This can be very challenging and this can be fun and we love all of it.

We have 11 grandchildren and 4 grown kids … we have a clan.

One of the funniest things I remember lately happened with the two oldest granddaughers and the 1937 Packard. It went like this…..

We were scheduled to go to a Cars & Coffee event in Trinity TX and they were here for the weekend to visit. We all loaded up in the car (in January) I gathered us up some blankets (it was pretty cold that morning). The girls looked at me like I was nuts (the are 13 and 11 – you understand) and they ask me “what are the blankets for“. I told them they were to keep us warm in the car. AS they had a the look of astonishment on their faces they ask “what wrong with the heater“. I said that nothing is wrong with it, “there just isn’t one”. They were absolutely dumbfounded. No heater, what is wrong with this thing. I wanted to say, “look out girls it gets better” but i didn’t.

As we are cruising down the road in the little car, they are in the back seat bundled up (and glad we brought the blankets). They are talking among themselves, then they ask “what are these little flapper things on the armrest?” I said, they are ashtrays. They are WHAT ?!? – Why would they have that in the car. I explained to them what they were and in the day they smoked in the car. After all the snarling and yucking – they said, “isn’t it illegal to smoke in the car with kids”. Now as my eyes are rolling I have to give them the history lesson about how we lived in a smoke filled world in the “old timey days” and they were some lucky girls no one smoked in their families any more..

Then they ask, where is the button to roll down the window. I said there isn’t one, that is what the handle is on the window. You pull it down and push out the little glass piece. By this time they are just in a state of total shock and shaking their pretty little heads. Inside I am smiling and thinking, boy oh boy have we got a day ahead of us.

We get to the cruise in and we get our chairs out and get all set up with our ice chest and our blankets and our snacks. They look at me and they ask, “What do we do now?” I said, just sit here. You would have thought I had lost my mind and that I was headed straight to the nursing home immediately. They said, “we will just play with our phones”. News flash girls – we have NO cell signal here. They were all but devastated.

When the shock wore off … We took a walk around the little town square, we looked at all the cool cars and we visited with many of the participants. They actually began to say – that car is cool and I would like one like that some day. Silently I was smiling and so very happy they were getting a “touch of my bug”.

After about 2 hours we all decided to take a ride out by the lake and down by the dam. The road was winding and by then the sun was out and it was a beautiful Texas afternoon. We went and visited with some cool folks that had opened a new RV park – they were awesome and so very hospitable to the girls. We then went to a little country cafe and we all ate chicken fried steak and drank sweet tea. We had dessert and we VISITED. We TALKED. But most of all WE DID NOT TALK ON OR LOOK AT OUR PHONES.

They survived the day, they enjoyed themselves and we laughed and made precious memories. Include your babies, include your family and include your friends on your fabulous journeys. Enjoy your life and the gifts God has given you.

Be Blessed

Lovingly, Ms. O.C.D.

more adventures @ https://www.facebook.com/TxHillbillies/