A New Year 2020

January 22, 2020

Oh my, look at the date and year.  It just simply amazes me to think I was born in December of 1930 and I am still around.  Not only am I around, but on my paternal side, I have an Aunt and a cousin who are, I believe, going to be 92 this year. On my maternal side, my cousin Bob is going to be 92. His sister Norma is, I believe, 87. We are so blessed, as my brothers Sonny is 87 and Dal is 86 years.  All are doing as well as can be expected. This is very remarkable. I am not complaining at all. I relish the idea of getting to see my Great grandchildren grow into young adults. Marcus is 18 and almost out of High school. Very excited that I can see him mature and grow. When I went to California to see him when he was four months old, my thoughts were, will I see him become a Young Adult?  No not really. But look, here I am. AMAZING!  Enough said.

Now, it's the beginning of a New Year. But the ending of the old year was again the saddest for the Family. We lost our Barb. It was so shocking to us as we most certainly didn’t see this coming. It breaks my heart to think about it.  But she is with the loved ones that had gone before her. RIP  sweetie. You will always be in our hearts.  You were not supposed to do this. I had told you many times I was to go before you. She was special to me in so many ways... thanks to God for giving me the chance to be her Aunt. I am very blessed.

My brother Dal had an issue with his one and only kidney.  He was in the hospital for a while. But he is doing better. No longer driving. But he is coping with his problem. He has COPD which he does his treatment for, but all in all, hopefully, he will gain his strength back and be able to get around a little better. He just needs to keep up on daily maintenance breathing treatments.  That job he had in the paint department at General Motors did a number on his lungs. He has a good life and Marian gives him a nice home to live in and oversees his daily needs.

What do people do without Family? I am hoping that the younger generation grows and sees how important it is for family to be close and love each other enough to be around the elderly. I'm including myself in this.  We all grow old and believe me when I say ”it is not fun to get old”.
When you get to the point you can’t do things for yourself, it is just plain horrible.  I was taught to fend for myself. If I wanted something, I worked to get it. If something needed fixed, I did it. Now all I hear is, you can pay to have someone do it. They can deliver your groceries. You can Uber. How in the world do you save for bad times paying everyone to do everything for you. Yes, I can pay someone to take me and do things for me. BUT I WAS BROUGHT UP TO DO FOR MYSELF. Times were hard back then. I had a sewing machine. I made most of my clothes. I even made winter coats for my kids when they were young.  I am almost done. Just hang in there.

 So my Son Jess turned 65 in July. My daughter Carol turned 61 in October. My Son Gary turned 68 in November.  So here we are in 2020. Candy turned 54 this month. LaVella turned 63 this month. How in the world did I survive this. I’ll never understand. I just wish my sweet Mom could have been around this long for me to enjoy her. She was my foundation to this long life I am living.  I know my Dad's family contributed some longevity in it and that helped. But, I believe, it's the way and things that I was taught to do and rules to live by that got me here to this date in time.

 I love all who read this and hope your lives are filled with the love I have had my whole life.
Also love the ones that don’t. Just sayin!

Barb. . . You know who I am to you😍