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Mississippi Girl
Born Lois LaVelle Ready in Benoit, a small
town in Bolivar County, Mississippi to her most loving parents, Bracie and LaVelle Kizziah Ready on July 7th, 1926. They would
have no other children until 1947 when their daughter, Sandy was born.
Before Lois was 1 year old, there came a terrible flood.
The mighty Mississippi had overflowed her banks and devastated much of the Mississippi Delta and its inhabitants. She
and her parents clung to a tree for 3 days hoping that the waters would soon subside, when out of the muddy waters came 2
men in a boat who happened by and rescued them and brought them to the safety of higher ground. They didn't know which
could be worse. The flood they managed to escape or the persistence of the terribly devastated economy of the Great
Depression which soon followed.
Satan did what he could to destroy this family and others, but
they managed to survive, despite the many rough miles they yet had to travel down life's bumpy road. Much can be
said about the people of her day. They seemed to take everything in stride and live each day for that day with little
regard for the future. There were no TVs, or TV dinners. The radio kept you informed and with nightly broadcasts of "The Shadow"
and "Amos and Andy" and many other great old shows, life was about as good as it could ever get.
Her favorite time of the year was Christmas, but did you
know?
They want to take Merry Christmas
away and replace
it with Happy Holidays. My mother would be flipping
out
about this if she were alive today. She would start just
after Christmas planning for the next Christmas.
Christmas was her favorite time of the year, and she loved
to "make" presents, especially little "gag" gifts for each of us. She
always put a lot of thought and much love into what she planned for
each of us, and it gave her a
lot of happiness to see each of us laugh as we
opened them. I, for one, will keep
her love for this special day
alive each time I say:
" MERRY CHRISTMAS "
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| Daddy. Why do they want to take Christmas away? |
Suffer the little
children to come unto Me....
for theirs
is
the Kingdom
of
Heaven
The Man In The Glass
by Dale
Wimbrow, 1895 ~1954
When you get what you want
in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And
see what that man has to say
For it isn't your
father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the
one staring back from the glass
You may be like Jack
Horner and chisel a plum
And think you're a wonderful guy.
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you
can't look him straight in the eye.
He's the fellow to
please - never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear to the end.
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult
test
If the man in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the
whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartache
and tears
If you've cheated the man in the glass.
Originally titled "The Guy in the Glass", it's a poem mother wrote out on a piece of paper in 1989. It meant something to her, so,
I thought I'd pass it along. As in this haunting poem, she could also make you reach deep into your very soul with only
a few penetrating words of wisdom. She also wrote many poems, and I will put them here soon.
Click the mp3 below to hear this most beautiful song
When I Said I Do
These times are troubled and these times are good
And they're always gonna be, they rise and they fall
We take 'em all the way that we should
Together you and me forsaking them all
Deep in the night and by the light of day
It always looks the same, true love always does
And here by your side, or a million miles away
Nothin's ever gonna change the way that I feel,
The way it is, is the way that it was...
When I said I do, I meant that I will 'til
the end of all time
Be faithful and true, devoted to you
That's what I had in mind when I said I do
Well this old world keeps changin', and
the world stays the same
For all who came before, and it goes hand and hand
Only you and I can undo all that we became
That makes us so much more, than a woman and a man
And after everything that comes and goes around
Has only passed us by, here alone in our dreams
I know there's a lonely heart in every lost and found
But forever you and I will be the ones
Who found out what forever means
When I said I do, I meant that I will 'til the end
of all time
Be faithful and true, devoted to you that's what
I had in mind when I said I do
Truer than true, you know that I'll always be there
for you
That's what I had in mind, that's what I had in mind,
When I said I do
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A Man from Maine
Born George Gregory to Robert Joseph & Myrtle McPhee
Wylie in 1920, he went to sea as a young boy to help support his family, as many did back in that day. After several years
at sea, he took a land job in a Boothbay Harbor shipyard as a machinist so he could be closer to home. When WWII
broke out, he joined the Army Air Corp along with his brothers, Perley and Elliot.
Perley was injured in the Battle of the Phillipines and
died a couple of years later from complications from his injuries. George and Elliot reinlisted for another
hitch after the war. Elliot went on to retire from the Air Force after 30 yrs of service. While stationed at Camp Shelby,
Mississippi, George met and fell in love with the "Mississippi Girl" in Gulfport, Mississippi at the Gulfport Hotel which
had been converted to a military hospital. At the age of 15, she was working as a nurses' aid, a profession she enjoyed
for 10 or more years in Greenville, Mississippi where they made their home after the war.
George, while only having an eighth grade education, was
well read. He was the smartest man I have ever met. How he could remember all that he read remains a mystery to me to
this day. When they would come visit us in Pennsylvania, we loved to play Trivia Pursuit. After a few games, it was apparent
he knew a lot of trivia. The next night and the nights that followed, all my friends want him to be on their teams. How could
he possibly know all that stuff? An amazing man he was.
He was a quiet man, so when he did speak, everyone stopped
and listened. He had such a dry sense of humor that would have us all hysterically laughing in short order. There may
have been something in the water in Mississippi as mom had the same knack for getting a laugh.
She, on the other hand, had a way with words. She
could tell you off in words that would take you a week to understand
exactly what she meant by them.
They were a good match. Him with his thinking and quietness.
Her with her bubbly outgoing nature. It gave us much comfort to have this balance in our family.
We shall always miss them....
Those They Left Behind
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| Paula Martin, our "little sister" next door |
The Dance...
Friends
Hole in the World
Ancient of Days
Creed
Foolish Games
Jesus Take the Wheel
I Cross My Heart
I'm Yours
Tears In Heaven
Free Bird
You Really Got Me
Girl
Goodnight Saigon
If You're Going To San Francisco
Keeping The Faith
How Far Is Heaven
Amazing Grace
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