My Family Quilt: My Mothers Side Continued...

In the last post I told you about my grandfather James Faleris and in a previous post I told you about his mother Jennie Scopis from Sparta Greece. Not much is known about Frank and Jennie's voyage from Greece to the America's. Other than the information already posted this is all the information I have about my grandfathers parents....

Frank K Faleris born abt 1883, Sparta Greece, Died: 17 Feb 1957, Detroit, Wayne Michigan
Jennie Scopis born abt 1885, Sparta Greece, Died: 22 Sept 1974, St. Ignace, MacKinac, Michigan
Date of Marriage Unknown. All that is known about Frank is that he was a Canday Maker. I have no information about his family in Greece.

Children:
George Faleris:..................abt 1902, Greece
Pauline Faleris:.................abt 1903, Mepois, Greece
Tessea Faleris:..................abt 1904, Mepois, Greece
Harry Andrew Faleris:.....31 Jan 1907, Greece - 10 July 1981, St. Ignace, MacKinac, MI
Helen Faleris:....................9 June 1908, Baltimore, MD - 10 Jan 1996, Riverside, California
Mary Faleris:....................14 Sept 1909, Baltimore, MD- May 11985, El Dorado Springs, Cedar, MS
Thomas Faleris:...............7 July 1915, Hamilton, ,Ontario, Candada - 15 april 1993, Scranton, Lackawanna, PA Charles Faleris:................5 May 1917, Owen Sound, , Ontario, Canada-7 Nov 1990, Detroit, Wayne, MI
William Faleris:................10 Aug 1918, Greece- 10 Oct 1990, Ferndale, , MI
James Faleris:..................24 Sept 1919, Canada-4 March 1989 St Ignace, MacKinac, MI
Bessie Faleris:..................26 July 1921, Colbourge, Ontarios Canada-

My Family Quilt- My Mothers Side

My cousin Rene Corwin Young wrote the following story for me while creating a Scrapbook of the Faleris Family before her Journey to Texas to meet my sister and I in October of 2007.

James Faleris

Born: 24 September 1919, Canada

Died: 04 March 1989, St. Ignace, MI

This is the story that Rene remembers as being told to her as a child growing up in the Faleris Family about our "Grandpa".

"Papa was born in Canada. Although the family orginated from Greece, they travelled many times in and out of Greece, to Canada and the US. They resided in several States in the US, before settling in Ontario, Canada. When Papa Jim was 9 yrs old he was diagnosed with Spinal Meningitis and was pronounced dead. The story was when PAPA awoke he was in the morgue. There had been a law passed, that it was mandatory to embalm persons before burying them. Rene said that she remembers being told by Papa that when he was young he worked as a volunteer for the Search & Resue Department for the Canadian Mounty, between the ages of 17-20. He had a passion for riding horses. Rene states, "This could be a childs imagination as I am the only one who remembers this story. Papas Father FRANK FALERIS was a candy maker in Greece and Canada. Rene said she could not find out what kind of candy Frank made. Papa's mother "YIYI" (greek for Grandma), was a house wife and a mother of 12 children.

(...to be continued)

My Family Quilt

My family quilt was started

generations in the past.

Designed with love,

its pattern's rich

in values that will last.

Each person sews another square of memories that endure,

While challenges add strength

that makes our family life secure.

And stitching it together

threads of closeness,

warmth, and caring

Make it cozy and more comforting

with each year of sharing.

My Genealogy Quest is the reason I started scrapbooking in 2007. It has been the hardest challenge of all for me to accomplish. However, recently I began to confront my challenge and have enjoyed what I have began to create. I recently ran across this poem and decided it would be the beginning of my book. So, for the next few months I will begin to quilt my family tree for those I love the most and hope that one day when I'm gone they will look at what I've created and know that it was created with love and with the hope that they will cherish and continue the quilt for their children to come....

With all my love,

Robin

KREATIVE BLOGGER AWARD FOR WHERE I COME FROM

WOW! I cant believe I got my very first AWARD. My award was given to me by Judith over at TENNESSEE MEMORIES if you have not had a chance to visit her, stop by and say hi. Now comes the job of Nominating some other wonderful bloggers....

My first award has to go to Creative Gene because if it had not been for me stumbling onto this blog, I would have never created my own. My second award goes to 100 Years in America by Lisa. This was the second reason I started my geneology blog. I found her through Creative Gene. And even though this person nominated me for this award, I have to return it to them as I love Tennesee Memories... my great-grandmothers family was from Tennessee and visiting this blog sent me back to a place that I just loved. I have never visited, but thought the photos and stories I felt as if I had always lived there. I stopped by and the first story I read was: " Dairy Farm in Maryville at the Foot of the Smokies... this story really brought back memories of when I was a little girl growning up on a little farm in Bell's Tx and the worst but whoopin' I ever got... "I forgot to close the gate and let all my great-grandpa's cows out". Even now, when I open a cattle gate, I go back to that day. Even though at that time, I thought I would die... I can actually laugh now. I wish my grandpa was here to see me now working with the cows... I love you GRANDPA for all that you taught me and all that you gave me. I never forgot! And the other blog that inspired me was.... Shades of the Departed at first, I didn't understand the title, until I began reading. I have been hooked on the stories and the photos. So to everyone who inspired me... THANK YOU!

Now for the instructions:

Instructions are as follows:

1. Copy the award to your site.

2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.

3. Nominate other bloggers.4. Link to those sites on your blog.

5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate.

The Old Yellow Shirt

I just received this in an email and had to share... thought it was a wonderful idea to do with our daughters, mothers, nieces, grandmothers.....

The baggy yellow shirt had long sleeves, four extra-large pockets trimmed in black thread, and snaps up the front. It was faded from years of wear, but still in decent shape. I found it in 1963 when I was home from college on Christmas break, rummaging through bags of clothes Mom intended to give away.
You're not taking that old thing, are you?" Mom said when she saw me packing the yellow shirt. "I wore that when I was pregnant with your brother in 1954!" "It's just the thing to wear over my clothes during art class, Mom. Thanks!" I slipped it into my suitcase before she could object. The yellow shirt became a part of my college wardrobe. I loved it. After graduation, I wore the shirt the day I moved into my new apartment and on Saturday mornings when I cleaned.
The next year, I married. When I became pregnant, I wore the yellow shirt during big-belly days. I missed Mom and the rest of my family, since we were in Colorado and they were in Illinois. But that shirt helped. I smiled, remembering that Mother had worn it when she was pregnant, 15 years earlier.
That Christmas, mindful of the warm feelings the shirt had given me, I patched one elbow, wrapped it in holiday paper and sent it to Mom. When Mom wrote to thank me for her "real" gifts, she said the yellow shirt was lovely. She never mentioned it again.
The next year, my husband, daughter, and I stopped at Mom and Dad's to pick up some furniture. Days later, when we uncrated the kitchen table, I noticed something yellow taped to its bottom. The shirt!
And so the pattern was set. On our next visit home, I secretly placed the shirt under Mom and Dad's mattress. I don't know how long it took for her to find it, but almost two years passed before I discovered it under the base of our living-room floor lamp. The yellow shirt was just what I needed now while refinishing furniture. The walnut stains added character.
In 1975, my husband and I divorced. With my three children, I prepared to move back to Illinois. As I packed, a deep depression overtook me. I wondered if I could make it on my own. I wondered if I would find a job. Unpacking in our new home, I knew I had to get the shirt back to Mother. The next time I visited her, I tucked it in her bottom dresser drawer.
Meanwhile, I found a good job at a radio station. A year later, I discovered the yellow shirt hidden in a rag bag in my cleaning closet. Something new had been added. Embroidered in bright green across the breast pocket were the works "I BELONG TO PAT." Not to be outdone, I got out my own embroidery materials and added an apostrophe and seven more letters. Now the shirt proudly proclaimed, "I BELONG TO PAT'S MOTHER."
But I didn't stop there. I zigzagged all the frayed seams, then had a friend mail the shirt in a fancy box to Mom from Arlington, VA. We enclosed an official-looking letter from "The Institute for the Destitute," announcing that she was the recipient of an award for good deeds. I would have given anything to see Mom's face when she opened the box.
But, of course, she never mentioned it. Two years later, in 1978, I remarried. The day of our wedding, Harold and I put our car in a friend's garage to avoid practical jokers. After the wedding, while my husband drove us to our honeymoon suite, I reached for a pillow in the car to rest my head. It felt lumpy. I unzipped the case and found, wrapped in wedding paper, the yellow shirt. The shirt was Mother's final gift. She had known for three months that she had terminal Lou Gehrig's disease. Mother died the following year at age 57.
I was tempted to send the yellow shirt with her to her grave, but I'm glad I didn't because it is a vivid reminder of the love-filled game she and I played for 16 years. Besides, my older daughter is in college now, majoring in art. And every art student needs a baggy yellow shirt with big pockets.

....Secret to Marriage...

While visiting ROCKIN' R Retreat Blog, I happened onto a cute little scrapbook blog and had to post to my personal daily blog and had just had to share with you here..

A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000.
He asked her about the contents. 'When we were to be married,' she said, ' my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll.' The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness. 'Honey,' he said, 'that explains the doll, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?''Oh,' she said, 'that's the money I made from selling the dolls.'

A Prayer.......
Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my man;
Love to forgive him;
And Patience for his moods;
Because Lord, if I pray for Strength,
I'll beat him to death,
because I don't know how to crochet.

When I first starting reading this post on the other blog, I have to say it brought tears to my eyes. But those quickly turned to laughter. I have so enjoyed this story, I felt it was worth sharing here. Please feel free to copy and share with others....

Gone but not Forgotten....

photo taken: 7 June 1947

Leonard , TX

EVANS BROTHERS
Left to Right: Ray, Clarence, Lawrence, Ernest, Irvan and Archie.
This photo was taken the day they buried their mother Anthaline Beasley Evans.

Remember my first post to this blog..."Two Peas In A Pod", well they are second and third from the left. If you didn't get to read... here is part of what these boys use to do...

..." one day when their mom and dad were gone to the store, their "Grandpa" loaded all the "furry critters aka cats" up in the horse buggy with all the "Evans Boys" in the back along side. As they were going to town, Grandpa had the boys deposit a cat at each house along the way. On their way back, they came across a woman who had received one of their furry deposits and she politely handed it back to them and never said a word. Supposidley, there Grandpa never told on all the mischievious things the boys got into while "Ma and Pa" were in town."

This is probably one of the only photos with all the "Evans Boys" at one time. The only person missing in this photo is the "Baby" of the group... Grace Evans... their one and only sister. Can you imagine growin' up with 6 older brothers. And let me tell you, these men were not small by any means.

I remember my "Papa" and "Aunt Gracie" always pickin' on each other and arguing over who was right or wrong. Most of the time "Aunt Gracie" would get her way.

SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS...

Jennie Scopis

1885-1974

when i was 5 my mom took me to visit my grandparents in MI. Unfortunately my "YIYI" passed away shortly before I arrive. When I arrived, my grandmother gave me a picture of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus. I remember it being metal of some sort and very heavy. It was only about a 3x5. On the back it had something written about Mary and Jesus. I cherished it until my ex-husband destroyed it. Listed below is the information I know about her and my Great-Grandfather Frank. I do not have a photo of him.

This is YiYi, she was born 1885 in Sparta, Greece and she passed away on 22 Septemeber 1974, in St. Ignace MI. She married Frank K. Faleris and together they had 11 children. George, Pauline, Tessea andHarry were all born in Greece. Pauline and Tessea where born in Mepois, Greece. The exact location of the others is known. Helen was born in Baltimore Maryland, and the rest were born in Canada. Their son William was born in Greece in 1919.

This is the Border Crossing Canada to US 1895-1956 document which I located on ancestory.com. It states that Frank and his Family arrived 24 May 1923. Port of Arrival is Deroit and also states he was 43 at the time and a "Candy Maker" This would put Franks year of birth at abt 1880.

However, I have also located a Detroit Border crossing & Passender & Crew List 1905-1957.

(see below)

The information on this document states he arrived on 6 Nov 1938 and he was 55 years old at the time. That would put his year of birth abt 1883. It says something about 1906, but the image is not clear enough for me to tell what it is saying. I dont know if 1906 was when they arrived in Canada or not. If anyone knows about these documents I would love to know what the difference is and would love to know where I can find Frank and Jennie's parents information in Greece.

Below is another document that I located and said it was the manifest document. It is front and back. If you can help me locate their parents or any other information please let me know where to start.

Alma Elizabeth Clark Evans

Alma Elizabeth Clark

Dec 26, 1903 - Sept 8, 1978

aka My Great Grandma

My great-grandmother is the daughter of William Henry Clark born 17 Nov 1854 in Indiana and Amanda Elizabeth Dugan Clark born March 1862 in Indiana. My grandmother is one of 14 children.

My great-grandmother was a wonderful cook, and was always prepared when company showed. No matter who many people seemed to show up unannounced, she always found a way to feed them all, and not one person ever left hungry. My favorite memories of her are from "Thanksgiving" and "Christmas" when I would wake up in the morning and run to great everyone who had arrived. Her and my grandmother Lydia Mae Clark Campbell would be in the kitchen preparing our feast. I also loved when she would cook Pinto Beans aka (RedBeans here in the south) becasue she had a special coffee cup that hung by the crockpot that was specifically for my tasting pleasure. I always got the first cup! For my birthday's she would always make me "Chocolate Cake" and that was the best part of the day.

When I was little, we lived on a small farm in Bells, Texas and there was a creek out behind the barn. We had problems with Rattlesnakes and Copperheads where we lived due to the creek. I remember swinging in my swing hanging in the Wheeping Willow tree in the back yard and Grandma racing out towards me screaming with a garden hoe in her hand. For a small child, that is pretty frightening. Actually, she had an eagle eye for those darn pest and apparently there was one wrapped around my swing. It was nothing for her to be in the garden and see her just wack a snake and continue her chores.

Grandma always kept me out of trouble. No matter what mess I got into, all I had to do is go to her. We had a garden out on the side of the house by the drive way and had lots of vegitables growing, everything from corn, greenbeans, potatoes, and cabbage. Usually for dinner of something we would go out and pick tomatoes, or onions or cuccumbers or something. So one day me being the little helper I was thought I would go pick cabbage for dinner. Only thing was, I picked all of it.... two rows worth. Grandma shook her head and told me to go replant before grandpa got home. Well, needless to say, I wasn't done when he drove up.

One of my other favorite memories was when we would go out to the garden and as she picked okra for dinner or whatever meal she was serving, she would thought the tough ones over to the cattle. I loved picking them and feeding to them. It also, ended up getting me into trouble. I wanted to feed them okra one day and they were not near the fence, so I opened the gate to go in and feed. Being a small child.... I forgot to shut the gate. Needless to say that whipping willow tree my swing was in.... we got to know each other pretty well.

Evans Twins: Like two Peas in a Pod

Clarence Evans

August 1, 1909 - April 6, 1997

Lawrence Evans

August 1, 1909 - February 23, 1998

Identical twins, Clarence, left and Lawrence Evans standing look quite dapper in their attire.

Original Photo given to me by my Great-Grandfather

Orginal Post: by Pat Welch, Lifestyle Editor for the Sherman Democrate in August 1991 for their 90th Birthday Celebration.

Sherman - The Evans twins, Clarence and Larence, are like "Two Peas in a Pod". It's hard to tell one from the other even after 90 years

The twins have a zest for life and live every minute to the fullest. They were born Aug. 1, 1901, in Leonard, sons of George Washington and Anthaline Evans. They grew up on a 200-acre farm and farm life was all the two ever knew until they were grown and married.

The twins agree that farm life is a little tough and they've had their share of hard work. So have their other four brothers and sister, Gracie, who Lawrence said was "Spoiled Rotten" by her six older brothers.

They remember picking cotton at a very young age with cotton sacks their mother made from feed sacks, slopping the hogs, milking cows,, cutting wood, shelling corn, plowing and planting the fields. They agree that children today dont know what hard work is.

But along wtih hard work, there was a lot of fun growing up. For entertainment, Clarence laughed and said the game was usually wrestling or just plain fighting in the big old barn out back. He said on rainy days they would scoot off to the barn, form a ring (called the bull dog ring) and have a good time. Lawrence said the barn was their favorite spot away from the parents, playing, fighting, dreaming of far away places and things to do.

Their parents were strict. Church was the center of most everything they did. Their dad was superintendent of Sunday school at the Baptist Chruch and they were there everytime the door opened. Being strict Baptist, they were not allowed to dance or play cards. Like a lot of small communites, church servies were shared with different denominations, and they went to the Methodist Church on Sunday Evenings.

Strict or not, boys will be boys, and the Evans twins were certainly not without their pranks. They recalled when their parents would go to town they were on their own with only grandpa to watch over them. Grandfather lived with them for 17 years and never once told on them for their frivolous acts.

More than once when their parents were away they would meet peddlers passing by and sell chicken and eggs and pocket a few cents for "going to town." Grandpa kept his mouth shut even when their parents wondered wht had happened to the chickens.

Like all farms, they had their share of cats. One day on the way to town, their grandpa loaded the buggy with the little furry creatures and the boys dropped off a cat here and there. They both really got a kick out of telling about depositing a cat at the home of a woman as they went to town and on their way back, the woman was standing in the road with the cat and handed the cat back to them without saying a word.

When they were teenagers and older the twins said they were never out of a job. They were taught how to work and were always willing to put out a good hard days work for others. "Work never hurt anyone, and we are proff of that saying," they said.

Good lookers, the twins caught the eyes of a few young ladies in the area... but they had their sights on two. Lawrence favored Lela Mae Simms and Clarence fell for Alma Elizabeth Clark.

Lawrence laughed, looking at Lela as he told of their wedding day, Aug. 16, 1919. She was 16 and he was 18 years old. Her dad was out hunting so they eloped in his buggy to the preacher's house. They were afraid to drive down the road so they drove down the corn rows in the field. The preacher married them on the run and watched her dad drive right past them as they were picking over the tall corn.

Her father may have objected, but it was a marriage that weathered time and the couple will be celebrating their 72nd Anniversary this month.

Clarence and Alma slipped away in his horse drawn buggy on Aug. 14, 1922, drove up to the same preacher's house and were married as they were seated in the buggy. Clarence said the preacher cam out with his Bible and married them and they took time for him to make a picture of them with his box camera. They were married 64 years when Alma died in September 1978.

Clarence worked for Southern Ice Company in Sherman delivering to nerly every house in town. He worked for Lingo-Leeper Lumber Company and Foxworth-Galbreath Lumber Company where he was yard forman retiring at the age of 62.

Lawrence farmed most of his life and retired from Plano School System.

Bothy have a mischievous look and infectious smile and agreed that life has been good to them. Their advice to others is live every day to the fullest. Do what you want to do.

Lawrence resides in Van Alstyne where he is a member of the First Baptist Church and Clarence in Sherman and is a member of Grayson Bible Baptist Church.

Clarence has a daughter, Lyda Mae Campbell, who resides in Sherman. he has two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Lawerence has five children, Virgil of Anna, Ophelia Graves of Van Alstyne, Von Ray of Mt. Pleasant, Ann Margaret Wilder of Dallas, and Theda Marie Briggs of Denison. He has 18 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

They have two surviving siblings, their sister, Gracie Thomas, 85, of Leonard, and Earnest, 96 of San Antonio.

Clarence and LAwerence will be honored with a party from 2 until 4 pm Sunday at Shady Oaks Nursing Home in Sherman where Lawrence is recouperating from hip surgery. He hopes to be in his own home in Van Alstyne shortly.

Their Children will host the even that is open to friends and relatives.

A Childhood Memory Come True....

In 1974, my mom took my little sister Kristi and I on a trip from TEXAS to MICHIGAN to see our Grandparents for the very first time. I have no memory of the the plan ride there or back. The two memories that I remember most are of the "mackinaw bridge" and "SNOW".

I remember riding in the back of a car and something woke me up. I asked my mom .."ARE WE THERE"? And she told me not yet, but as I looked up, I saw one of the towers on the bridge almost as it is in the picture attached but almost from underneath and lots of bright lights. For years I had this memory stuck in my head and as I got older I thought it had just been a dream. I never knew the name of the bridge or where it was, I just knew we were driving and it was a bridge.

Upon the first conversation with my cousin in 2007, I mentioned this dream while talking about her memory of our visit to St. Ignace. The moment I mentioned my memory she knew exactly what I was talking about. The next day she started sending me pictures of the bridge that she had taken over the years and then started going to take more just for me. Trying to get the perfect shot of my memory. If you look, you will see two towers supporting the bridge. My memory is of one of those look almost straight up and it was dark, other than all the lights which light the bridge.

My Second memorie is "SNOW"... my very first memory of ever seeing it. While visiting my family in St. Ignace MI, I happend to be playing in the backyard of my grandmothers and all at once, something was falling out of the sky. I don't remember anything else, other than my grandmother saying, it's "SNOW" and running around saying...."It's Snowing, It's Snowing". My mom and Cousin later told me thought our conversations that was exactly what I did. She said they all stood in the doorway watching me run around my grandmother's lilac tree.

It's funny now, becasue Lilac has always been my favorite flower and frangrance. Never knowing that my childhood memory that meant so much was held around a lilac tree.

The Beginning....

Well, for many years I have been interested in my family history and wanted to know where my roots started and how I got here. However, I never actually knew just how to start. While in a Family Law Class in College... my professor assigned us our Final Exam the first day of class. The assignment was to create a FAMILY TREE. I signed on to Ancestory.com and from there started with me and the family I knew of. I didnt find a lot of information by the end of the year, but had some.

Until last year, had put the family research on the back burner and not thought much about it. Here and there would think it would be nice to put all the pictures I had in an album, but never did. The I moved to Wichita Falls in 2007. One afternoon while on lunch break I called my grandmother to talk to her while waiting in line at McDonalds to place my lunch order. While talking with her, she informed me that my father had received a letter from (what I thought she said was my mother...whom I had not spoke to in 33 years). However, what she said was from my cousin. She stated who she was and who she was looking for and apologized if she had the wrong person. She understood if this was the correct person that if he chose not to give my sister and I the letter. However, my father had taken the letter to my grandmother and gave it to my sister and read it to me.

It took me two months to actually write and send her a letter in response. My first attemt sat in the door of my car till October of 2007. However, the second letter was written and I had my ex-mother-in law send it for me. I knew if I didn't have her do it, I never would. It was about 3 weeks later and I received a phone call while cooking dinner one evening and it was my Cousin from MI. We talked for ever it seemed. The following night after I had spoke to Rene (my cousin), I received a phone call from another unknown number... the caller id said it was from Michigan. I had a knot in my stomach and knew instantly it was my MOTHER. 33 years of emotions came flooding over me and not sure what to do or say I answered the phone. On the other end of the phone was a very distanct "YANKEE" accent and the words "ROBIN" do you know who this is? My reply was "YES"? And she asked me who and I told her my mom. Even thought it had been 33 years since I had spoke to her and I was now 38, I remembered the voice as if it were yesterday when I had heard it. That was on April 12th, 2007. We only spoke for a few seconds and she said her phone was dying and she would call me tomorrow. I knew in my heart that was not the truth. She like I was over whelmed with emotion and didn't truly know how to handle the moment. I hung up the phone and instantly called Rene back telling her I had just spoke to "My Mother".

I did not know weather or not I would ever here from her again. However, for just a moment my wish had come true and I had found my mom. The story behind our journey is long and not always so pleasant. However, for just a moment I had turned back into a little girl. My first actually conversation with my mom other than hello, was on Friday, April 13th while sitting in the "kamikaze" at the carnaval about to do something I shouldn't be doing she called. I couldn't answer the phone as the ride had put my body upside down about 20 feet or so in the air. "Couldn't actually answer screaming in here ear... HELP" I figured when I didn't answer she would think I didn't want to talk. However, once I got down and was able to walk, I manage to sit down and call her. We talked for a short time and I explained what I was doing and would call her when we got home.

For the next several months Rene, My Mom and I talked every night. Rene and I spent the time reliving my childhood memories that I had decided where dreams. However, in reality they did exsist. My mom and I spent the time getting to know each other and catch up on life. In OCTOBER of 2007 my cousin brought her family and my mom to TEXAS. At about 2am on October 19th my Family called and said they were in Wichita Falls and LOST. I woke from falling asleep on the couch waiting and told them I would be right there. For the first time in 33 years I was about to meet my mother all over again. And also for the first time, she was about to meet her grandchildren.

Thus begins my journey......