CHASING THE BLUES AWAY

There is nothing better to chase the blues away than kids.  Especially when those kids are grandkids. Aren't they just the best? I've often said that if I had known grandkids were so wonderful, I would have skipped having kids and gone straight to grandkids!  Of course, as a parent, you have a totally different relationship and responsibilities than you do as a grandparent.

I left Galveston and the plan was to spend a week in the H-town area and then go to "the lake".  Since I own a membership there, I can stay 90 days a year for free.  I have a big trip planned starting in April and this would give me some time to build my bank account back up after the expense of Christmas. 

By the way, if you are ever in the Huntsville, TX or Livingston, TX area, you should check out Marina Village Camping Club.  The website is www.marina-village.com.

Son had asked me several weeks earlier if I would watch the kids over Valentine's weekend.  So, Friday afternoon, I loaded up the kids and we came to Marina Village for the weekend.  When I told girl-child that we would be going to the lake when she spent the weekend with me, her response was to sigh and say, "Ahhh, paradise." To say that kids have fun there, is an understatement.

I spend most of my time here during the spring, summer, and fall.  I think I have only been up here during the winter maybe twice in the 30 something years that I have been a member.  Being on Lake Livingston, this place is really hopping when the weather gets warm enough for water activities.  In this part of the country, that's the majority of the year.  But during the winter, there's not much happening and there aren't a lot of people here.  That worked out even better for the kids.

This is a place where you can let your kids ride their bikes without you being with them constantly.  They can go to the playground.  You can take them on a nature trail.  You can have a fire and roast hot dogs and marshmallows.  They can fish.  The outdoors here has endless possibilities with their imaginations.  Plus, Mimi lets them stay up late and watch 1 movie each night.  Talk about some tired, happy kids......

Their enthusiasm for life helped me and especially Mr. W chase the blues away after the sadness we had just experienced.  Thank you God for kids, especially the grand kind.

 The big kid had just as much fun as the little kids.

Nothing like a merry-go-round to make kids feel like they are going to puke!

 

Unfortunately, the fish were not cooperating......



Boy-child helping clear all the leaves so we could have a campfire without worrying that we might set the whole park on fire.

 

 

 

LELA MARIE TILLERY WARREN AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS MEMAW

Lela Marie Warren was the wife to one man for 70 years.  She was the mother to 2 sons; one of whom I am marred to.  She has 6 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.  She was a sweetheart of a woman and since she only had sons, she was very glad to have daughter-in-laws. That made me feel special and I'm glad I got to be one. Once grandkids were born, she was known as Memaw and she loved that name and the kids who called her that.  I'm glad I got to know her and be a part of her life.  I want you to know a little about her too.

 

Lela “Marie” Warren was born January 10, 1923 to William A. and Hettie Irine Tillery in Troy, Texas.  She had 4 sisters and 1 brother.  Marie was preceded in death by her sisters; Helen Bowden, Fay Matson, Louise O’Neal, and her brother W. A. Tillery, Jr., better known as Billy.

Marie graduated from Waller High School in 1942.  She worked as a telephone operator while in high school. After graduation, her friend, Norma Rollings, convinced her to move to Houston to work at Southwest Drugs.  It was there she met J.P. Warren standing in front of Southwest Drugs at a Gene Autry parade. He held her up so she could see.

                Marie married J.P. Warren on October 14, 1943 in Houston, Texas.  They married right before J.P. went overseas to serve in World War II.  While J.P. was overseas, Marie moved to Galveston, Texas and lived with her in-laws. She went to work at Keith’s Drive-In on 10^th and Seawall. She was a carhop on roller skates as was her sister-in-law, Bootsie. 

                When J.P. returned from overseas, they were stationed at the Air Force base in Ardmore, Oklahoma.  It was here that their first son, Darrel Wayne, was born on September 6, 1945.  Marie and her mother took a train to Galveston, Texas when Darrel was 2 weeks old and waited for J.P.’s arrival after he was discharged from the Air Force.  They lived in Galveston until they moved to Houston in 1950.

                J.P. worked for AT&T and they were able to buy a house on Wellington St. for $36 a month.  It was there that they also welcomed their second son, Ronald (Ron) Dean, on March 24, 1955. Marie was a stay at home Mom for many years.  In the 1960s, she went to work at Britt’s (a department store) and was a favorite clerk among the customers. It was there that she mastered the art of “returning clothes”.

                Marie and J.P. loved to travel and did so for many years in their various campers and motorhomes.  They especially loved Colorado and Branson. They also spent a lot of time and made many memories and friends at Marina Village.  Marie loved the Lord and brought up her sons to also love the Lord. She lost the love of her life when J.P. passed away on March 22, 2013.  Marie passed away on February 8, 2014.

(At her 80th birthday party. Not all the great grandchildren were on this earth yet.)

                Marie is survived by her 2 sons and their wives, Darrel & Barbara Warren and Ron & Liz Warren; 6 grandchildren, Tami Miller and husband, Robert; Julie Archer and husband, Jason; Jason Warren and wife, Billie Jo; Jeremy Warren and wife, Aja; Andy Warren and wife, Christi; Emily Roberts and husband, James; 12 great-grandchildren, Kasey, Ryan, Tyler, Allyson, Cameron, Boston, Olivia, Gavin, Hazel, Sophia, Annabel, and Rider; and sister, Evelyn Rollings.

We all loved and will miss Memaw. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

THE PEOPLE WE MEET

One of the great things about RVing is meeting some great people who are RVing!  That was a profound statement don't you think?

I just spent a month in Galveston at Jamaica RV Resort and I was one of the few Texans staying there.  The population of winter Texans has grown substantially over the last years.  So, we were one of the very few Texans staying in the RV resort.  There were many people down from Canada; Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, etc., not to mention from all over the northern part of the US.

So, let me introduce you to some people.........

This is Donna and Norm.  They are from Maine and I LOVE their accent!  Of course, they love mine! Do I have one? :)  Donna and Norm were gone somewhere almost every single day.  They visited everywhere that had to do with Texas or Texas "things"  history.  They asked a lot of questions which made me go home, get on my computer, and look things up. Boy, she kept me on my toes! One day they visited the Longhorn Museum in League City and highly recommended I visit there.  I didn't even know there was a Longhorn Museum in League City! They are great people.

This is Bob and Barb. They are from Wisconsin. Great people.  Barb is a very gracious lady who is very sweet.  She is one of those people who tries to make everyone comfortable all the time.  Because she is so gracious, some times the things she says cracks me up! She sort of reminds me of Edith Bunker.  They had a social get together for us at their trailer as a going away party.  They are looking to buy a new RV. I'm looking forward to seeing what they buy!

 This is Cathy and Bob.  They are from Massachusetts.  I love their accent too! They have a Harley and a golf cart that travel with them.  So, needless to say, they have a toy hauler.  They too are looking to buy a new one.  One day Cathy asked me how did Texans pronounce the street spelled Fuqua.  I won't tell you how she thought it was pronounced.  Next year, they will be in South Texas as will we.  I sure am hoping that we can get together again next year.

This is Laurie.  Her husband Ron was back in Canada at the time of this picture.  Laurie is a crazy woman!  Her husband works all over.  He travels a lot with his job.  So, about a year ago, Laurie decided that she wanted to go along with Ron and quit staying at home by herself. So, they sold their house, got rid of "stuff" and moved into their RV.  Now, Ron travels from job to job with Laurie.  Ron's visa had expired so he was back in Canada trying to get his visa.  I missed getting his picture. Ron and Laurie were the first of the couples to invite us to a friendly social gathering.  Thank you Ron and Laurie.  In return, one night I had a social gathering and served Tex-Mex.  Laurie and I were the "self-appointed" social directors of the RV park...... :)

All of these people are great people.  We had a great time with them and I hope to be able to stay in touch.  Here's to safe travels all my winter Texan friends!  Cheers!.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

THE BISHOP'S PALACE

In Galveston, you can buy a combo ticket to visit Moody Mansion and the Bishop's Palace.  Because they are both located on Broadway Ave., they are called the Broadway Beauties.  I bought the combo ticket last week when I went to the Moody Mansion and since I'm getting ready to leave Galveston, I went on the tour of the Bishop's Palace yesterday.

Mr. and Mrs. Gresham built this house back in the 1800s and paid around $250,000 to build it.  That was the equivalent of about 3 million now.  Wow. 

Mr. Gresham was an executive for the railroad.  Unlike the Moodys, he was not an entrepreneur and was not the "owner" or head of any companies.  So, he had no place of importance or company to carry on in Galveston upon his death.  His children all moved away.  A couple of years after his death, his wife decided to move to Europe and put the house on the market.  It was the 1920s.  America was in the midst of the Great Depression and World War I had just ended.  No one had much money, so, Mrs. Gresham was having a hard time selling her house.

The bishop that was head of the then Galveston/Houston Diocese lived on the island.  At that time, Galveston was the headquarters for the Diocese because it was the booming town.  The bishop lived in a small apartment and the Catholic church wanted him to have a larger place to live and conduct "business" from.  They offered Mrs. Gresham $37,500 for the house and she took it.

Even though the house has been a museum for many years, the Galveston Historical Society recently purchased the house from the Catholic church for around 3 million. 

The bishop lived in the house and of course was very much a minimalist. The church also did do some updating and a few renovations to modernize the house before the bishop moved out of the house and off the island.  Most of the furniture then in the house moved with the bishop.   So, there isn't much furniture/knick knacks/etc.  left from the time period.  However, Mrs. Gresham's granddaughter donated what is in the house after she visited the house several years ago.

Part of the house is in the process of being painted.  Those rooms were off limits. In fact, there were a lot of rooms that were suppose to be on the tour that were off limits for one reason or another.   I noticed signs of water damage close to the ceiling in one of the rooms. I was told that the roof has a leak and the entire roof needs to be replaced.  Since it is an official historical house, the roof will have to be the same as the original roof.  The cost to replace the roof will be 1 million.  The historical society is in the process of raising money for the roof.  I guess cake sales and car washes would be out of the question?

Unlike Moody Mansion, you are allowed to take pictures inside.  Thank goodness.   The guy who did the tour was not good.  He just asked, "What do you want to know?"  Well, how about everything you know about the house?  Duh.  You did have to know the right questions to ask and keep asking questions to get any information.  Disappointing to say the least.

They do offer a self-guided tour with headphones and maybe that would have been better.  I've posted some pictures below.  My advice, buy the single ticket to Moody Mansion and read about Bishop Palace on the internet.

Outside of the Bishop's Palace

 

 

One of the fireplaces.  There was a fireplace in every room.  Notice the cherubs.  Mrs. Gresham was an artist and painted cherubs all over the house.

 

One of the many ceilings .

An original chandelier in the house.  There was electricity throughout the house when it was built.  Very ahead of their time.

 

One of the many stained glass windows. Beautiful.

 

They called this the podium.  It was a landing in the staircase.  Mr. Gresham would stand there and give speeches and welcome guests when they entertained.  Notice the Texas seal in the woodwork.

 

This was the butler's pantry.  Mrs. Gresham's china is on the right.  The Bishop's china is on the left.  Mrs. Gresham hand painted the design on her china.

This is the ceiling in the middle of the house.  If you see the little rectangles at the bottom of the skylight, these opened and during the summer, the hot air would rise up there and go out of the house.  Most of the windows in the house were floor to ceiling.  People opened them to try to stay cool.  The wind would rush in and then rise up.  Something I learned at Moody Mansion was they did not have screens so they slept with mosquito netting on their beds.  The houses would get full of mosquitoes and flies.  Galveston had an outbreak of yellow fever about every 5 years because of the mosquitoes.  Yikes!

This sink was in Mr. Gresham's dressing area.  No toilet or tub.  He would shave here.

 

Mr. Gresham's bed

 

Mrs. Gresham's bed

 

This room was originally one of the Gresham's daughter's bedroom.  Once the Bishop moved in, he converted it to the room where he held mass everyday.

 

This is the study/library.  The books are not of the period.  They just used them to fill the cabinets. Not sure why.

 

More cherubs painted on the ceiling by Mrs. Gresham.

 

This is what they called the conservatory.  The wicker furniture is the original wicker furniture put in this room by the Greshams.

 

 

Remember me saying in my previous post that the houses on this side of  Broadway were not damaged during the 1900 storm because of  all the debris that piled up and made a dam down Broadway?  So, one other piece of history about the Greshams.  During the 1900 storm, the Greshams went outside during the storm and helped rescue around 200 people who were floating down the street.  They took them into their home for safety.  After the storm, it is estimated that at one time, they had about 500 people living in their home because most of the island's houses were destroyed.  Can you imagine?  About a year after that, Mrs. Gresham decided that she needed to take a trip to Europe.  I bet she did.