Category: Stories

Peggy Carr Dodd

Poems and sayings of Peggy Carr Dodd

While going through some boxes at Mama and Dad’s house in Checotah,  I found a large folder labeled “Poems by Peggy”.  As I sorted through them, I laughed, cried, and saw a reflection of my Mama’s heart captured in her own words.  She has written funny little verses to her sisters, daughters and other family members that depict her sense of humor.  Other verses reveal her pain in sorrow, the anguish of injustice, and the joy and comfort of the Lord.  Let me share a few with you, her beloved family.

MY LAST VISIT WITH MAMA (more…)

Juanita Carr Rush

Ali Goes Home Early

Alborz_MountainsPicture Tehran, Iran in the early 1970s. The Shah was still in power. The students had not yet taken 52 American citizens hostage at their own Embassy. While there was tension between Iranians and foreigners, it had not yet gotten to the point where it was unsafe for them to be there.

My father , David M. Rush, worked for an aerospace company who had sold helicopters to the Shah’s Air Force. He was assigned to set up a repair and maintenance program for those helicopters with the Iranian Air Force. Since it was to be a long assignment, my mother, Juanita Carr Rush, and the 3 boys still at home (Mike, Jeff and Mark) (more…)

Edith Carr Wilson

Edith

I want to thank David Rush for all his hard work in setting up and maintaining this website, Mike Rush for coming to visit me and Perry Schultz for fixing my dishwasher last week. Also, Nancy, I see that you have submitted most of the recipes and I will try to do better in the future and help you. (more…)

Stories

The Feather Bed

I haven’t added a whole lot besides names and dates that I’ve come up with along the way and a lot of pics that I found in my grandmother’s old shed.  So here’s on that I heard about a lot when I was younger and more when I started hunting genealogy more extensively.

A little background first.   My mother, Nancy Kathleen Kelly, is the (more…)

Grandma Austin

Genealogy Update on Nancy Ann Trobaugh Austin

Nancy Ann Trobaugh Austin was Mama Carr’s mother and my great grandmother.  Because I share her name ,Nancy, I have developed a keen interest in her personality and heritage.  Regrettably, this interest has developed after my Mama, Peggy Carr Dodd developed dementia and can not answer my many question.

Much to my surprise, our doorbell rang Sunday, the day after Christmas, and there stood two strangers who introduced (more…)

Lucille Carr Seifert

Tribute to Lucille Carr Seifert

Things my mother, Lucille, taught my sisters and me
By Carolyn Seifert Lohn

  1. Do a little dance. Lucille taught us girls a love of big band and carr_evelyn_lucille_lwestern swing, especially Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. She and the aunts kicked up their heels in the dance halls quite a bit back in the day.
  2. Have a sense of humor. Lucille is always cracking jokes and telling stories, and we’re always listening. Just a tip though, don’t pull her finger.
  3. Be self-reliant. Hard work never killed anybody, and everybody is supposed to work. And she did, every day. (more…)
Juanita Carr Rush

Gifts Remembered

There are several gifts that I clearly remember receiving from my Grandma Rush (Sister Juanita). That’s pretty good after 25 or 30 years and lots of getting and giving.

One was my very first grown up hat. It is (I still have it) a burgundy felt hat with a wide brim and it was part of my 13th (I think) birthday present along with a pair of black slacks and an ivory Gunne Sax blouse with lots of pearl buttons down the front. I’d have the blouse too because it was a classic but that was 50 pounds ago. I still remember how very grown-up and classy I felt in that outfit. The items were purchased on a shopping trip to the now-defunct, but then top-of-the-line, Boston Store.

While I don’t always agree with her particular line of thought on Christianity, another gift that she gave me (and still does) was to be a strong example of faith. I no longer have the book (I wish I did) that was full of one page stories for children to help them do daily readings long before Chicken Soup for the Soul came along. I do have a little box of Bible verses that she gave me. About the size of an index card, the box contains small cards that have Bible verses on one side and something to promote thought on the other. When I was growing up we periodically used it at dinner time. Now it sits in my bathroom where I will hopefully notice it every day and take a moment to explore some of the wisdom within.

As I was wondering this morning about ways to engage my 13 year-old daughter Bryanna in expanding her thinking, that box came to mind.

Keely West