Mail Bag

My cousin Eleanor sent me this photo of my mom and me taken during a visit to her home in Woodland, California before 1990. We have no idea which year. I do not think it was in 1989 as mom and dad came out from Ohio during the summer that year. The only visit my dad ever made to California. My folks had purchased a motorhome and brought my sister Jeni and her oldest, Mitchell, out for a visit. Late that fall my dad died of lung cancer. Anyway, mom and I are wearing sweaters, so this is not a summer photo!

The thing that strikes me about the photo is that there is a Coors in front of me. The last time I drank a Coors! My mom would have been under fifty in this photo. That is 18 years younger than I am now.

I appreciate Eleanor sending me the photo. I did not have this one and I love having another photo of my mom.

In her letter accompanying the photo, Eleanor asked me if we have had much interest in our Woodland home. Our agent had let me know that the house posting has gone viral and that there is a lot of interest. Even though rain is forecast another open house will be held this next Sunday (March 3^rd). The house is also featured in an ad in the local paper this weekend.

This week’s mail also included thank you cards from my Bauer niece and nephew, and another card from my Karnes-Herendeen nieces and nephews. Andrea decorated the inside of the Bauer card, and the note was penned by mom, Diana.

The Karnes-Herendeen card note was written by Addie with her siblings and mom signing their names. Joss did a cat drawing. I am guessing the stick figure under Addie’s name may be courtesy of little sister Liesel. It could be Addie’s though.

Today is an incredibly special day in the Karnes family as we have two birthdays! My nieces, Courtney and Jami, were born on March 1 in the same year and in the same hospital to different moms. Today they are all grown up! Courtney has four children of her own and she homeschools them. Jami is a teacher – she has loads of kids and she gets to leave them at the end of the school day.

 It is also my sister-in-law’s (my first husband’s sister) birthday. I think I have written before that Geni is my favorite sister-in-law. I may no longer be married to her brother, and I do not need to be to love her. She is a gem!