Special Memories; Here's Your 'History' Lesson.

These pix tonight are special to me.  The first one is a collared lizard that we chased all around the cemetery when Lee's son and daughter-in-law were here a couple of weeks ago.  This cemetery is where Lee's mom, dad, and older brother are buried, so it's not far from here.  We see these lizards at the reserve, but I was surprised to see this one at the cemetery.  You can look at the next picture and see the mountains in the background that are part of the chain of mountains where the reserve is.  We really aren't that far from the reserve; I guess we're just too civilized to see them in town; they probably hang out around the countryside around here. Anyway, those lizards always intrigue me.  This picture was not at Lee's family's grave site, but it wasn't far; in fact I think it was the one pictured the second row behind their family's site.

Lee's dad died when Lee was 7 and his older brother, Joe, was 14 and his younger brother, Dan, was 4.  His dad died in January and his mom knew there was no way she could raise 3 boys on the money she made at her job at an insurance office in the little town of Roosevelt.  She moved to OKC and went to business school, leaving the boys with family in Roosevelt for the rest of that school year.  By the start of the next school year she had managed to get a job and assume the loan on a little house, so she brought the boys to OKC with her. They were a tight little family.  She never remarried. The older brother passed away at the age of 56 after a series of strokes.  Lee and Dan had always really looked up to their older brother, so that was a blow to them.  They took care of their mom until her death 12 years ago.  (She only needed their help for the last few years; she'd lived on her own all those years and did fine until she got Alzheimer's toward the end of her life.)

Lee and Dan were just able to buy this stone for their parents' and their brother's graves a couple of years ago.  When Lee and I first met, he was eager to come here to meet me as well as to check on this stone to make sure it wasn't shifting, was settling straight, etc. It means a lot to him to be close to their final burying place as well as where he lived when he was a child.  Over the years, he and Dan came back and spent the summers in Hobart and Roosevelt with family because they were really to young to leave at home all day while their mom and older brother worked.  Lee has lots of memories from this area, so he feels like he has moved 'back home' in many ways.  I  thank God for bringing Lee and Dan and the rest of his family to my life.  They are all really good people and, again, we are blessed!  God is so good!