Sounds of Comfort

It is almost Christmas and I have awakened early for the day. It is easy at this time of year to be flooded with memories of days gone by. Triggers to those memories come in many different forms.

I live in a house that was built in the 1920s. It is far from perfect. It reminds me of a mother in the way that it offers comfort and character but is not perfect. That is the kind of mother I had as well as the kind of mother I am.

One small thing brought me back to age three or four this morning. I had enjoyed two cups of coffee and was headed for the kitchen for my third when stepping across the old hardwood floors, I heard a creak and then another.

The sound wrapped it's imperfect arms around me and took me to the 'dime store' Mama and I frequented when I was little. It was huge! It had creaky old board floors and smelled like roasted peanuts.

McClellan's was the name of the place. We called it the "Old Dime Store" because Woolworth came to our little Texas town when the Wheatheart Shopping Center was build. We referred to is as the "New Dime Store."

The new place had a charm of its own. It was more like a cousin than a mother. It was new and modern while the old place was creaky and comfortable to me.

One specific memory of the place was when my brother, Jim, who is thirteen years older than me, took me there. He had already told me "no" to riding the big plastic coin operated horse in the front of the store. We were headed to the back where the toys and 'good stuff' was when I saw the dress of my dreams.

There is was...purple with black pin stripes and black velvet ribbon down the sleeves from the shoulder to the wrist. The buttons had real diamonds down the front. (rhinestones) It had crinoline sewed as an underskirt, (a painful addition, I might insert here.) and my four-year-old heart fell in love with it!

I pleaded with my then sixteen-year-old brother to please get it for me. I don't know how it happened, but he bought it. That was a big surprise to me because I was a real bother to him. He was trying to be grown up and I was trying to make him play with me. It caused many little conflicts. On this day he was my hero. (I have that dress displayed in my bedroom and see it every day.)

Every time I went into that store, that memory came to my mind. This morning, in hearing the creak of the floor, the feeling of love from my brother flooded me once again.

I wouldn't have heard it if the house hadn't been quiet. The creak of a floor, tick of an old-time clock, memories of Mama singing "Away in a Manger", the crisp rattle of onion skin paper turning to the next page in the Bible and the sound of the stout winds take me back.

Mama used to sing "Away in a Manger" year round. I think the reason was that it was one of my favorite songs. She told me the Christmas story and some of the terms confused me. The one thing that stands out is that Mary and Joseph slept in the straw. In my mind's eye, I saw a huge drinking straw and them climbing into it. Never had I seen that element in a Nativity set. I remember asking how they got in the straw. Mama just said, "They climbed into it." In my head, they slept in a big clear tube while baby Jesus slept in the manger with hay. (Can you tell I wasn't a country girl?)

I need to remember to turn off the background noises of the television, radio, and other distractions to listen to the sounds of comfort. To me, when you peel away all the outside stuff, you find the things that really matter.

The "Old Dime Store" as well as the "New Dime Store" are gone now, but the memories of creaky floors, fresh roasted peanuts, crisp crinoline, and the big plastic coin operated horse will live forever in my mind.

Revamping This Blog

When I began blogging, I thought that I would create a blog for each book that I write. I had no idea that I would have the opportunity to write as much as I have been. In February of 2012 I hope to release my sixth book which will be the first book of the new series.

The new series is RESCUED...A SERIES OF HOPE. This series intersects the books of the Nan's Heritage Series. It focuses on the girls who were rescued by the Young family in the first series.

I took the National Novel Writing Month challenge in November of 2011 and wrote the rough draft of the first book in this series, "Some Happy Day". I am very pleased with the way it has turned out so far. I am in the middle of edits. The story is filling out nicely.

Because I am hoping to write many books in the future, I have changed the name to the names of the series that I am writing. You will see the name change with added series in the future.

I appreciate every one of you who takes the time to look at my blogs and also comment. It is my desire to do a good job at this. Merry Christmas and Happy 2012. God bless you richly.