Goodbye 2010!!

As the year 2010 quickly runs down its final moments, I find myself trying not to remember the less pleasant moments and focus on the best ones. The best moments of course include sharing times with you. There has been some great sadness for some of us as loved ones were lost... from accidents, cancer, and other horrible causes... and some of us have struggled with persistent health issues... and those too, also affected how 2010 played out.

But through it all, thick and thin... We got each other and had each other's back - and over the past few weeks, trips to the mailbox, both snail and electronic, brought me plentiful reminders that a great bunch of people surround me - both far and near.


Beautiful cards and thoughts from from Ronda, Betty of A Corgi in South California, Rebecca of This Mom's Many Hats, Karen of Ryan's MommyNikki of Aunt of 14, Lynne of Ramblin' Southern Woman,
Martha (and Tara) of The Daily Grind, YaYa who finally has a son! Wonderful, left- and right-handed handmade cards from Rita of SoulComfort's Corner and her daughter-in-law Leah, Parsley of Seasons of My Mind, Alison and Leland of Adventures of a Yankee Girl, Tori of Torizworld, Karla, Punkn of My loves My Life, and Lickety of Pukka Purl, Pamela of The Dust Will Wait, LadyStyx and Ranger of The World Can Be Amazing..., Alice Kay of Alice Kay Is Here, Jeannie of Jeannie's Happy World, Anne of Anne's Phamily, and last but by no means least, a Marvin the Martian.


Alice Kay sent an awesome photo book - the pictures of her hometown area remind me of the times I've been able to get upstate and see her beautiful corner of the world. Pennsylvania is a beautiful state. As I slowly turned the pages, I could feel the presence of a friend wrapped around me.


Ladystyx and her husband Ranger sent a box containing an unwrapped, really nice book about "What Christmas is all about" and a gift wrapped box that simply said, "For Later". When Christmas day came, I unwrapped it and beamed a huge smile. The complete, first year's episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants on DVD! Do you know how long it took to watch a complete, first year's season of SpongeBob SquarePants? Well, I'll tell you. 3 days. :)

Jeannie sent a spectacular box of Italian goodies. Biscotti, olive oil, candles and other select goodies. Those that know her, know her move from Georgia to Italy wasn't the smoothest - and that was but part of the sacrifice she and her family make, serving in the Armed Forces to protect and preserve our freedoms. In that box of goodies was one of her handmade cards. Her cards are always amazing.

I put it with the two handmade ones from Rita and Leah. Having four thumbs on each hand, I can but greatly respect and appreciate their talents. Rebecca made a wonderful necklace/glasses holder for my mom - and a matching zipper pull. You can see some of her handmade works of art (here). My mom was thrilled - not so much by the fact she needed the "old librarian glasses chain" but by the beautiful bead work. YellowDogGranny sent a West Texas Cookbook that my niece is taking great delight in. In fact, she's sending another copy!

The next week or so will likely see more surprises. I, like everyone else, enjoy good mail - but more so, I celebrate the thoughts behind it.

A while back, my brother saw me looking at an old map on-line one day at work - and he asked, "What is that?" I replied, "It's a map printed in 1922 showing the neighborhood that 3-great-grandfather Mousley lived in - see? See how it shows what business is in the buildings? And right there... see that alley? That was called 'Mousley Street'!".

He looked closely and said, "Hey! That's really cool! Can you e-mail me the link?"

So I did, and then I pretty much forgot about it. See that big red tube on the left of all those cards in the first picture? That was his Christmas present for me - inside it were two of the maps we spend the day looking at. This time my smile was a little goofy and choked up...


My great-grandfather, grandfather, and father ran the foundry located at Cedar and Boston (lower left corner where it says "Brass Foundry"). The railroad tracks to the right that create a freight yard (above the "rights" in "all rights preserved") are long gone - and the location is a small mall parking lot at the end of the Girard Avenue exit ramp (northbound) of Interstate 95. My grandfather speaks of Cramp and Sons Shipbuilding which dominated the area - of which only a single small building survives today.


Remember the old rundown brewery I wrote about (here) and the "at least it's clean parking lot" that was my 3-great-grandfather's home? You can see where they are/were on this map - in the upper left corner just below the word "W. Oxford" where it crosses Germantown Avenue. Granddaddy's house was the 3d, 4th and 5th buildings across the street (to the right) from the brewery.

I plan to frame these maps, they are about 2 1/2 feet by 3 feet in size, and put labels on the glass/plastic indicating where what is or was.

And then it's time to look forward - what will 2011 bring?

I suspect a good deal more of the same that 2010 brought - and it wasn't all bad.

:)

May all of you have a wonderful new year!