Donna's Stone

I went to the cemetery the other day. I was going to see my aunt's grave. She was buried beside her first husband and her daughter's grave. She passed away in January. 

My cousin was just twenty years old when she died mysteriously at home. They never did find a definite cause for her death. She was married to a guy who did some awful things after she died and I guess the family decided not to leave the gravestone like the original one with her husband's name on it.

When I went up there I saw Donna's new headstone. The old double stone had been removed. I say good riddance and good for Donna. Her life was cut too short for her and she wasn't married long enough time to endure his name for all eternity. I have little doubt that Donna would have divorced her husband if she had lived long enough. I will always hate the way she passed away.

Donna deserved someone to love her and honor her. When we pieced together the last events in her life we became aware of several puzzling and heartbreaking episodes she had to endure. Her husband spread rumors and lies around the family and had us all questioning his motives. 

We will never have all the answers we were searching for but I am thankful Donna won't be going through all eternity shrouded under that other name. She was too good for him. Her legacy shouldn't be entwined with him forevermore.

If Donna had of survived she would be fifty-five years old this year. It's hard to imagine her as an old woman but it's harder remembering her as a young girl on the brink of life before it was cut short. I wonder how she would have turned out if she had lived. It's a never ending cycle. I'm always thinking about 'what if'. It's an endless game.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

PBS 8-24-14 Sunday 4:19 A.M. EDT

AUGUST

I love picnics but I can never get anybody to go with me. I thought my friends who started going out on a 'girls night out' would go with me so I bought a few Susan G. Komen pink ribbon coolers to give to them. I gave one cooler to a friend and told her I wanted all of us to go on a picnic sometime. I was going to give the other gals their coolers when I saw them but I never heard from them again. I don't know what I did to piss them off. I don't care anymore. 

I ended up doling out the pink coolers to my boys. I thought it was a hoot seeing Scout wagging a pink cooler around. I bet he made a lasting impression on anybody who saw him at work but I doubt the cows cared. Sometimes it's good to be a manual worker. He is a fencer. He's put up hundreds of fences over the years. 

Every year I try to entice someone to go on a picnic with me. I try to get Donny to go with me but he's not interested. I've tried to talk Scout and Colt into going but they don't care, either. I thought I might have to go on a picnic by myself if I ever wanted to go. 

The other day I thought, "I know. I'll ask Katie. She and Bennett might want to go on a picnic." It was very spur of the moment. I sent her a message the night before and told her to call me in the morning. 

You don't know me but if you did you would know I am not a morning person. Heck, I'm not much of a day person. If I ever became a vampire not much would change. Most people don't want to wake me in the morning. Even though Katie knows my reputation, she promised to wake me at ten. 

Katie called and promised to come over that morning. She and Bennett piled into the old Buick and we picked up some KFC, aka Kentucky Fried Chicken, and went to the Calhoun Recreation Center. There were people at the pool but the ball parks were empty and there weren't many people around. We found a nice picnic shed near the river and spread out our meal on the cement table. I used a red checkered fitted twin sheet. It fit perfectly!

I was so happy being with my sweet new family and sharing a quiet, tranquil day together. It was like heaven. It was a mild, peaceful day. A cool breeze was blowing. We sat in the shade of the tall shade trees and could look all around the park. Some people were walking around the road, exercising. Another couple took their picnic closer to the water. 

Katie, and Bennett, and I walked along the curved river admiring the wide deep stream after we ate. If the water hadn't been cloudy in places you wouldn't know there was probably run off from the plants that butt up against the backside of the recreation center. If I hadn't been afraid of chemicals, I would have wanted to splash around in the water. A man made dam created a mini-waterfall in one area. 

Poor Bennett was beside himself because he wanted to go play with the other kids but there weren't a bunch of other kids around. Most of them were at the swimming pool. We saw one lone little girl playing on a slide on the playground as we were leaving. He will be so glad when he finally makes some friends at school. His dreams will come true soon.

Enjoy summer because it won't be long before it's gone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Ashley, Tommie Lyn, Pat, Pam, Myra, Nancy, Nancy, Brenda, Chris, Randy, 

Jonnie Bell, Gloria, Blake, Bob, Justin, Cole, Jerry

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Susan and Bob

RIP

REMEMBER

Back to School Time

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PBS 8-7-14 Thursday  1:25 A.M. EDT