Tuesday, October 15, 2002 - overview to a cousin who may or may not have been keeping up with the Jackson Family History

       Speaking of making bread, that was one of the first things I made in cooking class in Jr. High--crescent rolls.  I was 14.  They turned out absolutely perfect, and my teacher was proud of me, and I was even prouder.  That afternoon, I walked home with Larry, bag of rolls in hand…  I’d given Larry a couple of them, and was planning to save the rest for supper with my parents, knowing they would be pleased with my success.
 

We walked into Jackson’s house…I laid the bag on the table and was looking at an album with Larry…

In the meanwhile, his brother Kenny came home, starvelous, as usual.  Unbeknownst to us, he found the bag of rolls on the table.

By the time I found it, it was nothing more than a limp, empty bag. 

Sooo…all my parents got was a description; they had to use their imaginations for the rest.  My mother was convinced Kenny was a horrid brat, and I think, although she would have thought I was too young to date no matter what age I had’ve begun doing so, she was so relieved I chose Larry over Kenny, she found Larry almost tolerable!  

My camcorder is a big RCA.  Dorcas got it at a garage sale for only $10; it had hardly been used.  Then I inherited it when she got herself a new small one.  Now all four of our older children have new camcorders, the smaller version.  But you know what?  My big RCA takes by far the best picture!  It has the most clarity…the brightest colors…and it will take pictures in almost total darkness, and mighty good pictures, too.  I wouldn’t trade it for one of the new, smaller models for anything in the world.

Besides!--lugging it around keeps me tough.

You’re right; Hannah, Teddy, and Caleb would probably be better off if we had no cats.  Luckily, their asthma isn’t so chronic or so serious as some, and, having .

But, you see, Kitty came to Larry’s shop when she was a stray, and she was starving… and Larry and the boys started feeding her…  I said we couldn’t bring her home, because I was afraid our Siberian husky, Aleutia, would eat her for dinner.  And then Larry’s largest customer (that’s ‘large’ in terms of girth, not volume of sales) trod upon poor Kitty, making her shriek with pain--and he didn’t even know he was stepping on anything!  And he sure couldn’t see her.

I decided Kitty was safer with Aleutia than at Larry’s shop, and we brought her home that very day.

She had kittens a few months later, and we kept our favorite, Tad.  He was The Most Wonderful Kitten in the World, and we loved him dearly.  And then he got run over.  I tell you, it was either invest in the Kleenex Company, or find a new cat.

Sooo…against my better judgment, I picked up the newspaper, found an ad for free kittens, and off we went to get one.  When Joseph picked up Socks and cuddled him, and the little kitten purred loudly, we were captured, hook, line, and sinker.  He couldn’t take beloved Tad’s place, but he sho’ ’nuff carved a niche for himself.

A year later, along came Tabby, abandoned, starving, eyes infected, needing to be dewormed, and lacking his top and bottom front teeth, which were probably kicked out, meowing a funny little high-pitched 'meee!' -- likely because he got his throat and voicebox kicked, too.  Our compassion overflowed…and we were soon the owners of three cats.

Hannah is slightly allergic to birds, too; she took care of Mama's bird last year when Mama was in the Skilled Care Unit at the hospital, and she promptly had an asthma attack after not having a very bad one all the while she’d been married.  She still has the bird, and has gotten used to it now, I think.

It might seem like we're trying to ‘do away with’ our kids, but, oh, how they love the animals.  They want dogs…cats…rabbits…hamsters (we had some)…guinea pigs (those, too)…rabbits…birds… horses (we had a few, back before Hester was born)…

The other day when we were in Wal-Mart, Joseph stopped and watched the fish for a while…and he said he’d been wishing he had a big fish tank and some colorful fish…  Ah, ha!!!  Now I know what to get him for Christmas.

       Okay…I will be happy to send you a copy of my weekly letter.  Sooo…if eventually you are bored to tears, remember:  you asked for it!  You have only yourself to blame!  ;-)