Merry Christmas From Maw Maw

My grandmother's Christmas card this year was so Christmasy and grandmothery that I thought I'd post it here. May it warm your post-holiday spirit.

To set the stage - the card has a cow on the front. The text inside says "Merry Christmas and a Happy Moo Year." Maw Maw added the following:

Back in the 50's, we had a cow just like this one. Her name was Ann. I worked from 2PM til 11PM and I had to get up in the morning and go to the barn and milk that ol' huzzie. Cathy, Rhonda, and Tommy (my dad) wouldn't drink the milk, so I had to go to Winn-Dixie and buy milk.

I told Tom (my grandfather) I quit milking. He sold the ol' huzzie and that was the end of Boggs Dairy.

Grandma Boggs (my great grandmother) didn't like it but I didn't care what she didn't like.

This is a true story.

Love.

Maw Maw Catherine

PS - I can tell you plenty more if you want to hear it in person.

I asked Maw Maw about it over lunch at my Aunt Rhonda's house on Christmas day, but she didn't have much to add to this anecdote. Instead, she told us about the time she bought shoes for my great-grandfather. He was a substitute mailman, you know. Other than that, he was a lazy no-count. They lived in the little house back on the other end of the farm. He didn't have a car, so he had to get my my grandmother to buy the shoes. So she did. She drove all the way to Gastonia. You know - they didn't have malls in those days...

Sorry - I think I just lapsed into "Maw Maw". I noticed when I started nodding off...

I love my grandmother more than anything. Her peculiarities are what make her great...and are what keep us in stiches every holiday. Learn more about Maw Maw by visiting her MySpace.com page.

Carl Stowe Comes Home

As many of you know, Kelly's father Carl Stowe was in a near-fatal automobile accident on March 29, 2006.

After miraculously surviving the initial trauma, spending 2+ months in intensive care, and then enduring 4 long months of recovery in a hospital and long term care facility, Carl is coming home on Wednesday, October 11.

Carl still can't walk - but he can stand and manage to transfer from his bed to a wheelchair. He'll have a hip replacement in early 2007 that will put him on his way to a full recovery. According to his orthopedic surgeon, Carl has very good chance to learn how to walk again and to live a completely mobile life.

It is difficult to describe what Carl's return home means for me, or, more importantly, for Kelly and her family. Thus, I'm not going to try - at least not right now. The end-all, be-all "Reflections On Carl's Accident" blog post is still percolating.

Suffice it to say for now, many did not expect this day to come. It is a miracle that Carl is alive and it is a miracle that he and we have experienced such an outpouring of love and support from our friends and family.

On to the call to action...

Kelly and I set up PayPal account to accept donations on Carl and Ginger's behalf. Click here to read how Carl and Ginger will use the funds and how you can donate.

(I had to embed the link elsewhere because WordPress strips out the important stuff from the URL.)

Thanks for anything you can give and thanks for reading.