Holding Hands

Life is not always easy. I just learned that my best friend Lillian is leaving....yes, you heard me right. She is leaving---just like that! Her family is moving out of town and not a few miles, either--all the way to California. It is has been a terrible blow for me. I mean, Lillian and I are best friends, almost like sisters only better I am told. We have a relationship that has taken years to cultivate. What will I do without her? I have had to put myself out of the way right now and think about her feelings. This weekend I went to her house to play. Grandmother road with my mom to take me. She sat in the back seat with me and we held hands. I picked up her hand and just held it all the way there. It felt so good. It gave me strength to keep on smiling and enjoying life even though I wanted to be sad. I will miss Lillian so much.

Time Flies

Grandmother is always saying something about time flying. I never understood until now. I have not posted in over two months. I am back, though, and that is all that matters. Yesterday was Halloween. I went to our Trunk or Treat party at church and I was Tinkerbell, though I really wanted to be Ariel, but I just could not repeat last year's performance; however, time does really fly. I am beginning to catch on. The last time we talked, Bubby was trying to enjoy football. He is now on the basketball team at his school and I heard that all my cousins are playing, as well. It looks like another busy season. Today, though I want to tell you about "booking." That is what my Grandmother calls it. She, Mom, Tori and I are learning to book. They have their own little packets. Mine is different, of course and they think I don't know what I am doing but boy, did I show them today! While they were struggling to read the directions and do theirs just right, I was creating my own book. Grandmother pulled out a tinkerbell stamp and that is all I needed. Wish you could have seen their faces when I completed my project. Will grownups ever get it? We kids were born imaginative and creative. They lost it somewhere along life's way and are just having to re-learn everything, so I will try to be patient with them. Grandmother says that booking is therapeutic. I believe she means it calms her down and I also know how she loves just to be near her girls. Tori and Mom do most of the talking. Grandmother and I just listen and work. When I grow up, I want to be just like my grandmother. She is special. Remind me tomorrow to tell you what happen to Lauren. You won't believe it....

Back Home

She's back home. I haven't seen her yet but I know she is here. Noah did miss her. Guess she will have to send him a note now. She was supposed to go with Mom to take me to school this morning but things got all out of whack and my hair did not even get dried. For some reason we had to take Bubby first. That's my brother. His real name is Joshua but I like to call him Bubby. We will talk more about him later. As for now, how can I march in that classroom looking like this! Here it is only my third day of school and these people don't really know me yet. Once they get to know me, they won't care how I look but, as you probably understand, in this world appearances seem to be too important. How ridiculous! My best friend Lillian is in that class and she is just glad to see me, no matter what. Hope this day turns out better than it has started. I will have to pray for my poor Bubby. He is in the seventh grade, going to a new school and playing football for the first time ever. I could better accept the football thing if he were like my cousin Hudson. Boy is he a chunk...good-looking..Wow!--but that's beside the point. He is tall, solid and fearless. Grandmother calls him her gentle giant. Bubby, on the other hand is tall and lean and does not like contact sport, they say. His Uncle Ricky and Hudson have been practicing with him to build up his confidence, they tell me. To be truthful with you, I believe my brother would just love to go back to his old school and never look at another football. The pressure adults put on kids these days....Well, here we are at my school--hair almost dry and who cares--I feel better just having prayed for Joshua. I am told that when you pray for others and get your mind off yourself, life takes on a different look. It has for me, anyway. I can hardly wait to see Lillian....

The Party

Can you believe it!  She was a no show.  I feel certain Noah did not miss her.  After all, he invited everybody he knows to the party... his basketball, baseball and football team mates... throw in all the aunts, uncles, cousins and half the neighborhood kids...  . whew!  I am tired just thinking about it.

What's this?  A picture has come on my blog and now I have proof she's at the beach.  Who are these people?  I know them well.  Yes sir, from left to right we have Cece, Suzanne and there she is--my Grandmother.  To top it all off, you can clearly see she is having a good time.  Just look at their faces, those suntans and that beautiful water in the background.  Oh my, I plan to have a serious talk with her tomorrow when she gets home.  As for now, I am exhausted and....I have to go to school tomorrow.  Wait just a minute.  She has sent me a note.

Dear Annye,

I miss you terribly.  I can hardly wait to get home.  There is so much to tell--lots of new beach stories.  And, guess what?  I found myself down here and got that Rest I have been looking for.  Friday morning I awoke humming a lovely song, one you know well.  We sing it at church often.  It goes something like this:  We thirst for You; we search for You.  In a dry and barren land, we're longing for Your hand to guide us to a place where You can cleanse us with Your rain...Baptize us once again.  We thirst forYou.....*

I love you so much,

Grandmother

 *lyrics by Cece Winans

Annye's First Day of School

Here it is my first day of school and Grandmother is nowhere around.  She says she is down in Florida.  "Trying to find herself," she says.  Now, what is that supposed to mean?  Grown-ups can be trying at times.  My mother is different, however.  She understands little girls.  For example, she lets me dress myself and it doesn't matter how many times a day I change.  Today was special so I want to share with my friends the choices I made.  Let's start with the hair.  I decided to wear a headband.  This may sound like a simple matter to you but trust me it was a fight to the finish.  I won.  That is all I need to say.  It goes without saying that pink is my favorite color.  I wore pink tights, carried a pink backpack and after painting Noah's gray Nike's pink, I wore them.  You must meet Noah.  He is one of my favorite cousins.  In fact, they say I used to be in love with him.  They even say I called him some ridiculous name like Whoa... the o being long... That is of course until I discovered how mean boys can be, especially if they like you.  They pretend they don't... go figure it.  Anyway, Grandmother said the name Noah in the Bible means Rest and that is the kind of rest she is looking for.  First, she is trying to find herself; now she is looking for Noah who is here and she is in Florida.  That simply makes no sense... not at all.  And, to top that off, tomorrow is his birthday party.  Let's see if she shows up for that event....

My name is Annye

Hi,

I'm Annye.  My "real" name is Anna Faith Bell but my Grandmother insists on calling me Annye.  I don't mind; I don't mind at all because she says she remembers a beautiful dancer named Annye who changed her life.  Being five, I can't imagine what she means but I do love to dance.  I love to dance and sing.  Grandmother says I will be an opera star one day.  She says I have the highest pitch and greatest range she has ever heard.  I sing when I am happy, when I am sad and when I am afraid.  If I am not singing, I am talking or dancing and sometimes I even play.  

Well, I must go for now.  You will just have to excuse me.  I am exhausted.  Setting up a blog can be a very tedious affair.

We will talk more later.