Mews from Meowmix

…………………just like wine.  Memories.

My nephew Phil arrived today.  Having him here brings some memories of other family that I miss very much.  In a lot of ways, it is pleasant to remember.  In other ways, it reminds me of the pang of loss.  Anyone who has read my blog for any length of time will remember that there have been a number of losses in the last three years.  Two brothers and one sister, along with a niece, a cousin and others.  Doris and I are both from medium to large families, and when one of us loses a relative, it’s a loss for both of us.  And there have been losses in her family, too.

Phil is a guitar player and singer.  Right now, he’s into praise and worship songs.  He had been listening to us both address Barney as “baby” all day long, so a little while ago, he brought out his guitar case and said he had to show us HIS baby.  Greg, you’d know what kind of guitar he has if I could remember what kind he said it was!    I remember the term “acoustic.”  But as he sat in the living room and strummed it, it brought a pleasant feeling to me as I watched his face light up.  He really enjoys it.  It also brought back a bunch of long-ago memories of my brother, Denzil, who was also an A+ guitar player.  He would sit in his bedroom or on the front porch and pick that guitar for hours.  At the time he entered the nursing home, he didn’t have a guitar, and the strokes left him unable to play even if he had one.  But he still had his guitar pick in his wallet.  I buried it with him, and I shared that with Phil.  (He wasn’t able to be in attendance at the funeral.)  These are bittersweet memories.

I have another brother, Sunnie, who plays guitar and sings, and a harmonica.  Daddy played a harmonica, too, very well.  Music has played a pretty big role in my family, and I can remember when I was very small Daddy with his harmonica and others, my brothers I suppose, gathered in the living room making music.  Maybe neighbors or friends.  I can’t remember J.W. ever playing anything, but another nephew says he can remember him making a stab at the guitar.  I sing, but I’ve never learned to play anything.  Would love to play piano, though.  It’s a pipe dream.

For dinner, we had a pork-chop prepared meal from Super Suppers, but we also cooked a pot of pinto beans and made cornbread.  This brought back memories of the kind of cooking my mother did, as well as Phil’s mom – my sister Betty.  Both of these ladies have moved on to their eternal address.  A country-type meal of that sort, especially with Phil here to share it, also brought some bittersweet memories.

And, of course, when one starts to remember things about one person, others just naturally come to mind.  So I must say to my dad, brothers J.W. and Denzil, sister Betty, brother-in-law Leon (also did guitar and sang), and numerous others ……………..”I’m thinking about all of you tonight, and I miss you.  I look forward to that grand reunion day.”

TODAY’S SMILES:

1. Rain.
2. I walked TWO miles this evening, and Doris was able to do a whole mile and then some!
3. The expected medication from Canada arrived today in record time.
4. Very pleasant conversations with a couple of my account holders (!).
5. Meeting Phil’s friends, Darryl and Annie.
6. Making the needed closet and drawer space work.

See you tomorrow evening.  And may God bless.