Wanderings

There it was – some noise as I lay in bed at 8 a.m. What was that? Oh…it was my cell phone stuffed in my pants pocket. Grabbed it just in time to see that the call was from area code 405 – Oklahoma, but too late to answer the call
It was Gladys and I missed the call!
She left a message as I stumbled out of bed to start another day. Before I could get that feeling out of my mouth and head, the house phone rang and Karen said “somebody named Jones.” I of course knew that it was Gladys not giving up in reaching me.
Thank goodness she didn’t. It has been over 40 years since we had seen or talked to one another.
Just so you get the flavor of history, Gladys was like my grandmother’s adopted daughter in Pauls Valley, OK. When I was a little kid (in elementary school), Gladys was like an older sister, and my grandmother would have he babysit my sister, brother and I. This woman was like a star singer in church, and sang in churches all around Pauls Valley. I have many memories of sitting in church (yes, kids set through church back then) and listening to her sing.
We had an absolutely amazing time talking about how we have been trying to find one another. At one time, she and her husband were even Pastoring in a church in Richmond – I just happen to find that 2-3 years ago on the internet. From Richmond, they moved to Carson, CA, and I could just never seem to make connection.
Even when we were in Oklahoma for a reunion in 2005, we tried to find anyone in Pauls Valley who knew anyone that I remembered, all to no avail.

• How Did We Connect Now?

While working on the move of my blog, there was a post about Bethlehem Baptist Church in Pauls Valley, and I wanted to test the link, and got to their website. Found that there was a new pastor, and that the history of the church was still posted. While re-reading the history, saw Gladys’ name, and started searching the internet again, but wasn’t able to find anything (not even the link that mentioned her in Richmond).
Went back to the Bethlehem Baptist website and saw that there were Newsletters. Started reading, and was surprised to find Gladys’ name listed as one of the “Mothers” of the church on the list of people who were presently serving (Deacons, Ushers, etc.). Okay, that meant she was alive and must be living in Pauls Valley. Found a link for Pastor Eaton with a FaceBook address, and fired off an email to him. Asked him that if Gladys was indeed in Pauls Valley, would you please let her know that an old friend was looking for her, and gave him my phone numbers to pass on.
So, there it is in a nutshell. This has been a fantastic day! Gladys had tried to find me, but been stymied, and was so glad to connect. We spent 20-30 minutes on the phone going over (as best we could) the last 40+ years of our lives. Her kids and grand kids have done well. In fact, one of the grandkids plays for the Indianapolis Colts (after attending Stanford).
Can’t wait as we begin sharing pictures and family information back and forth. So thankful that this time, I persisted in trying to find and contact her. There’s a lot of family history to catch up on, so I’m sure we will be spending a lot of time on the phone and sending pictures back and forth.
What a way to begin a day!

Really!

Otis, our cute little 25 pound lean, mean fun machine dog was in the garage with Karen and I, and as they were leaving to go back in the house, he stepped on a baby rattlesnake on the walk.

He will spend several months recovering from two bites by that snake. Apparently it's that time of the year, when there are a.) lots of baby snakes and b.) lots of snakes. [more]Seems that during late March to early April, the snakes breed like cats (according to one veternarian) and as a result, BAM – in May, there are all those little babies.

Since babies are not yet skilled in venom control, with every bite they inject a full load of venom. This makes them more deadly than their parents. We were fortunate to get Otis to a veternary clinic that had rattlesnake anti-venom within 15 minutes of the bites. On the way, I was yelling at some slow drivers, who insisted on driving at or below the speed limit. There may also have been some red lights that were red at the wrong time.

He still has a lot of pain, but that is managed with drugs (just like a tobacco patch), and his appetite has returned. He's not as spunky as he used to be, but that is because of the drugs.

The moral – always check your doorstep for rattlers. They like the warmth that is sometimes there. How the baby got on the walk beside our garage (near our front door) is a mystery. One neighbor says she has seen snakes on her door step at least a couple of times this year.

OK, so the office move is 90 percent complete. Computers, desks, DSL and phones moves. Some electricity and lights and here we are. Thanks to a lot of friends who helped get stuff moved around before the garbage can incident. Here goes with a list of names – Tim, Angela, Dianne, Mike, Joshua, Nathaniel, Karen and then all those people who bought stuff at the garage sales (saving me a trip to the dump or e-waste).[more]

Now if my left middle finger would just heal. My advice from all this is either get a bigger house, or be more careful. Those two nails I pulled without using a ladder or piece of wood (for leverage) resulted in a splint on my right wrist to ease the pain of "tennis elbow". Not only that, the order is no lifting or pulling with my right arm. Add to that lack of grip in my left hand, there is not much I can do at times. The boys want to earn some money, then I got work for them – have I ever.

By the way, Karen's mom is happy as can be in her room. She has TV, phone and her dolls – and people who want to take care of her.

Stay tuned…

There I was, trying to get more in the garbage can. Pack it down and throw some more in (had lots of stuff from the garage cleanup). I was very careful about how I got in – used the step ladder to get there.

On either the second or third jump. the garbage can went south, and I went north – right over the edge of the can. Tried to be a gymnast and fall lightly, but to no avail. My left hand struck first[more] – fingers should only bend one way. Then, the coming weight of the rest of my body came to bear, and a strain/sprain to my fingers, wrist, elbow.

Road burn took over then on my arm and shoulder.

Finally, the left side of my head (above my ear) made contact with the street – boy, did that hurt! Immediately the call went out to Joshua playing in the backyard for some help. After he arrived with Karen, the cry was "wow, look at all that blood!"

The trip to ER was uneventful – after a CAT scan, they found that there was no other damage – just take some painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs. Now for a little rest, and then back to it!

There was that "evite" to an Open House at Prince and Leta's – former pastor and friends from Hillside Church of Marin in Corte Madera. Their daughter Courtenay Kehl, her husband John and the kids, Hudson and Dexter were visiting from the Dallas area, and this was an opportunity for friends to renew friednships. It had been a long time since we saw any of them (like 4-5 years).

Prince performed our marriage way back when, and we had worshipped at Hillside when Courtenay was in high school (was it really that long ago?).

It was so good to see people we have not had time to visit. We felt like we had never left – like it had been just last week. When we walked in the door, it was the same warm and loving Prince and Leta. Kind of like taking up where we left off.

It felt good! Even got to spend some time finding why Prince and Leta did not complete their retirement plans – it was more like "go where God says 'go' and do what He says to 'do'." I'm thankful to have faithful friends like that.

We'll find time to visit Hillside one Sunday soon.