These little ones being held by their fathers are first cousins . . . on the left is my Dad, Forrest Lee Pounders (1927-1996), son of Ima (1906-1999) & Jake (1902-1957) Pounders . . . on the right is Sercey Quinney, son of Shorty (1907-2002) & Dean Quinney (1901-1987) . . . Ima and Shorty were two of seven daughters born to Charlie & Emma (Nettles) Muston . . . Sercey is celebrating his 84th birthday today . . .
Happy Birthday, Sercey!
On this date in our family history . . . the 17th day of January . . . in the year 1996 . . . following a brief battle with kidney cancer . . . my Dad, Forrest Lee Pounders, died in Rockdale, Texas . . . he was laid to rest in a little country cemetery in central Texas . . . and this mailbox actually stood in that cemetery at that time . . . as if awaiting a letter addressed to one of the residents . . . Dad had delivered mail in Rockdale for many years (go take a look at his grave marker) . . . I snapped this photo shortly after his death . . . the flowers were for his grave. . . .
There is a place within our hearts
where we keep our favorite memories
the ones that never fail to make us smile
those are the dearest memories of all.
Wishing you a Christmas filled with
the warmth of caring
the joy of togetherness
the love of friends and family
and happy memories that linger
long after the season is gone.
That verse by Amanda Bradley is featured on the ca. 1996 Christmas page on the left of this collage . . . and that page also appears in my Advent Calendar blogpost about Tearbottle Ornaments (which highlights memories of our first Christmas without my Dad) . . . we have quite an assortment of photos of Dad in front of the family Christmas trees over the years . . . but this one from the mid-1970s is definitely one of my favorites . . . the name card is from his 1945 high school graduation announcement . . . prepared for Grab Bag Day on the 2010 Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories . . .
FYI . . . this scrapbook page was created in Picasa using the collage feature with a scan of an open book as the background . . . the image used for the photo corner mounts is actually a ribbon from a dingbat font called WWDesigns . . .
Left to right, these gentleman of the 1950s are --
Jim is a family friend . . . Fuzzy is my Dad . . . Weldon is a 1st cousin once removed (but always referred to as Uncle Weldon) . . . and Robert is Uncle Bob (Mom's brother) . . . Jim died this week, on the 3rd of February . . . as this photo from the 1950s demonstrates, he is a part of our childhood memories . . . but I did not realize until just this week that Jim is actually a 1st cousin once removed to some of my Dad's 1st cousins (i.e., the Quinneys) . . . his funeral is being held today, the 7th day of February, in Rockdale . . . Jim will be buried beside his 1st wife, Bettie Jane Robbins nee Bartlett (1933-1964), the mother of his only child . . . RIP, Jim . . . give Dad and Uncle Weldon and Uncle Bob a hug for me when you see them . . . see y'all next time . . .
They are the roses in December;
you remember some one said
that God gave us memory
so that we might have roses in December. . . .
the people I have cared for most
and who have seemed most worth caring for
-- my December roses --
have been very simple folk.
~ James M. Barrie ~
Fourteen years ago [1996] I had not yet bought my 1st computer. The pages I typed during my Father's last days, and following his death -- e.g., the page shown here -- were done on a portable typewriter.
It was December 1996, our first Christmas season without the patriarch of our family, Forrest Lee Pounders (1927-1996). It had been almost a year since Dad died in January . . .
On that cool, crisp Christmas morning, we drove to the little country cemetery to visit Dad's grave. Mom had planted antique rosebushes shortly after Dad's death -- The Fairy rose -- which was introduced by J. A. Bentall in England in 1932 (the year of Mom's birth) -- and I wanted to gather some flowers for drying for the special project shown here. The delicate rose blossoms and tiny rosebuds sparkled with frost that morning -- as if sprinkled with stardust from the Star of the East.
You have collected all my tears and preserved them in Your bottle! You have recorded every one in Your book. ~ Psalm 56 ~
I refer to the family keepsake ornaments shown here as tearbottles. These opalescent glass globes contain dried rose petals from Daddy's memorial service, as well as the dried roses from his grave. The sweetly scented blossoms are combined with a sentimental mixture of rosemary (for remembrance) and wormwood (for sorrow). And all are nestled in a soft bed of prisma stardust blended with glittering ice crystals . . .
Silently one by one
in the infinite meadows of Heaven
blossom the lovely stars
the forget-me-nots of the angels.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~
Originally written for the
2009 Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories
Freshened up a bit and reposted for the
2010 Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories
On this date in our family history . . . the 10th day of October . . . in the year 1950 . . . shortly after the sun rises . . . 18-year-old Roberta Mae walks out of the home she shares with her paternal grandparents in central Texas . . . and climbs into a waiting car . . . it is an autumn's Tuesday, and . . . it is the birthday of the driver of the car . . . Roberta's grandma, Berta Mary, is aware of the plans for the day . . . and wishes them a safe journey as they leave town . . . the driver heads south from Rockdale . . . towards Freeport, Texas . . . that is where Roberta's only brother, Robert, lives and works, as does her cousin, Georgia Faye . . . the first stop in Freeport is Georgia's apartment . . . where Roberta changes into the navy-blue suit she had recently purchased at Goodfriend's on Congress Avenue in Austin . . . there is a bouquet of zinnias sitting on the piano when they walk into the little Methodist church in the neighborhood. . . and there, with Robert and Georgia as witnesses, a small wedding takes place . . . when Roberta next returns to visit the wood-frame house where she spent most of her growing-up years, she is the new bride of 23-year-old Forrest Lee Pounders (1927-1996) . . .
Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad . . .
On this date in our family history . . . the 10th day of October . . . in the year 1927 . . . a baby boy is born to Jacob Edmund Forrest Pounders (1902-1957), and his wife of one year, Ima Lois Pounders nee Muston (1906-1999) . . . that baby boy is named Forrest Lee Pounders (1927-1996) . . . and he grows up to become my Daddy . . . Happy Birthday, Dad!
Missing my Dad
Fuzzy & friends
Fuzzy @ findagrave
Wordless Wednesday
Barefoot Boy
This collage features me . . . aka BeNotForgot . . . and my Dad, Forrest Lee Pounders (1927-1996) . . . the photo in the upper right shows my Dad placing a lucky penny in my shoe on my wedding day in 1975 . . . my Mom made my blue velvet gown . . . at my request, my Dad wore the same navy blue suit he wore the day her married my Mom . . . and he then wore it one more time . . . for his final Homegoing on the day of his memorial service in January of 1996 . . . a few years after his death from kidney cancer, I sat down and wrote a letter to my Dad . . . I am sharing it with the blogosphere today . . . for Father's Day . . .
Hey Dad -- Hard to believe it's actually been five years since that last summer with all of us together.
I traveled back to our hometown for my class reunion this past weekend (2000). That reminded me of the weekend of our 1995 class reunion -- a weekend I chose to spend with family instead of former classmates. That turned out to be your last weekend of actually feeling anything like your old self -- for you started those experimental cancer treatments the following Monday. And life was never to be the same again.
That was also the weekend of Rick and Cathy's wedding -- you were to be his best man, but didn't feel up to it. We, your children, attended the wedding as your representatives.
But the best part of that weekend was sitting out in the backyard at the home you shared with Momma for 45 years -- the home we four children grew up in -- the backyard full of so many happy memories. We had the best "private playground" of any of our classmates, thanks to you and Uncle Billy -- a merry-go-round, a seesaw, and a swingset set in concrete so that we could swing high enough to touch the leaves of the shade trees as we aimed for the sky. And the dog trough where we always dumped the tadpoles from Ham Branch, and soon had little baby frogs hopping all over the place.
Nearby were the various garden spots with that wonderful Central Texas sand where you and your Mother grew those wonderful vegies (sure would like some of yall's fresh new potatoes and fresh tomatoes right now!) -- and where we delighted in chasing and catching baby horned toads when we were kids. Remember how we filled our little red wagons with sand and made homes for those baby horned toads? And made beds for them in match boxes?
And then there were the doodlebugs? Funny how that became such a sweet term of endearment in your later years. Guess you started it by calling Jacob "Doodlebug," which he in turn decided to call you. He still (at age ten now) talks about his "Doodlebug." [Did you know they are actually the larva of a winged creature similar to a dragonfly? I didn't!]
As I'm prone to do, I brought in boxes full of scrapbooks and family photo albums, and all of us -- you and Mom, your Mother, your kids and grandkids -- we all sat around the backyard leafing through the pages of memories of our lives together. There was laughter and there were tears, as we all -- somewhere deep inside -- realized that this was a day to burn into our memories, for the odds were against our ever getting to do it again in just that way.
I treasure the photos I took that day -- the central Texas sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees that had stood guard duty over our little family for almost half-of-a-century. Those were the final photos of you really laughing and feeling good. We had ice-cold watermelon, one of the few things you kept an appetite for as your health declined. Many of your lifelong friends kept us supplied throughout that summer.
Anyway -- I could go on and on -- you know how I am!!! But I'll close for now -- just wanted to jot down a few thoughts. Luv you and miss you, Dad . . . see ya next time . . . your "eldest" daughter . . .
Forrest Lee Pounders
born in Texas on 10th October 1927
died in Texas on 17th January 1996
Remembering . . .
Fifty years to the day before his death on 17 January 1996, a form letter was being prepared for then 18-year-old FORREST LEE POUNDERS of Rockdale, Texas. That form letter, dated & mailed 17 Jan 1946, was an Order to Report for Induction, & it was signed by M. N. Stricker, representing Local Board No. 1, Milam County. The letter read, in part, as follows.
Having submitted yourself to a local board composed of your neighbors for the purpose of determining your availability for training & service in the land or naval forces of the United States, you are hereby notified that you have now been selected for training & service therein. You will, therefore, report to the local board named above at City hall, Rockdale, Texas at 1:30 p.m., on the 3rd day of February, 1946.
POUNDERS (aka Fuzzy) was inducted into the U.S. Army on 04 Feb 1946. Six months later, at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, he received an Honorable discharge for C of G to enlist in the Regular Army. His mustering out pay was $200.
One year later, POUNDERS received his second Honorable Discharge at Camp Stoneman, California. At the time of his separation, his Military Occupational Specialty & No. was Message Center Clerk 667. He received a World War II Victory Medal as well as an Army of Occupation Medal - Japan. His mustering out pay was $100.
His Report of Separation indicated that POUNDERS had attended Signal Corps School while at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, as well as Message Center School in Kokura, Kyushu, Japan. This same report listed his prior employment at Jones Grocery & Market in Rockdale in 1945.
As a Message Center Clerk, POUNDERS had . . . Received & logged incoming & outgoing messages, communications & publications in a message center & distributed them in accordance with the prescribed procedures. Coded & decoded secret & confidential messages in accordance with standing operating procedures.
