Life as Usual Until... 11/14/2011
The Tollison's had a routine when school was in session. No wind-up alarm clock was needed with their little baby girl, Linda in the house. She seemed to have a way of knowing when it was time for mommy to get up. Of course she was hungry and needed changing, so she would wake up and let everyone know she was awake. To keep from waking up the whole house, Helen would slip out of bed and take care of Linda. After Linda was taken care of and put back to bed, it was time for breakfast and getting the rest of the crew ready for school. When Willie, Sondra and Larry left for school, Helen would clean up the kitchen and start some laundry. She used a washboard and a tub to wash her clothes and then would hang them outside on the clothesline. Even if it was freezing cold outside, she would hang them on the line and bring them in stiff and let them finish drying inside. When she needed to use the toilet, she had to make sure there wasn't anyone in it because they shared the outside toilet with the people in the other side of their apartment. That made for some interesting trips when Linda was awake and with her. But when you are a mom, you just make sure you explain everything to the kids. Being a mom is a kind of explain as you go kind of job. When school let out for the summer, Sondra had passed to second grade and was able to read a few books to her sister. She was smart as a whip and her only challenge was keeping Linda still long enough to hear a book. Larry continued to be interested in driving cars (the pretend kind of course) - he didn't necessarily like school, so being out for the summer gave him more time to play. Willie didn't stop college for the summer, he continued by taking a couple of classes. This still gave him time to be with the family. During the summer, one of Helen's brothers and family visited with them. How exciting to have familiar faces in your home. The apartment was all a bustle with activity as they prepared the food that they were taking on a picnic. They went to a little park there in town to eat their picnic lunch and play with the kids. It seemed like summer and fall had flown by and before you knew it, everyone was wearing their winter coats and warming up to the stove. Helen got up to cook breakfast on one of those cold mornings when she had a familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had Linda pulled up to the table eating her oatmeal and had decided to cook some bacon and eggs for Willie when without warning, she got extremely sick at her stomach. Could she be? She knew it wasn't something she had eaten, because she hadn't had her breakfast yet. After a few more mornings of feeling sick at her stomach, and doing some calculations, she realized that there was going to be another Tollison added to their family. Comments Your comment will be posted after it is approved. Leave a Reply |  Author
Paula Tollison Andrews Maupin I am married to Bobby and live in the Nashville, TN area, working as Executive Assistant to both the Director of Sales and General Manager of FOX17, MyTV30 & CW58 television I have 3 wonderful sons and daughters in
love (Brad & Holly Andrews, Bryan & Stacy Andrews and Brandon
& Ashley Andrews) from Tulsa, St. Louis & Springfield
respectively. They have given me 9 precious grandbabies. (Joseph,
Cooper, Margo, Sloan, Jonas, Nora, Everett, Lawson and Blythe & Gma
loves them so much) I also have 2 great stepsons and daughter in love
(Jonathan & Kathryn Maupin and William Maupin) from Lexington,
Kentucky.
As a lady who's lived through both good & bad circumstances in my life, I've learned and continue to learn a lot of "life lessons". Along the way I have been inspired to be a better me. God is faithful in ALL circumstances and His love covers all. My hope is that you will be inspired to be who you were meant to be. I have been writing this blog about my mom and dad since September of 2011. You can find their story from the beginning by going to the Stories link. Happy Reading!!!   ArchivesMarch 2012 |
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