Cousin JoAnn picked me up around 11:00 yesterday and we went to the nursing home to have lunch and visit with Aunt Margaret (her mother). We reminisced and we "girls" both learned some things we didn't know before: Papa drove a street car in Memphis (sometime before he worked for Southern Railroad); he worked in a bakery. Grandma Goobie played with Helen Keller! I knew Goobie lived in Tuscumbia (AL) when she was very young and I knew it was near Ivy Green, but I didn't know they were playmates. I suppose this was after Anne Sullivan broke into her very dark, silent world. Aunt M said she recalled her mother (Goobie) telling how Helen would scream and cry because of frustration... The two unmarried sisters - Clara and Arie - never married, though Aunt Arie had a boyfriend. Margaret said she would have to "chaperone" them when they would "take a walk." Wonder why they didn't marry? But then Aunt M said that Arie took care of Mama" (meaning Arie's mother) when she was sick. Clara was a pretty strange little lady - she lived in the back of the old store, as did Arie, but had her own little room; the walls were cardboard! They received a pension of some sort from Papa Wadkins's railroad retirement; I don't know how, them being the daughters... She asked me if I remembered Aunt Molly and I did; "And Uncle Mims?" Yes, Molly's husband. Lots of memories centered in and around that store. I asked how Papa and Goobie met, but Aunt M didn't know that. Aunt M said she didn't do anything "creative," like sewing, painting. I asked where some of our family's talent came from, and she didn't know. Papa was a reader, she said, loved Zane Grey books. Charles, the only boy, was a talented artist; Mama was; Sher developed it more than any of us. I dabble, but mostly with photography... Amy's very good, too. And it's come down to some of the nieces and nephews.
After Sher got off work, she picked me up (back at her house) and we went to Sam's so she could buy tires and have them mounted. She needed some anyway and wanted to have them on before the long trip to Iuka. I learned why Sam's has sent us a statement for a $100 membership the last 2 years (which we didn't pay). It's something to do with when we bought our Vizio big screen TV and the free one-year warranty. We could still get the regular membership ($40), but we really don't buy or need to buy in bulk like we used to.
The last few days I've rubbed hydrocortisone cream on Oscar, given him halves of Benadryl pills and the last of the Capstar pills this morning. As Sher went to work, she dropped us off at her vet clinic and they worked him in - a shot for allergies and antibiotic to give him twice a day; no arthritis med until Monday. He's sleeping and resting very peacefully now. This morning there was a spot on his stomach that was red and welted, and his ears were red. Poor baby. Has had an itchy trip...
Yesterday I sent my event monitor back to the ECG place - so glad to have that done. Next week I'll go for follow-up, see what the doctor says about all the readings. Next thing up is the cough I'm plagued with; I think some of it is allergies, but not all.
I'm tidying up the house, washing/changing the bed, cleaning out the fridge for Sher, getting my clothes and things packed. We'll spend the night at Melanie's tonight, then Mama Nick's tomorrow night. The wedding is Saturday at 2:00 and I've been charging my camera batteries to be sure I have enough power.
This has been a wonderful trip and Sher and I've had so much fun. We walked the dogs a bit last night and who knows what triggered our laugh attack there in the street behind her house? We nearly collapsed in the alley from being so tickled, and almost didn't make it back to the house... There is no one else like a sister and we never laugh so long and hard with any other person.
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