73 year old Blogger succeeds!

This was my first attempt at blogging and you can see by my Blog Title that is was surely misnamed!  It should have read 73 year old Blogger is a Loser but she will try and try again!  Thank you sweet YaYa Sisters for your patience and tutelage.  Your talent to help those of us with none is more than amazing and extremely appreciated❤️

A YaYa’s Revisit To South Padre Island

Who is with me at the beach?

Early memories of SPI!

South Padre Island Public Beach.Memories
Sitting here in our basement bedroom suite in North Carolina or should I call it our YaYa Hideaway I found myself wanting to contribute to the first edition of YaYa Letters. I snuck into the photo closet looking for anything beachy and found a few photos from 1971.  I must have escaped to potty in the sand dunes (Picture #1) and left someone to babysit my baby...who could it be and what is your clue🤣.  These were the days before the beach house when we would pack up for a day trip.  I loved those days when we hadn’t gotten spoiled.  We actually had to pack up clothes, food, & the kitchen sink and drive a couple of hours to paradise.  We would drive directly on the sand until you found your own little piece of heaven and park.  If there were 2 cars we could tent from door to door and voila...your own personal cabana.  Our trunks were our kitchen, drawers, and sometimes bassinet.  The sand dunes or a trip into the beach water was our own personal “baño”.  These Early marriage 1971 trips were all extended memories from my own childhood when all our aunts & uncles would pack up their cars and we would caravan down the Military Highway or often referred to as “The Back Highway”.  We would play games all day long, collect shells, build sand castles, and at the end of the day fall back into the cars a sandy mess and drive home.  All our trips to the beach from the 50s thru the 70s, 80s, give me such comfort. I’m so grateful for my memories.  When I get sad and think those days will never happen again I’m reminded of my big ole daddy’s saying “Never say Never”!  We will see those South Texas sunsets again & the peaceful walks on the cool morning sand will happen again.   Covid has given us but another view into our treasured past through our new revisited online Round Robin Letters.  Good night all!

Thank you, Aunt Whilma

This afternoon I had a lovely surprise...a phone call from Mother's last remaining sibling, her younger sister, my Aunt Whilma. Aunt Whilma is in her 90's...probably 95 this September. I mostly write or send cards to her since phone conversations are not always 100%...her hearing is not 
 the best anymore so I usually just drop a note now and again.
 Well, our 62nd  annual Bielke family reunion had to be cancelled this summer,. Of course, it must have been a huge disappointment to her...she and Mother were big organizers and innovators every year. It was the high point of summer... For many it was one of few social outings. We all realize that many of the older family won't be around for many more summers.
 I couldn't have been more surprised when she called... cheerful and positive as ever and always. The assisted living  staff , where she now lives, wants them to call someone every day and today, she picked me!
 When the subject came around to the family reunion, I was expecting sadness and woe, but instead, she talked about this cousin or that distant relative with health concerns.  " It's not a good idea for  Harry Lee to be around too many people with Jenny being so frail." (Jenny, his wife, has Alzheimer's ) She talked about  some of her generations, second cousins who are "elderly" and need to be careful. Never did she complain or show bitterness. Disappointment, yes, but not the kind of futile sadness I might understand and even expect given her isolation away from children and grandchildren. She was concerned about others, you know, "the elderly".
We talked about staying in and not going out and how some people were having such a hard time following guidelines. We decided that people reared in homes where "No"  meant  "No" and rules were to be followed are having an easier time because we respect rules and can accept that we don't always get what we want. And we talked about the strong-willed Bielke women like Mother and what a gift their strength and guidance has been. It was a beautiful conversation and so in the middle of this turmoil, I had a gift...a wonderful gift...It's a Wonderful World.
She has a grand-son-in-law who is a doctor and he can come in and visit and run errands for her. She is so appreciative and up-beat talking about about happy things . The Holy Spirit picked me for Aunt Whilma to call today to put my mother's words and example even if not  her voice back in my ears. Thank you, Jesus.

My Girls

I don't have a beach post but I saw this today on an old You Tube video I hadn't seen for years. They were so beautiful. I'm just heartbroken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsuTpWoS618

The Four Loves

 “In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers.

In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births,

a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one

university instead of another...the accident of a topic being

raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances

might have kept us apart.

But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances.

A secret master of ceremonies has been at work.

Christ, who said to the disciples, "You have not chosen me,

but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends,

"You have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another."

The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste

in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals

to each of us the beauties of others.”

C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves  

New Memories and Old Memories

It's been a long time since I've set up a new blog but in looking back over My Crafty Little Page and the 500 plus posts I found it to be a timeline of what I was doing and feeling at that point in time. Now we, the YaYas, have decided to do a collaborative blog. It will be like our Round Robin letters that we started years ago. Barbara, Judy, LaVerne, Nancy and Patty. We'll have a weekly theme and each of us will write a post. At least that's the current plan as to what we'll do but you never know...we can change our mind anytime we want!!!