Rain

What a wonderful day to be inside, curled up with a good book, and the Internet. Tuesdays are one of my favorite days anyway because it is the one day of the week I am not obligated to any one or any thing! And with the rain today it's nice to know I don't have to go anywhere.

Now, that being said, I am going to the movies this afternoon with Lois, and then out to supper. We were going to go to Branson but neither of us really had anything we were specifically looking for or wanting so we decided to save some money! We talked about going to Lake of the Ozarks instead, but we don't like the mall there as well as Branson. We finally decided on a movie. We are going to see The Proposal. I don't go to the movies very often. In fact, I think the last movie I saw was Mama Mia, if that tells you anything!

My book is calling. Time to go read some more.

Grrrrrrr!

My Outlook Express is not working! I cannot send or receive emails. grrrrrrrrr! And I can't figure out why it's happening. I've checked the account and all is good. It won't work on the desktop either. What, oh what, has happened? I don't want to have to call tech support, but if it doesn't work tomorrow I guess I will have to do that. I can check email over the Internet but it's so much easier just to click on that OE button and have it pop up.

I've gotten "involved" with Face Book. I still don't know if I want to keep my page going there. I like being able to have contact with so many people--just to see what's going on. I haven't taken any of the quizzes that so many take, nor have I posted any pictures as so many do. I think I like my little blog page better.

We had a good visit with Valary last weekend. She came down to attend a couple of bridal showers for her friend Maggie who is getting married the first of August. She spent Friday and Saturday night with us. We met her in Springfield Saturday to eat supper with our friends Lois and Lori. Cheddar's is so good! She stayed until about 2 Sunday and then left to go to work Sunday night. On Monday, she turned 26. Seems just like yesterday we brought her home from the hospital. Where has the time gone?

We are having more renovations done at the library. We are having the front steps replaced. Every time it rains a waterfall happens in the back room because the steps have pulled away from the building. Right now there is a big hole where the steps were. The building looks sad. They should be finished by next Friday. Then we can take the tubs out of the back room (which catch the water) and move some things around. There's something always going on at the library!

A Month of Birthdays

July is full of Gass family birthdays. Some will be celebrated only in our memories, others with the individual. I know I will leave some out but here goes:

July 7 would be my mother-in-law's birthday. She passed away two years ago. She would have been 86 this year. What a delightful lady she was. She never wanted a big fuss made over her. She would do, and did, anything for her children and grandchildren. She was a great role model for all of us.

July 9 is Cecil's birthday. He is the 'baby' of the Gass children. I think he will be 48. Considering Charles is 65, Cecil is definitely the baby! And I mean that in a positive way. He, too, is a hard worker, and a good father to his children.

Then there's my baby's birthday, July 13. What a precious gift God gave me 26 years ago. She is everything a parent would want in a child. She's smart, pretty, kind, generous, funny...I could go on and on. But the thing that I am most proud of about her is that she loves God. I'm proud that she is a doctor, that she is all those things I listed earlier, but I'm most proud of her relationship with God. She has always put Him first. (And reminds me that I should, too.) My only wish for her is to be happy! Happy birthday, sweetie!

I have some cousins (once, or twice, or maybe even three times removed) that had a baby the same day or the day after Valary was born.

July 15 would be Charles' grandfather, Frank Brown's, birthday. We went to California as a surprise for Grandpa' Brown's birthday when Valary was not quite 3. (We celebrated early). He died a couple of years later. The 29th Charles' father's birthday. I never got to meet his dad, Fulton. He died not long after Charles and I met.

April is another month with several birthdays. Isn't it funny how in families there will be months with several birthdays.

Dwight's Independence Day

The Fourth of July is a special day for all Americans. This is when we declared our independence from England. We wanted to be out from under the tyranny of the King of England and its laws. Many brave men gave their lives during the Revolutionary War for the freedoms we have today. I was able to become a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) because of my 7th great grandfather George Adam Mann who fought in the war.

In 1999, Independence Day came to have an additional meaning for me. For it was July 4, 1999, that my 'baby' brother, Dwight, gained his independence from the pain and suffering he was going through. This is the day he died. It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since his passing, it seems like it was just yesterday. There are times when I come in to the basement from the garage and start up the stairs that I can hear his laughter. He had such a memorable chuckle. I miss him terribly. It took a long time to get over the impulse to pick up the phone and call him.

Dwight was a victim of AIDS. He was gay and it was a fear that I always had that he would contract the disease and while it was hard to hear it, I wasn't surprised. He stayed healthy for a long time before the virus became active. He lived in Dallas and Valary and I would visit him during the summer. Uncle Dwight was just about it for her. She adored him--as did everyone who met him. He had such a good personality. In 1996, when the virus became active, Mom and I had to make a rush trip to Dallas. It was then that I told Valary that Dwight had AIDS, that he was gay. She simply stated, "Mom, I love Uncle Dwight for who he is, not what he is." Wise words from a 12 year old.

We were told that he probably would never be able to live by himself again, so we decided to move him home. My brother Keith, his wife Susan, Mom and I spent several days packing up his apartment and spending time with Dwight in the hospital. He was only 41 but he looked like he was an elderly man. It was so sad. I prayed that God would take him but it wasn't to be. I really thought that he was coming home to die. But God is in the miracle business and within 6 months Dwight was able to move back to Dallas. He worked at "The Roundup" a gay bar in Dallas. He spent a lot of his time working with different organizations, raising money and awareness of AIDS during the last three years of his life. Some of the nicest people I've ever met were associated with the bar. They took such good care of Dwight.

Early in the year of 1999 he told us he had stopped taking his medicines in January because they were making him really sick. He knew what the outcome would be if he stopped and during a phone conversation he apologized to me for causing us to have to face his death. The end of May

Mom, Valary and I made our last trip to Dallas to visit him. We knew he didn't have much time left. He was very weak and had stopped eating as nothing would stay down. It was a good time and a sad time because we knew the time was near. We sat and visited, talking about growing up, the people we knew, the experiences we had. It's a week that will always remain dear to my heart.

Mom went back to Dallas a couple of days before Dwight died. One of his friends called and told her it was time. They had just moved him into an AIDS hospice home. He knew Mom was there. His friends took very good care of her until I could get there. They told her that he knew he would die on July 4. Our phone was out of order at this time so I didn't know or I would have gone with Mom. She didn't think I was home when she left so she didn't stop to tell me. In fact, it wasn't until the morning of the 4th that I got a message from her. So this day has become, in my heart, Dwight's Independence Day. I know he no longer has the virus that took his life. I know that I will see him again. He and I talked about God's forgiveness in May. He was afraid God wouldn't forgive him. I assured him that all he had to do was ask. And I am sure he did.

So, Happy Independence Day, Dwight. I miss you terribly!

This picture of Mom and Dwight was taken when Dwight took Mom to Alaska. I can't remember the exact year, nor the location of the picture, but it was before 1996. They left on July 4.