Little Bonnie Lou turns 82

Little Bonnie Lou turns 82 today...
I think in this photo (above) she was turning one. See that rocking chair? It was given to my grandfather, mom's dad, when he turned one. I have it now and all my kids have rocked in it.
I'm not sure how old Little Bonnie Lou was in this picture, but I would guess she was about 2.With a parasol? This is not my image of my mom. Nope, my image is of her playing a game... a physical game like baseball, or a card game... THE card game in her opinion - Bridge.Look at little Bonnie with her dog, Bear!

She found my Dad and 5 years later I came along.... and here we are in 1960. Ole' Bonnie Lou is now a Mom to two ... John David and I. My Dad died when he was 58... he only got to see two of his grandkids, Joshua and Gabrial. He would have loved them all...John David and I grew up, got married, and gave Mom her grandkids...who she adores.Joshua, Lindsey, Mom with Addison, & GabeHere are 4 generations... Mimi, Mom, Me, and Lindsey.Saddie was a good sport about her birthday. In 1993, on April 12, Mom had an ET birthday. Yep, ET... you know "ET PHONE HOME" ... that's the ET my kids were C - R - A - Z - Y about.
I can't tell if she blew all the candles out...but I'm sure it was a little easier then that it would be today to blow out 82!This has always been a favorite picture of mine. Mom loves the ocean.Saddie, as she is known by her grandkids, hasn't passed on the usual tidbits of knowledge that most grandmother's pass on. One of her areas of expertise is shoe polishing. Looks like Lindsey was getting some instruction.I'm not sure if I wanted Mom to instruct my kids in carving. She looks a little, well, I'm not sure. We'll just leave the carving to my guy.Down in Texas for Ray's (my cousin) wedding, Lindsey, Mom, and I went to visit the Alamo in San Antonio.Another bit of wisdom Saddie has taught her grandkids is how to dress. Most of the time they don't pay any attention to her, but on this wonderful November day, Addison let his Saddie fix his tie. It was what you might call a special occasion... his and Kasi's wedding!She also loves to pass on her knowledge of sports to whoever will listen. Sami has obviously learned she has to love the Cowboys. Larry, my brother in law, didn't teach this love to Sami, but Sami had learned so much from her Saddie, that she knew as much as Larry.Saddie is competitive with a capital C... and she passed on some of her knowledge in this area too... to whoever would listen. I think she was trying to show Josh the proper technique for throwing washers...

Little Bonnie Lou was a big sister to my Aunt Jane. Little Jane Lee was nine years younger... and we lost her this last July. Even though they lived some distance apart the last several years, they still talked on the phone everyday. Before Aunt Jane moved to be closer to Patti, my cousin, she and Mom had a fun time being together. Yesterday, Aunt Jane would have turned 73... we miss her so much...Aunt Jane and Mom hanging out on Mimi's front porch....at John David and Becky's old house......at Aunt Jane and Uncle Charlie's old house. We probably had had hamburgers... or ribs. I can hear Aunt Jane... she would always say, "Judy Len, your mother..." and would tell me some crazy thing Mom had done......at my house. Who knows what is going on here. Looks like Mom is trying to be frustrated and Aunt Jane is wanting to laugh... Again, I can hear Aunt Jane saying to me, "Oh JudyLen, your mother!"Aunt Terry was another close friend of Mom's. Here they are hanging out on Mimi's front porch.
Like I said earlier, Mom is a game player...and her game is Bridge. June is her partner...and June and her husband, Ken, are great friends of Mom's.

Mom and I always have our picture made together... here are a few:
Mom loves to go out to eat... and on this day, John David took Mom, Becky, and I to Old Warsaw. Now Saddie is waiting for two great-grandsons to be born... Emerson and Benjamin. From the top left going clockwise: Benjamin, Gabe & Lindsey, Emerson, and Benjamin waving.

She's waiting to show them important things like shining shoes, thowing a ball, and mowing a lawn. I'm sure they'll be excited to learn... and maybe share an ET birthday with their Saddie when she turns 83!

Happy Birthday, Mom!