Parents

Daddy's family was pretty close to being dirt poor. We have very few photos of him. Even though Mama's family was just poor folks, they took photos.

Would you ever think from looking at this baby that she was so puny when she was born that the doctor laid her across a trunk in my grandparent's bedroom?! My great grandmother walked in the room and wanted to know why that baby was laying there. The doctor replied, "She's going to die." Mama's grandmother took her, cleaned her up. I think it's fairly obvious that she didn't die.

She snuck out of the house with a coat on. This photo was taken by a pond on my grandfather's property between DeKalb and New Boston Texas. She said he'd'a skinned her alive if he caught her doing this!

She had just turned 16 and Daddy nearly 20 when they married. The story he told her was if she didn't marry him he was going to enlist and go to Korea. She fell for it. ;o)
Daddy worked for Lone Star Boat Company in Grand Prairie. He and one of his best friends received their first million mile award working for them. They hauled boats from coast to coast. When we moved to Daingerfield, Daddy brought his personal boat with him. We still had it when Joey was little. The boat was deep enough that Joey couldn't fall overboard. Eventually, Daddy sold the boat. A couple of years ago, Joey was doing some mechanic-type work for the local scrap yard and found the boat. He's a "collector" ;o) and it is at his house now.
Photo from the old Polaroid Land Camera.

Mama's horse, Missy. Mama has had bad knees since forever. When she would get ready to climb on, she would tap Missy's front hoof, then rear hoof. Missy would spraddle out and get lower to the ground making it easier for Mama to mount. LOOK at Missy's hooves. Joey put socks on her. I forgot that! See the stripes?!

Getting ready to do what they loved best for several years. Launching their flat-bottom boat in the White River north of Mt. View Arkansas to trout fish.

August 2000...Daddy died the last of October 2000. He had been diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - aka Lou Gehrig's disease - one of those diseases that affects so 'few' that major funding for research is not available) the first week of July 2000. He was still driving his truck and had to park it. He couldn't explain away his symptoms and kept them hidden from Mama. The beginning was evidently when he had trouble swallowing as early as 1996. Doctor's found an esophageal pouch...a previously undetected birth defect...so the swallowing problem was attributed to that. Since there's no known reason or cure for ALS (which is included in the Muscular Dystrophy family), we were so thankful that he didn't receive the diagnosis and death sentence any earlier...

Mama...I'm shaking my head...we figured she would be the first. She has had triple bypass surgery, at least one stroke, numerous TIAs, degenerative disc disease, hip replacement, three back surgeries with the last a fusing of four verterbrae in her lower back. And thank God, she's like the Energizer bunny...