Memorial Day 2009

THEN --- The words camera and water were not mentioned together and if you did the words "so sorry" was usually in the sentence!

NOW --- one of the grand kids favorite things to do in the pool is to take underwater pictures.

1st picture - John Brady

2nd picture - Emma

3rd picture - Abby

4th picture - the girls holding hands with JB3 behind them

21 Years Later

The more things change the more they stay the same. Our pool has been full of kids since the day it was completed. These pictures were made about 21 years apart and I am happy to say that the pool never seems to get boring. That's a BIG HIGH FIVE for old fashioned fun.

THEN --- Andrea Moore with Courtney Lawson on her shoulders, Anna Traweek helping, Raegan Clark getting out of the pool and Sonny Renfroe on the cement

NOW --- Emma Lawson with Abby Lawson on her shoulders

Happy Birthday Sue.....Cha Cha Cha

Happy Birthday....my dear friend. I hope today is a great day for you. I am thankful for you and all the memories we have created. As we have both learned with age....we are going to ignore the number and be thankful we are here to celebrate! I love you.

THEN --- Phillips wedding in California with that "crazy Berry bunch". What a trip. We had a great time.

2nd picture ---Phillip, Courtney, Joy, Sue, Bill and John in back.

Standing on the Sidelines

The year was 1997. The coach was Mike Dubose. Courtney was a Bama Belle. Josh and his buddy Wesley Madison were seniors on the Berry football team. Josh and Wesley were invited to be guests at a Alabama football game and Courtney got to be their Belle. What a picture. We didn't know then that Josh would stand on the sidelines of Bryant Denny Stadium for many games. The boys were thrilled and so were we.

They don't have Bama Belles anymore at Alabama or the equivalent at other schools. The NCAA made them do away with them. Courtney was so thrilled when she was chosen to be a Belle. Courtney has some wonderful stories from those days. My favorite still gives me chill bumps. She told of being in the tunnel of the stadium when the players walked out of the locker room. She said the tunnel was suddenly full of these huge ball players and all you could hear was the sound of their cleats hitting the cement as they walked. As they stopped to await their entrance onto the field they began a slow clap and the rumble of ROLL........TIDE ROLL.......ROLL.....TIDE ROLL, in their deep voices, swept through the tunnel. She said it was overwhelming. Now, tell me, Alabama fans, does that not make the hair on the back of your neck stand up and bring a tear to your eye. I am so glad she got to experience that.

Back to the title of this post.....I bet you think it is about standing on the sidelines at Denny Stadium. It is really about the fact that it is a holiday weekend. Stay with me and I will explain. Tomorrow we will cook ribs, be with our family and maybe the grand kids will get in the pool. Tomorrow, if it is raining, I bet we will complain about the weather. Yes, I will be Standing On The Sidelines while Wesley Madison is protecting my freedom. Standing on the sidelines while he is on his way or already on the "field of battle". Standing on the sidelines in my free country. Standing on the sidelines praying for his safe return. So, I just want to say "Thank You" to everyone who is protecting my freedom. Thank You, on this Memorial Day, to the families of the ones who gave all. Thank you!

GOD BLESS AMERICA

THEN --- Josh Lawson, Courtney Lawson and Wesley Madison in Bryant Denny Stadium

Dianne - HAPPY BIRTHDAY....Cha Cha Cha

Dianne - Wife of Donnie, Mother of my daughter in law, Kim, Mother in law of my son, Brady, and Nanny to the grandchildren we share, Emma, Abby Claire and John Brady. If you read Kim's blog (Lawson Party of Five) you will know that Dianne has been recovering from a serious illness. She is doing great and looks great. Dianne was in the ICU at DCH for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and did not leave the hospital for several months. Many tearful prayers were raised on her behalf and they were answered. I am sure that the birthday celebration today will be very joyous.

Hillary Clinton...we do not agree on a lot. It takes a village to raise a child.....we do agree on that!

Dianne and Donnie are part of the village we share trying to raise Emma, Abby and John Brady. Mel and Ellen also share that village with us in raising Lawson. I believe children thrive in a circle of people that love them. The bigger the circle the better. So...today is a happy day...our circle remains unbroken and we get to say Happy Birthday Dianne!

THEN --- 1998 Kim received her Master's degree from Alabama
Dianne, Donnie, Kim and Brady

Where in the world is...........Josh Lawson

That's Coach Lawson now. Josh was hired by Southern Arkansas University to help coach the defense. He has been living in Magnolia, Arkansas since January.

Josh would tell you when he was six years old that he wanted to be a coach and he has pursued his dream all his life. Josh has had quite the adventures pursuing his dream and I am going to make this an ongoing post to chronicle some of the people he has met and places he has been.

Our whole family misses Josh everyday but we are so proud of him. One of Josh's favorite roles is that of Uncle Josh. The kids adore him and he adores them.

NOW---well a few years ago....Uncle Josh with Abby Claire. This has always been one of Josh's favorite pictures so I thought I would include it for him.

THEN---The 6 year old Josh after the Berry Wildcats won a Toybowl Championship.

It's So Hard To Say Goodbye.......

Fayette County has a weekly newspaper. "The Times Record". All the news from Berry, Fayette, Hubbertville and all the "small" places in between can be read every Wednesday. Since I have my paper mailed I get it on Thursday. I saw in today's paper the picture of the football player from Berry High School who was awarded the "Aaron Geist 100% Award". Aaron Geist or "Chewy", as he was called by those of us who loved him, was killed in a car wreck the summer of 1990. Chewy was just a great kid. A great football player who gave his all...all the time. Berry had a great season that year, Chewy's senior year. Brady was three years younger than Chewy and helped hold the sidelines down that year, Josh was a water boy and John helped keep the books. When you go to a small school everybody participates! Chewy was good to both my boys but Josh really idolized him. I remember the knock on our door that Sunday morning when Mike Moore came to tell us that Chewy had wrecked and was no longer with us. All three of my children cried and cried. It was John, Steve Cannon and Joe Field's idea to give the award and it has been given to a football player every year since 1991.

I was trying to decide what I wanted to write about today and it was like this picture flew into my hand as I pulled some pictures out of a box. I bet the picture made all my "kids" heart skip a beat!

THEN- Aaron Geist and Kevin Hill

The North River Cubs

Angie Bozeman Cannon writes the blog Frogs, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails. She is another one of my "kids". Angie is married to Josh. Brady and Josh spent 13 years playing ball together. Many of Angie's posts lately have been about their oldest son and his ball team. Of course, pictures are included. So.....I had to pull out a picture of the boys from the good ole days. If you were on a team back then you knew to look out for the North River Cubs. I think they had at least one undefeated season and always played for the championship. Or, at least, that is how I remember it! Well....I do remember their first season, a learning season, a long season, when they only won a few games but after that they dominated.

THEN - Jason Cannon, Josh Cannon and Brady Lawson

Babies...Babies...Babies!

I love reading the blogs that are written by my "kids". I don't mean the blogs Kim and Courtney write, they are my absolute favorites, I am talking about the kids I have known their whole life and they grew up with my kids. One of the blogs I check everyday and sometimes more than once a day is written by Krisha Deavours. Now, I have only known Krisha for a few years but she is one of those truly sweet people that you feel you have always known. Krisha is married to Dan. I have known Dan since the day he was born. Krisha and Dan are expecting TWINS. Dan's mom Wanda has been a part of my life for 35 years. I told her the other day that she was catching up with me on the Grandchildren count in one big swoop. You see, Dan's sister, Holley, has a little boy, just had a baby girl and Wanda is anxiously waiting for her twin granddaughters. So, of course, I thought about the many pictures I have of Dan. Let me tell you.....Dan was one of the cutest toddlers you ever laid your eyes on. He had a cherubic face and golden blonde hair. I have seen a few pictures of Krisha, when she was a little girl, on her mother's blog. So I think these two little girls will be beauties! I think twins are so exciting! My niece, Michele (she has twin girls), is laughing at me right now. Nobody imagined that the crew in the pictures would have 8 children by 2009!

THEN...... I would love to know what Brady and Dan are talking about.

THEN......Brady Lawson, Dan Deavours, Shelba Pendley holding Courtney Lawson and Holley Deavours.

Do You Remember......... STRETCH ARMSTRONG

I was reminiscing as I was watching John Brady play yesterday afternoon. I don't have a lot of time to think with three little Lawson's running around and always asking questions but he did make me think of his Daddy. This picture was made right after Christmas 1978. Brady got the Stretch Armstrong for Christmas and I can remember it being one of Brady's and John's favorite toys. Seeing how far they could make Armstrong stretch was a nightly ritual. They actually did stretch "ole" stretch until he refused to stretch anymore but it took several months. When he finally quit stretching they couldn't wait to open him up and look inside. Brady is about three months younger than John Brady in this picture.

THEN AND NOW......Stretch Armstrong did come back a few years ago. It didn't seem to be the hit it was back in 78. I guess he needed to do something that required batteries! Notice John's shoes and shirt...both are back again...sadly John's thick black hair is gone and I doubt we will ever see it again! Well, maybe not sad the beard is gone.

THEN and NOW

We celebrated Lawson's actual birthday, Thursday, May 7th, with a trip to the Zoo. Pop and Meme gave him a membership as a birthday present. I love the Zoo and I know that it isn't the greatest of zoos but as the saying goes "it's my zoo" and I love it anyway. I have memories of going to the zoo when I was a little girl living in Birmingham. We would make the rounds. Go to the zoo, then Vulcan, and later the Botanical Gardens. Also, I have memories of taking my children and especially of the many field trips I help chaperone. Lawson is always happy when he is somewhere that we can let him walk-run ahead of us. Run is exactly what he did and he crashed after about an hour and a half of full steam ahead. THEN----the zoo 30 years ago----Michelle Lowrey, Brady Lawson, Evelyn Lowrey holding Andy Lowrey and Sandra Lowrey holding Courtney Lawson. Now----Dave, Courtney and Lawson Long.