As soon as I realized that we would only have go about 15 miles out of route to visit my Aunt Eileen and that we had some extra time to do so; I got excited.
I called her and ask if you would be available for a visit on Tuesday morning. I told her that it would have to be early and we couldn’t stay real long. She told me that she gets up at 5:30am to get two of her boys up for work and she would love it if we could come. She said that she would fix us breakfast.
Oh boy, now I was so excited. I called my sister, Amy, (who was at church.) I told her that we were getting to visit and she was glad for us but at the same time sad for herself that she couldn’t . I think I understand those emotions. She told me to make sure I took some pictures and send them to her right away.
A short time before my mom died she got to visit Oklahoma. Her and her sister, Beverly traveled by bus. My Aunt Eileen was married to mom’s brother, Frank. Frank had passed away a little while before and the two sisters wanted to go visit with Aunt Eileen and visit their brother’s grave.
I remember that mom really loved getting to do this. She came home all excited and full of stories, but the thing I remember her talking about the most is my aunt taking her somewhere to see prairie dogs. My mom talked and giggled about those little things for a long time after she came back.
Anyway, Pops and I arrived in Lawton around 12:30am. Aunt Eileen said that she would call us the next morning around 6am so I went straight to sleep. I had set my alarm for 5:45 but she called before my alarm went off. I got up and got ready right away.
My cousins, Kevin (Corky) and Jimmy came within 10 minutes. It was so good to see them.
Kevin and I always were good friends. We are near the same age and spent a lot of time together as kids. He looks just the same as he did then.
I remember Jimmy as being tall and thin, but hadn’t seen him in over 30 years! Wow! But he is still tall and thin and I would have recognized him too.
Pops and I got in the car with them and we went back to their home. Aunt Eileen met us at the door. She is on Oxygen now and is a little thinner than when I had last seen her, but she looked the same otherwise.
We had a nice visit although way too short. We looked at old pictures, we shared memories, she showed me around her home and yard. I loved getting to be there.
I got re-acquainted with my cousin, Frank. He was born in Oklahoma and I had probably only seen him twice before and the last time he was only a little boy. Of course he is all grown up and in his thirties now. We got to add him as a new friend on Facebook, so we will always have that connection.
We had a good, home-cooked breakfast of ham, sausage, French toast, hash browns, orange juice and peaches. We sure didn’t leave there hungry.
I really hated it when it was time to go. I hope we get to visit again. I am so glad that Kevin, Jimmy and Frank take such good care of their mother. She is very fortunate to have such great boys. I am lucky to have such a good family too.
Visiting with them did bring me a lot of nostalgic thoughts though. I thought about my mom and her side of the family for all the rest of that day. I miss my mom so very much. I would give just about anything for one more time with her.
Why is it that sometimes we wait so long to realize how important our families are? I do truly appreciate my family and if I haven’t told you lately, I love you.
I am looking forward to November 8th. I will going away for the day with my kids, Starla, Tom, and Drew. I cannot wait. We are going to Washington, DC. I have never been there and it should be a lot of fun and full of memories for us.
On the way back to our truck, Kevin and Jimmy drove us past the park and we got to see the prairie dogs that my mom liked so much. They were everywhere. Kevin explained to us that they are trapped out of farmers fields where they can cause so much damage and brought here to live in the park. There were hundreds of them. They were scampering all around, darting down the holes or popping up out of them. Groups of them would gather around the holes and stand up. It looked like they were standing around perhaps gossiping or sharing stories. They were so cute, I could see why mom liked them so much.
It was a good day.
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