Finally! & Thank You!

I graduated on Thursday from Texas Institute of Jewelry Technology

with a certificate in Jewelry Technology.

I mainly want to say thank you to my family for being such

a wonderful support to me during the past few years.

I could not have done it without you!

Here is a pic of the whole kit and kaboodle of us at graduation.

Left to right

Haleligh, Jordan, Kara, Me, Chelsea, Wes and Micah.

Good Things!

Today would be my dad's 71st birthday. Wow...

That seems so unreal to me. He died at age 42. He will always be

forty-two in my mind.

Today I was listening to Christian radio on my way to school. The topic

was unhealed hurts from fathers. I know that God has healed me from

those things, but the speaker was giving steps to move positively away

from the hurt for those whose fathers had died and there was no choice

in resolution...

One of the things recommended was to make two lists. One was for good

thingsthat could be said about the fathers and the other was the other

things that could be said about the fathers... Since my other list has been

dealt with, I thought that I would honor my daddy and list things that I

admire and/or appreciate about him.

So, here I go, listing 10 things....

1. He worked so hard so that his family would not be raised in the poverty that he was.

2. He always paid his bills on time.

3. We always had nice dependable cars.

4. We never ever had our utilities cut off.

5. He worked well with his hands was able to do alot of things around the house and with our cars.

6. He was always neatly dressed and well behaved in public.

7. He managed to get a college degree after dropping out of school when he was in 5th grade.

8. He dropped out of school in 5th grade to help his mom make money to raise the younger kids.

9. He served in the U.S. military proudly.

10.He had a determination in him. He was suppose to die before I was born of blood clots on/in his brain. He lived for 18 additional years.

I don't have a picture right now. I will get one posted once I can get one of him.

Happy Birthday Daddy.

I love you.

Scents of life and love

I was never a daddy's girl... always a Papa's girl . He has been in heaven for 14 years now.
I went to vist my grandmother for the first time in about 5 years in July for my birthday.
I have seen her in the 5 years, it just hasn't been at her house.

Once we got our initial hugs and kisses over with, I immediately went to my Pa's old bedroom. Granny has now made it her sewing room. The gold velvet curtains were gone, the bed was gone. My heart was saddened. I knew though that the best place to find the scent of my Pa would be in his closet. His scent had always been there! I opened the door to the closet and there sat hundreds of pieces of material and some unfinished quilts. I took a deep breath knowing that I would smell that wonderful musty propane earthy smell of my Pa. I was wrong! My heart skipped a beat! How could this have happened? Where did his scent go? I searched all through the house with my nose trying to find that wonderfully comforting scent.

I never found it. This is the first time that I have really missed my Pa and wanted to cry. I always found comfort in being in his bedroom and just closing my eyes and there he was...still very vivid in my memories.

The memories are still there, but I feel like I lost some part of my Pa. I love him so much.
He and my granny were my source of encouragement and love as a child growing up. It seemed as though they always showed up when things at home were getting to be unbearable. They were there long enough (2days) to fill my heart with the love of Jesus and be on their way back home again. I would sob each and everytime they left or we left them. Only when I was with them did I feel safe. I guess in the scent of my Pa, I found a place of safety.

I don't need that safety anymore, I just wanted one more smell of my Pa. I want my children to know what he smelled like. I wanted to share with them what little I had left of him that isn't in my heart. I want them to love him as much as I do. I want them to know how wonderfully special he was...what a wonderful Christian man he was.

I hope when I am in heaven, my children will remember what I smelled like. I hope it will bring sweet memories to their mind. I hope this for my grandchildren that are to come also. I only smell like one thing, Jessica McClintock. I hope it is around for a long long time.