Girl of my Heart

Dear Sweet Jordyn, Girl of my heart, 

I love you so much! We did have a great adventure this summer 

going on a jet plane all the way to San Diego to visit your Daddy. 

Wasn't it fun? 

 You have beautiful dark eyes like your Daddy!

You are so full of fun. So super silly.
You played dress-up in a store and made the proprietors laugh.

 Here you are with your handsome daddy or is that your silly daddy?.

 I rest my case! I guess you came by the silliness naturally! That was a fun day in Julian.

Here is a run in the sun on the mountain trail.

 Your Grandpa may be part of the silly problem!

 Three generations! Mama, son, and grandgirl.

 Miss Movie Star with your fancy fan!

 Riding in Daddy's snazzy car. Well, really just sitting in a parking lot in his snazzy car

 You were playing parade beauty Queen

 You never stay bored. A long trip in the car and you played dress-up. 

Are those undies on your head?

 You had a blast playing in the surf!

 Didn't you love the ocean? I did. Here is our sand castle.

 Remember we ate at a fancy seafood place, The Vera Cruz Fish House, and your food came
 on a fish-shaped plate.

 You tasted the shrimp and said, "Ahhh - Heaven on a plate!"

Still can't believe this tree!

 Such a wonderful huge tree we found at Carlsbad!

 You played with your little sister Lilly. She is so cute and precious.

She liked having a big sister!

 Your daddy took you to SeaWorld and you tried to pet the dolphins!

Ate on a pirate ship with seagulls all around!

 Got tired and almost cried once, but you know how to control yourself.

Make your face say " Happy".

 Petted the Manta Rays and explored the aquariums.

 We went to the ocean again and played and played in the foamy waves. 

You tried to trick me by saying the waves are made by a chemical 

called Hydrogen-Copoxide. How do you come up with that stuff?

What happiness on your face!

Whoo Hooooooo!

 Oh! Wasn't the ocean the most fun ever!

You said, "They don't have oceans like this back in Oklahoma!"

I wish we did. Don't you?

 You explored the airports San Diego, Tulsa and Denver.

 You read to your baby sister. She was impressed!

 Dived like an Olympian in Dad's pool.

 Visited the base, Camp Pendleton where your dad works and the memorial.

 You played that you were the center of the universe!

 Climbing trees is one of your hobbies. Found another big one at Camp Pendleton!

 Beach with Daddy!

 GLORIOUS , wasn't it? And SOOOO COLD!

 You found seaweed and sand crabs.

 Swam in Dad's pool all week.

 The desert world was all new to us. We explored at the Temecula Rose Gardens.

 What a view! What a sight!

 More Sister Time.

 At Balboa Park you explored museums and gardens.

Here you are in the Japanese Gardens, prettier than any of the flowers.

 You and your Dad at Balboa Botanical Gardens.

 You played with the birds and I think the bird man startled you when he put one on your head!

 We bought vendor hotdogs and ate a picnic lunch.

Posed with huge creepy marionette puppets!

 And rode on a bejeweled dragon's head!

You were a princess with a hibiscus flower in your hair. 

You turned California Up-Side-Down! 

You turn Grandma's heart up-side-down too. 

I love you, sweet girl,

                                                                                                            Love you,

 Grandma Elece

To Mama Freda

Dear Mama,

I see you brown-haired, bright-eyed, full of strength and energy. I see you serving dinner to people around a big table. I see you working in the garden, then in the kitchen canning tomatoes, peaches, green beans, applesauce. I see you leading teens in a story-telling game around a campfire. I see you at your sewing machine turning yards of cloth into beautiful dresses. I see you packing a picnic of fried chicken and buttered bread and pudding to serve to us under a tree out at Grandpa's farm.

I see you nursing a baby, brushing pony tails, ironing camp clothes, throwing paper route newspapers from a Voltswagon window. I see you placing a picture of daffodils on the breakfast table and setting plates for pancakes. I see you telling a story, reading a book, shaping bread dough into rolls, hanging children's dresses on the clothesline. I see you washing children's faces, sweeping and mopping floors, tying a little boy's necktie, searching for one child's lost shoe.

I see you kissing our Daddy on the head, smoothing a tablecloth onto the table, welcoming people at the door, tying a bright floral scarf on your neck. I see you arranging stems of pussy willow in a gray crockery vase in the spring, gladiolas in it in the summer, bright leaves in the same vase in the fall. I see you stitching dolls for children, dresses for school girls, hemming aprons, and upholstering a sofa. I see you praying for a little girl in a hospital, carrying a casserole dish of supper to an ailing friend, writing a letter to a relative. I see you talking theology with a room full of college students.

I see you reading books in the sunshine on the river dock or on the glider facing the lake. I see you comforting others. I see you rocking sleepy babies in your favorite rocking chair with the wide wooden arms supported by wagon wheels. I see you cooking, feeding, coaching, tending, reaching, serving, helping, teaching, guiding, working and living purposefully through the years.

And oh, how I do miss you! You are so far away, across five states and when I see you you are white-haired, still bright-eyed, but quieter and fragile. You have changed, but I remember your vibrant years when you cared for nine children and kept our home so well. I remember all the love and fun and goodness you sewed into our hearts.  I still love you dearly, Mama, and think you are the most beautiful Mama in the world!

Elece

Letter to a Spoonmaker

Dear Mrs. Spoonmaker,

I loved watching you at the market working at your craft. Sitting straddle of an old blue bench that matched the plaid of your summer dress and the hue of your eyes, you worked, not speaking. Your hands amazed me and the strength of your arms pounding pounding each well-planned stroke at your chisel. From a block of persimmon wood a spoon emerged, strong and hard.

I watched as the chips fell around your flip-flop shod feet. I watched as the "bowl" of the spoon began to appear. I knew it was soon to be smoothed and sanded and polished to join others in a quilt lined wooden bowl.

Your tools of trade, chisel, vise, mallet all seem especially wonderful to me. They are tools for making a tool, a wooden spoon. That spoon will grace a housewife's kitchen, stir soup to feed a family, stir  juice or tea or any foods. What a good tool and how sturdy and necessary to the cook's skill. So your work goes on and does more work after you are done.

Mrs.Spoonmaker, you inspire me with your realness, your colors, your special skill in the midst of an unskilled populous. An artisan, you work and find joy in that work. I love your spoons. I would have liked to buy them all, but I am not certain you want to sell such treasures!

Elece

Dogwood

Graceful dogwood

Each of four petals scared with red like the cross of Jesus.

 How can the sky be such a perfect blue?

 Dogwood  flowers like waxen crosses.

 Centered with a green crown

Precious heart shaped petals whiter than snow 

and speaking God's love at Easter.

Who am I?

What people say: 
My young son says I am a terrible driver.
My older son says I am a great cook.
My teenage daughter says I am a know-nothing.
My grown daughter says I am a genius.
My husband says I am a treasure. 
My mama says I am a brave heart.
My dad says I am a good praline maker. 

My grandson calls me the impostor. 
My sister says I am a talented writer. 
My doctor says I am overweight. 
My friend says I am gifted. 
My club friends say I am bossy. 
My granddaughter says I am an artist. 
Mr. Tate says I am a poet.
God says I am his daughter. 
Who am I? 


Answer: 
I am a mom.
I am a wife. 
I am a daughter. 
I am a grandma. 
I am a sister.
I am a friend. 
I am a unique individual.
I am me.

Letter to a Rose Painter

Dear God,

I just want to say how much I admire your artwork. Everwhere I look, from children's faces to the bark of trees, to wild animals like the giraffe to the sea shells washed on ocean shores, everywhere are wonderful beautiful things that you have designed. There are waterfalls crafted by your hand. There are sunsets too pretty to forget. There are flowers that delight with colors and such petals!
The birds, just the ones in my part of the world, are colorful and arresting. Their songs each original, their nests of certain grasses and rootlets. Then there are all the ones in other places that I have never seen. It amazes my heart. How wondrously you have made all things.

You knew how I would relish every bloom and every leaf. How I would love trees and rocks, shells and stones. You thought up the best colors yellows, reds, pinks, greens, purples and blues. The color of straw. The color of cornsilk, of bluebonnets, of pearl, of sky. Like love letters to us.

Thank you, Jesus for this swirl of silken rose, for this pink with tinge of yellow and wisp of white.

Love you,  

              Elece

Jordyn

Dear Jordyn,

I do hope you will always remember how much your Grandma loves you. I loved you from the first moment I saw you. You were born when I was hurt and struggling through some hard times. You settled me. You gave me a new joy.

You have taught me to sing  with abandon. We sang Jinga-laaay-oo!, Sweetly sings the donkey, Moon River, and Amazing Grace. You helped me  stop and play like a child. You made me run with you. You begged me to take a turn on the swing. You rescued the dying artist inside of me. You stuck a brush in my hand and commanded; "Let's paint!

You begged me for stories and more stories. You laughed and remembered all the lines. You held flowers for my nose while you slowly sniffed and wondered at the scent.You pointed to stars and told me your dreams.

You prayed out loud at night and let me listen. You sat on the porch with me and taught me all you knew about God, "He made the whole world and grass for cows and made trees and stuck the ends in the ground. He is very big and he loves little kids to sit on his lap."

I had determined not to love you too deeply, to save me hurt should I ever lose you, but you won me over. You made me love you by just being the unique child you are, full of wonder, curiosity, and charm, softhearted, and a constant delight.You are my special treasure.

Love ya, Jordyn Rayne
Grandma