My granddaughter will tell you…

(Posted by Gayle)

Last weekend Ron’s daughter came to visit with her husband and three daughters.  The girls are 14, 10, and 8 & 11/12ths years old.  The youngest appears to be a “May” in the making.  She is a very outgoing little girl and cracks us up.  She gets along great with kids and grownups alike.  After the recent visit she told her mom she wanted to marry an older man like a grandfather (please note Ron is the only grandfather Camryn has ever known).  She soon stated her reasoning. Read the rest of this entry »

The way to Gayle’s heart.

(Posted by Ron and Gayle)

Gayle's Beloved White Castle

We’re passing through Louisville, Kentucky on our way to French Lick, Indiana for some much needed r & r with kids and grandkids.  Whenever we head East or North, Gayle is on the lookout for a White Castle. Armed with her handy GPS it didn’t take her long to find one!

Okay folks – this might woo her, but it may not be the key to everyone’s heart.  Use caution before making a reservation!

At least we don’t have to kill our Thanksgiving dinner.

(Posted by Ron)

My son and his family just arrived to spend Thanksgiving with us this weekend.  They drove in from Kansas just for the holiday.  It’s a lot different than my memories but I know we are creating our own memories.  Traditions are not dependent on how Gayle and I spent our holidays.  Yes, our traditions somehow get folded into Thanksgiving but the new ones work, too.

When I was growing up there were times when we went to my grandparents for Thanksgiving.  Not often, but enough that I remember it.  The men got up early and went hunting.  Breakfast would then include the squirrels that were killed that morning. I know, some of you are cringing, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.  It’s hard to beat squirrel gravy and freshly baked biscuits for breakfast.

Mostly, however, I remember all of my sisters and my brother showing up at mom and dad’s house for Thanksgiving.  We had a great time with all of the siblings and cousins seeing each other again and we always ended Thanksgiving day full of turkey and dressing and pie and…  Our food all came from the local grocer except for what dad had grown during the summer.  We didn’t have to kill anything.

The women in the family went to the kitchen and began cleaning up after dinner.  There was no dishwasher so cleaning up required a lot of soap, elbow grease, and catching up on what had happened in the family in the last year.

The men would take their coffee and smokes (yes, we still did) out to the front porch   We would also catch up on the past year but it would be more about jobs and fishing and “manly” stuff.  We would never get caught doing the dishes after dinner.

Thanksgiving with my grandparents was the way it was done in the 1940′s and 50′s.  Thanksgiving at my parents’ house was the way it was done in the 1950′s and 60′s.  Neither was unusual for the time.  I’m sure there are still many places in this huge country of ours where one or both of those patterns still exist.

My kids were raised with as many of the family around the Thanksgiving dinner table as possible.  As they grew older the patterns changed.  We moved.  Family members passed away.  The world around us became faster and less connected.  But the family still remains as the basis for the Thanksgiving celebration.

So here we are at Thanksgiving, 2008.  Ron and Wendy and Ian and Emme just arrived from their home in Kansas.  Tomorrow they and a few friends will join us for a meal that Gayle has literally worked on for at least a couple of weeks.  We don’t have to kill anything – Kroger’s handled that for us.  We just get to enjoy the time together.

When I was a child I never remember friends being part of our Thanksgiving.  I love this new part or our tradition.  I wish that all of our kids and grandkids could be with us but know they are having Thanksgiving with friends and family.  The world is so different now.  We are often so far apart.

We don’t eat together, but we call each other.  The men clear tables and put dishes into the dishwasher (or wash if necessary).  We all visit together.  We have new traditions, but they still keep families together.  The families are even different.  Gayle and I are parent and step-parent.  The kids accepted this new family structure years ago.  The grandkids know us as Pop and Gigi and that is normal for them.  It may be a smaller, differently structured group but it’s no less traditional.

So, however you are doing it and with whom, have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Slipping and Sliding with Dad

(Posted by Earnest D. Cember)

(This is another guest post by my alter-ego, Earnest D. Cember.  It will also appear in Earnest’s blog.  It may seem out of place in our May December blog but it’s not.  Earnest shares his memories for his own enjoyment and, in this case, to relate how he and Earnestine May (Gayle’s alter ego) grew up so differently and in an almost totally different era.  As if our age difference isn’t enough to content with, we are the classic small town country boy and big city metropolitan girl combination. Here is Earnest’s blog.  Enjoy!  – Ron)

The American Eel is believed to come from an area of the Atlantic Ocean called the Sargasso Sea.  They are born there and then spend most of their life in fresh water.  They are energetic little fish which swim from the Atlantic ocean up many of the rivers and streams in America to mature in some interesting places.  This post is about those which found their way into the muddy banks of creeks in West Virginia.  That’s a pretty long swim. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s just say it rhymes with sougar!

(Posted by Gayle)

I was reading a question on one of my favorite age gap relationship forums.  I felt compelled to write the following post as a response to the question.  If you read what I’ve written you’ll figure out what question to which I am responding.  So hang in there it will all make sense, I just had to share it here!

I’d like to introduce you guys to my mom and my step-dad. Here is their picture. They had a 15 year age difference. The pic was taken in 1976. My father had died 5 years earlier leaving her a widow at the young age of 54. The age gap between my mom and dad was 8 DAYS. My mother died 5 years ago shortly before her 85th birthday and what would have been her 28th wedding anniversary with my step-father.

Now, 5 years later, my step-father enjoys dating a variety of women closer to his own age. We just celebrated his 76th birthday. I guess my mom was a cougar long before it was cool. Their 15 year age difference worked beautifully and was full and complete is EVERY way. The only problem they had is that sometimes HE had a hard time keeping up with her. I can hear her wonderful and much missed laugh as I type these words. She would have had a ball with the concept of being a “cougar.”.

I’m sorry I digressed, what was the question? Something about “what could he possibly see in a woman 18 years older who is his mother’s age”….