Vacation

Tuesday, in three days, I shall 1200 miles away from home. Well, on the way anyway.

We've been discussing this for awhile, my mother's parents and I. All of their grandchildren have been to their home in South Carolina, but myself. I don't see them very often either, so this will be a very special occaision.

I like getting away, but I also like being with my boys, my cousins. The picture above is of myself and Christian at his new home just a little ways from Grandma's house. I will miss them when I leave, and because of my fear of planes, I'll be riding in a car the whole way. I'll miss everyone while I'm gone, and I hope that maybe this vacation will help in the long run, and maybe I'll be able to visit them more often.

A Lot Of Things Have Happened

There certainly has been a lot that has happened.

First off, both Christian and Noah are two years old now. And within a week of Noah turning two, Aunt Doris passed away. It was a sad event, because she was pretty close to all of us and was one of the first few people to read what I wrote about Waylon, and she was impressed. She has had problems for as long as I can remember with her knees and her hips, and a lot of it has been because she was overweight most of her life. Her daughter and her son are the same way.

This is going to be short, but I wanted to post, it's been a long time since I've written a blog.

Thank you all for reading and I wish the best to everyone!

Easter

When it comes to Easter, many people do different things.
Some go to church, some stay home and cook for welcome relatives, some don't do a thing.
We stayed home.

Dad said it was my choice, and since I'm a little old to believe in "the bunny" I could go to Grandma's if I wanted since I had a three day break. I took the chance and spent the holiday at what is to me, the most comfortable place in the world. I wanted to be with my buddies.
Chance gave me an extra warm welcome as I gave him a toy cowboy, and he noticed the huge acoustic guitar slung around my shoulder, which he must've thought that as a "big noise maker", I tinkered around on it that night, after we took a walk in the somewhat chilly night air, and spent the day watching a televised funeral for three Pittsburgh Police Officers.

Noah clapped along, some how thinking Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" is a cheerful song, or either he just clapped because I was playing *very badly* for him.
We played the part of "the bunny" for the boys, the three of us did, me, Kerry, and Jodi. Easter morning, Chance was VERY excited, and Noah really wasn't understanding what he was supposed to do, though Chance was ripping toy cars and chocolate out of his basket like a madman. Noah was just all happy and excited that he got juice boxes.


Christian came over three times the whole time I was there, and I say that because he used to live there, I don't think I told any of you that he moved, but now he gets all excited when he sees me now, for what reason I have no idea, he used to ignore me like the plague. The first time he came over, he left before I got there, but he was napping the second morning, and he got all excited whenever I woke up. He hung onto my neck tightly with both hands while he watched Thomas the Train and played with my Waylon dogtag.
Izriel (Devin's Son) was supposed to come over on Sunday, yet he didn't.

But three little buddies were okay for me. Must've got a billion and two hugs this week.
On Sunday, Chance didn't feel very good. He ate a lot of candy, a jerky stick, and cheese-eggs. Jodi and I were looking after both him and Noah while Kerry took a shower (Grandma had to get some last minute things). Poor Chance started coughing, then choking, and then well......ewwness happened, all he ate came right back up.
The poor guy cried all the way back to his room, he had no idea what had happened but it scared him. Jodi stripped him to his diaper and socks and cleaned up his chair and the table while I held his hand back to his room, where I cleaned him up the rest of the way and dressed him in some clean clothes.
After his stomach settled a little, Kerry went to go get some things ready for the big dinner that night, and he had me push him around on his little peddle-bike (he can't reach the peddles yet).

It was actually very peaceful on Sunday, the boys were happy, and no one was arguing, we all got along......scary because that hardly ever happens!


Our necessary viewing of Never Say Die happened, along with a viewing of The Johnny Cash Anthology and a car ride home listening to Mr. Jerry Reed. All in all, this was a good weekend.

Waylon, Kids and Mobster Games

This picture here (above) is a special picture I took of Chance on Friday, he was dancing and clapping for Waylon (of course).
I left on Thursday to spend the weekend with the boys, it was my choice. If you know me, or even will read this blog as it's updated over time, you'll come to know and understand that there are two biggest joys in my life : Waylon and the boys.

As I said in the last blog, Omie was the reason for finding my Hero, and I'll admit now, that both him and the boys kept me sane through crutches, holidays, hospitals, nurses, a BAD person, and exhausting and overly aggrivating physical therapy.
I broke my leg a year ago in October (2007 not 2008) and as I sat in a hospital bed at four in the morning I thought A LOT about both. Mostly about Waylon, because I was listening to him when I fell, and knowing Omie and her spirituality, I think maybe both her and Waylon had a hand in my falling.

I'll admit, I became seriously "religious" after her passing, because she was also that way, and she knew that I had my troubles. I was two years from officially becoming a teenager, all my friends were over or around forty years old, my biggest interest was Johnny Cash and mobster movies. I rarely went to church (and I still don't because there's not one close enough) but like every person, I had problems.
It wasn't that I didn't have hope in anything, I was just feeling very alone. She introduced me to a lot, she sent me a Bible, she encouraged me to wear a cross, and to just LISTEN.
Through her guiding me to Waylon, I have found some friends, one a bit older than I am, but he's pretty much the closest that I have.
Not only that, her introducing me to him, broadened my horizons, as a lot of folks know, I write, and he's a BIG influence there. Also, just by reading his auto-biography, I've learned new words to incorporate in my stories, and a lot of new ways of describing things.

Now, when I was on crutches, I hardly did anything for the first few weeks but lay upstairs, listen to songs, watch videos, and read. I listened to more and more of the few cds that I got from her that started my collection. Though, when Christmas came, I was probably about as upset as dog living in a dumpster, because whenever I went to Grandma's, Chance gave me the "who are you?" look.
Most of that summer, I had been around, but before that, the last time he saw me was in a hospital bed. And he didn't recognize me anymore, so last year, I made a point to spend as much time with them as humanly possible, and I plan to do the same for the rest of this year.
Over last year, they also started liking Waylon, and truth be told, they recognize him too.
I have quite a few pictures on my desk, and one that I took to the house with me every time I went to see them.
And every time, I had to wipe off the glass because somehow they must've thought he looked hungry, they fed the picture!!
One day there was a three course meal on that frame : eggs, sandwich crumbs and pizza sauce.

They also started giving his picture kisses, I had little lip prints all over it from time to time. Now, Noah has a few pictures of his own, and Chance has one too.
The other night, Chance couldn't fall asleep, so Kerry (his mom) made Popcorn and we watched a movie, but while she was cleaning up the living room, I sat in her bedroom with him whilst he pointed out everything in the room, I spotted his Waylon picture high up on a shelf, and I looked at him, pointed to the picture and said, "Look, Mommy put him waaay up there!!" and at that point, he looked up there, let out a agitated sigh and said "Awwww!".





All in all, this birthday wasn't the worst, because I got to be with the boys, and watch my favorite Waylon concert, and though my Grandma's sister is now in the hospital once again. Mom and Dad updated my gaming system a little, they got me a Playstation 2 (yes, I'm a bit dated when it comes to gaming systems, I still have an old playstation 1!) and a few games, Kerry, Jodi, Chance and Noah surprised me with a DVD of Smokey and the Bandit and a statue of a cowboy that looks an awful lot like Waylon. Nicki, Brandon and Christian decided on getting the Scarface game to go with the new gaming system, and Grandma and Pap-pap got me a wireless controller and a nice Waylon shirt.



This was a bit happy actually, because not everyone gets to see their Hero on their birthday \/

Remembering Two People This Week

This time of year is a little hard for me, but I'll remember all the good things I can.

The main reason is the loss of a great lady, who, all in all changed me for the better, and introduced me to my hero.

Omie died two years ago on March 27th, on my birthday. She was my best friend, and still is, even though I can't talk to her anymore.

I turned twelve the day she passed, and I'd known her all my life. In 2003 her husband passed away, he was really the one who I think kept everyone close and together, and all the kids (including myself) loved him dearly, it was excitement when my mother would announce that we were going to see Omie and Opie. Yet, when he passed, I started getting closer to her.

One day I just wanted to talk to her, and that started daily phone calls for four years.

Our main interest was music, and that sprung from me finding out that she was quite a fan of Johnny Cash. We talked about music all the time, and a lot of it was about Mr. Cash, and then instead of phone calls, she'd take me out to lunch, and different events. She took me to the fair once, and for two days we did nothing there but play Bingo.

Soon, she began telling me of things she used to do with Opie, and all the fun times they had.

Though I didn't visit her very often, the phone was the main part of the day for the both of us.

My great-uncle (one of her sons) started calling us "phone buddies".

We'd talked all through her illness with Breast Cancer, and when she was finally cancer-free, they discovered she also had Bone Cancer.

The phone calls became shorter, but I think we learned a lot about each other, there were a lot of things we talked about that I wouldn't be comfortable talking about with anyone else.

One of my last visits to her, she kept telling me to take her cds and tapes, I told her that I couldn't do that. And thus started our music conversations again.

But this time, it was about Waylon.

Sometime in the eighties (I presume) my great-uncle, had crossed paths with him.

Though they never actually saw eye-to-eye (at least I don't think) Paul really enjoyed his music, and it was a thrill for him.

When we started talking about him, I started researching.

I hunted every video I could find on youtube, and read every article available on the internet. Sadly though, I already knew from my father's Dad, that my future hero was already gone.

Yet I did learn a lot, and Omie was so proud when I told her that Dad had made a cd of his music for me. Those were actually her last months.

Whenever she passed, I wouldn't go into her apartment, I couldn't. I'd been there too many times with her alive and well, and I couldn't stand to be in a place like that without her in it. So, when it came time to divide her things, all I told Mom was that I wanted what she practically begged me to have : the cds and the tapes.

To my surprise, there were actually many Waylon cds there, and a few tapes.

I keep them in pristine condition now, knowing that that's what she would have wanted.

Now, I have quite a few dozen printed pictures of Waylon, and hundreds on this computer, and it's all thanks to Omie for introducing me to him, a master of music.

I don't like cemetaries, I hate them actually. Which is why I've never gone to visit her or Opie, but I think she understands that and so does he. I never even went to her funeral, because I like to remember her the way she was, not the way she was in the end.

But, I think if she were still here, and still healthy, she probably would've joined me in going to see Waylon's grave.

She would understand if I went to see him, because she loved him as much as I do now, and I know she's with him and Opie, and John Cash.

I get upset when I relize that I'll never be able to shake Waylon's hand, or laugh with him etc. But, some day I will go to see him, in fact, I think I might add that to my bucket list.

Go sit with Waylon and listen to the wind