History Lesson

Last night my Papa was asked to speak at the local Historical Society about his family history in our county. And most of us that live here were able to also attend and listen to him and my Nana talk about "old times." Our Nana is Papa's own personal teleprompter. She is known for starting a story and then saying to Papa, "You tell it." It's a family joke around here and one which always elicits laughter from anyone in the family. And last night, while she didn't come out and say her famous line, every time he would finish one story she would lean over and prompt him for the next one.

We really enjoyed going and listening to them. And I even learned something about our family property and the area that I had never known. It's funny how some stories have never come up - but others we hear over and over. I never get tired of hearing the same ones over and over - I could sit and listen to them talk about the past forever - but it was fun to hear new pieces of our family history as well. (Although, when I got home and tried to relay the "new" story to my husband - he already knew it! I couldn't believe it. And he said that one of the other "grandson-in-laws" knew it, too! I couldn't believe he hadn't shared his knowledge with me. Oh, wait, yes, I could. He forgets to share lots of information with me sometimes.)

Anyway, I digress. I videotaped the entire talk so we could add it to the footage that we've all been trying to capture of them to have for history's sake. My Papa just turned 89 this year, so the odds are that we may not have too much longer to preserve all these memories. Although, his mama lived 99 years on this earth - so the genetics are there to carry him through, I suppose. He stays pretty active, too - still cattle ranching, still fencing, still riding the tractor and plowing the ground or tilling something up. It's amazing to me all the things he does at 89 years old - I hope I have half his energy when I'm 89!!!

He and Nana will celebrate 61 years of marriage on June 4th! That's something to be proud of right there! Papa said last night that people used to ask him why he waited so long to get married and he would tell them, "Well, I married her as soon as she was old enough." You see, Papa had already worked for years (since he was 10 years old) in various jobs (sometimes making $0.10 an hour or $6 a week working cows, farming, ranching and thinking they were in heaven for those wages). He had been off to war, serving in the Army in WWII for three years, and made it home. For a period of time after returned home from the war he drove a school bus - and who rode the bus? That's right - our Nana. And Papa made her sit right up front in the front seat so he could "keep an eye on her." They married the summer before her senior year in high school; June 4, 1948. She completed her last year of school the next June ( a promise Papa had made to Nana's daddy in order to let them get married), and the following June they started their family with the birth of my aunt. My mom would follow three years later and then my uncle rounded out their family 3 years after that. And now there's all of us! Papa likes to say when we're all together, "Just think, all this started just because of two people."

He's so right. We are richly blessed to be part of their family and I'm so thankful God chose this family for me to be a part of!