November already…

Hello all, 

We made it through Halloween, our usual amount of kids came through. Sometimes one or two, sometimes 5 or 6. Gave out the first large bowl, then added some candy to it and almost emptied it all again. 

Now here we are in the middle of November, preparing for Thanksgiving. On one of my previous blogs I told of Hubby losing his brother Mike in January 2017. Well Mike’s son and his wife were expecting a baby in early February, but he came early. Little Luke was born on Mike’s birthday, November 7. He’s in NICU but he is doing great, if you pray, please send up some prayers for him. We are thrilled but I think it broke hubby’s heart a little that Mike isn’t here. Mike only had one son and now a grandson. 

They moved Hubby’s mom to assisted living back in January. She’d been suffering with some dementia and it wasn’t safe for her to live alone anymore. We couldn’t get her to move in with us or Hubby’s sister. 

We put my parents home up for sale in February and we closed on the sale of it in September. The end of an era, and life as we knew it, all of my life and also my daughters. Never to ‘go home’ again. Yes, we will go to my hometown again, but with a new normal. For now, I don’t want to see the house with somebody else’s vehicles on the carport. But it’s not really the house, it’s the people and memories surrounding the house. It was empty and lonesome there without Mom, even before all the things in it were gone. I had so many dreams where Mama came back and I was trying to figure out a way to explain where all her stuff was. :-) 

Now before long we will be decorating for Christmas. But I love the lights and sounds of Christmas. 

Hope all is well with you,

Take care, Sheila

Cats, cats and more cats...

Back last September/October (2020) while Jarin and I were still taking care of things in Opp, Cori 

was here trying to make friends with this stray who had a bad eye.

She finally caught him and after calling around locally to different vets to see if they would help at a reasonable price (no), she found a group called Operation Catnip in Gainesville, FL. She took him there and they checked it and did surgery to remove it, since it was too far gone to save. No charge for the surgery but we all donated to them. 

almost all healed from surgery

and now, all healthy and clean, though he has gotten a little rounder.

We mainly call him Kitty or kitty baby. Sometimes Jack (by Hubby) (for one eyed Jack).

He is the sweetest and calmest of all the cats.

By cats I mean, Cori already had Tokki, then Sam came to live with us when Mom passed and now kitty.

And then this, a stray I have been feeding since we moved here, I thought was male. Cori noticed she looked pregnant or had worms. But then she showed up not pregnant and Cori went on the hunt for the kittens. She found the kittens, (they were born on June 30) caught mom, then got the kittens and moved them into the screened in porch. When they were old enough we let them roam the porch. 

We brought the kittens in to get them socialized off and on during the day.

(That is the bottom of a stool)

Top right is Miso

the two black ones are Tobiko (Tobi) and Tako

The grey tabby was Doodle

Operation Catnip also spayed the mom and neutered all four kittens and gave them their shots. We also dewormed them. Cori found homes for Miso and Tobi first, then Tako and finally Doodle. I might would have kept him if we didn't have all the others. 

Mama kitty as we call her, still comes and goes to the porch every day, she has food, water and litter box on the porch and she sleeps there at night. Kitty and her are friends (or relatives), he treated the kittens like they were his own.

All who took a kitten donated to Operation Catnip, and we still do from time to time. 

 

This is Sam (on left) and Tokki (Toe-ki) in Cori's room

Tokki 

Sam

Mama kitty (she’s the smallest of them all)

Take care,

Sheila

Laying Mom to rest...

Thought I'd share a little about Mama's funeral. I put a link to the songs, Supermarket flowers was the first song that played. If it was called Walmart flowers it would have been more fitting. She loved grabbing her a bouquet when she went to Walmart. Then we had Bro. Wayne Russell read something for us, that I am sharing here. Thank you again Jack for letting us share what you wrote for her on your blog. Then we played Take my hand, precious Lord. (my Grandfather's name was Otis B. but most called him O.B. and what he called her was Johnny, but I made it more feminine. She said that was what he wanted to name her so he just called her that, though I don't know how he would have spelled it.)

Supermarket Flowers

FROM HER CHILDREN:

Mom was born Sybil Jean Anderson in the town of Dixie in Escambia County, Alabama on October 3rd, 1934 to parents O.B. and Hastie Turner Anderson. Most of her family growing up called her Jean or Sybil Jean and to her daddy she was Jonnie. She had five brothers: Curtis “Curt” Anderson, Charles “Pill” Anderson, Lloyd “Mutt” Anderson, Walter Anderson, and Lawson Henry “L.H.” Anderson who passed away when he was very young. And she also had three sisters: Corine Stone, Theresa “Reesy” Ziglar, and Geraldine “Gerl” Adams. She married Grover C. Boyett on December 19th, 1949, and together they had five children: Ronnie Dean Boyett, Carl Edwin Boyett, Terrie Lynn Boyett, Sheila Jean Yarbrough, and Grover Shawn Boyett. From them, she has 13 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

FROM HER FRIEND JACK DARNELL:

Joan of Arc is a well-known name. She did not live long but established her place in history. At 16 she attempted to join the army and was laughed out of the building. A short time later she tried again and won.

After many weeks/months of meetings it was determined she was in contact with the Saints and led in the battle of Orleans. She had other victories, but was captured by the English and burned at the stake. She was 19. It never pays to kill a hero; her memory was the rallying point of the French in the 100 year war. Did you know her name was Jeanne d’arc?

We here in Bloggersville have had a friend, Jean of OPP. Actually she was Sybil Jean Boyett. She is not famous worldwide like her namesake, but to her family and we here in Blogland, this lady was incredible. Jean’s blog was written exactly as she spoke, using terms I remember growing up.

In her 80s, this lady could do more than most seniors I have known. She could handle a pressure washer. She cut trees to get her cat down. She washed a truck and car at least every week. She cut the grass, chopped what ever had to be chopped, cooked and baked. She also took care of her lifelong love Grover, like a baby during his last years. Never did this lady complain.

Heck she was older than Sherry & I, and once she replaced the main memory in her computer. I wouldn’t attempt that. Her feats are enumerable. Once passing near Opp, Alabama I asked if we could take her and Grover to dinner. They agreed and we had a nice evening. Our one regret was learning later she had a cake at home for us had we accompanied them home, but we hated to impose.

I have related just a few of the things recorded by that lady. Life is a twisting tale, Jeanne d’arc or Joan of Arc was declared a Saint many years after her death. But the Jean of Opp (AKA Sybil Jean Boyett) was declared a Saint while she lived, because she was.

Rest in peace from your many labors, Sybil (Jean) Boyett, your works and creations WILL follow on.

FROM HER GRANDCHILDREN:

Grandma was the magnet that always brought the family together during the summer and at Christmas time, no matter how far away we were from each other. Her house was like a second home to us. She was always ready to make us a grilled cheese sandwich, whether we asked for it or not. She had fun trying to scare us but usually didn’t succeed because she’d crack up laughing. She loved to laugh and would often get so caught up that she would laugh so hard she cried. She would sit in the living room with us playing Yoshi’s Island and Super Mario World on the old Super Nintendo. She’d have us take a break and we’d watch her play through the same level over and over again to get us extra lives so we wouldn’t have to start all over again when we died. She would always swing the controller when she had to jump because she felt like it helped with the momentum. Grandma always tried to pay us for errands and then she’d get mad when we snuck the money back in her purse. It became a sort of game to try to return the money without her finding out until it was too late to give it back to us. She was famous for her biscuits and everyone always looked forward to breakfast at Grandma’s. It was usually already cooking well before any of us woke up. When she gave us hugs, she’d always rub our backs and call us “shug”. 

Grandma was a very kind-hearted and caring person who always made sure we had anything and everything we needed. She’d always laugh at our jokes, even if they weren’t funny, just so we’d feel good. She made everyone feel welcome, whether it was the first time meeting them or the hundredth. Every friend of ours that had the privilege of meeting her loved her. She had a lot of love to go around and was very generous in showing it to everyone around her. She was loved and will be missed more than she could ever imagine.

Take my hand, Precious Lord

A short bit of what Bro. Wayne said:

Most of you here know Ms. Sybil as Mom or Grandmother or Great Grandmother and she's left quite the legacy just with the family. And it sounds like just how she conducted herself in life also left quite a legacy, something you can all be proud of and share in. It's undeniable that a mother's love is one of the greatest gifts that God could ever bless us with and it's very precious to us. We know that Ms. Sybil is special to you and that the loss you feel right now is evidence of her love for you and your love for her. 

He read Ephesians 2 verses 4-7 and explained its meaning and said a prayer. 

The last song we played

When I'm Gone

Thanks for stopping by,

Sheila

2020

 Hello all,

I've started several times to update my blog but wasn't quite ready. The only good thing to come out of 2020 was my youngest child, Cori, moved back home and is in nursing school. 

Mom had heart valve surgery toward the end of January, the kind where they go through the vein, called TAVR. She did great, no problems with surgery. A month later, at her check up, she was starting to get a little congested. She ended up with bronchitis, then feet and legs swelling. Heart doc said it was from the steroids....a patient just has heart surgery and one of the symptoms after can be leg swelling, but lets not check that... Primary doc was no better, you know, Covid and all. She spent a few days in hospital in April, after calling the doctor who did the surgery, and he said to go to ER, but the laryngitis and tiredness continued a while. Her heart rate was a little higher and her blood pressure lower. She finally went to a heart doc closer by and went to a different primary doc too.  Hubby had outpatient surgery in Gainesville, on May 14th and I called her that night and we talked over an hour and a half. Her hoarseness was gone and she sounded so much better, thought she was finally turning a corner. On Friday the 22nd, her legs were swelling again so she went to her new doc, he wanted her to go in the hospital so they could get the fluid off while keeping check on her blood pressure. Saturday morning they found her unresponsive, they revived her twice but her heart couldn't sustain it. When she was in the hospital in April a doctor commented that the bronchitis had caused congestive heart failure, I'm not sure that is true. When she first found out about her heart valve, years ago, she said she wasn't going to have surgery for it, if it killed her it killed her. But she had to because she had no energy and tired out quickly, after a bad episode after Thanksgiving. The symptoms of no energy and tiredness continued which made her depressed. She always said if she couldn't see after herself or do the things she's used to doing, (like washing both vehicles, cleaning her carport, cutting trees down to save cats, etc  :-) then she would rather be dead. I think her heart was just too worn out after all these years, maybe if she had had the surgery done after Dad passed, but who knows, the same thing might have happened. My Mom passed away on May 23, 2020, some of you may have read her blog Jean's Tales. I miss her everyday. I used her cake holder the first time the other day and it made me cry, Hubby asked if I was okay, I said I just miss her, he said I miss her too. She told hubby after my Dad passed that she loved him like her own son. She was loved by so many who got to meet her. She was kind and generous and welcoming. She loved to laugh, and we'd laugh until we cried over nothing. But she could fuss as well, ;-) This lady made the best biscuits, we all loved them, neighbors, family and friends would check to see if there were any left if they came over. I made a video of her making them back in 2015, hoping I could eventually make them as well as her. I may one day get close, but they'll never be like hers. 

Take care, Sheila