Keys to the Past

I Know My Design... Now -- today

Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who risked her life to keep the Frank family hidden, is still alive in the Netherlands, they embark on a fund raiser to bring her to their class as a guest speaker. It is the emotional highlight of the film. Visibly moved by the courageous stories of this now elderly woman (played by actress Pat Carroll), the students instantly see her as a hero.
"I was not a hero," she says. "I was an ordinary person. All I did was do the right thing. But you are heroes everyday. You are turning on a light in a dark room


."Miep Gies: But even an ordinary secretary or a housewife or a teenager can, within their own small ways, turn on a small light in a dark room




In my own small way...  I will turn on a small light in a dark room – today

   
Beverly  
April 2017  

What right and wrong with LONGEVITY?

Cousin birthdays for March.....

I picked up the phone.... and called my cousin TODAY.    A simple, often overlooked thing to do.  My husband, and seven year old Nick... and my cousin Bruce Fisher (age 65) share March 24th birthdays...

So belatedly.... the reason is because I'm looking forward to my older brother Orville... who has a March 29th upcoming birthday!  

Family Biography: Quote of the day

A favorite quote for today:
"You must do the things you think you cannot do"  Eleanor Roosevelt

Ancestral -- Hand written letters

Howard III said he wanted to share with me several handwritten letters from Big Mama!  Wow... she wrote him letters when he was a freshman-senior out at Langston University!! 1967-1971.  She'd put a dollar in the letter... never more than two dollars.  Big money at the time!

Howard doubted that Andrea or Val could appreciate significance of it... He would share such treasures with me.!!! YIPPPPPPPPEEEEEE

Never to be Found Great-Grandfather Jim Travis and Neeley - MS

My oldest brother told me about five stories....  I'm going to recount them briefly in order to fill in details a little later

Brother Cavers and possible kiss stolen question to 13 yr old boy.....sing a song come this far by faith...cry and preach at small church next door to big mama's house......   

about 12 years old, they were traveling to a small town and he looked out window and saw a sign COLORED only  mama would not explain to him... just looked away. 

3rd story about daddy often telling an extraordinary story of when he and some friends were driving a distance.... tired of fried chicken/salad in a bag. they wanted a lunch mean....pulled into a town and Dad walked into restuarnt and asked the owner.... for a colored menu.   Guy said SIR  we do not have separate menu... all of our customers are welcome to come in and sit and order..... Dad quite impressed at reverse tale of NON RACISM.  

4th story.... after I tole him we were going to Sweet Home in Chandler OK.... so he told me what Uncle DD said about the old cemetery for his (mydaddy's) grandfather and grandmother Jim and Nellie Travis... who lived as sharecroppers on the Watson plantation.  The old man/owner had allowed the many families who sharecropped to have a plot of land to bury their kin.   Likewise this was where Jim and Nellie were buried.   Time passed as our grandmother Mama Dooley and siblings moved to Lexington OK... that is where DD and daddy were raised.  DD told story that as the Old man died -- his son took over the land/farming and systematically plowed over the cemetery.. planted cotton.  My uncle DD cussed every time he told the story -- so inhumane -- we were just like dogs or no-life personhoods who were buried on HIS LAND.... so irrespective he plowed and grew cotton on the land.   There is not record of names..... so I have found out.... But can confirm the loss of place // identity destroyed -- no burial place.   Gosh a resting place is needed. 

But I think of Jim Travis as a godly man... trusting his soul to God's good keeping hand.   Knowing the evil lurking in the human heart of slaveholders in the deep southern state of Mississippi.....

Honoring Our Loved Ones

"You honor the life that has been given you by remembering and telling your stories." 

from Robin Moore's "Awakening the Hidden Storyteller" 

Saying out loud.... I love you!!

Phone rang.... It was my California brother.....  great chat.... before I hung up I said........ 
 I love you - James!

Brothers and Sisters

are absolutely the best kin-folk EVER!!!

ERA ~ ending and beginning

I count a greater portion of my life according to the Presidential election of 2008!  I was on a cruise ship (voted early) and Sir/POTUS was Barak Obama!  

Per Sepai.... I pant to start again....VETERANS DAY 2016

Its been 8 great years.... and we are on the brink of electing America's First Madame/POTUS!  Countdown time!  

 Near Georgetown..... or was it our night in Chinatown.... via Washington DC tour for the Langston Ladies!

Wonderfully 90 years YOUNG

Longing for my Daddy today ~ 19 years

Father's Day 2016. 

Facebook posting of Great-Great Grandson with TB Sipuel

Seeing My Image in an Oklahoma Headstone

Our annual visit . . .Chickasha's Rose Hill Cemetery

Perfect Attendance is a family affair....

I went thru a couple of boxes again..... a unique retirement activity.... and say my 6th grade Lincoln School attendance

A TRIBUTE TO MY COUSIN MELVIN

Taken from my cousin's facebook post:

TO MY FATHER
SEPARATED BY DEATH,
TOGETHER BY LOVE.

DEATH LEAVES A HEARTACHE NO ONE CAN HEAL
LOVE LEAVES A MEMORY NO ONE CAN STEAL

MY FATHER MELVIN DAVIS JUST PASSED AWAY TODAY AT THE AGE OF 84 (CHICAGO, IL)

SHARON DAVIS   4-7-2016

Sepia Says..... Water Under the Bridge

Hello Friends, and Well-Wishers.....  

The phrase caught my attention this week......as the shipmen sailed under/alongside a bridge.....

Life is much like.... Water Under the Bridge!

I know a few things about the Nature of Water.....

All the waters run to the sea and yet the sea is not full, and from the place where they began, thither they return again....   Ecclesiastes

Water is the only substance on earth that is naturally present in three different forms...........  as a liquid, as a solid, and as a gas (water vapor) !

Water is the only drink for a wise man....Henry David Thoreau 

Mixed emotions of all is well for the week ending 4-9-2016.   Celebrating the 32nd Birth Year of my baby daughter........  But on 4-7-2016 -- the passing of my 84 Year Old Cousin in Chicago Illinois.

Just awed that his voice is silenced.... hence.... WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE

I noted its meaning .... 

Something that has happened in the past, 

something that cannot be undone, and 

something or someone.... who can no longer be a consideration.     

Under the bridge.... is British in its origin and 

is the oldest part of the interesting proverb

This image really portrays the silence, tranquility, 

but 'aloneness' that I kinda feel today.

Not much sadness -- just solemn

My neighborhood has a wonderful lake that I walk a couple of miles fairly often

....

...hmmmm   when is the last time I've been on a BOAT.... via a cruise maybe...???   Well last year or so.... there was the awesome, gorgeous waters of my Central Florida mini-vacation..... AHHHHH

ahhhhhh  indoor

the beaches.... outdoor

and poolside.      Water --- indeed --- under the bridge and everywhere!

Let's Hang Tough.... Always Moving Forward 

Beverly 

Flashback Saturday: Loving the Game of Golf

End of Week #6 - 2016!  Sepia Saturday 317 (I don't know their number system.... unless I think FORWARD !!!)

My Brother is an avid golfer.  That being said... there is only one time that I've seen him play golf.   hmnnnnn.....  He's not a selfie taker/ not an iphoner... hmnnn

So let me search back...way way back to an OU Golf Tournament (Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Tournament/Award Ceremony)

Still Images . . from the Old Cassette player

Really thrilled for a jump-start to post about OLD movie clips, the OLD reel-to-reel my daddy used to record on.... My brother has the clunker machine and might take a pic for me.

Hubby's mom was the church generation of cassettes of sermons.  The cassette player in the car!

These pictures are dated late 1958-59 and early 60's