as is the table, but the marble hangs off over the corners! Never occurred to me! I’m definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer!

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There is a marble column stand that always stood by the foot of the small staircase in her living room that I always liked. She had a large pot with a plant in it, but I have the stand with another of her antiques on it in my living room. It is a silver-plated dancer, holding a bowl. Just the thing for decorating – which Jessie loved to do, especially at Christmas time.

All these “things” remind me of my Aunt Jessie, whenever I see them. They might not have been in my parent’s house, but they are still family treasures to me.

 

 

 

 

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It’s Junk!

24 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

I sometimes have a difficult time buying presents for Fred – birthdays, Christmas, just because I want to….   And especially at this point of time in our lives, when we really have everything we need, it’s difficult. Now it’s more “wants” or just things that I think he might enjoy.

And this has been a trend throughout our married life. Unfortunately.

And so it was, many years ago, when we lived in Panama City, Florida (Tyndall AFB), that I found myself down at the marina with some girlfriends. There are some really neat shops down there, as well as some great eateries, and we were quite immersing ourselves in that atmosphere. We wandered into a little shop, and I was just looking around, just to see what treasures they had. Of course, it was a lot like a “tourist trap” that we see too often in those places.

But then I looked up and saw it……….the perfect thing for Fred’s wall! It was a framed “picture” of an old 1903 Mercedes! He had often said he would love to own a Mercedes in his lifetime. Perfect! Of course, it’s on black velvet (don’t groan – it gets better!), and it’s made up of the neatest stuff – a piece of vinyl and some trim,

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a thimble here and there,

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an old TV dial,

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hair clips,

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a safety pin,

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a shoe tap,

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a door hinge,

 

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an old can-opener-key,

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well, you get the picture. It is so unique. So I purchased it, took it home and surprised Fred with it. He was delighted!

It’s been on our wall ever since, and we enjoy looking at it.

I was showing it to a friend one time, and asked what she thought about it. Her comment? “It’s junk!” BOY! Did that deflate my balloon!

Oh well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? I just think of the creativity of the artist that put it all together. And we still enjoy it!

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Love….Take 2

17 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

Recently I wrote about Love (December 20, 2015).…..what is love? There are so many kinds of love in this life – the love of best friends, the love of a spouse, the love of parent for a child – and the child for the parent. The love of a person for the Loving Heavenly Father who blesses us with so much in this life, and His love for us.

In my lifetime, I’ve been blest with all of the above. God has been so gracious to me and I thank Him daily for those blessings.

But I also have “mementos” of some of those blessings. For instance:

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This little hanger-on has meaning for me. When we were living in Panama City, Florida (Tyndall AFB), Fred had the opportunity to go to Colorado Springs, Colorado for a conference, and was able to take me along with him. We arranged for our daughters to stay with people, and we were set to go. Unfortunately, as the time to leave drew closer, the military found a military flight for Fred to take – which meant I would have to travel alone. That really wasn’t a problem, except we like to travel together. Oh well, such is the way with the military. When I finally arrived in Colorado Springs, it was full dark. Fred picked me up from the airport and we headed to the motel. The next morning, as I woke up, he told me not to get out of bed just yet, and to face the window. Wondering what in the world???….he pulled open the curtains………and there in all her glory was Pike’s Peak in the bright morning sunlight!! Gorgeous! All that to say that this little memento is from that trip. Whenever I look at it, I remember that time, and the beautiful surprise Fred had for me, and his delight in giving that surprise to me.

And this little plaque:

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This was painted by our daughter, Karen, when she was rather young. I actually don’t remember when she gave it to us, but we’ve had it a long time. And we both treasure it. It is a memento of the love she had as a child for her parents.

For this past Christmas, Fred was given a “tea” set – mug, lemon tea bags, and this plaque that says the same thing as the mug.

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Because we both believe the words of this scripture to be so very true, we treasure this plaque, and have added it to our collection of love mementos. When we look at it each day, it reminds us of God’s love for us, and how we need to treat that love, and how to pass it along to those God places in our pathway each day. We can only pray that we live up to His desires for us.

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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 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~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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Life Is But A Minute

27 Feb

From my Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

 

 

When asked, “What is the greatest surprise

you have found about life?” Your response

will be, “The brevity of it”

 

I have lived to a ripe old age, but my

emotions are not ruled by a calendar page.

I am moved to tears by poignant moments in time.

I weep when others weep.

Laugh when others laugh.-

without reason or rhyme.

 

Yes, life is but a minute.

but eternity is in it…

Keep looking up, dear friend.

Christ is waiting at the cross for you.

His dearest desire is to communicate with you.

Life on earth is not the end.

 

John 9:4

“I must work the work of Him who sent me

while it is day. The night cometh when no

man can work.

 

Cross at sunset

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My Husband…My Hero

21 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

After the birth of our second child in 1971, we moved from Loring AFB, Maine, to San Antonio, Texas, where Fred would become an instructor at the Officer Training School (OTS) at Lackland AFB. Since our marriage, we had always lived in either apartments or government quarters. We felt it was time to own our first home. So we began looking at houses not too far from Lackland.

We didn’t actually have a realtor, but kept seeing signs for “Ray Ellison Homes” all around that area, so we checked them out. There was a subdivision of new homes there – within our price range – and we found one we liked. It wasn’t terribly large, but it had three bedrooms and TWO BATHROOMS!! WOW! We snapped it up.

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The bedroom windows in this house were high and long – narrow. They were high enough that we could hang a picture above our bed (no headboard). One night in 1972, about 2:00 a.m., we both were awakened by a bright light. We got up and looked out our bedroom window – and saw flames roaring from the garage in the house next to us! It took us a few seconds to recognize what was happening, then we swung into action. I called the fire department, then ran to get the girls. I was in such a state that I forgot to bring extra diapers for Janet! The firemen told us we had to leave the house, so we went to the neighbor’s house across the street.

In the meantime, Fred ran next door to the burning house. He began ringing the doorbell and pounding on the door. I heard him yelling “FIRE” several times. He woke them up. To his amazement – they ran back into the house to get “stuff” before leaving. They told us later that, while they usually left their bedroom doors open at night, they had each closed their doors that particular night, and so didn’t know their house was on fire.

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None of the family members were injured in the fire, while the entire house was destroyed. Fred suffered some burns on his forehead from blowing embers. After rousing the house members, he grabbed our garden hose and began spraying the side of our house, trying to save it from as much damage as possible. Some of our windows shattered, but we had the blinds closed, and so the shards were contained mostly in the carpet. We had about $500 damage to our house, including the soft water tank on that side of the house. But Culligan came and replaced it with no charge to us.

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It took until after daybreak for the fire to be under control. We were amused to see that some of the neighbors came out to retrieve their newspapers and found fire trucks and hoses in the street! They hadn’t heard or seen anything during the night! Heavy sleepers, huh?

I volunteered to help do some salvage. What amazed me was in the kitchen – the door of the dishwasher was completely mangled and warped. But under the top cabinets hung a roll of paper towels, completely untouched by the fire!

Two years later, the house on the OTHER side of us caught fire in the early morning. And we learned that, after we left San Antonio, the house two doors down from THAT one burned. Seems like it skipped every other house. We’re just glad ours was one of the “skipped” ones!

But Fred is my hero – thinking of the neighbors as he did.

 

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The Wedding Dress

20 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

On May 30, 1937, my parents married. Daddy was 44½ years old, mother was 24 years old. Daddy was six months younger than his mother-in-law. I remember mother telling me once that, after she and daddy had been dating a while, she showed Granny a picture of daddy, and Granny’s response was, “Why he’s a OLD MAN!” However, that didn’t deter my parents from marrying. Thank goodness!! And Granny came to love daddy as her son-in-law. They got along quite well.

I honestly don’t remember whether or not Granny made mother’s wedding dress. I know that Granny was a great seamstress, as was mother. Perhaps it was a joint effort. I do know that it had big, puffy sleeves and a straight skirt. She looked very elegant in it. What later surprised me, was that the skirt was full enough to allow a hoop or many crinolines under it. It may have looked straight on mother, but it was very full skirt!

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Mother’s sister, my Aunt Jessie, took the dress after the wedding, layered it with white tissue paper, and kept it in a cedar chest. It rested there all the years between mother and dad’s wedding and mine.

When my wedding was approaching, I told mother that I would like to wear her wedding dress – with a few alterations. I really didn’t like those big, puffy sleeves. Really made my skinny arms look even skinnier. There was a lady in our church who was a professional seamstress, and we engaged her to “remake” the dress. She removed the sleeves, essentially making it a sleeveless dress. I say essentially, because mother and I shopped around and found some gorgeous Belgian lace. She made a complete dress out of it to fit over mother’s dress. It had the long sleeves, and even a bit of a train in the back. I thought it was beautiful!

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It was while the dress was being “remade” that we discovered how full the skirt was. In my day, the “in thing” was hoop skirts or lots of crinolines. As I look back, I realize how elegant the straight skirt looked, but I wanted that full skirt – and that’s what I got!

 

But I guess the important thing is that I was able to wear my mother’s wedding dress. It always held a special place in my heart. And I think I was able to honor both my parents by wearing that special dress.

 

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The Classic

13 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

I’ve mentioned before how my brother was always fascinated with model airplanes. How he would build them, fly them, fix them up and fly them again. He was really good with his hands.

Another thing he liked to do – as I remember – was to work on car engines. I remember a time, after we began to become friends instead of just picking-at-each-other siblings, that he bought an OLD car and brought it home to work on. I believe he totally removed the engine and other parts and re-worked them. I’m proud to say that I helped him with that a bit – I actually HELPED him! When it was back together, he painted that car a gorgeous turquoise.

When Fred and I met, he was a sophomore at the University of New Mexico (UNM). He lived on campus and so didn’t need a vehicle. He also didn’t have his driver’s license. So if we went anywhere, I was the driver.

It didn’t take him long to remedy that situation – at least in that he obtained his driver’s license. However, he still didn’t have a car. He either walked or took the bus. Albuquerque had a good public transportation system.

Long about Springtime of 1960, he purchased his first car – a 1957 Chevrolet Belaire V8. He paid a grand total of $1,100 for it. It was a soft green, four-door, bench seats, automatic transmission.  It was a beauty! It didn’t have air conditioning, but in Albuquerque’s climate, we didn’t need it. He was so proud of that car.

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In 1960, we, and my parents, drove in that car to Englewood, California for Christmas with my brother Bill, and his wife, DiVoran. We discovered that Bill was working on another car. Fred helped him put the engine back together and everything back in place. We had a grand time with them there. We took in Disneyland

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and Knotts Berry Farm.

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Great memories. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner at Bill and DiVoran’s little house, along withher parents.

 
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On New Year’s Eve, we drove to Pasadena, to spend some time with Fred’s Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Bob. One of Fred’s cousins and his friends, took two picnic benches and some bedrolls, and set them up on the sidewalk at the starting point for the 1961 Rose Parade, scheduled for the following day. They slept on the benches to keep our spots. After the parade, we went back to their house and had a lovely lunch, then we headed out, back to Albuquerque.

That next summer – June 20, 1961 – 53 years ago – we loaded up that car and, following our wedding – headed to Fort Worth, Texas, where Fred was to study at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

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While it was a smooth ride, we really wished for an air conditioned car! Texas climate is NOT the same as New Mexico!!

We drove that un-air-conditioned car for several years before trading it in on another, newer vehicle. As we look back on those times, Fred continues to say that he wishes he had kept that car. It is now considered a CLASSIC. Of course, we were dirt poor at the time, and couldn’t possibly keep that car and have another one. And we couldn’t possibly know that, that particular car would turn into a CLASSIC.

But it’s fun to look back and remember those times.

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