365 Days of Impacts

My dad's brother [UNCLE] Bert passed on a few years ago. Uncle Bert and my father were thick as thieves when they were little boys. They were always getting into trouble. My dad was always trying to keep up with bert given his hip issues. I have awesome pix of Uncle Bert and Dad as kids. Uncle Bert was a smart arse so to speak - he was always cracking on everyone. As grown ups, Dad and Uncle Bert were not as close but did keep up with one another on the phone being that they were 1000 miles from each other. I will say that Uncle Bert made the BEST Christmas cards every year when his kids were young. He was a commercial artist (what they used to call graphic designers back in the day) for IGA in NY State. We used to drive all the way through Canada from Detroit to go visit them in Lafayette NY. Always in the Summers. Summers in up state NY are the most beautiful non humid, verdant days on the planet. Uncle Bert had a house out on land that seemed endless. Whe...

My family is probably the hugest impact on my life. My friends are probably the second biggest impact, many I also consider family. Both my family and friends have been my support, my teachers, my inspiration, my rocks, my shoulders to cry on, my causes for celebration. I have many family members that I will try to do justice to explain the impacts they have had on my life. The first ones being my mother, father and sister. While one passage cannot do them justice, I will try to sum it up, but they will pop up in many more funny and inspirational stories over the coming days and months in this blog account of my life. In addition to them, I have family members in New York, Ohio and Alabama that I'll also tell stories about. So many good stories of lessons learned, fellowship and camaraderie over the years. Most recently, I will try to account for the impacts of the newst members of my family - those being my husband, bonus children and St. Louis family. And to my friends ...

One of the fondest memories I have of Nana was when most of my cousins were teens, and I was just a tween, they would go to new years parties in Athens when we were there for the holidays. I was too young to go to these parties. So, I'd stay home with Nana and watch Lawrence Welk and his bubbles ring in the new year. Nana never drank Champagne - she celebrated with Boones Farm Strawberry Hill! And she would always let me have some with her - it was our little celebration together. This wasn't about drinking underage, or getting drunk. It was about celebrating each other, old times together and how blessed we were to have had them! Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne? We two have run about the slopes, and picked the daisies fine; But we've wandered many a weary foot, since auld lang syne. We two have paddled in the stream, from morning sun till dine†; But seas between us broad have roared sin...

Wilna Mae Poteete. I called her Nana. She was my maternal grandmother, born in 1909. She was so much to me - and I only knew her for 16 years. Many kids have special relationships with their grandparents and mine was with her. There is so much about her that I cannot even explain - she was that proverbial wise old owl that sometimes said nothing but said EVERYTHING at the same time. She was literally the only grandparent I knew, as the rest either passed away before I was born or were not in our lives. Nana was a Taurus like me, and I was as bull headed as she was. She lived in Athens, Alabama where we went to visit every June/July until she as gone. 'Willie', as my dad called her, loved to watch football with him and I know he misses, because none of us like to sit and watch sports like he does. But Nana did and they were like two peas in a pod. She could tell a 'box' cake from one made from scratch almost by sniffing it and heaven forbid eat the entire piece...