"Ahhh...The Memories!"

This past Saturday, (08 August 2009) Dion was outside walking around our property, and guess who was keeping an eye on him? Yep, our kitty, Capote. Dion got a shot of him on a tree stump just behind our yard, right in front of the gully. We have a really deep gully running the whole length of our property, behind our home, and when it rains, the stream runs so wild that you would swear there was a train traveling full speed behind our place. Some nights, though, the sound of the wind combined with the roaring stream is so soothing, that it lulls us to sleep.

Also...back in the 70's, one of our favorite places to go was a little place on Rte. 96, just outside of Ovid, called Argus's Drive-In. They had a little Restaurant with regular tables and a bar to eat at inside the place, plus outdoor tables for when the weather was good, a really nice Gift Shop for the locals and the many tourists visiting our area, and a really nice spot for Miniature Golf.

The proprietors of the establishment, Walt and Jean Argus, were friends of Mom and Dad's and they always bought their cars from Dad. Dion's father used to own a gas station in the early 60's called R & R Texaco on the corner of Rte. 96 and County Rd. 139 in Ovid, which was just up the road from Argus's, so he knew Walt Argus pretty well. The Argus' son and daughter, Rick and Cathy (?), used to come over to our house and play with us when we were little--that was a long, long time ago, but they were very happy memories.

Argus's has been closed since 2001 or thereabouts, so Dion took our "new" car over there and snapped a few pictures of the place, just so we'd have them for our memories. The place hasn't really changed at all (except that it's all run down now) since when it opened up originally (in the 50's, I think). It was such a popular place, and it was so cute in there, too. It had a real homey feel to it, and everyone was very friendly. It kinda reminded me of "Happy Days" in a way, with the comaradarie and all of that--I wish that restaurants were still like that. Every once in a while you can find one that is, but not very often. When we do, those are the places that we keep going back to...so we can hold on to that feeling of "the good ol' days".

Dana's birthday was yesterday. He would have been 57.

Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may God bless you all.

Cynde

Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!

Where It All Began

All I can think about lately is little Noah. I can't wait until he gets here. So that made me think that maybe it would be a good time to tell the story of Sande's and my beginning.

We were actually triplets, but little Cande didn't make it. My mother never talks about it, but I know it hurts her to this day. She does love to tell the story about when she found out she was pregnant for twins—even though they didn't know we were triplets until she lost Cande: the third baby, my tiny, little sister.

My father owned a car dealership (he sold Oldsmobiles and Chevrolets) and he was away at a big Dealership Meeting in Syracuse, N. Y. at Krebb’s Inn when my mother got the good news. Ordinarily, news like that could have waited until he got home a few days later, but this was different! You see, Dad and his ex-wife had their own set of twins, and when he had left her for cheating on him, (several times!) she kept telling him that he’d be sorry—he’d never be able to have twins with anyone else. In fact, she gloated over it.

My father told my mother about what she had said before they got married, and said it was a ridiculous thing for her to say. They both laughed about how funny it would be if he and Mom were able to have twins some day, but, it was soon forgotten; they got on with the beginning of their new, happy lives together. They had both agreed that whether or not they had twins would not be the key to their happiness. However, deep inside, my mother wanted to give my father twins—she wanted it that more than almost anything!

Mom and Dad totally erased that conversation from their minds, and one year later, my brother, John was born. Four years after that, my sister, Carol Lee, joined him. Now it was another four years later, and Mom was making a phone call to the secretary at the Dealership meeting. Mom briefly told her the story about Dad’s first set of twins and what his “ex” had said, then she asked when their next break would be.

"This is too good to wait!” the secretary had said. “Why don't I just go right over and have them take a phone to his table; it'll give those boys some real excitement!" and that's exactly what she did.

My mom excitedly spoke to my dad over the phone. “Sweetheart, I have some good news for you,” she said, trying hard to suppress the giggles that were waiting to burst forth.

“Go ahead, honey,” he replied, nervously. “I’m always happy to hear good news.”

“Miles, we’re having twins!”

“What do you know!” he exclaimed. Then he turned to the men in the meeting and said, “My wife and I are having twins!”

The room filled with men was abuzz, congratulating my father and making wise cracks. Everybody in the room started whooping and hollering; my dad was the proudest man in the world.

“I’ll have to get off the phone now, Mary Ellen. I can’t hear you over all the ruckus,” he told her. “You’ve made me so happy…and honey, don’t forget—I love you!”

“I love you, too, Miles,” she had answered, tears of joy spilling down her cheeks.

When our father put the announcement in our hometown newspaper five months later, it read: "New Models Arrive At Local Dealership," and he proudly heralded the arrival of their twin girls, Cynde and Sande. Boy! was his was ex-wife ANGRY!!

For your enjoyment: (This reminds me so much of our childhood. There is so much love in this home. What a blessed family!)


Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may God bless you all.

Cynde

Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!