A 50/50 Weekend

No, it wasn’t half good and half bad. I call it a Fifty-Fifty Weekend because it was Rusty’s 50th birthday and we celebrated Lillian and Corky’s 50th wedding anniversary – which is actually Monday.

The birthday was a quiet celebration, but fun. Rusty never seeks the spotlight – so here I am writing about him – sorry, Bro! He received a lot of neat gifts, not the least of which was a day off work spent with his lovely bride. When I got off work I headed up to the lake, eager to give him the ‘guy stuff’ I had picked out for him. I had to switch cars with Lynna because the humongous ladder that folds into a thousand different ladders wouldn’t fit in the Z. Rusty was surprised and seemed to enjoy my gift, but the first thing he asked was, “So does this mean you have more projects planned for me?” But of course!

Our Livingston neighbor, Jackie, made some Texas flags out of corrugated tin and gave them to Rusty for his birthday. She’s a talented artist and one evening when we were at a local restaurant we saw a Texas flag painted on a large piece of tin, so we called Jackie to see if she could make one for us. She made two and gave them to Rusty.

What’s really special for our whole family is that before we bought the lake house, I said to Lynna and Rusty that Mycol was planning to put up a Texas flag at our new property in Virginia, and since he never got to do that, when we bought our house I wanted to put one up for him. They agreed.






Since Jackie made two, Saturday morning we decided to put them up on the boat house, one facing the house and one facing the lake. Kurt made a plywood frame and we put the first one up this weekend. Nephew Bryan asked me if I wanted to put the first screw in. I did.

Then I wanted pictures of Mycol’s parents and siblings and their spouses with the flag. Mycol would love that. When we had his four siblings standing in front of it for the picture someone suggested they line up just as they did in December, 2002, when they had their last family photos taken with Mycol. I asked them to leave a space for him: a missing man formation. We took a shot like that and then one with me in his spot. Even though the flags are a gift for Rusty, they and the photos mean a lot to me.



Later in the day Kurt and Bryan made some of the very best fajitas I've ever had - great job, boys - and we all ate way more than we should have. Finally, in the evening, it was time to present Lillian and Corky - Mom and Dad - with their gift.

We put together a basket of travel items and a letter with instructions. Lynna wrote the letter and did an outstanding job explaining the gift: About six years ago Mycol suggested to Reba that if all the kids would contribute monthly to a savings account, then by their parents' 50th anniversary they'd have enough saved to do something very special. Reba agreed and they got Lynna, Val, and Wes in on it. They began the account right away and have saved faithfully over the years. I've been honored to continue Mycol's part in it these last three years.

As time's gotten closer to the magic date, we started meeting and getting our ideas together. The gift took form: An all-expense paid trip to Nashville, Opryland, Memphis, Graceland, where ever they wanted to go. Reba found a twelve-inch statue of Elvis in "Jailhouse Rock" uniform, and made that the centerpiece of the basket, holding the letter and check.

The letter to them was so beautiful explaining that this was something Mycol wanted us to do for them. Of course, as Mom read the letter out loud, it was a very emotional time for us all. I hate that Mycol wasn't here to share in it, yet it felt so indescribably wonderful to witness the moment, knowing what it meant to Mycol, to watch his parents read the letter and realize their gift. I am so glad Mycol's dream for something special for his parents came to fruition, even after he's moved to heaven.

Mom and Dad spent the night at the lake house and Sunday morning when she got up Mom had to "peench" herself and go look at the basket again and read the letter and see the cashier's check. "This is my dream trip, you know," she said to us.

Yes, Mom, just as Mycol would have it.