7 - 3 - 1

I've been going through old photographs....see what I found?
This picture was made in 1963, the year I started to school. First grade, that is...that was before they had kindergarten! This is one of the rare times in my life that I had short hair. Here's the story...my aunt, a professional beautician, was cutting my hair...reached down to pick up the thinning shears...grabbed the regular scissors by mistake...and you guessed it...cut right across the back of my hair at the neckline.

As you can see, we had a big family...Seven! Five kids! I remember a couple of years after Dana was born, Jenni decided we needed another baby in the house. "Oh, I think I would go crazy if I had any more kids!" I said. "But Grannie had five!" she replied. "See there! That's my point!"
I'm not sure my mother really saw the humor in that one!

The house we lived in was built by my daddy and my granddaddy. We thought it was great; we had everything we ever needed. Lots of room inside, a big backyard with a swingset, a sandbox and a tetherball pole, and a carpenter's shop out back if we got bored in the house! And it was right next door to my twin cousins, and two doors down from my granddaddy! Let me tell you about our house.

It was probably about 1500 sq feet...that's a really wild guess. We had three (3) bedrooms for our family of seven (7)...one for Momma and Daddy...one for Ray & Donald...and one for Marie, Lucy, and me. Marie and I shared a full-size bed; in fact we had an honest-to-goodness bedroom suite...white with gold trim...french provincial or something like that. Lucy stayed in her crib till she was almost three, I think, then she slept on a little child's cot (like they use in daycares now, only it was made out of wood and green canvas like a miniature army cot). After she outgrew that, she slept on a little loveseat that Momma moved into our room. But she never complained (about her bed, anyway!)

In addition to our three (3) bedrooms and our kitchen and living room, we had one (1) bathroom. Now think about that! A family of seven (7) and only one (1) bathroom! And it was small! No double sinks or jacuzzi tub! I can remember before eating a meal, we kids had to line up in the hallway to wash up. And afterward, line up again, with that forever-etched-phrase-ringing-in-your-head, "Keep your hands off the walls!" On Saturday night, we had to start the bath routine about 3:00 in the afternoon just to get everybody through! Well, maybe that's stretching it, but it did take quite a bit of time! Needless to say, we didn't all take a bath every night. During the week I think we kind of took turns. But on Saturday night...everyone took a bath! Whether they needed it or not! The main thing was that you ONLY used the bathroom for bathing, brushing teeth, washing hands & faces, and doing your business! Momma did her hair and makeup in her bedroom. Luckily, we girls weren't into the makeup drill at that point, and our hair was done in our bedroom. (I do remember that the butch wax that the boys used on their hair was kept in the medicine cabinet above the bathroom sink.)

Not until we moved to San Angelo, and Momma and I came to look at houses, did I realize how small a house we had when I was young and how little we had. Momma could write a recipe book on 101 Ways to Make Wienees that Your Family Will Love (Hey, calm down...that's what we called them back then!) The Wienee Entree was nearly always accompanied by pork & beans...which I cannot seem to be able to put in my mouth now. But she was truly amazing at cooking low-cost meals for a family of seven (7). She is going to get several extra stars in her crown for that!

Momma and Daddy did the best they could do, and the best things they gave us didn't cost a penny. They gave us unconditional love and a Christian foundation. They gave us a strong sense of family and loyalty and acceptance and sharing and giving. They taught us life skills...physical skills, emotional skills, spiritual skills...that have helped us get to where we are today. They taught us that seven (7) really is a lucky number; seven (7) really is the number that symbolizes completeness. They taught us that three (3) is a pretty good number, too, cause Christ rose on the third (3rd) day, and the Trinity is 3-in-1, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And they taught us about the number one (1)...there is only one (1) way to the one (1) God (the Father) and that is through Christ (the Son).

See what happens when you start going through old photographs? You get caught heading straight down memory lane...thanks for tagging along!