Reminising

While cleaning the basement I ran across a old bag that came from my parents house after they had passed, it contained old papers, and part of the story of their life...I stood and opened up paper after paper, my daddys old pay stubs from 1966, he cleared 147.76 a week to feed a family of 7...and we think we have it bad today.. I ran across old rent checks from when we lived on the farm..$64 dollars a month.. wow... a income tax return for 1966..he made all of $7,800. There were old utility bills, insurance premiums, part of a letter from my brother to my momma when he was in the philipines telling her how much he loved writing to her, because he knew she would always be there for him..he talked of his car, and how he wanted my daddy to save his money for him when he sent it home, it just kind of grabbed me in the soul, and brought me to tears, those little remnants of their lives, little bits of their history, little bits of their love...my daddy worked so hard for what little we had, we didnt have much money, but I never can remember doing without or going hungry. Momma was a stay at home mom, who never worked a day in her life in the professional field yet she was the hardest working woman I have ever known..\
She raised five good kids, and I loved the life she and my daddy gave to me, they gave me love and family, and a home... I have so many memories of the good old days... I miss them so much....And tonite I miss my parents, and their love so very much....
But even through the tears I find my gifts..

11. My childhood on the farm, it was so wonderful!

12. The downy softness of the baby chickens as I cuddles them close.

13. The old farmhouse that holds so many memories in my heart...

14. The love of my Bo-Bo, my constant companion, except when he was out chasing the foxes :)

15. The many hours of enjoyment spent swinging in my old tire swing in the backyard, under the old Oak Tree.

16. The noise of the country when I would close my eyes.. the horses nickering in their stalls, the pigs eating their supper, the owls talking in the darkness, the crickets and locusts, and the symphony of insects singing in the night...the creaking of the old house in the winter wind..the lonesome sound of the two oclock train as it rumbled down the railroad track..the sweet singing of the birds, the crowing of the rooster, the sound of daddys truck coming up the gravel road after a long day at work... they were all gifts.. gifts that I am so grateful I had..

17. The smells that came from my mommas country kitchen, apple pies, blackberry dumplings, peach cobblers, pumkin pies, chicken and dumplings, fried chicken and country gravy, Thanksgiving dinner, bacon frying in the morning, coffee brewing on the stove,..so many scents bring me back to that most wonderful time of my life.. Thank you God for all those smells.

18. Im so grateful for the love I had as a child.. for the best momma and daddy in the world.. and for the memories they gave me...