I Miss Those Days

I am still trying to get over the jet lag, but for some reason I keep dreaming... or nightmaring... I am not sure which.  I keep thinking of the times growing up.  We went through some awfully tough times, but even so, we were a close knit family.  I don't know how we did it, and I don't know why we stayed so close, but we did.

Some days you just want to go back and revisit to see if it was really as bad as you remember.  I know it was, but I wish I could just try to change things.  Would we still be as close if things were different?  This morning, I woke up just wanting to go back to what I used to have - my family.  Good, bad or indifferent, it was my family.  I look back now and think 'if only I had done this differently... then' - but in the whole scheme of things, I didn't know how, they didn't know how and we were all a family.  

And we got through it and had families of our own.

Mom is gone now, but I miss her more than I would if my right arm was missing - still.  I still need to call and ask her stuff - silly stuff.  Some days I need to rant with her or listen to her fuss.  Others I need to call and tell her my pie dough is resting or that I need her recipe for...  I just need to just hear her voice.  But she is gone now and all I have is pictures...  So I am going to share some of the good times with you; when we were young, older and married.  

 Of all the things that went wrong, mom did one thing right - she kept us all together.  

Thanks mom.

This is mom.  Her name was Karen.

I think she was feeling pretty good here - and in her favorite color - cherry red.

She liked cherry red a lot.  

Here she is in 1966.

This is Steve, me and Liz (my sister) on mom's cherry red-ish sofa in  1977  ;-)
And Dusty our dorgie.  He was the brick carrier.  

If you knew what you can't see, in the divider, the paper along the side was Chinese cherry red.

This picture was taken before the last one - maybe in 1972-ish. 

 It is Liz (in a cherry red-ish coverhall), Me, Shari and Danny.   

They are my sisters and brother.

And even before that - about in 1968.  Me, my dad (Boyd) and Liz. 

Moving forward again... this is our daughter Stephenie, my step-dad David and Jeremy, our son.

David and mom (there is that color again) were wonderful together - I miss that couple:

I was married when they met, but he has always been so good to all of us.  

He is still blessing our lives.

In fact, my sisters might have been married when mom and dad met, too... hmmm... 

I am getting old - I can't remember.

This is Liz, Dad (what color do you see in his shirt?) and Shari.  Again, sisters and step-dad.

Liz and I comparing leg lengths next to dad... I am short.  
HONESTLY, that is what we were doing...

And Jeremy trying to convince me he was as tall as my brother Danny.

(See the color of the rose?)

It didn't work.  He was definitely shorter and I had proof.

Here are our two munchkins - Jeremy and Stephenie:

The picture on the right are Carole (step-mom) and dad.

And our kids again after they grew up:

They still like each other  :-)

This is mom holding Nate, our nephew.  He is Shari's son.

And here she is holding Hannah, our niece, Danny's daughter.

What a picture below  :-)

On the wall in the back is Liz (sister) & John (Shari's hubby)

Next is Steve (my hubby), Me, and Shari (sister)

Next is Jennifer and Carey (our nieces) (Steve's brother's daughters) on either side of our son Jeremy. 

Where is Stephenie?  I don't remember - it is that age thing again...  :-(

Family Portrait  :-)

This is when mom was not doing so well.

Back row is my brother Danny, sister Shari in the middle, and I.

Then Liz (sister) and moma

We convinced her not to wear cherry red - I wish she had now.

Here are all of us girls together... do you remember who everyone is yet?  

Oh wait...  I see that color again... I bet mom dressed her baby girl  ;-)

I wonder who we look like?  One is a blondie, but her face is still one of ours.

My sister, Liz, and her daughter Jacque:

And all four of her kids:

Jessica, Megan, John and Jacque

Cutie pies  :-)

And one last picture, the last picture of all four of us taken together.  It was taken the day of moma's funeral.

Great picture, but sad memories.

If I had thought ahead, I would have worn cherry red.  

Mom would have been tickled pink... err... cherry red.

Random pictures that just made me feel better and remember the good ol' days.

And I posted in red for ya ma.

Yes, I miss those days... 

I miss you ma!