Diva's Memories of My Momma

Charlie, you met my mom, your Great Grandmother several times as a baby and once when you were about 6
.  Mom came to stay with us while my sister went to see the Ark in Kentucky.  Bobbie and Uncle Joe brought their grandsons Reid and Jay with them.  This is a picture of you and your brothers with Great Grandmother Janet Carden Watson.  I always like this picture because it is the only time she was with all of her great-grandsons. 

She lives in a nursing home now in Alabama.  She just turned 94.  She is in good health but has Alzheimer's disease that has robbed her of her memories.  When I am able to see her I tell her my favorite stories about her and things I remember she did.  She will laugh and say, I did that?  I haven't been able to visit her in over a year now because of the Covid pandemic.  So these are the heart stories of my memories of her when I was growing up.

Dear Mom,                                                                    January 12, 2021

 

This is your middle daughter Kathy. I am the one who is named after you ...Janet Kathleen. I live in Tennessee with my husband Charlie.  I asked you once when I was growing up why you called me Kathy when my name was Janet.  You told me that you were always going to call me Kathy but  Kathleen Janet didn’t flow like Janet Kathleen.  Your mom, my grandmother, would send me a birthday card every year with Kathleen Janet Watson on it.  It always secretly made me laugh that she didn’t really know my name.

   One childhood memory I have of you, mom is that you would write to your mom every week.  I remember watching you type your letters on an electric typewriter.  So for your birthday, I have decided to follow your example and write you a weekly letter.  Not so much what we are doing but to remember the stories of my heart.  These are the stories I will tell my grandchildren about my     Momma and Daddy.

  Since we just had a New Years' celebration, Bobbie and I were talking about the New Year Celebration we had in Idaho when I was 5 and Bobbie was 8.  You and Dad had a New Year’s adult party the year before so you promised that we girls could have our own party the following year.  I think we just had friends who were our age that lived on the base.  I remember we had Beverly and Cami Nickel and another little girl that Bobbie knew.  We all got dressed up and went to the base movies.  We got to see “There’s No Business Like Show Business” with Ethel Merman. 

Dad got all of us popcorn and drinks and we thought we were so grown up.  The movie ended at 9pm and we got to drive around town with party hats and noisemakers yelling, “Happy New Year”. I am pretty sure we were all home and in our beds long before the New Year’s countdown.  It made me feel really grown up and important.

    Your granddaughter Suzy, my middle child and the one most like her grandmother (YOU), loves to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her boys.  They all get dressed up and she plans special food and games till midnight and she has a balloon drop from her ceiling.  This year they had a confetti cannon in her living room.  She says she is still vacuuming up paper shreds! 

     We miss you, we love you, we pray for you every day.  Much love….Kathy

joint birthday party

Birthday buddies! Because Charlie and Henry have birthdays 3 days apart, we did a family fun weekend party for these two. I wish we could have had friends come, but I love that these two guys are such good pals. They are into a new computer game called “Grounded” which has the basic plotline of “Honey I Shrunk the Kids.” (Hence the giant dandelion...) We tried to create a live-action obstacle course for the boys, where they could use their primitive weapons to destroy aphids, gnats, and spiders (or just pop balloons).  #makingmemories #birthdaybuddies #groundedgame

Our sweet Charlie's 10 birthday

This boy. Today he turns ten and I celebrate him and the joy he brings to all who know him. Charlie has a tender heart and such a willingness to share, whether that is making sure dad buys a special pink donut for mom for his birthday morning breakfast or letting his brother “help him” build a favorite lego kit. He is the first to show love when everyone else is frustrated. He gives the best cuddles when he sees my hurt. He is a good listener and he LOVES to tell you the plot lines of a story. He is smart and patient and kind. I love who he is and I can’t wait to see what big things he will do in this world. I can’t be more proud of my sweet Charlie Bear. ❤️

Charlie this is a post your mom wrote about you on Facebook.  Poppa and I are so proud of you and love being close by to be a part of your life.  We love your enthusiasm and especially your hugs.

Happy birthday Charlie Bear

This boy. Today he turns ten and I celebrate him and the joy he brings to all who know him. Charlie has a tender heart and such a willingness to share, whether that is making sure dad buys a special pink donut for mom for his birthday morning breakfast or letting his brother “help him” build a favorite lego kit. He is the first to show love when everyone else is frustrated. He gives the best cuddles when he sees my hurt. He is a good listener and he LOVES to tell you the plot lines of a story. He is smart and patient and kind. I love who he is and I can’t wait to see what big things he will do in this world. I can’t be more proud of my sweet Charlie Bear. ❤️  

 

Charlie this is a facebook post you mom wrote about you.  We are so proud of you and the remarkable young man you are becoming.  Hope you are never too big for Diva and Poppa Hugs.

Christmas Day 2020

It snowed Christmas Eve, so Christmas Day started later for Diva and Poppa.  We waited till about 10 0'clock before we started our trek to spend Christmas with you and your brothers.  We kept a count of how many cars and trucks we saw in the ditch on our normal 10-minute drive to your house.  We told you that whoever got the closest would be able to open their gifts first.  Oz guessed 5, Charlie guessed 7 and Henry guessed 12.  Henry was the closest.  

We actually counted 16 cars and trucks in the ditch.

It was a fun day because all of you were so excited.  Every gift was better than the last and watching you boys really made Christmas special for us.

We especially liked the gift your Mom made for Poppa.  It was a tic-tac box with coins that had been cut up into quarter pieces.  She labeled it BitCoins.   It really made Poppa laugh.  I liked it because it was clever and homemade.  Poppa keeps it in his desk drawer.

Your Dad got an empty bottle with a label on it that said, Big bottle of Nothing.   He laughed and laughed and said it was the perfect gift.  When your mom asked your dad what he wanted for Christmas he said "Nothing"  so that's what she got him.  Clever Mom.

My favorite gift was from your parents and your Aunts and Uncles.  It is our family tree burned into a real slice of wood.  It has everyone's names and birthdays.  Our family tree is complete for a very long time.

Thank you for letting us spend the day with you.  It was a fun day.  We love you.

Your Diva and Poppa

12 days of Christmas

  A Bennetch Christmas Tradition. 12 days of Christmas ribbon

 Years ago when our children were very young and had no sense of time they would get up every morning hoping it was Christmas.  They were so excited and would follow up with the next question such as......" Will it be Christmas tomorrow?"   

 So being a very poor pastor's wife we would make a paper chain with the exact number of links till it would be  Christmas. We would hang it by the table and every day we would cut off one link.  That way they could see how many sleeps till Christmas day.

As they grew older we would write an activity on each link to do for that day.  There were activities such as baking cookies, make Christmas cards, watch a Christmas movie, have a snowball fight, or sing a silly Christmas song.

As the children grew older each one wanted to make his or her own Christmas chain and write their own activity. Of course, they never wanted to do the same thing at the same time so that idea was quickly abandoned.

The next improvement was each child would tell me what colors they wanted their chain to be.  I would cut the strips and number them so one child got to be the leader in an activity, another got to be the one to pick out the book we would read together and the third child got a special message ( either a compliment or a  timed challenge with a reward ).  As you can easily see this led to hurt feelings with 3 preschoolers so this was quickly abandoned for our present-day solution.  

  

Now, Mom wraps candy with a  special note inside for each kid and glues it on a ribbon.   It used to be 25 notes times 3.  Each note had to be heartfelt, funny, or what I admired about them. And yes, they would compare them with each other to see who mom loved best.   

Our kids are grown now with kids of their own. I still make them ribbons every year as well as for each grandchild. The tradition is now the 12 days of Christmas. 

I also decorate and make some ribbons for extended family and friends.  Of course the older I get the more friends I've made.  So if you receive an Advent ribbon from me know that you are holding a special piece of my heart.

Christmas Advent Ribbon 2020

Charlie, I love that you are a snappy dresser.  I love the bow tie.  Did you know that Poppa used to wear a bow tie all the time when I first met him? You are definitely your Poppa’s “mini-me”.  Diva

 

 

Charlie, this is one of my favorite pictures of you.  I am so glad that you and your family can still go on camping adventures.  Do you still like to fish?  You make me laugh and give me the best hugs.  Your Diva

 

 

 

 

Charlie, thank you for being a good friend to our Dog Lady.  We still miss her.  You were always very kind to her.  I know you will really be kind to Madeline as she grows out of the puppy stage and stops chomping on your ears...Ouch!  Diva

 

 

 

Charlie, you are the middle child, your mom is a middle child, Diva is a middle child also.  You need to know that you play an important role in your family.  You can relate to Oscar and his interests yet still be a good friend and role model for Henry.  The best part of the cookie is the sweet middle that holds it all together.  Just ask Oreo.  My special boy.  Diva

 

 

 Charlie, Charlie,  my kindest, sweetest, sensitive child.  I have to laugh that you would choose to be Darth Vader.  Evil henchman of the Emperor.  You definitely have the chokehold perfected.

 

   

I love this picture of you.  My fierce dragon boy.  I have no doubt if I was in trouble you would swoop down and save me.  Love you, love your costumes!  You are always in trouble ...Diva  P.S.  I love your sweet prayers for me more than I can express in words.

Charlie, I love my boys.  Thanks for always giving me hugs. I run on hugs and you and your brothers keep me “fueled up”  Diva

 

 

 

Charlie, it was so much fun watching you and your brothers meet Madeline.  I can imagine many adventures you will have together in the future.  Just remember babies like to nip and your ears must be irresistible.  Diva

 

 

Charlie Bear, who knew I would enjoy watching you and Henry in a bubble blowing contest.  Henry is full of hot hair so he blew the biggest ones but you my clever boy blew the most and had the biggest pile.  I love this picture of you both.  You look so pleased with your accomplishment.  Your Diva

 

 

Charlie, I have always loved this print of you and feel very privileged to have witnessed you putting on the star for the tree.  I know you don’t like heights and you were very brave and proud.  I love being part of special moments.  Diva

 

 

 

What a strange year 2020 has been.  I am proud of you for doing your best and getting all your work done from home in a timely manner.  You inspire me to always do my best.  Diva

 

 

 

 

Charlie, how much do I love you?  To the moon and back again.  YourCrazy Diva.

 

trouble you would swoop down and save me.  Love you, love your costumes!  Your always in trouble ...Diva  P.S.  I love your sweet prayers for me more than I can express in words.