It has become necessary for me to change the url of this site so I can more easily upload photos and change appearances. Please, please go to www.sonnystoneacres.wordpress.com/ and favorite the site. I’ll be posting the usual stuff over there, only better.
P.S. Would you mind commenting when you get over there– just a little “hi” so I know you’re still there?? I love you guys…..
Ronna Lynn is my twin cousin, born to my mom’s youngest sister, Shirley and Darryl Reeves in Gary Indiana, 1954. I can just barely remember that her dad’s family owned a florist shop and they lived in apartments above there (I think). Somehow, though, her mom and dad split up and next I knew they were living down in Grayville, IL and Shirley was married to Max Compton, having more kids; from then on, as was the way back then, she was Ronna Compton. We played together and spent nights together at grandma’s and looked a lot alike, hence we took on the persona of Patty Duke:
Still they’re cousins, identical cousins and you’ll find
They laugh alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike….
By the time Grandma Eaton died in 1969, Ronna’s family had moved to Oklahoma and from there they moved to Florida and finally threw down roots. Must not have been the happiest of homes, however, because Ronna married at 16 just to get away. (she was NOT pregnant) Her daughter, Jennifer Davis, was born in 1974; she divorced when Jen was about 3. Sometime around then, she met and married the Love of her life, Tom Loppnow; they married in April, 1980 and lived in Plant City, FL. Tom is an engineer (now retired, lucky him) and has worked for a major petroleum company forever and his career has taken them all over the world. Their daughter, Lacy, was born in 1981 in Florida. In 1983 they moved to New Zealand, where their daughter Stephanie was born in 1985. They moved back to Florida when Stephanie was 9 months old and lived there until 1988. In 1989 they moved to Italy; 1990, on to Belgium; back to the USA, Chicago, in 1991 and stayed there for 2 1/2 years. In 1995, they moved to Decatur, Alabama, where they lived for the longest time of their marriage: 9 years. This is where her kids graduated high school and went on to college and out into the world. So how did they cope with empty nest? Moved back to New Zealand in 2004!! In 2006, after a 3-month stay back in Alabama, they moved (for good, I think) to Houston, where they are currently residing. Ronna’s true joy is her husband and family, and now she has a grandson, Zac, who lives nearby and, well, you know how great the grandkids are!!! Ronna is a great cook, especially Italian, and is a wonderful, loyal friend–proved by the many friends she has made in her journeys who still keep in touch. I love her so much and we share a very special relationship:
You can lose your mind, when cousins are 2 of a kind!!
Our interview was carried out over the phone; I hope we can get together soon live and in-person!!
Age: 54
Bed size: King
Chore you hate: vacuuming
Dog’s name: Last dog was Chatty
Essential “start your day” item: brushing my teeth
Favorite color: yellow
Gold or Silver? gold
Height: 5′9″
Instrument you play: clarinet at one time
Job title: domestic engineer
Kids: Jennifer, Lacy, Stephanie
Living arrangements: Tom & I, 2 cats in a 3br, 2bath ranch home
Mom’s name: Shirley
Nicknames: Wild Thing
Overnight hospital stay (other than childbirth): broken ankle
Pet peeves: toilet seat up
Quote from a movie: “Here’s lookin’ at you, kid” Rick, Casablanca
Right (handed) or Left(handed): right
Siblings: Neina, Kim, Jeff, Jason
Time you wake up: 6:30
Underwear: granny panties, soft and comfy
Veggie you most like and dislike: potatoes and carrots
Ways you cope with stress: wine
X-ray vision (have you ever predicted the future correctly?) yes…..
Zoo you like best: Houston Zoo–especially the meerkats.
I just got a call from my best friend from grade school, Luann. Her father, Howard Oglesby, died this morning. He had gone to the hospital Thursday with generalized weakness, not expected to die, but not planning on coming back home, either. Lu’s mom, Doris, is my idol and has been taking wonderful care of him for many years, as he has grown increasingly more dependent. Lu says she’ll be in (from Portland, OR) in the next few days and his funeral will be on Friday. Add another sad event to the Memorial Day memories. Thank goodness Jess and Mike got married lo those 5 years ago so there’s at least ONE happy event to remember!!
Last day of school is full of mixed emotions, and busy, too. Clearing out the office and finishing up tasks is interrupted with hugs and pictures with 8th graders, while patching up a skinned knee of a 6th grader and dispensing the usual meds. I was almost done and out the door when I spied some papers in my mailbox and found these.
Somehow I felt all the good I did come right back at me and I stood up a little taller, felt a lot stronger. I love the kids and I’ll go back and take the crap from their parents just for these kinds of rewards.
But for the next 10 weeks, I’m on vacation………
too many spiderplants, originally uploaded by rightbug?.
It took me an hour or so to divide the aging spiderplants that have been begging me for respite. There were 4 and now there are 8. I simply must have houseplants, but they are a pain once they get past their “cute” stage. I also repotted a peace lilly and a mother-in-law’s tongue. I eyed the huge arrowhead plants and decided to leave them for the summer and tackle the problem when it’s time to take them back inside. There’s not enough room on the porches for the spiders, and they are going to look like an invasion in the house. Can anyone help me? They’re very hardy, and even if they don’t do well for you, I don’t care. I just can’t throw them away. They’re in nice new pots and I’ll provide the bottom saucer, too. Anybody?
Of course, I can’t throw plants away because they’re alive, just going through an awkward phase. But what’s my excuse for all the stuff in my closet??? We’re getting ready to remodel the bathroom and I have to completely empty my clothes closet….not just daunting, but bewildering. Why do I have 3 sizes of shorts? Tee shirts that never fit in the first place? Tank tops that are rags? Shoes that were cute, cheap, blister-producers? Wish me luck as I pare down.
Visit my gardening blog, growingeveryseason.com, to check out Saturday’s rummage sale finds and adventures.
4 more days of school!! Yippee!!
sing-along at the nursing home, originally uploaded by rightbug?.
sister and i were back on the nursing home circuit today. i know i’ve told you before, but i’ll say it again: this gig is so fun! i remembered to take my camera and snapped these shots of members of our audience. the fella in the foreground couldn’t quite follow along with our musical choices, but he could remember some german drinking songs from 1936, and some irish songs (about somebody named Paddy, can you imagine that?) that he learned partying when he was a younger man. he was a policeman in nyc and spoke with a distinctly new york accent, pulling out pictures of himself and his wife when they were young. he sang his wife a song, bragging that he got the prettiest girl in the world, had to marry her (she was 16) so no one else could….they’ve been married 71 years!!! remarkable. coming straight from adolescents to such oldsters made me a little dizzy, but joyful.
okay, now you can’t see that “thing” on her face……and isn’t she petite?
“Sisters, Sisters…there were never such devoted sisters……”
Donna Kathleen was born in Fairfield, IL to Bob and Ruby Mayne, who brought her home to Albion, Il. She was their second child, 4 years younger than her brother, Rick. She was only 17-months-old when her sister was born, effectively ending her babyhood. She had red hair, dimples, and a musical talent that showed from the time she could talk. Her family moved to Gary, IN when she was about 5, and then landed in Evansville, IN when she was 9. Except for a side-trip to California when she was 15 and a year in Terre Haute when she was 19, she has lived in Evansville ever since. Donna met Lenny Carr during her junior year at Harrison High School and fell in love. After high school, she started working at Morris Plan and made a plan for life that she’s pretty much stuck with ever since. She and Lenny married in 1971; Lauren was born in 1973, Allison in 1977. She worked part-time at Lamar Properties for many years and her co-workers there are still family to her. Along the way, she decided to go back to school, taking evening classes for several years, finally getting her Associate in Business Degree from USI in 1990 (editor note: I’m not sure what year she finished). Several years as Director of Meals on Wheels convinced her to stay with non-profit social services and she went on to become Executive Director of the Evansville Mental Health Association, where she diagnosed us all. She was there for a decade or so; she is now Executive Director of Evansville Weekday Christian Education. About 6 years ago, Donna moved to the eastside and became a very active member of Bethel Temple Community Church, where she directs the Myanmar Mission Program and travels to Myanmar annually to personally care for the orphans her church supports there. A most talented musician, Donna plays the piano by ear with a strong left hand in a style reminiscent of our grandmother. She is a great mom and grandmother, pretty-good wife to Len, and an outstanding sister to me. Words can’t express how much I love this woman. We are nothing alike in our attitudes, but our SisterBond is incredible, almost twin-ish. We’ve stuck together through thick and thin and worked through (argued through) many overwhelming circumstances in our relationship, now comfortable with (even enjoying) our differences. Throughout everything, the best part—the part that I couldn’t have survived without—is when we laugh together; there’s nothing in the world like it. Donna turned in her interview months ago, and I apologize for the delay in posting, but geesh, I’ve been busy.
Age: 58
Bed size: (she forgot to answer this, but I’m guessing queen?)
Chore you hate: cleaning the bathtub
Dog’s name: Gunner
Essential “start your day” item: cup of coffee and granola bar
Favorite color: yellow
Gold or Silver? depends on what I’m wearing
Height: 5′
Instrument you play: piano
Job title: Executive Director
Kids: Lauren and Allison
Living arrangements: cute little brick bungalow with my husband, Lenny
Mom’s name: Ruby
Nicknames: Mimi, John, Queen, Donna Kate
Overnight hospital stay (other than childbirth): one (hysterectomy)
Pet peeves: Self-centered people; drivers who don’t use their turn signals
Quote from a movie: “Say hello to my little friend” Al Pacino in “Scarface”
Right(handed) or Left(handed: left
Siblings: Rick and Jo
Time you wake up: 6:30-7:00 a.m.
Underwear: a 58-year-old’s version of bikinis (editor’s note: wtf?)
Veggie you most like and dislike: I LOVE any kid of veggie
Ways you cope with stress: walking and/or praying–sometimes both at the same time.
X-ray vision (have you ever predicted the future correctly?): Nope, but I have some pretty good hunches about the obvious.
Zoo you like best: I think I’ve only been to 2, so I’ll say St. Louis.
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