Sweet Ella K. entered our world a tad bit early.
Thankfully, she is healthy and beautiful and oh so loved.
Tomorrow I will head to Thibodaux to do me some Ella K. rocking.
Now for the story of Little Ella K.
ONCE UPON A TIME TWO FRIENDS MET.
THEY MET TEACHING RELIGION AT ST. JOSEPH
IN THIBODAUX. I WAS ONE OF THOSE GALS AND
THE OTHER, MY DEAR FRIEND WENDY.
THE YEAR WENDY BECAME MY HELPER,
I TAUGHT HER SON, DEVIN IN HIS 10TH GRADE YEAR
FOR CONFIRMATION. WHAT A BOY HE WAS.
FUNNY, WISE AND SUCH A GOOD SON.
SO GOOD THAT WE JOKED WITH HE AND
GYPSY BABY ABOUT THEM GETTING MARRIED
SO WE COULD BE FAMILY.
WELL, I GUESS THEY HAD OTHER PLANS AS
GYPSY BABY HAS SET ON MEG AND DEVIN,
WELL, DEVIN IS STILL FINDING HIMSELF.
NOW WENDY, SHE HAD THIS YOUNGER CHILD,
LINSEY, OH OUR LINSEY.
THE APPLE OF HER DADDY RUFFIN'S EYE.
A LITTLE "SPITFIRE" SHE WAS WHEN I FIRST MET HER.
REMEMBER I KNEW HER BROTHER FIRST
AND WHEN I MET LINS, I OFTEN THOUGHT
SHE WAS A TOUGH LIL CHARACTER.
I ALSO THOUGHT THAT IF I WERE HER AGE,
I WOULD NOT WANT TO BE HER ENEMY.
HOWEVER, THE NEXT YEAR, I WAS BLESSED
TO BE ABLE TO TEACH LINSEY IN HER 10TH GRADE
RELIGION YEAR. WENDY AND I MADE AN AGREEMENT
THAT I WOULD TEACH ANOTHER YEAR IF SHE WOULD
CONTINUE TO BE MY ASSISTANT.
THROUGH THAT YEAR, NOT ONLY DID LINSEY
DO A LOT OF GROWING UP BUT I SAW A
PART OF LINSEY THAT SHE DID NOT WANT MANY
TO SEE, HER VULNERABILITY.
UNDER THAT TOUGH PERSONA THAT KEPT
HER FROM BEING HURT WAS THIS SWEET,
SENSITIVE, CARING YOUNG LADY.
WE BECAME CLOSE, VERY CLOSE.
WE SPOKE OF MANY THINGS AND WHEN
HER MOMMY FOUND THAT SHE WAS AT A LOSS
FOR WORDS TO SPEAK TO LINSEY, LINS AND I
ALWAYS FOUND A WAY TO DISCUSS THE PROBLEMS.
THEN LINSEY MET ADAM. SHE HAD HAD BOYFRIENDS
BEFORE BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT
WITH THIS RELATIONSHIP.
HER PARENTS THOUGHT SHE WAS TOO YOUNG,
SO DID I. ALL OF US THOUGHT HE MAY NOT
BE ENOUGH FOR OUR LINSEY.
YET, WHO WAS I TO TELL THIS GIRL WHO
BELIEVED SHE WAS IN LOVE THAT SHE WAS TOO YOUNG.
I HAD MET HOBL AT HER AGE AND HERE WE WERE
MANY YEARS LATER STILL TOGETHER.
SHE AND ADAM, THEY HAD A FEW BUMPS IN THE ROAD
AND WHEN HE DECIDED TO JOIN THE MILITARY,
WENDY AND I HONESTLY THOUGHT THE RELATIONSHIP
WOULD NOT SURVIVE. THEIR AGE AND DISTANCE
SEEMED THAT IT WOULD WORK AGAINST
A RELATIONSHIP.
YET, WE WERE WRONG. SO, SO WRONG.
INSTEAD OF GROWING APART, THEY GREW CLOSER
AND BECAME ENGAGED. LINSEY, STILL
IN HIGHSCHOOL, ENGAGED.
YOU SEE, THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT LINSEY
I HAVE FAILED TO SAY, AND THAT IS
IF LINSEY PUTS SOMETHING IN HER HEAD,
IF SHE SETS HER SIGHTS ON A FUTURE THERE IS
NOTHING, AND I MEAN NOTHING THAT WILL
STOP THIS GIRL. SHE SET HER SIGHTS ON
BECOMING ADAM'S WIFE, BECOMING MRS. RAFFERY.
AS ADAM WENT ON TO LAS VEGAS, HE WAITED
FOR LINSEY TO GRADUATE AND THEN THESE
TWO JUST DID NOT WANT TO BE APART.
ALTHOUGH WE MAY HAVE THOUGHT SHE WAS TOO
YOUNG TO MARRY, HER PARENTS SUPPORTED HER WISHES
AND TRAVELED WITH HER TO LAS VEGAS
TO MARRY AND BE WITH THE MAN SHE LOVED.
THERE IS SOMETHING TO BE SAID ABOUT YOUNG LOVE
ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY FIND THEMSELVES IN
A STRANGE AND DISTANT PLACE
WITH NO FAMILY CLOSE TO THEM.
THEY GROW UP TOGETHER, THEY BECOME EACH
OTHERS BEST FRIEND, COMMITTED TO NOT ONLY
TO THE MARRIAGE BUT TO BEING PARTNERS.
NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE THOUGHT,
THESE TWO GREW IN LOVE, GREW CLOSER THAN
THEY MAY HAVE HAD THEY BEEN HERE WITH FAMILY.
THEY MADE THEIR LIVES AS A COUPLE ADVENTUROUS
BUT BOTH KNEW AS SOON AS ADAMS ENLISTMENT
WAS OVER, THEY WERE COMING HOME.
THE TRAVELING BETWEEN VEGAS AND LOUISIANA BECAME
TOO MUCH FOR WENDY AND RUFFIN'S BABY GIRL.
SHE WANTED HOME AND SO DID ADAM.
HE HAD LOST HIS MOTHER DURING THESE YEARS
AND WANTED HIS FAMILY AS MUCH AS LINSEY DID.
THEN, JUST MONTHS BEFORE DUE TO COME HOME
THIS YOUNG COUPLE HAD TO GO THROUGH THE
TRAGEDY OF THE LOSS OF A CHILD TOGETHER ALONE.
A MISCARRIAGE ON THE DAY LINSEY THOUGHT
SHE WAS GOING TO TELL HER PARENTS THEY
WOULD BE GRANDPARENTS.
I KNOW MY LINSEY WANTED HER MOMMY.
YOU SEE, IN BECOMING A WIFE, IN BEING AWAY
FROM THOSE SHE LOVED THE MOST, UPON
MATURING, SHE BECAME A SOFT, LOVING YOUNG WOMAN
WHO UNDERSTOOD WHAT SHE HAD LOST
WHEN SHE SAID GOODBYE TO THAT PREGNANCY.
NOW, MORE THAN EVER, BOTH SHE AND ADAM
WANTED HOME. JUST BEFORE LEAVING LAS VEGAS
FOR GOOD, JUST BEFORE ADAM WAS TO BEGIN
HIS LIFE AS A CIVILIAN ONCE AGAIN,
THEY FOUND THAT THEY WERE EXPECTING THEIR
SECOND CHILD. NO STOPPING THEM NOW,
THEY WERE COMING HOME, COMING BACK TO
LOUISIANA WHERE THOSE WHO LOVE THEM THE MOST
WERE. YES, THEY WERE LEAVING BEHIND SOME
WONDERFUL FRIENDS WHO BECAME THEIR FAMILY,
IT COULD NOT GIVE THEM WHAT THEY NEEDED.
AND SO ELLA K. CAME TO BE.
ELLA KATHERINE, MIDDLE NAME AFTER
THE GRANDMOTHER WHO ADAM CALLED MOMMA.
THE GRANDMOTHER WHO PROBABLY HAS HELD
HER IN HEAVEN BEFORE CHOOSING THIS BABY
FOR HER SON AND HIS WIFE.
ELLA K. MAY NOT BE RAISED WITH THIS GRANDMOTHER
BUT HER HEART WILL KNOW HER.
NOW A NEW GENERATION BEGINS WITH ELLA K.
MY TALE MAY END HERE BUT SWEET ELLA K.
LEGACY IS ONLY BEGINNING.
I tried to explain in word to Wendy what was about to happen to her.
She, like me, thought she knew the love she would feel.
She now knows it is different and there are no
words in the English language to explain the love
a grandmother has for her grandchildren.
Now she understands, now "Mimi" gets it.
Ruffin has got to be on cloud nine, another sweet little girl
to love. A gentleman, he will be the best grandpa.
... And Adam, already wrapped, already so in love
with his little sweet girl. He must think of his own Mother
as he rocks his baby. He now knows how much she loved him.
A child does not understand the love their parents have for them
until they hold their own precious child in their arms.
I told Linsey, do not forget how much you love Adam right now.
It will get you both through some of the roughest times of your life.
Daddy's need to know that nothing is more attractive,
more sexy to their wives than watching them with their child,
the child that their love created.
Then, my dear, sweet linsey. My little girl, who I have seen grown
from a tough teenager
a who now writes some of the most beautiful "love letters"
cause she says I taught her that. To never send a card or book without
adding a love letter. Geeze, Lins, you melt me little girl.
I see this loving paragraph, written to the montage of pictures and i melt.
She is an instant Mommy. Ella K. is one lucky gal to have a Mother like Linsey.
She too, now understands how much her parents loved her and how
things they did while she was growing up that she thought were
ridiculous, now all make sense.
A momma tiger she will be, word of warning,
don't mess with the Raffery cub. lol
Thankfully, she is healthy and beautiful and oh so loved.
Tomorrow I will head to Thibodaux to do me some Ella K. rocking.
Now for the story of Little Ella K.
ONCE UPON A TIME TWO FRIENDS MET.
THEY MET TEACHING RELIGION AT ST. JOSEPH
IN THIBODAUX. I WAS ONE OF THOSE GALS AND
THE OTHER, MY DEAR FRIEND WENDY.
THE YEAR WENDY BECAME MY HELPER,
I TAUGHT HER SON, DEVIN IN HIS 10TH GRADE YEAR
FOR CONFIRMATION. WHAT A BOY HE WAS.
FUNNY, WISE AND SUCH A GOOD SON.
SO GOOD THAT WE JOKED WITH HE AND
GYPSY BABY ABOUT THEM GETTING MARRIED
SO WE COULD BE FAMILY.
WELL, I GUESS THEY HAD OTHER PLANS AS
GYPSY BABY HAS SET ON MEG AND DEVIN,
WELL, DEVIN IS STILL FINDING HIMSELF.
NOW WENDY, SHE HAD THIS YOUNGER CHILD,
LINSEY, OH OUR LINSEY.
THE APPLE OF HER DADDY RUFFIN'S EYE.
A LITTLE "SPITFIRE" SHE WAS WHEN I FIRST MET HER.
REMEMBER I KNEW HER BROTHER FIRST
AND WHEN I MET LINS, I OFTEN THOUGHT
SHE WAS A TOUGH LIL CHARACTER.
I ALSO THOUGHT THAT IF I WERE HER AGE,
I WOULD NOT WANT TO BE HER ENEMY.
HOWEVER, THE NEXT YEAR, I WAS BLESSED
TO BE ABLE TO TEACH LINSEY IN HER 10TH GRADE
RELIGION YEAR. WENDY AND I MADE AN AGREEMENT
THAT I WOULD TEACH ANOTHER YEAR IF SHE WOULD
CONTINUE TO BE MY ASSISTANT.
THROUGH THAT YEAR, NOT ONLY DID LINSEY
DO A LOT OF GROWING UP BUT I SAW A
PART OF LINSEY THAT SHE DID NOT WANT MANY
TO SEE, HER VULNERABILITY.
UNDER THAT TOUGH PERSONA THAT KEPT
HER FROM BEING HURT WAS THIS SWEET,
SENSITIVE, CARING YOUNG LADY.
WE BECAME CLOSE, VERY CLOSE.
WE SPOKE OF MANY THINGS AND WHEN
HER MOMMY FOUND THAT SHE WAS AT A LOSS
FOR WORDS TO SPEAK TO LINSEY, LINS AND I
ALWAYS FOUND A WAY TO DISCUSS THE PROBLEMS.
THEN LINSEY MET ADAM. SHE HAD HAD BOYFRIENDS
BEFORE BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT
WITH THIS RELATIONSHIP.
HER PARENTS THOUGHT SHE WAS TOO YOUNG,
SO DID I. ALL OF US THOUGHT HE MAY NOT
BE ENOUGH FOR OUR LINSEY.
YET, WHO WAS I TO TELL THIS GIRL WHO
BELIEVED SHE WAS IN LOVE THAT SHE WAS TOO YOUNG.
I HAD MET HOBL AT HER AGE AND HERE WE WERE
MANY YEARS LATER STILL TOGETHER.
SHE AND ADAM, THEY HAD A FEW BUMPS IN THE ROAD
AND WHEN HE DECIDED TO JOIN THE MILITARY,
WENDY AND I HONESTLY THOUGHT THE RELATIONSHIP
WOULD NOT SURVIVE. THEIR AGE AND DISTANCE
SEEMED THAT IT WOULD WORK AGAINST
A RELATIONSHIP.
YET, WE WERE WRONG. SO, SO WRONG.
INSTEAD OF GROWING APART, THEY GREW CLOSER
AND BECAME ENGAGED. LINSEY, STILL
IN HIGHSCHOOL, ENGAGED.
YOU SEE, THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT LINSEY
I HAVE FAILED TO SAY, AND THAT IS
IF LINSEY PUTS SOMETHING IN HER HEAD,
IF SHE SETS HER SIGHTS ON A FUTURE THERE IS
NOTHING, AND I MEAN NOTHING THAT WILL
STOP THIS GIRL. SHE SET HER SIGHTS ON
BECOMING ADAM'S WIFE, BECOMING MRS. RAFFERY.
AS ADAM WENT ON TO LAS VEGAS, HE WAITED
FOR LINSEY TO GRADUATE AND THEN THESE
TWO JUST DID NOT WANT TO BE APART.
ALTHOUGH WE MAY HAVE THOUGHT SHE WAS TOO
YOUNG TO MARRY, HER PARENTS SUPPORTED HER WISHES
AND TRAVELED WITH HER TO LAS VEGAS
TO MARRY AND BE WITH THE MAN SHE LOVED.
ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY FIND THEMSELVES IN
A STRANGE AND DISTANT PLACE
WITH NO FAMILY CLOSE TO THEM.
THEY GROW UP TOGETHER, THEY BECOME EACH
OTHERS BEST FRIEND, COMMITTED TO NOT ONLY
TO THE MARRIAGE BUT TO BEING PARTNERS.
NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE THOUGHT,
THESE TWO GREW IN LOVE, GREW CLOSER THAN
THEY MAY HAVE HAD THEY BEEN HERE WITH FAMILY.
THEY MADE THEIR LIVES AS A COUPLE ADVENTUROUS
BUT BOTH KNEW AS SOON AS ADAMS ENLISTMENT
WAS OVER, THEY WERE COMING HOME.
TOO MUCH FOR WENDY AND RUFFIN'S BABY GIRL.
SHE WANTED HOME AND SO DID ADAM.
HE HAD LOST HIS MOTHER DURING THESE YEARS
AND WANTED HIS FAMILY AS MUCH AS LINSEY DID.
THEN, JUST MONTHS BEFORE DUE TO COME HOME
THIS YOUNG COUPLE HAD TO GO THROUGH THE
TRAGEDY OF THE LOSS OF A CHILD TOGETHER ALONE.
A MISCARRIAGE ON THE DAY LINSEY THOUGHT
SHE WAS GOING TO TELL HER PARENTS THEY
WOULD BE GRANDPARENTS.
I KNOW MY LINSEY WANTED HER MOMMY.
YOU SEE, IN BECOMING A WIFE, IN BEING AWAY
FROM THOSE SHE LOVED THE MOST, UPON
MATURING, SHE BECAME A SOFT, LOVING YOUNG WOMAN
WHO UNDERSTOOD WHAT SHE HAD LOST
WHEN SHE SAID GOODBYE TO THAT PREGNANCY.
NOW, MORE THAN EVER, BOTH SHE AND ADAM
WANTED HOME. JUST BEFORE LEAVING LAS VEGAS
FOR GOOD, JUST BEFORE ADAM WAS TO BEGIN
HIS LIFE AS A CIVILIAN ONCE AGAIN,
THEY FOUND THAT THEY WERE EXPECTING THEIR
SECOND CHILD. NO STOPPING THEM NOW,
THEY WERE COMING HOME, COMING BACK TO
LOUISIANA WHERE THOSE WHO LOVE THEM THE MOST
WERE. YES, THEY WERE LEAVING BEHIND SOME
WONDERFUL FRIENDS WHO BECAME THEIR FAMILY,
IT COULD NOT GIVE THEM WHAT THEY NEEDED.
AND SO ELLA K. CAME TO BE.
ELLA KATHERINE, MIDDLE NAME AFTER
THE GRANDMOTHER WHO ADAM CALLED MOMMA.
THE GRANDMOTHER WHO PROBABLY HAS HELD
HER IN HEAVEN BEFORE CHOOSING THIS BABY
FOR HER SON AND HIS WIFE.
ELLA K. MAY NOT BE RAISED WITH THIS GRANDMOTHER
BUT HER HEART WILL KNOW HER.
NOW A NEW GENERATION BEGINS WITH ELLA K.
MY TALE MAY END HERE BUT SWEET ELLA K.
LEGACY IS ONLY BEGINNING.
She, like me, thought she knew the love she would feel.
She now knows it is different and there are no
words in the English language to explain the love
a grandmother has for her grandchildren.
Now she understands, now "Mimi" gets it.
Ruffin has got to be on cloud nine, another sweet little girl
to love. A gentleman, he will be the best grandpa.
with his little sweet girl. He must think of his own Mother
as he rocks his baby. He now knows how much she loved him.
A child does not understand the love their parents have for them
until they hold their own precious child in their arms.
I told Linsey, do not forget how much you love Adam right now.
It will get you both through some of the roughest times of your life.
Daddy's need to know that nothing is more attractive,
more sexy to their wives than watching them with their child,
the child that their love created.
from a tough teenager
a who now writes some of the most beautiful "love letters"
cause she says I taught her that. To never send a card or book without
adding a love letter. Geeze, Lins, you melt me little girl.
I see this loving paragraph, written to the montage of pictures and i melt.
She is an instant Mommy. Ella K. is one lucky gal to have a Mother like Linsey.
She too, now understands how much her parents loved her and how
things they did while she was growing up that she thought were
ridiculous, now all make sense.
A momma tiger she will be, word of warning,
don't mess with the Raffery cub. lol
Last, but never, never, least....
Devin, Perrin to Ella K.
Life has been complicated for Dev.
So, of course, my dear friend Wendy and I
are both choked up by his beautiful smile as he holds
his godchild in his arms.
A little princess to call him Perrin, a little mind who
will look to him throughout her life as a role model.
She will love him, see him for his humor, his intelligence,
adore him unconditionally.
Funny that a 6 pound bundle of love can change the
lives of so many.
I, cannot wait to smell and rock our dear,
Ella K., she will call me
Aunt Mumsie and I will call her...
ELLA K.
Oh mrs lil. Your words are just beautiful. As I read this there was nothing more touching and perfect. Def had tears flowing while reading. Thanks so much and I cannot wait to see you tomorrow! Love you
ReplyDelete