OZ...Revisited???

I have a few questions, thematic ponderings, if you will:

• So, is OZ really the antithesis of Kansas?
• Of all the places Dorothy could have been from, why Kansas?
• Do the Oz-onians represent the opposing the alter-ego of the rural "solid mid-westerners"?

These are questions and hypothesizes that must be asked...why my seemingly sudden interest in the tornado-driven visit to the munchkins and the creatures, great and small, who had neither brain, heart nor courage? Well, I'm currently in the middle of Kansas. Yep, I'm neck deep in the land that brought us Auntie M, Dorothy, and Toto too. Again, WHY? you ask, well, its like this:

My dad was the 5th of 6 children born to Charles Wesley and Rosa. The family lived in rural Kansas, (mostly near Wichita). Of his siblings, my aunt Dorothy was by far Daddy's favorite, and definitely my favorite as well. (Don't get ahead of me here, yes, I had an Aunt Dorothy from Kansas...we'll make the other connections soon enough.) Well, Aunt Dorothy (and Uncle Howard, who's real name was George--I can't explain it other than to say that I've found it extremely common for people around here to be called by some name other than the one on their birth certificate, it's quite peculiar and extremely confusing if everyone doesn't call them by the same name, whether the "official" one or the "stage?" one) had three sons. And, as I've told you before, I have four sisters so we sort of found it handy to "adopt" the Locke boys as our special cousins. ANYWAY, some of us started talking about the fact that we hadn't seen all three of the Locke boys in decades. So, a phone call and several emails back and forth and a reunion was planned.

This would be a good time to introduce you to each of the brothers:

Duane, the eldest, is about 10ish years older than I. We have seen him more frequently over the last several years than either of the other two, but that is still not very often. Duane is married to Carol and they are wonderful people. Duane bears a striking resemblance to my dad, both in physical appearance and in personality. Both have/had wonderful senses of humor, which ranged from the generally funny, to the intelligently sarcastic, to the ultra dry-"are they really serious or is this a joke?" varieties. 

Jay Dee, Doug, Duane

Jay Dee reminds me more of his dad. He is also humorous and likes to tell tales. He is married to Julie, one of the most laid-back, fun women you'd ever meet. They are a great couple and complement each other well.

Doug is the youngest brother, by more than 10 years and is married to Leesa. He looks a lot like his mom, especially when he smiles. He and Duane have very similar personalities and you are never sure what is going to be said, what tales are going to be told and how much of the tale is fact and how much is embellishment, however, I promise you that you will enjoy the telling.  

Together, they are HILARIOUS! They all have children and grandchildren and at least one great-grandchild. They live hundreds of miles away from each other and still, when they are together, it is obvious that they genuinely like being in each other's company and we loved it as well!

Getting back to the Kansas-connection...during the planning stages, we soon realized that Wichita was a good "middle ground" for all of us to travel and it was symbolically a good reunion location as well. Our parents, as I mentioned earlier, lived in this area, though most of us knew very little about Wichita. Even for a couple who had visited more recently than the rest of us, there were huge changes that had taken place over the intervening years.

We've spent the last few days reminiscing, remembering, getting reacquainted and realizing that we all really like each other. I think some of our personalities are enough like our respective deceased parent, that we are getting to spend time with their spirits as well. For me, I have had an extraordinarily fun time "hanging" with these guys and sharing jokes and stories and just being together, sharing space. We've all agreed that we MUST schedule these events much more frequently. The idea of a family cruise vacation has been tossed around...OH MY, lets just hope it's not just a "3-hour tour..."

TTFN and safe travels all,

Lois

Gas Station Angel?

I noticed her as soon as I pulled into the gas station. She was remarkable, only in her "ordinariness." I can't make any kind of educated guess about her age, she could have been 50 or 70. Her clothes were clean, as was her hair which was combed straight back and held away from her eyes with a metal barrette. She held her face in a grim, determined "scowl" while she scrubbed at highway dirt and bug remains on her car's windows with the station's squeegee. There was just something about her that pulled at my heart and made me want to give her a smile and wish her a great day.

 

Let me back up, I'm getting ahead of myself, AGAIN!

 

This weekend's Gospel at mass was about the man who sowed seeds on all kinds of soil and how, depending on where it landed, it either took root, or it didn't. I've heard that reading at least a gazillion times. One difference this time was the homily that followed. We are incredibly blessed in our parish to have two wonderful men serve as priests. They are remarkable men of faith who shepherd us by walking beside us on our faith's journey. Fr. Greg, our Vicar, is also one of the most gifted homilists that I've ever heard. He was a way of taking the Gospel teachings that we have all heard over and over and over, and twisting them in such a way that their message is new and fresh and pointedly relevant to our lives. This week was no exception. He spoke of our call to be evangelists and sowers of the seeds of God's Grace. Let me be PERFECTLY clear...I am not an evangelist. At best, I am a "struggling" Catholic. I tend to keep my faith as a deeply personal thing and my conversations with God are held in the quiet recesses of my heart.

 

When I first spoke to the woman at the gas station, she didn't seem to hear me nor notice me, she was so concentrated on her "washing" task. Then that little voice that only I hear, told me to speak to her again. So, after putting the nozzle in the tank, I spoke again, louder this time and was rewarded with an amazing smile. Her face became radiant! Never mind that she was missing a couple of teeth and that the lines in her face multiplied as she smiled, she honestly lighted from within!

 

By the time I was replacing the gas nozzle, I had already shifted my thoughts to my next moves. I was getting ready to drive to Round Rock and was debating whether I should travel via the 130 toll road or the interstate. The woman next to me spoke to me saying that she had had five children and that they had all spent time at the Medina Children's Home. (Uh oh, I thought, what was this all about?) She explained that they had become too much for her to handle alone when they were teenagers and she had been in no shape to try and care for them. She went on to say that when they did come back to her, they taught her a little saying: "Find a penny, give it away and you'll never want, another day." At that, she handed me a penny. While this was a cute, simple thing to do, the feeling I kept getting from my encounters with this woman was that I was being given the opportunity to spend time in the company of an angel. I can't explain the feeling, in fact, I really can't begin to believe that I'm sharing this experience with you. I just keep thinking about the whole experience and weighing it against the homily that touched me this weekend...either way, I have to say, I was profoundly touched by both.

 

TTFN

 

Lois