Musings

April 27
I had a wonderful mother-in-law, Dottie. She was only 38 years old, when we made her a grandmother. She was Webster's definition of a grandmother (well, I lied! Webster's says: 1:the mother of one's father or mother. 2. a female ancestor). So, what I am trying to get across, is that she was kind, wise, witty and always there for all of us, including her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
When I met Dottie and Bunny for the first time, I knew that Robin was the one for me. When we got married, I didn't just wed Robin, I married the whole family. Dottie drove me to Saurita, AZ so that I could see Robin on week-ends, while he was at Ft. Huachuca, AZ. We went to see her brother, Chan, first in Almogordo, N.M. Then, we met Robin in El Paso, for one night and went to Juarez (our first touch with Mexico). It was safe back then. We went on to Arizona and the following week-end, she took us to see Ed Beebe, a former employer of Bunny's, in Tombstone, AZ. We had a great time. She was always willing to jump in a car or on an airplane and go somewhere if we wanted her to.
Robin got home from AZ, for a month's leave, on about April 1, 1968. Our daughter, Lori, was born on April 18, 1968 and Dottie rode with us to the hospital in Casper. The roads had been horrible and closed for most of the day, but it was 2 am and they were open, again. She had to go find my mother, because the phone had been left off the hook, and brought her to the hospital. Everything went ok and in a few days, we went back to Dottie's house. Robin was only there for about 5 days, before he shipped out to Vietnam. He was gone for a year and Dottie and Bunny helped me with the baby. I spent much more time there, than I did in Casper with my Mom. It just seemed like home.
Dottie has been on my mind a lot the last few days. Yesterday, we went to Sandy Dixon's to play guitars and I fixed Dottie's recipe for Carmel Corn. Everyone enjoyed it and I really felt her presence in the room.
I pray that all of you that have living mothers and mothers-in-law, take the time to listen to them and let them know how much you love them. We all need to hear those words once in a while. God Bless.