Thankful Thursday-- Those Places Thursday -- all in one.

    Thankful Thursday with Those Places Thursday all wrapped up in one.
 
   Last night my brother went into heart surgery and he is still with us today. This is not his first time.
   I am thankful that he is still with us.

   I am thankful for the parents I had and they way they raised me to look at things in life.  Dad was
   always saying God is with you everywhere so you do not have to be in a Church to talk to him.
 
   Dad knew the Priests from Boys Town in Nebraska and they had a great influence on his life.
   At least, that is what I attribute his way of thinking to. He had a very rough life as a small child and
   they went hungary many times. Shoes were a luxury he used to tell me.

   Mom was always stepping up to help a neighbor, whether they were close or farther away.
   We fixed many a meal for people in need. I learned to care also by doing housework for those  
     in need in their homes, prior to that we went together.  I met my life long friend by    
   doing this and have never regretted what it taught me or having been able to meet Darlene.

   My parents were involved in community events. Dad was a volunteer Firefighter for the area we lived.
   I was taught what to do when old enough. Our community relied on each other to survive because we
   did not have access to things people in a city would have. Both parents taught 4-H classes.  Dad also
   worked with the FFA(Future Farmers of America). He took my cousin east for a major event when
   cousins father could not go.

  Though Mom did not work drawing a salary until much later in life she always was helping someone.
   Many times making sandwiches at school was less work than the things done for neighbors with no
   regrets.
 
   The home they build still stands in my heart and the house shows the  loss of them. The love they
  shared and cared about used to echo in the walls of our home.

   Knowing the house was build many years after the barn was  (1854), it was a one bedroom house
   home with two pantries on the back.  No bath until we moved in and Dad put it in. The room was
   there just not utilized.  A small add on bedroom was on the south side, the kitchen and dining area was
   one with stairs to the attic to sleep on side of the kitchen wall. One closet about 4 x 5 feet to the ceiling
   shelves to utilize in hall to the non bathroom until I helped Dad run the plumping and the lines for
   indoor bathroom.  I loved the attic. It was completed finished with redwood boards and what I called
   my special place. Funny how Mom always thought I liked the bedroom I shared with Sis the best but
  that was never true. That bedroom was open to everyone and not private or semi private at all.

  So I am Thankful for my parents and what they tried to instill in me and the home (house) that I was
  raised in.

   O, how I wish I had a picture of Dad tossing his hat in the door with a big cheshire grin on his face
   when he thought he had irritated Mom. The look in her eyes would melt and then life moved on.