So many good wishes from friends - can't even begin to name them individually. The office Buds gave me and Paul a get-together going-away "soire" last Thursday. I wanted to cry, but I didn't... The City gave Paul a reception at City Hall last Thursday afternoon. I wanted to cry, but... (Note here: the departments gave him a wonderful generator - someone said it would light up the whole town of Iuka! Indeed! We shouldn't be hot or cold in case of power outages! Thank You!!) Yesterday in church I cried a little, looking around at the sanctuary, the stained glass windows, the choir, the people: "forsake not the assembling of yourselves together." It was all about all the wonderful memories, connections, friendships - church really is a church home. In Sunday School I did cry. We have shared so much over the years and are a close bunch of "girls," have been through so much together, prayed for each other, loved each other, laughed and cried together.
After church Paul and I ate at Kelley's, fortunate enough to see several couples we could visit with a bit; then we came home and collapsed for naps after eating from the fabulous buffet.
Saturday night we - Paul - had taken everything out of the attic and mostly I went through what was salvageable and reboxed the contents. So many of Amy's dolls and stuffed animals, high school papers, notebooks, Argentina trip memorabilia, letters, cards. Some of the boxes had almost caved in, the tape was dry and curling, dusty. I went to Walmart and got some more plastic boxes for the dolls - ET, Big Bird, the one that blew Bubble Yum gum (rubber, and the "bubble gum" had dried in the poor baby's mouth), doll clothes, boyfriend boxes; old patterns (including the Vogue pattern for my wedding dress - $3.00! Quite a lot in 1968 when Simplicity and McCall's were maybe 65c!). (Sometime last year Mama Nick told me and Amy she had cleaned out some things including letters I had written to her over the years. Amy and I looked at each other and - just looked at each other... But yesterday some of those letters were returned to me! There were notebooks of printed letters (I almost always wrote them on the computer) to her and to my Mama - packrat that I am, I had saved them in that way. Call it an obsession, but family history, genealogy, stories, have always meant so much to me. I can throw away an 1970's hair dryer (helmet style) but not letters to and from family.
We can hardly walk for boxes, but the attic was the last frontier. All I lack is the freezer, which I've cleaned out, and the refrigerator. I plan to share the contents with a friend if she can use anything, and take the rest to Iuka - the blueberries from Killough's, the pecans from Joe's handy tree just over the fence.
Never thought I would miss a stove, but I actually miss it just being there. The buyer came Friday and got it. I'll be glad to get somewhat organized at the new house - it will take a long time for things to find their new homes. This weekend we have to make room in closets, two need to be painted, and I wish my great painter sister were there to do it, but she won't be back until spring. I have used a couple of chairs long enough to know they don't "fit" us - one is a small recliner and the seat is not deep enough for our long legs! I'm sure there will be another trip to the Salvation Army store.
The Chamber of Commerce in hosting a reception for Paul (he was on the Chamber Board) Tuesday evening from 4-6 at the Tech Center, just before the last Council meeting over which Paul will preside. We'll say our goodbyes, make some individual stops around town, and time draws to a close on this era of our lives. I've mostly expressed my feelings about leaving friends here, but I know Paul feels the same way. While I worked in Forrest City all but a year of my working life, he has been here and knows 99% of everyone in Wynne, not to mention the county and the state! He has loved both his careers - teaching and being mayor, no doubt about it.
Now I have deliveries to make - to the Workshop and to Miss Ermaline for the Mission Sale this fall. Look for information about that - I know there will be some nice wool jackets for sale!
I told someone in SS yesterday we would have satellite internet and she said, "Good luck with that," having it herself. Hopefully all will go smoothly. I may be gone for a little while, but plan to let you know about Iuka, Iooka, Iukse - it's been spelled so many ways and it really is easy - our Indian Chief! "The city of Iuka was named after Chief Iuka, pronounced eye-you-ka, which is actually a contraction for the longer name of Ish-ta-ki-yu-ka-tubbe. The Chief was an endorser for the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek, dated October 20, 1832."
I'm glad it was shortened to Iuka - I'm not even sure how to pronounce the longer name!
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