Yesterday was the annual Decoration Day at our ancestral cemetery. The weather cooperated with blue skies, sunshine (lots of sunshine) and an altogether lovely Oklahoma spring day. The cemetery is well-looked after, neat and serene. Decoration Day is an annual tradition dating back into history. My grandparents came to this very same spot, year after […]
What Is a Family?
·What is a family to you? Who are the people in your life that you hold dearest of all? To most of us, it’s our parents, siblings, children, grandparents, grandchildren– but it can mean more than that. Darcy Campbell and Flora Tucker are family. Flora is Darcy’s mom. But, they are more than mother and […]
The Flowers They Leave Behind
·Jonquils are blooming, usually in clusters. Have you ever thought of them as footprints of others that they have left behind? They are signs that someone has passed this way and loved flowers and springtime. At Ben and Tep Willis’, out on the river, there are remnants, reminders of the family who settled here, set […]
My Sister Helen
When the jonquils bloom in the spring, I think of her–my sister Helen. Maybe it’s because of her March birthday or that, like the flowers, my sister was cheerful and welcoming. Helen was a person who made the world better and brighter, simply by being there. If someone had a problem, she did her […]
In My Mother’s Bible
·In uncertain times, we need an anchor, something unchangeable that we can cling to. It helps to have reminders that people have gone through hard times before now and survived. One of my nieces is interested in learning about family history. In trying to answer her questions, I turned to the place where our family […]