A Literary Blast from the Past

While cleaning out papers, I ran across a short story that was written by my daughters and nieces. Evidently, the girls got together one day, typed up a story, and printed it on a dot matrix printer. (Man! Hasn't technology improved!?!?) The girls each signed the story once it was printed, some at the end of specific paragraphs, leading me to believe that they were the author of the paragraph that they signed. Some of the paragraphs don't have a specific author, so maybe the girls will remember who wrote what. What's even stranger is, I signed it! I guess I was in on the writing session... who knows! Although Alisha didn't sign the paper, I can't imagine her not being in on this so I'm giving her credit as well.

Because I'm not adept at using Ron's scanner, I took a pic of the original and have re-typed it below. I tried to stay true to their original grammar, punctuation, and spelling; but, today's computers make it hard to misspell words. Enjoy!

The Family Reunion

In the summer of 1993, the family of Bob and Shirley Porter gathered together for a family reunion. Their four children had families of their own, living all over the world because of job assignments. It was the first time in over five years that all of the children and grandchildren had been in one place together. (author unknown)
Little did they know that this summer would be known as the Summer of the Great Swamp Monster.  The monster had big long eyes sticking out of its head hanging on long anteneas and its face was all pinched in except for its mouth which stuck out real far so it could eat little kids next door. (Amanda Porter)
The Porter kids were known to be little brats so when the swamp monster heard about the family gathering next door, he figured it would be a great place to eat all the bratty little kids. (Sarah Porter)
After the kids had eaten dinner, the swamp monster thought it would be a great time to eat them because they would be fat a juicy. The kids would be going into the pool and their parents wouldn't be watching them. (Sarah Porter)
All of the kids were in the pool and one of them thought she heard something so she went to tell her favorite cousin.  "I think someone is looking over the fence at us." Her cousin loked but didn't see a thing. She said it was a wild imagination. (author unknown)
Suddenly the monster dived into the pool and caught the cousins by their swim suits and then began to rip out their hair because it would give the monster indigestion. (Jessica Porter)
Soon the parents came out and the swamp monster didn't have time to eat them all so he threw them into his own yard. (author unknown)
Then the children were all screaming, the parents were all crying, and the swamp monster was trying to escape with the children. Then the hero's arrived. (either Rebecca or Leslie Searls)
First to the rescue was Sheena the Bold with her golden hair flowing in the wind. Next cam Kiki the Quick with his swift, strong body. Following Kiki was O.W. the Wonder Cat; everyone wonders what he's good at. Finally, the four schnauzers arrived, singing and howling at the top of their voices with their voice coach, Sugar the Sweet trailing behind.  Jack the Nimble Two by Four, Tara the Troubling Bella, Molly the Motherly Mutt, and Missy the Messy. (Gwen Searls, although I don't remember this! And who the heck is Missy??)
The swamp monster was overcome by all of the overpowering love and devotion shown by the animal heroes so he dropped the cousins and ran for the hills never to be seen again. (either Rebecca or Leslie Searls)

I was going to add a picture of the girls, taken at the age this was written; unfortunately,  I've already given most of my photos to my kids. Maybe at some time in the future, I can get either Rebecca or Leslie to loan me some. In the mean time, I took the liberty of getting screen shot pics from their Facebook pages. Here are the authors of the short story, The Family Reunion. Beautiful inside and out.

Amanda Porter Elmer

Sarah Porter Harward

Alisha Porter

Jessica Porter Lehman

Rebecca Searls Castello

Leslie Searls Gutierrez

2015 update continued: Dad's Final Battle

This will be a hard post. I'm intentionally keeping it short because it is difficult to write.  We lost Dad to cancer in April.  He fought with bravery, dignity, and courage; never complaining, and always with a positive attitude. Dad left behind one final lesson: do not complain and accept what life throws at you with grace.
There is often a mixture of emotions when a loved one passes away. In these pictures you will see the joy that comes when family gathers together. Yet, even in some of the faces and actions you see the pain and sorrow. Enough said. We miss you, Dad.

One of my favorite pictures of Dad. He was in every sense of the words, Mr. Fix-it.

 During the weeks before Dad's death, the brothers came down to help care for him and offer whatever support Mom needed. They stayed at Mom and Dad's house and took care of so many things. It made the time much easier for Mom.

The youngest Porter boy; David Andrew and his cool Harley camper.

 The grandkids gathered around and gave Dad a lot of joy. Their laughter and antics brightened his last days. Aunt B was great about providing them with diversions.

A final message from Maggie Lyn...

 The funeral was held at the Texas State Veteran's Cemetery. It was a quiet ceremony attended only by his closest friends and family members. Most of his children and some of the grandchildren were able to make it down in time to say goodbye to Dad. Those who were able, traveled from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Minnesota, and Kansas to be there for the funeral. The women from our church, Mom's quilt group, and many other friends kept us well fed.

From left to right: Amanda, James, Alisha, Sarah, Brad, Emily, and Jason.

Left to right: Alisha, Sarah, Larry, Brad, Ryan, Emily, Jason, and Matt.

The oldest Porter boy; Bob and his sweet wife Kathy Lee.

The second Porter boy, Larry, and some of his children. Sarah, Brad and James.

Ryan and Jamie.

Jessica and Scott.

Emily, Lesie, and Kathy Jane.

David, his wife Deb, and his son Kyle.

Clockwise from the left: Ryan, Scott, Jessica, Larry, Kyle, Mom, Kathy Jane, James, Jamie, Brad, Alisha, and Scott

Clockwise from the left: Kathy Jane, James, Jamie, Brad, Maggie, Leslie, Kathy Lee, Jason, Emily, Sarah, Amanda, and Alisha.

Kansas Wedding Road Trip

During our Christmas break, Ron, Rebecca, Seth, Leslie, Maggie, Sophie and I took off for Kansas.  My nephew Cory was marrying his high school sweetheart, Amanda.  We took off early in the morning the day after Christmas.  Rebecca drove her van with Leslie and all of the kids.  Ron & I traveled in his truck.  There were some periods of tears, whining, arguments and short tempers, but for the most part it was a very enjoyable trip.

Our first stop was just outside of the TX/OK border for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. That didn't quite work out.  They were packed and the waiting list was a minimum of 30 minutes; so, we packed up and went to the other side of the interstate to an I-Hop.  The kids were still in their pajamas, but that didn't matter to them.

Sophie had a chocolate funny face pancake...

Leslie and Maggie...

Maggie and Mimi...

The ride through Oklahoma was uneventful, but once we got into Kansas, finding a restroom was almost impossible.  We followed the GPS directions and ended up taking a lonely country highway.  There were signs for towns, but we never saw anything other than farm houses.  Just when I was ready to start looking for a secluded ditch to pee in, we found a Pizza Hut in the middle of nowhere.  Becca was so funny; after we had all rushed into the restaurant to use their restroom, she looked around and said, "I feel like we ought to buy something just for using their restroom."  I told her I figured this sort of thing happened all the time since it was the only sign of civilization for miles.

One of the things we used to bribe Seth & Maggie into going on the trip was to tell them there was snow in Kansas.  Unfortunately, most of the snow in Manhattan had melted.  But, they were thrilled with the snow that was hidden in the shadows of our hotel.

Seth and Maggie in "the snow"...

Seth had trouble making snow balls because it was
actually ice by the time we got there.

Sophie NEVER wanted to wear clothes, shoes, coats or
jackets the entire time we were there.  Her little
slippers got pretty cold in the snow.

After playing in the "snow" the kids unpacked and took the little ones for a swim in the pool.  When it got to be suppertime, we all met Cory, Amanda, and other members of the wedding party for dinner.  Ron & I ended up taking Miss Sophie back to the hotel because she was such a grouch.  That was fine with me because we were both ready to stretch out on the bed and get the kinks out of our backs.

The next morning, Becca and Leslie went to help decorate for the wedding while Ron and I kept the kids entertained.  Amanda is such a talented young woman.  She made EVERYTHING while finishing up her last semester of college, and working full time.  

The cupcake tower...

Her table centerpieces were made of different flavored suckers.

They provided the guests with a How Well do You Know the Couple word search
and a Mad Libs words of advice.  Very clever!

These were soooo cute!!

The wedding was a beautiful mixture of Amanda, Cory, and tradition.  Amanda chose a dress of gray and black.  Her rationale was to shorten the dress after the wedding so that she could use it as a cocktail dress. The portion that she will cut off is going to be used to make cushions for their home.  Cory and his groomsmen all wore game controllers that Amanda made out of a polymer clay instead of the traditional boutonnieres.  After the ceremony, they served a dinner of pork tenderloin or roasted chicken, steamed vegetables, twice baked potatoes, rolls, and salad.  Instead of having a traditional cake, they chose to have a cupcake tower.

The Texas delegation, Sophie, Seth, Becca & Leslie...

Ron and I...

The parents of the groom; John & Joni and Dave & Deb.

Amanda made these cute fortune teller programs for
the wedding.  It must have taken days!

Amanda's sister was her matron of honor, and our niece Kaylin was one of the bridesmaids.  Cory's brother, Kyle, was the best man.  During the ceremony, it was obvious that they were both very nervous.  But amid the tears and laughter, Cory and Amanda placed keepsakes inside a memory box, recited vows that they both wrote, and became husband and wife in a way that reflected their personalities.

The bride and groom saying their vows...

The memory box...

Mr. and Mrs. Cory Porter!

Getting to watch their wedding was just one of the reasons we went to Kansas.  We also got to see the newest addition to the Kansas Porter family, little Rylin.  She is so cute!  I still can't decide if she will have red hair or not.  Her mother, Kyle's fiance Jess, was very shy but seems so sweet.  

We also got to see David & Deb's home in Junction city.  They found an art deco style home, along the lines of a Frank Lloyd Wright style, and are restoring it.  I loved it!  

Then of course, we stopped at the Russell Stover's Candy outlet on the way out of Kansas, Sam Moon's in Ft. Worth, and made it home before dark on Thursday!

Little Rylan Porter...

Two handsome Porter men; Kyle and David...

Kaylin and Becca...

The outside of Dave & Deb's place...

Dave inside the entry way of their house, with the dogs...

CHOCOLATE!!!!!

It was a great trip, mild weather, pleasant driving and sweet reunions.  I can't wait to go back for another visit.