A True Love

By Marie Benge Craig

A few weeks before my younger son was to marry, I told him and his intended that they had to read a newspaper article that had been printed in our local paper. We lived in Hayesville, North Carolina at the time.

The article described an old man in that town.  He was a farmer who owned an old pickup truck and a farm tractor.  His wife had dementia and lived at a care center a few miles from the farm.

The farmer lost his driver’s license because of his poor health and bad driving record.  This was a major problem to him because he visited his wife every afternoon and took her some ice cream which was her favorite.

His response to not driving his truck was to drive his tractor every day to the care center to take her some ice cream.  I would sometimes see him puttering slowly along the road in his dedication to take his sweet wife a daily treat despite what the authorities said.

Below that gruff appearance and farm-hardened look was a tender, determined heart of true love and commitment to his wife.

Pee Bee

By Sandra Vance

Well, I guess I should say hey. I have been busy, and folks have come here so I had to know who they are so I have been looking and smelling and so I have been busy.  I think I told you that daddy brought a TREE inside our house and mama did not mind at all! I went over to inspect it and was going to make it my tree, but mama said “No, PeeBee! Don’t you do that!”  So I did not.

Mama gave me some snacks, but she put them out on the porch for me to eat out there. Daddy moved my big old dog bed to under the window because I was getting too hot where it used to be. So, a little while ago, after some lights and darks, my human brother and sister and all their younger humans came to our home, and we ate and talked (they talked, I listened) and laughed and played a game (they played, I watched), and then they gave each other stuff! And that stuff came from under that tree. ANDTHATTREEHADLIGHTSONITANDTHEYCAMEON!  I liked that cause it was bright and shiny! And I got some people food…it was meat! Then they all hugged again and said Merry Christmas, and I love you too and took all their stuff with them and went away. It was very quiet……I kinda liked it but kinda did not.

Mama listened to some music on the box with moving pictures and sometimes she had water on her face. I think my humans call it crying, but I do not know why she would do that because she was not sad, but sometimes daddy and I do not understand why mama does things. Daddy and I have been going to the river in my big black truck and fishing a little and walking a little, and I get tired and have a nap when we get home. Brutus comes here, and we play a little, but then we both get tired and we take naps. I guess that’s all so I will go now. It is the dark time, and I am going to sleep! Sleep is different from a nap….it is longer! So sayth PeeBee the Dog.

Kathy

By Linda Barnette

The best Christmas present I ever got was a beautiful doll with soft brown hair, dimples, and eyes that moved.  She was not porcelain but was made of some sort of unbreakable material.  She also came with a little brown suitcase filled with several tiny outfits. The dresses were beautiful with lace and very intricate stitching exactly like little girls at that time wore to church or to other important events.  I spent many happy days and years with Kathy, as I named her, and she became my best friend.  I treated her just like a person, and I read to her and sometimes pretended to be her teacher.

I will never forget the time I realized that Kathy was not brought by Santa and that those doll clothes had been sewn with much love by my mother. Even as a child I thought she must love me a great deal to have made all of those clothes for just a doll. I thought too that she knew that I was lonely as an only child and needed someone to play with.

Eventually, I grew up, went to college, got married, and moved from my childhood home. I don’t know what happened to Kathy, but the memory of her and of those beautiful dresses lingers in my heart.