Josie

She and I shared so many times I don't even know where to begin but I will tell you before her illness she was my best friend. I didn't meet her as a young woman. She was not my childhood friend. We met on the tennis courts.

Our friendship just evolved like so many friendships do. We hung out a few times. I thought she was out of my socio-economic group but she was a down to earth person. I don't know if Gina is attending her service but I remember when she told Josie, "you could drive my car." Gina was a young girl just starting off... not much money...two kids ....really struggling.  Josie on the other hand.......well, lets just say she wasn't hurting for too much.

We joined a team later on and that was the beginning of the Royals.

Captain, Me, Bill Gullickson, Lori and Josie

Back in the day we had lots and lots of  parties  and more than a few  had to have some sort of theme. No event was too small. A party was always needed.

 Josie and I became fast friends when our sons began  to "misbehave". We swapped war stories and played tennis like there was no tomorrow.





As our children grew so did our friendship. Our friendship was made of more than just our mutual love for  tennis and our children.

We shared a love for travel and adventure. We became travel buddies for the short trips that I could take. She was always ready to 'hit the road'. If I said "Josie, let's go." She would be ready in a flash. Our farthest trip was Germany. We spent a week there with friends. Some of our shorter trips included a week in West Virginia skiing, a week in San Francisco, a quick "save the children" trip to NC to pick up my grand girls, a week long visit from her and her hubby to our beach cottage and a few long weekend "girls only" trips for tennis.

 We shared a love for the books and history. . We could concoct the some pretty good  stories ourselves....together we were a pretty good team!

We loved to joke around.  There were times that we would be laughing so hard we'd really be rolling on the floor nearly (and yes a few times actually) peeing our pants. The silliest things could sometimes set us off and just looking at each other would send us into giggles again.

I remember the time she came to the courts with a nose ring in her nose. I was mortified. I wondered how I was going to keep her as my friend. She knew how I hated them. She continued the farce until we went out to lunch. At that time she was going to remove it so I would not be bothered. I started to yell "don't take it out" as the thought of watching her take it out was already making my stomach queasy..........then viola........it was a magnetic nose ring. I could have killed her..........we laughed and laughed and then I set the senerio for the party that was happening  that night. I got on the phone like any good Royal and started the grapevine gossip.........."OH MY GOD.....Josie got her nose pierced" I told everyone. The stage was set.......everyone tried to pretend they didn't notice cause I told them how proud of it Josie was. In the end Josie brought the attention to herself and started telling them how upset I was at lunch and how much she loved it. As she proceeded to ask people what they thought and they began to hem and haw, she came clean. Their expressions (as well as mine I suppose) were priceless. She had a good time with that practical joke.

We both loved to talk on the phone and would spend hour after hour talking about everything from raising children to the what really caused the Civil War. There were many afternoons that our husbands would come home and find us on the phone.

She felt giving back to the community was an obligation not a choice. She spent much time on her charities.

We would have hard core discussions about controversial subjects and our disagreements never led us out of friendship. She had a strong sense of  right and wrong. She was a stickler for etiquette. I think she must have had a Ms. Manners guide by her bedside.

I didn't visit her when she went to the nursing home the way I felt a friend should and if I had been the friend that was ill, I'm sure Josie would have visited me a lot more. I really couldn't bare to watch her deteriorate. I'm sure if she had had the least bit of her faculties in the end she would have forgiven me that.

We discussed what we wanted in life as well as in death and although I can't be there for her family at this time I know she would forgive me that too. What she wouldn't have forgiven me for would have been to not acknowledged that she really existed. She would have wanted me to let everyone know that she was a part of my world....that she made me smile.............that she made a difference in my life.

I loved her like my sister and I've missed her for a long time now.
 Her physical body is now gone but our memories will live on forever.

Christmas party at the Mango Tree. Josie center stage

The man of the hour

Always happy and full of fun.

Halloween at the Valentines

Wedding

I think we were singing "Crazy" by Patsy Cline

My 50th...sharing Josie's drink!

See that cheap ass pin? She gave that to me. I still have it. There's a story behind that too.

San Fran our last trip together.

 RIP Josie....I love you

Turkey Tournament 2010

We played 76 games all in one day. We lost in the finals of the 4th Flight. We lost all but one match and that is how we got into the finals.

We started playing at 8:30 that morning and finished at 5:00 that evening. It was a long day and I loved every minute of it.

The tournament always has a lot of really good players in it. Even in my younger years, I've only ever won in the 3rd Flight. Once or twice we were in the 2nd Flight but got knocked out. So I think after not playing tennis for so long, we were lucky to have been in the last Flight Finals.

There is usually a good amount of food being served to keep our strength up and for those that can play and drink........there is BEER!!

 The Engineer was wondering what I had gotten him into. He was only home for the weekend. Not only did we play Saturday but I had scheduled a match for Sunday too.

I'm sure he was happy to go back to DC so he could take a rest!







 
Me taking a break. You see I'm only drinking water!
Afterward there is always a beer or two consumed to celebrate the end of a glorious tennis day!

The Finalist of the 4th Flight. That's me, the Engineer and our opponents who kicked our asses.












The Champions of the Tournament won the Turkeys.
They finished just after 6 pm.

10 Reasons For Not Posting This Week

10. Too many females on the rag at my house. (I now have custody of  Lemon Lady and PIT ,
       15&12  respectively. Funny how the cycle of menstruation works.)

9. Too many doctors appointments. The girls had to go in. LL had a possible hand fracture and
    PIT needed a physical.

8. Depression? Results of Doctor's appointments..... LL has to go to the Orthopedic.    
     PIT is on Birth Control???

7. Too much tennis scheduled. I will have played more than 6 times after today.

6. Too many trips to the grocery for Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream.

5. Cooking for 7 again is time consuming.

4. Too much time wasted in helping PIT find her "lost" homework assignments.

3. More time spent supervising the make up of said homework.

2. Too much time fretting over Triple D cause I can't find 25 dollars that I just took out of the
    bank. (Maybe it was PIT?)


Top reason for not posting................ 

1. No computer time with 2 teenagers in the house.

Hopefully I'll be back this coming week! I'm OK....just settling in with everyone. 

Tuesday's Pony about to be Found

I saw this bumper sticker today and for some reason it made me happy....can't say thankful because...well, here is what it said :                      Person's name 
                                                                           7/7/1956-10/8/2008 
                                                                         Mission Accomplished

This person wasn't very old but how wonderful it must be to have accomplished what you were put here to do.....or better yet to feel that you've accomplished your purpose in your life time.

1. As the matriarch, I'm thankful for my family. Do you see why I'm a Martyr...wouldn't you be if your family looked like this???
Meet the rest of my family at Small World






2. Thankful my family doesn't have to go to food banks to find their next meal. PAY IT FORWARD - GIVE BACK - HELP THOSE IN NEED if you can!
I don't know why we always wait for the holidays to help but better now than never.....




3. I'll be thankful when November 2nd is over and done with. I'm tired of blathering  politicians. He said , she said is so old to me. Why does anyone vote when all that is ever said is how bad the opponent is ???

4. I'm up to playing tennis 4 times per week now. I'll be thankful when some of this fat  just melts off me .......uh.....excuse me?? could you pass the chocolate cherry ice cream???

5. I'm very thankful my daughter is another week clean....in spite of my son. I love Mikey but I'm double thankful he went back to his 7th Day Adventist Commune.

A Bit of History

My eldest son is 36. He is an alcoholic. He blames his problems in life on me for not buying him a surfboard when he was 13. Right now he lives with his dad and step-mom in Tennessee.They are 7 Day Adventist and live in a commune. He has been there for a few years now and is sober.

My second is 33 and has been in and out of institutions since the age of 16. He is now serving time in a USP in Pennsylvania for bank robbery. He thinks he is Frank Abagnale Jr (the guy in "Catch Me if You Can"). He doesn't place any blame on his momma. He actually has my name tattooed in a cross down the middle of his back with the saying "Momma tried" along his shoulders. He has been out of prison long enough to procreate. He has 2 biological children and one that we accept as our own. His next release date is 2012.

My daughter is 23 and a drug addict. Her drugs of choice are Roxie's and Xanax. She is in a residential treatment center at the present time. She has a child that is for the moment in my custody (don't know why she trusts this household). She blames me for her addiction because I gave her everything her heart desired. I actually gave her more than her heart desired.....but that is what co-dependency is all about.... isn't it?

My youngest (and my only hope of winning this game called "good parenting") is 20 and headed off to a 4 year university this fall. He will be majoring in Music Composition. He's not old enough yet to know that I screwed him up too.

My husband is not always available emotionally or physically. What more can you say....he's an engineer.

As for me,I am 53 years old and have been married twice. The first marriage lasted off and on for 4 years. I married when I was 16. I'm presently married now for 28 years. I work part time as a tax preparer. My hobbies are taking care of others and playing tennis. If I didn't have someone to take care of ........well........I'll just say, I am seeking help with my co-dependency. Teaching an old dog new tricks is kind of rough.

That's my life in a nut shell.