memory – Arkansas Women Bloggers

Dear Mom {Love Story}
Written by Sweety Darlin’.

Dear Mom,
I wanted to write you a letter to fill you in on all the things that have happened since January of 1996. First your granddaughter, Alia, has grown into a beautiful and intelligent young woman, but of course you knew she would be. I know the mother’s curse works because she is giving me fits about her grades. She just decided not to do homework the first 9 weeks of her freshman year, so we are dealing with that. You would love the punishment I gave her. I took away all her clothes, shoes and makeup, made her wear grey sweatpants and grey t-shirt for 9 weeks. The little snot is so beautiful she still had boys sniffing at her butt like dogs in a dog park.

You have another granddaughter, Browyn. She is 13 now, about to be 14. You would love her. She is my emotional and caring side, you know the one that cried everyday after school in the 5th grade. She is so affectionate and just wants everyone to get along and be happy. She went through this phase when she was in the first grade that she would ask people all the time, “when you die can I have (insert random object)” She wishes she had known you. I tell her all sorts of things about you, and I promise they are not all bad.

I tell the girls how you used to tell me if you kissed me on my elbow I would turn into a boy, and that to this day I can’t stand for people to get near my elbows. Alia blames you and I for the fact that she can’t stand people to touch her feet, because we both love baby feet.

I am sewing again, and trying to make a business of it, oh and I am calling it Sweety Darlin’. Dad thought it was a perfect name. I wish you were here to help me, you would have so much fun with how the Internet has created a unique venue for the random business person.

Remember when I was about 10 and you told me not to go into computers since they weren’t going anywhere and I needed to become an engineer. God I love telling that story to every A&M grad engineer I know, they die laughing. Hey I met Dr. Blacklock! He taught me too! It was so strange on the first day of his statics class he calls me up to the front and asks me if I was any relation to Darcia Norwood. I think my face went white when I said yes. I am thinking of getting my graduate degree and teaching college.

I promised I would get my bachelors and I did, not in engineering and not from A&M, but in construction from UALR. Close I swear LOL! Oh you may not know what LOL means! See there is this new way to use cellular phones that allows you to send brief written comments and it has created a whole new genre of English called text speak, and LOL means laugh out loud. That way lazy people don’t have to actually use the language they have been taught.

I fussed at the girls the other day about their penmanship, after reading an article that college professors are appalled at the poor penmanship and writing skills of high school students directly related to texting and using computers. So our technology is making us dumber! I try really hard to teach the girls all the useless things you taught me, and I think some of it is getting through, but I won’t know till they are older.

I miss you mommy. I want you to see all the things your granddaughters do and what they are becoming. I want to share it with you. I am sorry for all the horrible things I said as a teenager, all the things I didn’t know were so horrible. I am sorry that I thought you would live forever. You are my mommy and I love you even though you are gone. I spent hundreds every year giving for breast cancer research and have been genetically tested for the gene and I don’t have it, but I still get my boob smooshin on your birthday every year.

Love your only daughter, I promise to write more.
Felicia

You can call me Sweety Darlin’. I am a 29 year old mother of two teenagers, don’t argue! I love to sew and design and make things. If it goes through a sewing machine I am game! My kids are amazing when they are sleeping, and pretty decent the rest of the time.

Links to me
www.sweetydarlin.etsy.com
www.facebook.com/sweetydarlindesigns
www.twitter.com/sweety_darlin
www.sweetydarlin.blogspot.com
Sweetie Darlin on Pinterest

Every Tree Has A Story {Love Story}
Written by ARWB February 2012 Blogger of the Month, Gina Knuppenburg of Desperately Seeking {Gina}.

Most of us learn the genealogy of our family tree early on in life. We can connect Mom to all the children of Great- Auntie Betty or name Grandma Minnie’s father’s second wife’s son. I certainly can. But what I can’t retell is the story of how the tree was planted.

I know, for sure, the story of how my parents met; at least I know the basics. It’s the details I don’t remember. Was my mom head-over-heels in love with my dad? Were they a mushy couple? Did dad buy mom trinkets and flowers and declare his undying love every Valentine’s Day? I know that I’ve asked these questions countless times and my mom patiently retells their love story each and every time.

As my grandmother’s aged and I sat with them and listened to their stories, I never thought to write them down. At the time, I never thought about a future without my beloved grandmas. It never occurred to me that the leaves of their branches would fall from the family tree and be lost in the wind.

As bloggers, we often tell stories of our day-to-day activities. We relate our lives to current events. We explore thoughts, feeling, emotions, and struggles. Good news is shared.; good fortune proclaimed. We type out goals and lists. Recipes are shared and pretty pictures pinned. It should be easy for us, then, to tell the story of how our respective family trees were started.

So, my question for you, ladies of ARWB: are you recording your {love stories}? Are you blogging about them? Journaling them? Will your children, ages from now, be able to recount the story of how their parents met, fell in love, and married {or didn’t marry…there are SO many different kinds of stories to tell}? Will the story of grandma’s and grandpa’s love be retold throughout countless generations?

Relationships change, love may fade. Marriages dissolve or never happened to begin with. Not every story will end happily ever after. Those stories need to be told, too. Not every story will have a beginning, middle, and end. Details may already be lost. The important thing is to jot down what you do know.

Need some ideas to get started?

Methods:

Blog about it! Be sure to print out your posts.
Journaling. Dedicate a notebook to telling your love story. Even if you don’t fancy yourself a story teller you can use this method. Don’t write in complete sentences. Jot down thoughts, feelings, dates, times, specifics.
Scrap booking. Include pictures, mementos, menus from restaurants, corsages, etc.
Videography. Write up a list of questions. Sit grandma, dad, mom, aunts, and uncles {or yourself!} in front of the camera and get them talking.

Topics:

How did you meet?
What did your parents and/or friends think about your new relationship? love?
Who proposed and how?
What was your wedding/first home like?
What did you like to do together?
Can your associate your significant other with a scent? sound?
First impressions

The possibilities are endless. Be creative. Or, don’t. How the story is told is less important than why it should be told. No matter if your family tree is merely a seedling or as tall as a California Redwood, the leaves of it’s branches should be watered, nurtured, and most importantly it’s canopy of love stories should be told and retold for generations to come.