Feb. 1-19:
Well we start out trying to figure out if were still going to have six more weeks of winter or not but who knows in Mississippi. One day it’s 90 and one day it’s snowing.
Midway and Lollars Grove came to see us during our weekend services the 2nd and 3rd. We watched the Super Bowl. Well, they did; I don’t watch it much. I’m sure somebody won and somebody lost.
The 11th we did something different. The Leslies let us the residents go visit other residents that are usually in their rooms. It was National Visit the Shut-in Day. This was nice; we enjoyed it very much. I played the guitar for a gentleman and others visited or read Scripture.
On the 14th we had our Valentine’s Day celebration, which was a lot of fun! We had love everywhere and I mean everywhere. Fred’s family and customers donated boxes of candy to every resident there. Family Dollar donated a heart balloon to all residents. That’s over a hundred balloons floating around our home. We are so thankful the community gives to us like they do. You could definitely say love was in the air.
Friday I got a surprise from some visitors who brought me some apples and oranges. I gave a copy of my book and autographed it for them. Saturday morning I got a good breakfast: biscuits and gravy, omelet, topped off with hot oatmeal and cereal. I was stuffed! I played my guitar in my room then decided to go play for the other residents in the hallway for awhile.
Speaking of music, remember Willie? At age 11 the church music director gave Willie a set of drums. Willie told him the next Sunday they were the best presents he had ever gotten. The music director asked if he had learned to play them. Willie said, “Oh I don’t play them, Mom gives me a dollar a day not to play them and dad gives me a dollar a week not to play them!”
The next Saturday and Sunday we had the Jenkins family, who brought a special guest: a young girl maybe 10 or 11; she was good. Victory Baptist came on Sunday. Jerry sang and Mrs. Pam Beaty played the piano. Toad Donahoo came Feb. 18 to sing for the residents.
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Feb. 20-26:
Mr. Charles Huggins started our week. He plays with a record, then sings with it. A good job I might add. That evening is our favorite, Bingo Night. We had a crowd! But we always have enough cards and seats.
Wednesday we had Trivia Night, They ask some tough questions or else I’m dumb (don’t answer that). Thursday the Heavenly Highway Singers come; it is always fun trying to blend with their voices. They sound really good.
Friday we went on another traveling adventure to Thailand, saw some land I had never seen and animals too. At 2 o’clock we got to eat some of their food. Their noodles weren’t my favorite but the chicken taste like KFC. I loved her measuring a dash of this, a teaspoon of this then do it again if it didn’t taste right . It was funny.
It has really been doing some raining lately; it’s looking bad for Enid and Grenada Dam however Sunday brought us sunshine here in Eupora.
Willie (the pastor’s son) was back this week too. At age 8 Willie’s grandmother took him to the beach for the first time. Willie was playing in the sand; suddenly a big wave came in and swept little Willie out to sea. Grandma fell to her knees and prayed, “Lord if you will just send little Willie back to me and I will never ask for another thing.” Lo and behold another wave swept in and there was little Willie. Grandma checked little Willie over, looked up to heaven and said, “Lord, when we came he had a hat on.”
Monday we celebrated Black History Month. Again we had some tough trivia questions. I fooled her this time though. I knew most of the sports questions. Tuesday was the Mulls Sing-a-long; these ladies always do a fine job of singing and bringing God’s word.
That night we had our Valentine’s Banquet. This is our third year to do this for the couples at our home but this was my first year to go. It was really nice. We had a nice candlelight dinner, dessert and fine entertainment.
The staff members waited on us. The meal that the dietary department made was amazing. A young girl played the violin for us while we waited to get our meals and then we just visited with each other. The years that different couples had been together was from two years to I think 63 years. It was a really special night!
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Feb. 27-March 5:
Wednesday brought Donnie Buckner and his sidekick Mr. Russell Burton. We played down in the dayroom today, which was fun and different.
That afternoon was VFW bingo; we thank the VFW for providing us with dollars. When bingo is over we all race to the snack machines. I told her I had four cards and bingoed on all four cards, but it didn’t work.
Are y’all wondering about Willie this week? Well Willie got to go to church camp. A counselor was helping Willie unpack. He was surprised to see an umbrella in his backpack. He asked why he brought an umbrella to camp. Willie answered, “Did you ever have a mother?”
Friday the women got all gussied up while the men just talked about them. Saturday was colder than a well digger in North Dakota, Saturday night even colder. It felt like the icicles had icicles. Sunday was even colder but I still got up and done my chores ( milk the cows, feed the mules then put on my Sunday best ). Just kidding. I just got a carton of milk to drink and went on to church.
Monday was the community singers. Bro. Carden and his group bring a mighty fine singing. We need them to come more. We ended this week with the Mardi Gras party. It was a great time for all. Mardi Gras king and queen was crowned, and Mrs. Inez Brooks was queen and Mr. James Gamble was king.
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March 6-12:
Wednesday we started out getting our doughnuts from Sugarland Donuts and getting caught up on the community and world news. This Wednesday was different in the afternoon because we didn’t have bingo.
Instead we had Eupora First United Methodist Church come in and do a service for Ash Wednesday. (I’m sure we needed the church more than bingo, ha-ha.) It was really nice; we enjoyed the service. Then later Mathiston Baptist came in and did their unique way of teaching us the Word of God.
Thursday the Heavenly Highway Singers came. Mr. Ed knows how to pick the good ones. Later that afternoon we sang it up with Debra and Ms. Goldia. Mr. Rochester Ratliff, Helen Greenlee and Robert Gamble tuned in with their good performance to help out.
The weekend bought us Marcella Tipton from Pleasant Grove in Starkville; she comes to see us every three months. It was a great visit. We just sat around and talked for hours. Mr. Robert Goodwin came in the afternoon along with Jerry Helms. They sang so well together and we had a good sermon. Sunday we enjoyed Bro. Hill at 9:10, Sunday School with Dr. Duncan at 9:45 and then Old Mt Pisgah Church came to see us at 2. It was a great weekend.
Monday was a devotion with Robin Butler, I am envious with how she teaches; she is really good. Her helper came too, Ms. Craig.
On Monday we had a party to recognize our employees from us, the residents. I am proud of them all; we all are. We appreciate what they do for us greatly. We really had a good time. We even saw Corey Murphy and Emily Johnston dancing. They had moves I never knew they had.
Tuesday we had hymn time and Ms. Louise Hill sang some really good songs., One I hadn’t heard in a really long time, “30 Pieces of Silver.” Two o’clock brought Bro. Rob Faulk. He always does a fantastic job with sharing the word and making it fun with his guitar and personality. We truly thank him for taking his time to come see us each month.
On a side note Stephanie Myers has been at the time clock giving shots to all the employees. She must be enjoying it. She would smile, give the shot and smile again. But then again , she always smiles; she’s a really good nurse.
Well lets talk about Willie …
Willie, the pastor’s son, at age 18 wanted to open his first bank account but the employees were on strike, leaving the book officers to do the task. While the strike was on Willie called the bank and asked if they were open. They told him they had two windows open. After a long pause Willie asked, “Why can’t I just come through the front door?”
