As the Great Northern train had just pulled into Williston, North Dakota from Toledo, Ohio, I had just come from an overnight journey to meet my new family.   I was 13 years old at the time and my dad, Dewey was out of town working so my new mom would be meeting me at the train station to pick me up. 

 I was nervous and excited at the same time, as I had always been an only child and was trying to be so patient to finally meet my new family.  As I walked down the steps of the train and looked up, I saw this tall beautiful woman in a long red corduroy jacket, with dark curly hair and the most gorgeous blue eyes, holding a picture, which would be a picture of me.  She asked, "Are you Dee"?  A man standing next to her, who I recognized as Tom Davidson, my dad's long time friend, had come along to pick me up said, "that's Dee alright".

 I finally had arrived and we drove home, where I met my new siblings, Steve who was 5yrs old, Penny, 4years old and Al, the baby at 18 months.  Let the excitement begin in my life!  
 This wonderful Mother, became the Angel in my life, and was such a wonderful grandmother to all of our family and so there are many special memories I hold dear to my heart and will cherish forever.

I, too, remember her most from Blacktail, but also from the eye clinic. She told great stories about Dad and Steve.  She used to tuck me in the little cabin bedroom when it got dark so that the 'grownups' could still visit while us kids went to bed. 

I celebrated a birthday two months ago. One thing that was really starting to frustrate Mom was that she couldn't really go out shopping on her own. I was always with her - so how was she supposed to buy a card - or a gift for me?

Well, I guess she decided she would just have to give me some money......and WRITE HER OWN CARD! This is my birthday message (it came with cash$), authored by my Mother - two months ago: More precious than anything Hallmark has ever written.


Just a little bit of something,
For you to get a "thing".
Just a little - but maybe just enough,
To buy a little BLING!

Not a great BIG blingy thing,
Not a 2 pound diamond ring,
Not a cluster of rubies and emeralds,
Just a little bit of BLING!

If you would let me take my car,
and visit stores and such,
You'd find that I'd know what to buy,
and never spend too much.

And then, if after all of this
you feel you want some more...
Just hop into that car again,
and go to the Dollar Store$$

So Happy Birthday, Sunshine Girl,
(you are my only one)
Now let’s make sure you're not too old,
To have a little fun!


Love You,

Mom        (copyright - 2013)         

From about the age of 5 until I was about 12, Nanny and Papa took Bryan and me to Flathead Lake every summer for vacation.  We went most years with Tom and Shirley Davidson and their kids.  So many of my childhood memories are there.  Every year we stayed at the same place, The Holiday Resort on Yellow Bay.  We would always stay in Polson the night before we went to the resort and get up early to go grocery shopping so we were all ready to check in as early as possible.  We always got Goober Grape at the grocery store, the peanut butter with the jelly mixed in with it.  It was the only time in my life I ever got to have Goober Grape (oh, the things that stick out in our heads...).  We would also get canned corn, so that each morning, we could go to the end of the dock and feed corn to the fish. 

We would swim all day, and sit by the fire at night.  Bryan and I always wanted to go swimming after dinner, but Nanny would always convince us that if we did, the Flathead Monster would come and eat us up. 

I think I was about 7 or 8 when Nanny taught me how to make a scotch and soda at Flathead.  She would ask me to get her one, and I would go right into our room and fix one for her.  It made me feel so special to be able to make them for her. 

Every night before bed, we would have an ice cream sundae, and Papa would put one extra peanut on top each night we were there, so that every time, it was a little bit bettter than the last. 

There was a skin rash you could get from the water at Flathead, called "the Flathead itch".  Nanny and Papa never got it.  I think I only got it twice.  Bryan got it every year (he always was the most trouble....hehehe).  We knew this every year, yet it never stopped us from running off that dock and jumping right in, never wanting to get out!

A couple days before we would have to leave, we would always stop at Robbins Orchards to buy our cherries.  We would have to bring enough home to share with everyone in the family, so Nanny would buy these big boxes of cherries.  The only place to fit them in the car was on the floor in the back seat.  Our legs were not long enough to reach the floor, so the whole way home we would have those boxes under our feet.  We would sneak cherries out of the boxes along the way, and I got sick more than once, I am sure.  

Flathead will always be such a special place for me.  Goober grape, itchy bodies, lake monsters, nightime sundaes and cherries.....all wonderful memories!

Every Sunday that we were at Blacktail, we always had "Blacktail Breakfast".  We had eggs, bacon, and the very best buttermilk pancakes on the face of this earth.  Nanny had this pancake turner that she used every time she made her pancakes, and it was missing the handle.  It just had the metal piece that a handle would fit over to keep it in place.  She would hold on to that little metal piece to flip those pancakes.  I remember asking her once, when I was little, if she could not afford a new pancake turner.  She just laughed and told me that she loved it more than she would ever love a new one, and that she chose to keep it even if it was broken.  I think she held memories in that pancake turner, and it was special to her.  It was special to me too.

From the time I was born, it was an unbreakable tradition for me to spend Saturday nights with Nanny and Papa...they never missed a Saturday. Papa would sneak me snacks before dinner every time. Then dinnertime came and we would all watch the tiny TV in the dining room and usually watch "Hee-Haw" or "Wheel of Fortune." After dinner was bathtime and Nanny always had my favorite pink bottle of Mr. Bubbles (and was sure to put in extra). After the bath was one of my favorite  parts of the evening: tight, tight "piggies" bound in a bow with the thickest yarn you could think of. Finally, it would be time for our shows, one of which was called "Sisters", I think that was Nanny's favorite show of all time. I'd be allowed to watch the first half of Saturday night live, then off to bed. One thing that I loved was that Nanny always kept this lightbulb in my lamp in my room. It was a blue lightbulb that was so old (shocking Nan), that it had tiny cracks in the blue paint that made the reflection look like the room was full of lightening. So, I'd finish watching the rest of Saturday Night Live and the most dreaded thing would happen to ruin my happy bubble...Star Trek came on and that show terrified me. I would ever so quietly tiptoe into Nanny and Papa's room and just stand there and watch them sleep. As soon as Nanny would sense I was there, she'd whisper "come on Angel" and I slip into bed right in the middle of Nanny and Papa. Bless her dear heart because she knew how bad my grandfather could snore so she would always scoot me as close to her as she could and wait for me to fall asleep before she would. 

Sunday mornings, I'd get up with Nanny and Papa but would be so tired (very early risers they were), so Nanny would put me in her lap in the rocking chair by the kitchen with my very favorite "Uni" blanket...it was a unicorn blanket, which she gave me after Papa passed away. After breakfast and getting dressed, it was off to church and Sunday school. No matter what, after church Papa would take us to the cafe on Main Street like it was a huge to-do. I got in trouble every time because I would swing my legs and kick Papa in the shins. The funny part about that is that I would look at Nanny to see if she was mad at me after he'd scold me and she always had that little smirk on her face.

I can't say that my Saturdays are my favorite memories of Nanny, but they are definitely some of the most vivid. Nanny has called me Angel since I was born and now I get the supreme privelege to call her my Angel. Me heart is broken over losing someone who played such an integral role in forming me into the person I am today. Classy, kind, unconditionally loving, brave, smart, and eternally optomistic. I hope I can be half the woman my Nan was. I will ache for her until my last breath. I love you to the depths of my soul Nanny. I find so much comfort in knowing you and Papa are finally reunited after 13 years. Tell him I said hi and I love him. 
 

Growning up, whenever someone told Nanny something interesting or exciting, she would say, "Good God in the Morning". 

The summer after Papa passed away, Nanny came to visit us in Minnesota.  I kept telling her that she should move to Minnesota so I could see her more often.  Whenever we were driving around, if I saw a house for sale, I would say, "I could see you living in that house!"  Then I saw a Church with a for sale sign in front of it.  I again told her, "I could see you living in that house!".  She said, "I could live there and run it as a bed and breakfast.".  Then, after a short pause, she said "I could call it 'Good God in the Morning' Bed and Breafast!!".  We laughed so hard we almost peed our pants!

From that point on, whenever she would say "Good God in the Morning", I would follow it up with, "Bed and Breakfast". 

Dear Steve, Penny and Al,
 
I wish the following words below were all mine and that I could only be so eloquent.  However, they touched me deeply and convey what I feel. 
A family is strength and together I pray you quickly heal…

Your Mother, Your Angel

You now look back on memories and for that be glad
And at times you'll smile even though it hurts so bad.

Your mother is a special woman and no one can take her place,
You'll find peace of mind when you remember her smiling face.

Your mother is an angel now and she flies high above the rest,
and in your hearts always and forever, she will be the best.

She has earned her wings and it's time for her to fly,
I know it hurts and you weren’t ready to say good-bye.

She knows you do not understand and that you cry at night,
But as you finally drift off  to sleep each night, let her memory hold you tight.

She will be your guardian angel through the rest of your life,
She will lead you along a path of with her strength and spiritual might.

Your mother loves you so very much and her love will always remain true,
Please don't ever think for a second that your mother will forget you.

Your mother’s love is like no other in the whole world,
She carries the most wonderful memories of her darling boys and darling girl.

She has taken them with her as she's flown away,
Up to Heaven free of pain, which is her new home to stay.

So although you cannot see her and you wish she could be there,
Your mother can always hear you and she will always care.

A mother does not forget the two greatest loves of her life,
And she loved nothing more than being your mommy, and your Dewey's wife.

She is so proud of her family and that's in her heart to stay,
Even though she's and angel and has had to fly away.

So as you cry your tears, remember your mother’s love,
Being sent to you from the beautiful Heaven above.

She will be there through your good times, she will be there through your bad,
She'll be there when you are happy, she'll be there when your sad.

Your mother has become an angel now, it is her time to fly,
You will never know how badly it hurt me to watch you have to say good-bye…

This is a Mother's Day poem (pome) that Al wrote for Mom when he was 5 or 6. Debbie and I found it when we were going through boxes at the house when Mom moved.  Al sent it to her again last Mother's Day.  I found it pressed in a book on her coffee table yesterday.  Too precious for words.


PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO READ THE MESSAGE. 

I was folding towels last summer with a woman and she commented on my towel folding skills and said 'I bet your mom folds towels the same way'; I said 'of course, and we learned how to fold from my grandmother and I truly don't believe there's any other way to fold towels properly'.

Nan always knew how things should be done!