Friends

As a person goes through the years that make up one's life, you constantly modifly your circle of friends by adding and sometimes subtracting a few . But there are always those that remain cemented firmly in your heart as "forever " friends. I lost one of those precious people today. My very first real BFF (as they are called today) was Reva Gail Jones Owens. If we weren't at one another's houses, we were on the phone. We played together, laughed together, cried together, and dreamed together. We even planned to go to college together but life happened as it sometimes does and we ended up going in two different directions. We kept in contact off and on, more at first, less in the middle and started back up ln the last few years. Alot has passed during these years but she remained as dear to me as she was in my youth. She used to dream of traveling to far away places when we were young. Today she left on her final journey . She rests tonight peacefully in the arms of her God. There is a song that says"Save a place for me, Save some grace for me...". Reva, save a place for me for I will see you again one day. I love you, my friend.

Battleship

I have a game of Battleship in my rainyday game collection in my classroom. My own children had not only a regular Battleship game but my son also had an electronic StarWars version. Well, the makers of the game have nothing on me. I was playing my own version of "battleship" when I was 7 or 8 years old.(I'm amost 61 so obviously that has been awhile).  We lived by a creek and right up the hill from my house lived my cousin Darrell. We played all day long out in the woods and by the creek. Both of our dads usually had a "stash" of half gallon jars of moonshine. One day as we were playing, we got the idea to use the jars as battleships and rocks as bombs.  We put the jars in the creek and readied our ammo on the banks of the creek. As the jars floated by, we bombed them and saw who could sink the most battleships. We had a blast. It was a lot more fun than the current game but I will admit my game encountered a big problem when we had to face our dads. That was probably the worst spanking I ever received.But I still take credit for inventing the game of Battleship(redneck style).

Hats

As a cancer survivor and former baldy, I have quite a collection of hats. I have them in a large variety of shapes and colors. While doing some spring cleaning this week, I came across them with a mass of memories and feelings swamping me as I looked at them. Many of these memories are not pleasant but went along with some very necessary events that resulted in my still being here.I swore to never wear a hat again. But as I was deciding what to do with these hats, I began to think about the "hats" that I have worn throughout my life time. I have been a daughter, a sister, a student, a grandchild, a cousin, a student driver, a friend, a wife, a divorcee, a farmer, a choir member, a mother, a child of God,a teacher, a grandmother, a cancer patient, a cancer survivor, and many other  things. Of these hats, the ones I am most thankful for being given the opportunity to wear are a child of God,a mother, a grandmother, and a teacher. Every hat (real or representational) has helped me express who I am and how I feel about life.  I have decided to throw or give away (depending on condition)all of my hats but one. That one hat I will keep as a reminder of my struggle with and victory over cancer and as a tributle to all the "hats" I have had the priviledge to wear throughout my life.My prayer is that for every "hat" that I wore or am wearing, was and is worn to the glory of my God.