❤ Jerry and Sandy

❤ Jerry and Sandy 40 years!

Today I was blessed to be a part of sharing a joyous day -- the celebration of forty years married plus it was Jerry's birthday and it was kept a surprise from them for several weeks now. I don't know how they didn't know but they did not! Jerry has been wanting a motorcycle and that is what Sandy got him. She got a new wedding set. It was beautiful. They all did an excellent job putting on the party. Toejoe had the job of keeping them out until party time. Tonya put together a computer photo display set to music. The day was great! It is a good thing when family and friends come together to celebrate together. Its a good thing when folks get together period.

People used to visit more. That is a custom we have gotten away from. I remember when I was a child we would go visit neighbors every week. They would come visit us as well. We had potluck suppers, as well as just having supper and neighbors come over. Didn't matter if it was beans and taters or meatloaf or chicken. It was the getting together that mattered. It seems now for some reason or another there is just not time to visit. Everyone is so busy. We also had a "PTA" at school and all the parents and teachers were very active in it. The children also participated. We had fund raisers like pie suppers, fall festivals, cake walks, auctions etc. If you don't know what an old fashioned pie supper is, just watch "Coal Miners Daughter" and it will show you exactly what it is. Doo buys Loretta's pie and can not eat it because she didn't know salt from sugar. Anyway, it was my job to hold the pies while Clifton Sanders and Nelson Sanders auctioned them off. No, I never took a pie. I was related to most of the kids there and really didn't care anything about some boy I didn't like buying my pie.

That is one thing Rick loved to do on Sundays after church. We would go over to one of his sisters and visit for a while. We'd also visit neighbors a little, but mostly one of his sisters or his brother. After the tumor was found, his sisters started coming to church with him. I hope they continue to do that. In fact, Sue who lives in Tompkinsville has found a little country church there that she and Jimmy like and they have started going there. I think it is a good thing.

Rick would have loved to have been a part of pulling this over on Jerry and Sandy today. I remember the thrill he had over helping with Bonita's surprise birthday party just before he went to the hospital. He would have been right in there helping with this! And it delighted him to no end to pull that surprise over on me when I turned fifty! And when Keith Saling turned fifty, he had Chris help us and we decorated the store after Keith closed the night before his fiftieth last year. He went up to the store at 6 am when he opened to see the look on Keith's face when he saw what we had done! Pure JOY!

I think this is all for tonight. I love you all. ❤

To be continued.............