Blessed

Today I was blessed.

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I took a vacation day today to go with my Dad to Morristown to visit with my great aunt & uncle and my cousin. My aunt Hassie will be 90 years old on September 18 of this year. My Uncle Clarence just turned 85 and my cousin Everett is 71. My aunt Hassie is my Papaw Buckeye's little sister.

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My earliest memories of them were when we lived up in the holler in Jett Valley and attended Child's Memorial Baptist Church. Clarence used to lead the singing at Child's Memorial. They lived down a little ways and across the road from us up in the holler. One of my favorite memories is from the time when I was about 6. Hass and Clarence were the first ones in our family to get a color tv set. Back when I was growing up (yeah, I know, back in the stone age) cartoons only came on on Saturday mornings. So, on Saturday mornings, me and Debbie would walk down to their house and watch cartoons. In color! They would always give us Cokes (in the little glass bottles), Fritos and cakes. We loved it! Uncle Clarence asked me today if I remembered the time he aggravated Debbie about giving her a cake. He offered it to her and then wouldn't let her have it. When he decided to give it to her, she refused to take it, said she didn't want his old cake. I could tell he enjoyed the memory. When my baby sister Kim was born, Debbie and I were so proud of her! We couldn't wait to go tell Aunt Hass about our little sister. I remember I drew a picture of Kim wrapped up in her blanket laying in the bassinet. To my seven year old eyes that drawing looked exactly like Kim! I have no idea what it actually looked like. I was so excited about it. When we went to Hassie's, I couldn't wait to show her my picture. I remember she exclaimed over it and told me how beautiful my baby sister was. Forty one years later, it's a memory I've never forgotten. Just a few weeks after Kim was born, we packed everything up and moved to California where we spent the next 8 years. I remember when we came home to visit, Aunt Hass always had a hug and kiss for us. Then she'd laugh and wipe her lipstick off our cheeks. By the time we moved back to Tennessee, Hassie and Clarence had moved to Morristown. We didn't get to see them as much, but we always enjoyed their visits. No matter what, Hass always had a hug and a kiss and a kind word. She used to chase my younguns around the porch at Granny's to give them a hug. She had to know about each one of them today, and Charlie. After Charlie & I got married, we discovered that Hassie and Charlie's grandmother Estie, had been girlhood friends and played together up in the holler.

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There was a lot of talk of memories today. She shared some with me that I never knew. Her daddy died when she was 2. My Papaw Buckeye was six, their brother Jack was 4 and her mother, who we called Maw (see post "Remembering Maw"), was six months pregnant with their little sister, Ann. She told me that from that day Lus (Papaw Buckeye) became like a daddy to them, always watching out for them. Such a huge role for a 6 year old! Maw used to have to walk to work. She said that one evening, Jack had went to meet Maw and Papaw was sitting on a stool in the kitchen holding Ann. Hass was sitting in the floor. She said that Papaw had thought he heard something outside and had got the gun. She said while they were sitting there, the gun went off and the bullet almost hit her and went in the wall above her head!

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Not only was there alot of talk about memories, but there was also a lot of talk about church and the Lord. Hassie's health is not very good. She had a heart attack a while back, had double pneumonia and had to be on life support for a while, and has just recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, which she told me is also in her bones. She's not able to go to church much anymore. She talked about how good the Lord was, and how she didn't know how people made it without him. Uncle Clarence told us about when he got saved 56 years ago. He left the room once and was whistling and singing "Amazing Grace" as he went through the house. Dad and Clarence went to get lunch at Captain D's. While they were gone, Hassie told me what good care Clarence took of her and Everett. Next month, they will have been married 61 years! She also told me that she was just waiting on the Lord to call her home. She said that sometimes she hurts so bad that she wishes He'd take her on home, but she knows she'll go when her time is right. She said "He's always there to hold your hand if you'll just reach up and take it".

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I went to Morristown today hoping I'd be a blessing to them by visiting. But instead,

I WAS THE ONE BLESSED.

I saw God's grace, and mercy, and His love in their lives.

I was humbled by the beauty of it all.

And I'm thankful, so thankful, I went.

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Before we left, I had Dad take this picture of me and Hassie with my cell phone. It's a little blurry, but, oh well, it's hard to see through the tears anyway.