My Siblings, My friends! I am a Lucky Girl!

Patty (seated)Janet, Tommy, Laura, and Ellen after dinner at the Brew Pub.


These are the beautiful roses given to the four sisters by our sweet waitress, while we enjoyed the musical and vocal stylings of the piano man at the Renaissance Hotel.


We had a great Siblings Weekend! We worried that snow and ice might do it in altogether, but it was only postponed by one day.

JJ and I left about 1:30 on Saturday to head to the Embassy in downtown Montgomery to be checked in before Ellen, Tommy, and Pat arrived. We settled into the room and went to eat lunch at Dreamland BBQ where their Brunswick Stew was great!

Pat and Ellen arrived and we all got settled in. Tommy got there at 4pm and we talked and visited together, enjoying old photos, new photos, scrapbooks, and exchanging little gifts with each other. Then we were off to dinner at the Brew Pub where the food was excellent, as usual and the staff friendly and efficient.

We then made our way back to the hotel where we discovered the heat was not working. Tom looked at it and we got the maintenance man to come fix it. We were good. Tom had to leave at about 8:30 and we girls munched on the beautiful Valentine treat basket Janet had brought, then topped it off with a couple of chocolate covered strawberries that Ellen contributed. By this time, we are feeling the heat and I mean feeling the heat. It was over 80 degrees in our room. We found that we had to turn on the heat and turn off the heat to regulate the temperature in our room. We called maintenance again. He showed up and fixed it. We were off to some sweet sleep and dreams after our celebration. We woke many times during a fitfull slumber to find ourselves extremely HOT! The heat was not fixed, so it was a constant battle to keep from freezing and roasting consecutively all night long. Our weekend catch phrase was "It's hot in here!" complete with tugging on our shirt and sweater collars for a little cool air.
We requested a new room the next morning and the same situation was found in it, so after a great breakfast buffet at the Embassy we were on the move across the street to the Rennaissance Hotel...nnnnnice!
The Rennaisance is a gorgeous hotel with loveliness everywhere your eye may fall. A huge step up from the Embassy and it was cool or warm at the touch of our fingertips. We went flea market shopping and found several treasures in Prattville on Sunday, had lunch at Jim and Nick's BBQ, then headed back to Montgomery to visit Linda. We had a lovely visit with her and hurried off to make it to our restaurant for dinner, before they closed.

Sa Za's was fantastic Italian cuisine nestled in downtown Montgomery. It was really as if we were not even in Alabama. Downtown has really grown and been developed so nicely. It offers much more than we were able to do, see, and experience in one weekend. We highly recommend a stay there in the Riverfront area. It was like being very far away from home, without all the miles. Back to my story.

On our way back to the hotel, we heard piano music and loving music like we do we had to see where it was coming from. We walked in to find a musician playing older music that we loved, so we sat down and listened for awhile. J ended up singing Mustang Sally (for those of you who may not know it, that is J's signature song!)with the guy and we laughed, I mean really belly laughed like we hadn't done since the Sibs Weekend in March of 2008! We were having so much fun that most everyone in the place was having fun with us. Our waitress brought us each a red rose for Valentine's Day and one young woman asked to take our photo because we were "a Hoot" to quote her. She is texting the photo to Patty who will send it to us. Anyway, we had a great time and it was "a hoot"!

We were sad to leave our little respite place, but we had to come home sometime. So Monday morning around 10, we pulled out of the parking deck and headed home.

I have the best sisters and brother in the world, hands down. They support and help me when times are tough and they lighten my mood and world with much laughter and many good times. They are ALWAYS there for me, no.matter.what! I can only hope that I have been as good a sister to them. They are the greatest I am such a lucky girl. No, blessed. I am a very blessed girl, indeed!

Winter Wonderland

The sound of rain is a very soothing sound for me and is heard often here in central Alabama.

Today, the frozen rain has me enthralled. The quiet silence as it gently floats to the waiting ground is nothing short of mesmerizing. It is the feeling of being thrilled and calmed all at once.

Here are a few pictures to commemorate the beautiful weather that is surrounding us in Alabama...the deep south of all places!

The Candy Man

This is my sweet Uncle Lomax who died February 3rd at 96 years of age. He was married to his devoted wife, his Elizabeth for just under 69 years.

My sister said upon hearing of his passing, "I just hate losing such a big part of our past. Don't know if you are old enough to have been included in all the Saturday night dinners @ Nanny's house. Our family and theirs were always there and we had such a good time every week. Uncle Max was the "candy man" as he brought a bag of treats every Saturday."

He always had a kind word, a big hug, and a piece of candy for anyone who wanted it. He always called people "Sugar" and when he wanted to be kissed on the cheek, he would say,"Give me some sugar".

You can see the theme here...sweet, sugar, candy. He was the Candy Man and one of the sweetest people.

There are only three siblings of the ten left. My Daddy, Aunt Frances, and Uncle Haurice. If age matters, it will be my turn next to say goodbye to my Daddy. May it be a long time before the next goodbyes come.

Because We Love You...

Here lies the first draft of the dedication that will grace the back cover of our program for the Senior Appreciation Banquet. Each individual will have a place card with their name on the outside and one sentence inside telling them one reason we love them. I will try to post pictures after the event to let you see how big a celebration this is for us every year.

Here goes...

Each of you have a place card before you that contains within it a love letter of sorts. Inside the card, you will find just one of the many reasons you are loved by us. In keeping with the love notes theme, we wanted to share with you some wise words from others that help us express our affection toward you.

A quote from Robert Heinlein says, “Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”
You have shown us that depth of love through your selflessness.
The unique way you have sacrificed your time, resources, and selves to make our lives happy is one of the reasons we love you.

It has been said that,
“A Friend is a treasure more precious than Gold,
For love shared is priceless and never grows old.”
Many of you have given yourselves to us in friendship for many years and we love you for being a part of our lives on an intimate level, helping us solve problems and rejoicing with us when blessings come our way.

Victor Hugo wrote, “The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved - loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.”
You have loved us when we were unlovable. You have accepted the individual that we are and cared for us, even when you didn’t like us very much. You believed in us, until we could believe in ourselves. For your acceptance of our frailties and your understanding that given time, we would mature and exhibit the very values you taught us, we love you.

"Love is shown in your deeds, not in your words" is a thought from Jerome Cummings.
We are twice blessed because you not only told us we were loved, but proved it in every conceivable way, through your actions. Sometimes, the love we needed was not in the way we expected and now that we have children of our own, we understand how the discipline you measured out truly did hurt you more than it hurt us.

“We can not do great things. We can only do little things with great love” are immortal words from Mother Teresa. Most of us will never achieve greatness, but we can do great things with the love you instilled in us. We can never repay you for the many wonderful ways you have enriched our lives, but we can tell you that you are loved more than you will ever know.

A Poem For You!

The Songbird
By Jason Goldtrap 01.17.10

A songbird can do something no human can do
He can sing simultaneously- not one note but two.
The syrnix, in his throat, allows parallel harmony
So he can sing a duet even if lonely.
About 10 days after hatching he learns his first song,
From Papa bird and his friends when they sing along.
Baby mimics their melody and then over time,
He modifies the chirps; he adds his own lines.
Soon, he's grown up and singing a unique tune,
And filling the trees with peeps, whistles and croons.
And though birdie doesn't know it, he is doing God's will,
And setting an example so our worship may fill
With altos and bass and baritones and tenors,
From the aged, the young, the experienced, the beginners.
For though we don't pick twigs and mold them into nests,
When our homes ring with psalm, we give to God our best.
We become as the Robin, the Thrasher and Nightingale,
And we harmonize with angels just beyond the vale.

Breathless In More Ways Than One

I am breathless! Watching a beautiful sunset, full of color, silhouetted against the naked trees, listening to a chorus of toads and frogs singing their hearts out, while taking a walk on God's wonderful earth at dusk. Breathless!

I am breathless because I have not walked very far in over a month.

I am breathless because I am walking a very small dog who is pulling me along.

Breathless. All in a good way!

Heartsill Family Lunch

For many years, my mom's family had a Christmas lunch together at my Aunt Jackie's house.

We always knew to plan the last Sunday before xmas to be in attendance in Bethel around noon for food, fun, and festivities.

When she died, unexpectedly several years ago, we didn't want the tradition to end. I organized a get together at our fellowship hall at our church building. It was a decent alternative to Aunt Jackie's home, but not the same feeling in the hollow, echoing of the hall.

This year, we were able to host the lunch in our home and it was such a good time. There is a different feeling that comes with gathering as a family in a home as opposed to meeting in a hall. It just felt more right. It will never be the same as it was at Aunt Jackie's, but it is now running a close second.

I hope to host many more family events. After all, what in this life is more important than family? Not too much on my list tops that.