Tag Archive | porch swing

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Apr17

Dad, Mom, Melissa and Kathy 1966 (3) (2014_05_11 03_43_51 UTC)

Mom is 82 years old today. It is hard to imagine her at that age. She still sounds the same and if she still had her sight, I am sure she would be very active and making every occasion special. Sadly, I wasn’t able to go to Roanoke this weekend or today to see her. Her birthday visit will be a week late. This is her first birthday to celebrate without Dad. My sister who is taking care of her now is having a dinner for Mom. I’m sure the table will be filled with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I would love to be there to give her a big hug and sing through the hymnal with her on the porch swing. Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you.

She always made birthdays special for us. Even as adults, she would show up on our birthday with a cake and gifts or my favorite – gift baskets! Yet, she always downplayed her own special day; telling us, “I don’t need anything.”

~*~

Birthdays. Every family celebrates them differently.

In my family, birthdays were a big event. Extended family members came over for dinner and of course, a beautifully decorated homemade cake of the birthday child’s choosing.

Mine was always white cake, seven-minute frosting with coconut sprinkled on it like snow; graced with a candy “Happy Birthday” along with birthday candles. They were very popular when I was a child.

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Betty Crocker Vintage Birthday Cake Decorations found on Pinterest.

Of course, I always wanted the pink one with little flowers for the candles.

It is usually Mothers who make birthdays special. She bakes the cake, makes sure the freezer is stocked with ice cream, cooks the meal, buys and wraps the gift. My Mom loved making birthdays special. She was the best at wrapping gifts. They were always too pretty to unwrap!

It was Dad Hinchee who took snapshots and taped the special occasion with his Super-eight movie camera. I have a DVD with several years of birthdays and other special moments. unfortunately, he often panned the room too fast and some scenes are just a blur. My baby sister’s first birthday was great! Dinner in our backyard with family and after dinner, cake and gifts were opened, we all went to the Mill Mountain Zoo in Roanoke, Va. I especially remember the gorgeous peacocks. Such a pretty blue! Needless to say, was a memorable event.

This is Mom.

 

 

I would love to give her a special birthday party. I have tried twice to at least take dinner and her gifts but she is hesitant to let anyone come over. She claims the house is dirty and she has nothing to wear. You see, she has always wanted everything to be “perfect.”

We gave her a party on her seventy-fifth birthday. Her sister and brother-in-law came from Richmond. Our Hinchee relatives came to make the day special too.

Mom's 75th Birthday

We had a beautiful cake made by Ashley Schnarr Easter, fresh fruit, finger sandwiches and I actually discovered blooms on the lilac tree! She received wonderful gifts and cards that played music!

 

She was amazed that everyone came and loved having my Aunt and Uncle spend the night with them. She let me know later that she doesn’t want to remember that she is “getting older.” We have gifts for her and I still hope we will be able to take dinner to Mom and Dad.

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There is one gift I can’t wait to give her. She can’t see it but that’s okay. I found on Etsy the fragrance she used to wear when I was a small child. Persian Wood isn’t available in perfume but I found the original Avon Persian Wood Perfumed Talc. I am sure it has lost its fragrance over time but hopefully, there is enough of the fragrance to bring back wonderful memories and just for a moment, she will feel “young” again.

 

Mom opening a special gift
We all sang when Uncle Ronnie came to town. August 28, 1996.

 

 

Grandbabies
Grandbabies
Singing on the porch
Mom doesn’t sing much anymore but while we did the dishes, she joined in What a Day That Will Be!

 

Perhaps we will sit on the porch swing and sing Hymns of the Faith just as we used to.

Happy Birthday, Mom. We love you!

Nostalgia – A Short Visit

Jul3

We have lights and air conditioning!

We often become nostalgic and long for the “good old days” when children played outside games such as Hide and Go Seek, Tag and chasing lightening bugs in jars while parents sat on the front porch enjoying the evening.

As of Friday evening, I remember those days more clearly now. We played outside as children, and sat in the porch swing each evening after dinner was cooked, dishes washed and floors swept – in order to escape the heat!

Even with the windows open, fans blowing and even with a window air conditioning unit, most of the house was sweltering in the summer and freezing in the winter. (Loved the vent in the floor when my parents had an oil furnace. We would stand over the vent in order to get warm.) I now remember the discomfort of the weather, the mosquito bites, the hot attic room and the fact that my body does not cope well in hot weather.

As many of you know, we had a terrible storm Friday evening in Virginia. In our neighborhood, it didn’t seem that severe. Very windy and a lot of lightning but little rain.

Our lights flickered and then – darkness! Fortunately, we have several candles and flashlights. We do not have screens on our windows so we could not open the windows to allow fresh air in. The temperature rose and my love for nostalgia dwindled. Temporarily, anyway.

We stayed two nights in the stifling house before finding a hotel room in a town about twenty minutes away. They had lights, air, hot water and a internet access.

My husband logged onto my laptop computer while I read and thought about our poor kitties who were all alone in the dark, warm house. They had food and water and cool ceramic tiles to lie on but I couldn’t help but worry. Silly, I know. I grew up in worse conditions and didn’t even notice! It appears that I am spoiled by the luxuries we often take for granted.

Nostalgia is a nice place to “visit” but I wouldn’t want to live there!

As for the storm, many people had trees falling on their home, there were reports of utility poles snapping, power outages in at least three states! People lost their lives. When I think of what could have happened, we were blessed!

What about the kitties? They are happily running around the house, chasing each other and getting as close to us as possible. They were fine. We noticed that their toys had been moved so they must have had some play time.

I am praying for those who are still without power or a place to live and dealing with the highest temperatures this year. We are especially thankful for those wonderful people who are working so hard to clean up the rubble and to restore power.
We were told we may not have power until Saturday. It is Monday and our lights are on, the air is working and the refrigerator is cleaned , cooled and ready to be filled with good food.

Sometimes the Lord allows storms in our lives and we think we can not endure but He will give us the grace when we look trust Him – the One light which will never grow dim. Jesus, the Light of the world who takes away the sins of the world…