Fire Unexpected

Doug and I were coming home from visiting and eating out with a cousin Thursday afternoon. We passed a house that drew our attention. It was no longer there. It had burned. 

Doug said, “Look there. That house has burned.” We both were saddened to see the house destroyed by fire. We didn’t know the people who lived in the house, but there was a great loss to a family and it saddened us.

We were riding quietly and my mind was churning about the house, the fire, the loss, the disturbance of the family and other things. Think with me about it, please.

• The fire was unexpected. They didn’t know the day or the hour it would happen.
• They were unprepared for the fire. Who prepares for a fire, right? They could have been prepared, and perhaps they were, with fire insurance.
• The fire caused lots of heartaches. It made them sad.
• The fire likely took the most precious worldly possessions they had.
• They will never be able to see or hold those prized possessions ever again.
• The fire left them with the knowledge that nothing will ever be the same.

As devastating as the fire was in all the above ways, I thought about our souls and how much more devastating it would be to lose them. 

Death will come unexpectedly, just like the fire. Death will come whether we are prepared or not. It is coming. Death will cause lots of heartache for loved ones, but far more heartaches for them if we have not made preparation to go to heaven. Death will take us from our loved ones, leaving a void in their lives. Death is final. Things will never be the same once death comes. After death comes the judgment. At death, our destiny is sealed. There is not one more invitation in which to respond. There is no turning around and coming back. No amount of pleading or begging will help. At death, we are headed for eternity, ready or not.

There are lots of similarities between a house fire and a death in the family. Are you ready? You can be, you know. Why not think seriously about your soul’s destiny and prepare for it today? Do you need help in knowing just what to do to be saved? We can help you with that and will be honored to do so. Prepare today and protect yourself with heavenly insurance.                                                                 

The Birds of the Air

I didn't change the decorations on the front porch and a male and female bird chose it as their home. They are working together to make the best home possible for the babies they plan to have. They will work to provide food for their babies and not seek any outside help from other birds. They will train their children to eat properly and to fly. They will teach them about danger. One day the little birds will fly away and meet their mate, and the cycle will start all over again. And the Bible teaches that not one of them falls to the ground that God does not know about. The song states, "His eye is on the sparrow and I know He cares for me." Thank you, Father, for the little birds. They are in a safe place on our front porch.

Dog tags at Curtis Jr. High School

One more thing about Curtis Jr. High School near Elba. Someone made the students' dog tags. We knew the soldiers wore dog tags with their identification on them, so we were proud of ours. They came with a long chain that we wore proudly around our neck. I found mine in the little Lane cedar chest today. They misspelled my name, but I still treasure it. Do any of you Curtis friends have yours?

Miniature Lane cedar chest

I was rummaging through my dresser drawer a little while earlier and found the small Lane cedar chest that we were given in school. How many of you still have yours? I scribbled all over mine and even carved on it with a sharp pen. I surely was in love back then with at least two different boys, and Doug wasn't with them. 5-27-59 is the date I carved on the little chest. I think that is about the time they started making or really promoting Lane cedar chests.

The print reminds me of grandma

This is a print we bought Saturday at the Piney Woods Arts Festival in Enterprise. I had seen the original painting by Keith Newby, or Kenneth Newby, of Dothan years ago at the festival and wept when I saw it. It looked like someone very special in my life, my grandmother, Evie Lee Bryant. (I am honored to wear her name.) For well over ten years I have thought of this painting and wished we could have purchased it. Saturday our trip to the festival was entirely to see if by a very small chance we might find the artist and the picture. He along with his display was set up in a tent almost immediately to our left when we entered the craft area. He didn't have the original painting on display since it had sold but did have this smaller and less expensive print. Beautiful memories.

I wonder how many of my cousins will agree with my thinking?

Mama said I didn't have to take a shot

I was just thinking about when I went to school at Curtis Jr. High School out from Elba, AL. 

I never liked shots, and I hated it when those county nurses would come to give all the children shots. It nearly scared me to death, and the smell, well, it smelled like medicine.

I stood in the line with all the other children and watched my classmates let the nurse pull their sleeve up, rub alcohol on their arm, and stick them. Some of them squinched up their eyes and turned their head before the needle stick. As I neared the nurse I got an idea. When I stepped into the dreaded spot, I looked at the nurse and said, "My mama said I didn't have to take a shot." She ushered me on through. I never did have a smallpox shot.

By the way, I don't think Mama even knew the nurses were coming to give us shots because I didn't tell her!

Underneath her hat was hair still in rollers

I was just admiring Tim Hester's picture on FB and noticed his hat, or cap. I don't know what they call those little toppers, but I like them. It reminded me of hats being in style when Doug and I were dating over 51 years ago. 

Now Clifton Tuggle and Doug will know the person I am about to tell on, but we'll just keep that a secret. Clifton had a girlfriend that had the prettiest curly hair. She was smart enough that on Sunday morning she left her hair rolled on top and combed out the part that would show, from under her hat. She would be finely dressed as she went to worship with a beautiful hat on her head. Only we knew that beneath that hat remained her hair in curlers. I couldn't help but think of the fun it would be should a real stiff puff of wind come her way and take her hat with it. I would have laughed, there's no doubt about it. I wish I knew where she is today. I still owe her for introducing "old Doug" to me.

Paper Dolls from old Sears, Roebuck Catalog

I guess I never had any store bought paper dolls when growing up. Mine came straight from the latest out-dated Sears, Roebuck Catalog. I couldn't wait until a new catalog came in the mail. That meant, with mother's permission, I could have the old one to cut and have new paper dolls. Christmas catalogs came early and I looked at them over and over, dreaming of things I wished to have.

My cousin, Brenda, played paper dolls with me when she and her parents came to visit on Friday nights. Brenda was always organized, and still is, I might add. She came in the door with a shoe box. I knew that shoe box held all her paper dolls. She got hers the same way I got mine, right out of the catalog.

Our paper dolls liked to party a lot, so we looked for the girls with the beautiful gowns and the boys had to be dressed in suits. Now not just any picture would do. Our paper dolls had to be complete people. They had to have full legs and arms showing and their heads had to have all the hair too. 

We didn't have any of this fancy furniture that can be bought today. No siree, we got up in the middle of the bed. We pulled the cover back, fluffed it up, and you wouldn't believe the furniture Brenda could make by just twisting and twirling that sheet. I was two years younger than Brenda and she taught me a lot about designing furniture on a bedsheet. Ah, we enjoyed playing paper dolls. Our imagination ran wild when our "Barbie and Ken"were going out on a date and to a party.

If our dolls needed to change clothes for another type outing, we just selected another doll from our collection. Or, we went to the old reliable and found one that would fit our plans just right, and we cut it out. We played with what we had, not what we wished we had. 

One night Brenda and I were sitting up in the bed in the back room playing paper dolls when my brother Herschel came home. He brought a friend home with him. It was Jimmy Smith. When Brenda and I knew they were in the next room, we gathered our paper dolls up and came out to be with them and our parents. She whispered to me, "Don't let them know we were playing paper dolls." I assured her I wouldn't, but I'm not sure I understood why at the time. That was the night she met Jimmy Smith and our whole world changed forever. 

It happened that Aunt Mamie and Uncle Fred soon got ready to leave. Guess what! Brenda didn't want to leave. Of course, Jimmy could fix that. Why, if they didn't mind, he could take her home a little later. He assured them he would bring her straight home. Brenda thought that was a fine idea, and so it was the way it all began.

I guess we never played paper dolls again, and I'm not sure I'm completely over that yet.