I woke up Saturday morning tired from my long trip to Seattle the day before. After eating a yummy breakfast, cooked by my amazing and talented sister Vickie, we ate eggs, bacon, and cheese wrapped in a tortilla we called our aunt Marie. I still am not able to talk on the phone clearly enough for anyone to understand me, so Vickie did the chatting. Shortly after getting off the phone with Aunt Marie, Uncle Rolland called. After she got off the phone with him, we were talking and we decided that we would get dress and drive out to Mollola to visit them. What an adventure.

I have not been out to Mollola in eight years and so Vickie and I forgot how to get out there, so we had a heck of a time finding Aunt Marie’s house. We got there.
Seeing Aunt Marie’s white Tudor house brought back a lot of memories for me. When I was a little girl Aunt Marie’s house was a haven for me. My birth mother had mental issues that would leave her either violent or in bed all the time. When I got to visit Aunt Marie in the summers I could be a kid again. I swam in the pool, caught frogs in the pond, played with the dogs, the cat, climbed the trees, ride on the Harley motorcycle, and ate ice cream, play dress up, pick berries, and look at the old pictures of my mom when she was happy and young again. In those pictures of my mom, she was happy, young, and looked like a lot of fun. I have no idea what exactly happened to my mom because my family is originally from Cassville Missouri and in the south you don’t talk about your troubles or share family secrets. I have my suspicions, but they are only suspicions until I can get someone to actually talk about it. I walked into her house and all these amazing memories flooded my brain. Aunt Marie has put in some wood floors, but I can see where I get my love of cooking, plants, children, bluntness, sense of humor, and my smile from, from my mom’s family.

Aunt Marie is 73 years old and still works 5 days a week as a caregiver. She still takes care of her challenging husband, my Uncle Rolland, her great grandson Leland, who by the way is the cutest thing ever, and she is a haven to a lot of our family members. She is a hard worker, a fighter, and I see that is where I get my determination and strength from. I believe God showed me a lot about who I am and where my foundation came from.

Another amazing thing that happened while Aunt Marie’s was I saw a Yucca plant. You are probably wondering why I am so excited about a Yucca plant, I will tell you why. Friday when I went to Seattle, Dr. Gardner my Rhematologist explained to me that my medication Plaquinil is made from the Yucca plant. This plant helps my body fight my Vasculitis disease that I have. How cool is that? It’s a beautiful plant. It’s an amazing plant that heals. God created this plant to help everyone with the same disease that I have to fight their disease. Not all medications are just chemicals; some of them are made from plants.

In the garden there was a fully filled fig tree waiting to be harvested. Vickie, picked a bunch of figs for us to take home. Vickie never had a fresh fig before and she loved them. When we got home and ate some yummy beef stew, she cut up some fresh figs and put them over vanilla ice cream. What a yummy treat! I had an amazing day and I am thankful for that.

Uncle Rolland, Vickie, and I. I enjoyed seeing Uncle Rolland too.