--------------------- Momma told me not to go--------------

 

I see you are already here with your coffee in hand. Mine is a little cold so I believe I will have just a tad more to warm it up. I took this picture a while ago in California and looking at it now, I hear my Mom's famous words. As if she were standing next to me her words echo through my mind, " Don't Do It!", "Don't Go In There!", or "Stay Away From That!" Yes Mom loved me. She didn't want anything bad to ever happen to her little boy. Did her little boy ever listen? Of course not! I had to do everything the hard way only to find out that mom is always right.This time in particular, her voice seemed to be just a little louder. You see, I have watched that show on television,"  The Ghost Whisperer " , and I have watched what happens to them. This time though I was with my daughter, her husband and our little brave escort, Teddy. Nothing more to do but venture on in.                   Standing next to my daughter we started in the mine.Teddy took the lead and we followed him obediently. The mine itself, runs about a half mile underground and comes out overlooking a ten mile valley of salt. When the sun is shining , the glare can blind you but this day was pleasantly mild and we couldn't wait to see the beauty at the other end. We still have to go through this tunnel into the bowels of the earth first though and I wasn't too sure about it. What if the roof collapses while we are in there? Not to mention Ghosts of miners that you know died in there searching for their treasures. These were my last thoughts as I followed our guide.Did I mention that we got there and had no flash light!!!                                                                                               Getting our bic lighters ready, we walked to the point where light no longer existed. This place was in utter darkness. The depth of which I have never seen before. I did have my trusty cam corder and had it set on night vision so we looked into its little display window and inched our way forward. Teddy hadn't barked at anything unseen yet so we knew we were safe. Making our way around a bend in the mine is when we saw it. Three white lights shimmering and hovering in mid air not too far down the track! Thats when I knew this place led straight down to hell and demons were on their way to claim us for trespassing. Teddy kept going though. Ain't no demon gonna scare  him he seemed to be thinking.                                                                           Given no choice I followed right behind him. The lights were moving, up then down. side by side the lights got closer and closer. The blackness of the mine seemed to make the light  glow a brightness that made me have to squint to see.They got closer still. Looking at the cam corder we saw nothing . The lights were still too far for my night vision to pick them up. Still they got closer. Just when I was ready to grab the kids and run for our lives, for our very souls I saw them.                                                                                                      Three little kids with flashlight hats on. I never felt so relieved in my entire life. I just knew we were going to be Satan Snacks for sure. The rest of the mine was nothing compared to what  I had just endured and it was indeed beautiful looking out over the expanse of salt, scrub bushes and cacti known as Death Valley. Had I listened to mom, I could have avoided my near heart attack but I would have missed a priceless memory. Oh yea, I forgot we still had to go back through the mine to get to the truck. Here we go again.           

The real heroes........

Good Morning!!! I see you decided to join me once more. I hope it's not for the coffee. You see, I drink it strong. Really strong. And black. No additives please!!! Just strong, black and hot. Its got to be hot. Nothing worse than cold, lukewarm coffee. Most people don't like it as strong as I do and this morning I think I overdosed the amount because I can barely get this down ,but of course I will.I have been thinking about my last post and I feel I must devote some time and tell you about my Mom and Dad.Words seem to escape me when I try to think of a place to start. You see there is so much to say.I guess the beginning is a good place. Dad and Mom met in grade school. Dad is said to be heard in the lunch line during his 9th grade year as saying, " See that girl standing there? One day i am going to marry her." Dad was an all star athlete on the football team.{ They didn't even have face masks invented yet}Mom was a majorette with the band and they dated exclusively all thru school. In their senior year, they were nominated and were crowned the prom's King and Queen. What an honor to have all your peers consider you to be their choice for their representation of the school. After graduation, they indeed married and began their journey together through life with all the promises made to young couples. Mom got a job as a top executive secretary and Dad took a job at the power company until he went into the Army.Dad and Mom wanted to start a family of their own and after trying for five years and having no progress, they turned to adoption. Fulfilling all the requirements and alot of red tape they were able to adopt a little boy, pictured above. Little did they know that the little boy was to be such a handful. All they knew is they wanted a family.One of the things the adoption center failed to do is a personality test for both sets of parents as you will see the significance in later stories.You see Mom and Dad worked. They worked really hard and meticulous at whatever they did.They wanted the best for their family and didn't let anything get in the way of that.Mom and Dad raised all of us in the fine style of the Baptists. We attended church at every opportunity and I even spent some time in the junior choir. After the Army, Dad took a job at Kroger super markets as a young draftsmen and he ended up being the Director of Real Estate for them handling million dollar accounts. Dad was a perfectionist and that trait carried him far in his life. Mom opted to be a stay at home Mom and take on all the responsibilities that entailed.We always had most everything we ever wanted and most certainly anything we needed. I even eventually got that bb gun I always wanted for Christmas even though they knew I would shoot myself with it and lose an eye. Every year we would go on vacation to some sunny spot in Florida or some beautiful place down in Kentucky for a couple of weeks. I had a pony to ride whenever we went to my Aunt Silvia's farm. I was so lucky to have known these two people  let alone be able to call them " Dad and Mom". I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that no one except royalty grows up that way but I swear it is all true. No, really !!! That's how it was for me growing up. Mom would even wake us in the morning to these hot Sara Lee coffee cakes that would warm any heart on a cold winter morning. Yes, Mom I never forgot those!!! But you know even though I had everything a person could dream of, I never felt like I belonged. I always knew I was adopted,  and that never mattered much to me. It was something I never could get a handle on it seems. I know they both loved me with all their hearts and only always wanted the best for me and I know I loved them with my whole being as I do now but our core personalities were so different. Even so they are, have been and will always be my heroes.....