Dearest Isabella, Part 5

 Mabel Faye Davis Broaddus. Isabella, this is my grandmother and she is your great, great Grandmother.  She was wonderful.  I stayed with her a lot and rarely had babysitters, other than Mrs. Prescott.  Grandmother would braid my hair, make snow ice cream and wonderful sugar cookies, baked squash and home made rolls and burnt sugar cake.  Oh yes, and wonderful fried chicken!  I wish I had paid more attention to her cooking skills.  Mother said that during the Depression (Another terrible time that your great grandparents lived through and something that I pray that you will NEVER have to experience!) she always fed anyone that came to her backdoor that was hungry.  When she was a young single woman still living with her parents, she was not allowed to date my grandfather because he drove his horses too fast.  He trapped furs and sold them to buy her a bracelet, which she hid in the attic.  She wasn’t allowed to accept gifts from men.  I guess that bracelet was just too pretty to turn down and I have it now.  I wear it a lot and think of her and the great story that went with it.  She got caught dating him because she had someone else pick her up in a one horse wagon but my grandfather, Tom Broaddus, brought her home in a two horse buggy.  Grandmother’s Dad saw the tracks in the mud or snow (They lived in cold, cold Missouri).  Not long after that they married and moved to Amarillo, Texas from Missouri.  I have a picture of her as a teacher in a one room school house that I will show you when you are older.  She always bought Mollie, my cousin (Aunt Evelyn’s daughter), and me Easter bonnets and we always hunted Easter eggs at her house.  She was a wonderful part of our life. On a very cold and snowy day in Amarillo when Coach and I were first dating, we were trying to drag a sled behind a car on the expressway (which hadn’t opened yet).  All we needed was a rope.  I figured that Grandmother would give me one.  When I knocked on her door, she asked me if my mother knew about this. “Well, of course not, that is why I came to you!”  She went and got the rope.  You will see her type of spunk as you get to know your cousin Sarah.  My grandfather died on Father’s Day in June before I was born in October.  I never knew him or any of my other grandparents.  Isn’t it ironic that you were born on Father’s Day 60 years later?  God always makes “sad” sweet.

My Grandmother's Class That She Taught in the One Room School in Rural Missouri.

My Grandmother's Three Children- Aunt Evelyn, My Mother, and My Uncle Glenn

Dearest Isabella, Part 6

Ilma Beryldine Broaddus Lynn. There were, and are, so many wonderful women in my life but the best was and is my Mom. Isabella, she is one of your great grandmothers -- Grandma Beryldine. At age 92, she still has a beautiful smile and sweet spirit. She doesn't remember very well anymore and has lived in a home for people with memory loss for about a year. The other day when I was there visiting the activity director there told me that Grandma Beryldine tells her regularly how blessed she is and how happy she is to have such a nice place to live. Never a bit of grumbling about her circumstances or where she now lives! And the activity director said that Grandma Beryldine is the only resident who ever tells her that. She is the most unselfish person I have ever known! She always does what is best for everyone else rather than herself. When she moved to Houston, she said she wanted to do it before she “had to” and when she could still make friends rather than just rely on Coach and me to entertain her. Her attitude has always been such an example to me and to Coach and your Uncle Curt and your Mom. She always wanted me to go out and learn how to be with people; then she would add “all kinds of people.” She is the reason that I so love meeting and being with people! She lived on the farm and could not participate in after school activities because she had to ride the school bus home right after the school day ended. So, I got to do any activity I ever wanted to try. She did not spoil me (At least I don't think that I am spoiled. Ha) by indulging me but she encouraged me and supported me in everything that I ever did. She was always my biggest supporter. When your Mom and Uncle Curt came along, she was their biggest supporters as well. She was the minister’s secretary all my life. She started out keeping the books accounting for the Church's money and when Daddy gave her a mink coat for Christmas one year, she made him take it back because she didn’t want anyone to think she was stealing money from the collection plate and buying a mink coat with it. Trust me! Everyone at that Church loved her and admired her so much that that thought would never have occurred to anyone. People would sometimes stop in the Church office unannounced to visit with the minister about a complaint that they had. She would listen to the person talk while they waited for the minister to be available and, often, by the time the minister was available, the person was satisfied just by having had Grandma Beryldine listen to them sympathetically. She was a life long worrier, but also a life long encourager. I am honored to have called her Mother.

Well, Isabella, these are just some of the women that influenced me growing up. It was a good exercise to think about them with such pleasant memories that night that I held you for the first time. I hope when you are holding your grandbabies, you will be able to recall all the women in your life that made you the person you will have become. You won’t remember that night when you were ten days old and I held you in my arms most of the night and prayed over you but it was one of God’s sweetest gifts to me.

I will love you forever.

Cici (Cease)

P.S. Another time I will tell you about more people that influenced me as I was an adult. Remember, I wasn’t really much of an adult when I got married. I was 18 (Almost 19, I like to point out) and Coach was 21. We have pretty much grown up together. Another time I will tell you about people that I have met along the way that helped me become who I am today.

My Mom ("Grandma Beryldine") and Dad ("Papa") - Nov. 1945

Grandma Beryldine at home in approximately 1992 or '93. She was about 75 at this time

Aunt Evelyn and Grandma Beryldine having fun in San Angelo in about 2004

Dearest Isabella, Part 4

p> Evelyn Louise Sheldon:  My wonderful Aunt Evelyn!  Isabella, she was your Grandma Beryldine’s only sister and would be your great, great aunt. She also had beautiful dishes, perfect posture and great style.  I used to watch her paint her fingernails with red fingernail polish and she wore Chanel No. 5 perfume.  She was elegant and my Mom wanted me to grow up and be like Aunt Evelyn.  She said that Aunt Evelyn didn’t know how to do stuff at home when she was young but became the best housekeeper and cook after she got married.  I am not sure if there is a time limit on when those housekeeping talents will appear. I am still waiting! Mother used to talk about how they didn’t go to the USO during the war (World War II, a terrible time that your great grandparents lived through and something that I pray that you will NEVER have to experience!), the USO came to them because Aunt Evelyn could jitterbug so well. She was beautiful! My only girl cousin, Mollie, and I used to spend lots of weekends and Summer vacations together. I had been begging my mother to let me “frost” my hair to no avail.  One Summer while I was visiting them in San Angelo, Aunt Evelyn let me put lemon juice on my hair to bleach it out.  I was sure that I was a lot blonder!  She and Mother didn’t ever make Mollie and me do the dishes and they didn’t even get mad when Mollie and I (or it might have just been me) opened a box of marbles during the church service and the marbles hit the sloped concrete floor and rolled all the way to the front of the sanctuary.  The preacher thanked us for waking up the folks that were sleeping.  What was I doing with marbles in church? She gave me a wonderful bridesmaid’s luncheon at the Amarillo Country Club the day of my wedding and it was as elegant as everything else that she did!  But don’t be confused!  Aunt Evelyn WAS NOT just a person of beauty and style but no substance.  She was involved in her community and church and a leader in all in which she was involved.  She never met a stranger and was outgoing and friendly and inviting to all.  Coach says that when we began dating and he first became involved with my family, he was a little shy and uncomfortable but Aunt Evelyn always made him feel special and welcome.  She treated him as family, right from the beginning.  As you grow a little older and get to know your cousin Jack, you will see these leadership and friendliness traits in him.  He often talks about his family.  I wonder if Aunt Evelyn is coaching him.  My beautiful Aunt Evelyn died just a few days before your Mom and Dad’s wedding and I will forever be disappointed that she was not there to share that wonderful day with us. But, I am sure that she was looking down from heaven and smiling with approval at how beautiful the wedding was!  Grandma Beryldine often can’t remember that Aunt Evelyn has died and she asks about her. I don’t have the heart to remind her that Aunt Evelyn is no longer here.   Grandma Beryldine sometimes introduces me as her sister.  I just smile and relish in the compliment.  Maybe I’m turning out like Aunt Evelyn after all.

My Cousin Mollie and Me.

Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Luke Right After World War II, Late 1945.

Aunt Evelyn's Favorite

Dearest Isabella, Part 3

Mildred Callaway: When I was growing up, the Callaways lived next door to us on Monroe Street in Amarillo. Mildred’s daughter, Becky, was my best friend as I grew up. I was at their house ALOT. They had three boys and I was always jealous that Becky had brothers. I dreamed one night that we bought their house and wrote the brothers into the contract and got them along with the house. (One time I remember telling Mary Lou, see below, that Mother and Daddy were adopting a child---complete wishful thinking also know as a lie. I also told Mary Lou that they were building an expressway from Amarillo to San Angelo. Mary Lou must have been a GOOD listener with a straight face—back to Mildred) Mildred was so much fun. At night their family would have Bible stories and a devotional. Burl always prayed with great vigor for a LONG time. They had wonderful purple Wisteria hanging off latticework on their backyard porch. They had a huge brick barbeque grill in the backyard and a really big plastic swimming pool that you could stand up in. I remember lots of good times at their house. I ate a lot of meals with the Callaways and I loved all the fun at the table mostly lead by Mildred.

Iris Wherry: Iris was another of my mom and dad’s best friends. She was married to Gerald and Gerald used to date a woman named Violet but he married Iris. I always thought that was the best story. Gerald was the best man at my Mother and Dad’s wedding on Easter Sunday of 1941. My Mother and Daddy and Iris and Gerald played lots of bridge together. She loved pretty dishes and I loved to eat at her house. Her table was set with a one -of –a- kind glass at each plate. I loved how colorful it was at her house. She was way ahead of Baskin & Robbins Ice Cream. She would take vanilla ice cream and mix in coffee, or orange juice or grape juice to make a swirl. I couldn’t wait to see what she had made. She gave me a party when I got married and I remember how pretty everything looked.

Marylou McGregor: Mary Lou was, and still is, one of Grandma Beryldine’s very best friends. Mary Lou and I still talk to this day. She and her husband Joe played a lot of bridge with your great grandparents as well. She sewed beautifully and made your Mom the cutest little yellow print dress when she was born. I’ll show you the picture of your mom in the dress someday. She wrote me a note and told me how having a little girl was wonderful---that she would bring me so much joy and break my heart at the same time. I e-mailed Mary Lou when your Mom had you. Such a wonderfully caring lady! She calls or e-mails me often to check on Grandma Beryldine’s condition and I appreciate it so much. Her daughter, Shirley, lives in Houston and we talk often. I am photographing Mary Lou’s grandson, Ben, next week for his senior picture. I love that I have that connection to Mary Lou!

TO BE CONTINUED

Dearest Isabella, Part 2

Hays Williams: One of my Mother’s (Your great-grandmother, known to our family as “Grandma Beryldine”) co-workers at the church. Hays and Mother were such good friends. She always acted happy to see me when I would run in and out of the church office. Even later in her life when she would write Mother, she called her “Dear Friend” and longed to see her. She passed away a year or so ago and I can’t bear to tell Grandma Beryldine that she is gone. I value their example of lifelong friendship.

Bessie Hart: Another one of Mother’s good friends and co-workers at the church. She always made me lots of custom designed doll clothes. I remember my mother taking time to go visit her, even when she moved to the Juliette Fowler Home in Dallas. I am beginning to see a pattern of very giving people.

Rella Nugent: One of my Sunday School teachers. She was so sweet and I think my love of scripture and felt boards for storytelling came from her. She was another one that made me feel loved every time I saw her. I am beginning to figure out that they loved my mom and therefore they loved me. She became blind or almost blind at some point but I don’t ever remember hearing her complain whenever I saw her.

Iris Prescott: My babysitter when my Grandmother wasn’t keeping me, which was rare. She had a hair coming out of her chin that always seemed to be there. But out of her mouth came wonderful Bible stories any time I was with her. I can remember sitting on the floor listening to them any time I was with her. We also found empty locust shells and made locust parades. I have not thought of this until your Uncle Curt told me about Jack and Sarah finding locust shells the other night. The best memories pop up out of nowhere.

Brickey Bearden: She was a fiery red head with a great laugh. She was another of my Sunday School teachers and she always scared me just a little. She was earthy and bold and there was something that I liked about her. She was always at church helping someone. She even adopted two young Vietnamese children at a time when adopting children of a different nationality was rare.



TO BE CONTINUED

Dearest Isabella

  I gotta  warn you: This is going to be pretty long.  In fact, I think that I will break it up into several installments posted over the next couple of weeks. That way it won’t require such an investment of your time. Thanks for indulging me and reading!  I hope you will find it was definitely worth your time.

Dearest Isabella,

I flew to Dallas on the Tuesday morning that you were 10 days old to help your Mom and to get to know you. I was sooo excited to hold you for the first time because when I saw you in the hospital the day that you were born no one was allowed to hold you in the NICU where you spent the first couple of days. That first Tuesday getting to hold and kiss you and just look in your beautiful face was FANTASTIC!

Unfortunately, your Mom was not feeling very peppy so I thought that my timing in coming was pretty good. How true that proved to be! By 9:00 that night, your Mom had passed out and your Dad had called 911.  Your Mom and Dad left in an ambulance and your Mom wound up having to spend the night and most of the next day in the hospital.  Of course, your Dad went to the hospital and stayed with your Mom so, guess who had a brand new baby to care for all on her own!?

One of your Mom and Dad’s neighbors came over and helped me figure out all of the bottles that I would need to feed you that night. One of your Mom’s best friends since childhood, Sarah, came over to lend a little moral support. I sent Sarah home around 1:00 am and the rest of the night, I proceeded to hold/rock/feed and listen to you to see if you were breathing, Isabella.  I prayed some specific scriptures over you.  One was "The Lord is my Protector and Defender."  As I held you and stared at your beautiful face I couldn’t help but ponder all the people that would come into your life, which lead me to remember all the amazing women that had been in my life.  I wished for you some one like these women (They are in no particular order of importance, except for the last few):

Connie Stark:  My church choir teacher.  I always thought she was beautiful and boy could she lead the pack of unruly church kids in some wonderful songs to sing in the sanctuary.  I can’t sing “Fairest Lord Jesus” without thinking of how Connie tapped her foot on the floor to keep time and made us watch her as she directed us with flamboyant style.  She could also lead us in the best fun songs ever.  I still sing “Do your Ears Hang Low” and “The Grand Old Duke of York” while I am photographing kids or playing with your cousins, Jack and Sarah.

Dixie Dice:  Dixie was my kind of woman!  Another foot tapper, she was my tap dance teacher and owned Dixie Dice School of Dance.  Her married name was Dixie Watson but she went by her maiden name (Go Dixie—way back in the 50’s!).  She would fly to New York, go to Broadway plays and then lock herself in a hotel room and write our dance recital.  I can still see her now as she pulled her skirt above her knees and taught us shuffle ball changes until we got it right.  I can still see my Mom in the waiting room with all the other moms sewing sequins on our costumes.  Thank goodness that your Mom didn’t know about Dixie because I would have failed sequin sewing.  I have vivid memories of wild tap music and sparkly costumes. I can still remember the smell of the greenroom at her studio!  Jane, her daughter, taught us ballet but it was that wild tap dancing taught by Dixie that made my heart sing.  A love of Broadway musicals was deeply instilled at a very young age.

 

TO BE CONTINUED