Goodbye, Papa Charles!

Last night Fort Worth lost a great man.  Charles Perry passed away.  He was a veteran, a teacher, a coin collector, a husband, a father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and a man of faith to the end.
My family first met Papa Charles at church, but it was outside of the church walls that he and his wife Mama Joy have made the most difference in our lives.
Recounting memories of him last night, we decided that Adam first got to know Papa Charles through his involvement in the United Methodist Men. I first met him and Mama Joy through my involvement with the Emmaus community at our church.
Papa Charles always had a good story to tell. I would try to tell him a cute story about my life and he would follow that with a story of history behind my story. I would tell him something like, "We got a new oven at home so I'll be cooking more.  Hahaha." Then he would look at me, take a breath and say, "You know the reason the oven is designed that way? It's because hundreds of years ago........"  I wish I had written down some of the  histories he shared with me, but I was usually caught off guard and wasn't expecting him to provide so much meaning in each exchange.  He had a talent for infusing meaning in everything he did.
Paul and Claire both have loved Papa Charles since birth.  When Paul was born, Papa Charles and Mama Joy began "visiting" the children regularly.  I would often slip up and call them babysitters but then they would correct me.  Papa Charles would say, "Now you know we don't babysit. We visit with children."  I have photos of Papa Charles and Paul as an infant, both taking a nap on our couch.  Adam and I both laughed as we shared with others that the kids were at home "with a young couple named Mama Joy and Papa Charles."
About the same time Paul was born, Adam rediscovered his love of coin collecting. He regularly takes Paul and Claire to coin shows and nearly always met Papa Charles there. Papa Charles would share with the kids history of coins.
It was cancer that took his life in the end, and Papa Charles gracefully entered into his role as a hospice patient. Just before Thanksgiving I took the children to visit him.  We sat with him while Mama Joy escaped to the grocery store.  While the kids acted crazy, he shared with us the names of birds outside and points of local history.  He also recommended I get my kids into chess because it focuses smart kids.  It was a profound moment for me when faced with death, he kept on teaching those around him.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, he had to be hospitalized briefly and from his hospital bed, he told Mama Joy to get out some of his wooden puzzles.  She shared the story with me.  "Why do you want puzzles out, Dad?" she asked him.  He replied, "Because we're going to have children at our house visiting and I want them to have something to play with."
The next time we saw him was a couple of days before Christmas when we came to sing Christmas carols.  After the singing was over, we stayed and visited.  I eventually had to pry the children away from Papa Charles' puzzles so we could go home. He was so smart and selfless, making sure my kids had entertainment while he entered his last days.
Upon receiving the news of his death last night, Paul wanted to run over for "one last hug."  We all loved Papa Charles and will miss him greatly.

Papa Charles and Mama Joy waving goodbye to me from their front porch.

Movie, Coin Show, and Birthdays: A weekend of fun!

This weekend was absolutely perfect.

On Friday night, we watched Herbie the Love Bug on the front lawn at our church. I packed a picnic dinner and we had fun!

On Saturday morning, Adam took the kids to a TNA show. That's right.  It's the Texas Numismatic Association.  The kids participated in an auction and won free coins. 

They were kind of  hyper toward the end apparently.  They had a lot of fun and Sarah enjoyed going to Kohl's by herself.

Saturday night was my maternal grandpa's 80th birthday party.  Here's my grandparents with all their kids.

The fab five.  My mom is on the end.

We tried to get Grandma and Grandpa to kiss, which was  hilarious.

We all had a good time laughing about their squished noses.

They are so cute!

In this photo, Grandma isn't mad.  She's in shock because my aunt got the group photo developed at Wal-Mart during the party.  She had a frame waiting and gave the framed photo to them.  Grandma couldn't wrap her brain around how it happened so fast.

On Sunday we celebrated Claire's birthday at Build a Bear Workshop.  This was a pretty good bargain.  For $171 each of our party guests took home a bear with a sound box inside and clothes.  Our party leader was awesome!  He also asked if I did stand-up comedy on the side which tells you about what level his humor was.

Claire, her best friends, and her brother with their new bears.

Group hug!

Paul's bear is named Batty.  Wonder why.

Claire's bear is named Blackie.


It was a weekend full of laughs and happiness.  I can't wait to see what this summer has in store!

Drive Through Wisdom

My husband Adam is a coin collector. Every two weeks on payday when he goes to the bank, he asks them what uncommon coins they have. Then he cleans them out.
A few weeks ago Adam got nearly $200 in half-dollars. He opens up the rolls, pulls out any he needs for his collection and then we spend them.
This week we were toward the end of pay cycle and I was out of cash. Adam reminded me we had several rolls of the 50 cent pieces, so I took them and spent them.
At CVS I picked up my prescription. $9 in half dollars was put through the drive through window. I apologized for all the coins, but the employee loved them. The clerk was so excited, he said, "I feel like a pirate!"
Yesterday my grandfather had surgery, so after I secured babysitters for the kids, I stopped by Whataburger for a biscuit. I often drive through this Whataburger have wondered why it takes me 10 minutes or more to get my food. Since it was just me and I didn't have to deal with any kids in car seats, I decided to walk in and avoid the drive-thru line.
What I found inside amazed me. Every employee had a smile on his or her face, and everyone was working as fast and as hard as they could. Since it takes so long to get food there, I had assumed there were a bunch of teenagers slacking off talking, but I was wrong. They made every order fresh and to specifications. There were probably ten people behind they counter and they darted around each other working like a well-oiled machine.
I paid for my biscuit with half dollars and the cashier was jubilant. "I love these!" he said. He even gave me a free drink in appreciation of my coinage.
Yesterday I was blessed with two lessons. 1. Don't be ashamed of what you have. Sometimes paying in coins is fantastic. 2. Have patience at the drive thru. You can't see what goes on inside, and the employees just might be working as hard as they possibly can.