Filed under: Family, Photos | Tags: child, graduation, Grammie, Michelle, Photos, youth
When Rob and I visited Kansas City last weekend, Grammie gave us some old photos of Mom!
Mom at age 12
Mom at her high school graduation (she is the one on the far right and that is Michelle in front of her!).
Mom and Grammie posing!
Every once in a while in Shreveport we would get big-name bands through the Casinos. One day Shery found out that KISS was coming to perform at Horseshoe. She insisted that we go. I had no idea who KISS was; I had never heard of them. So I agreed to go. I have never seen something like that. Never. I can remember them shooting off fireworks and him sticking his tongue out. It was beyond me. It was funny. I am sure Shery knew who they were. There is no doubt in my mind that she knew who they were, but I don’t know why she wanted to go. I know about Tony Bennett and Barbara Streisand, but I didn’t know KISS. And, I didn’t want to know him afterwards either. All that electrical stuff KISS had happening? That was pretty wild. We laughed about that experience over and over.
Filed under: Friends of Rob & Emily, Photos | Tags: halloween, Jason McKenzie, kitchen table, Photos
Thank you, Jason, for digging up these old photos. We had so much fun in the early ’90s!
John McConnell and Mom.
Jason dressed up as Mom for Halloween one year.
Mom and her great smile.
Jason looks so young! Was this really 1994? We were 16 years old.
Love this sweet photo of Mom and Dad.
Filed under: Friends of Rob & Emily | Tags: back porch, Crista Moore, dictionary, garage apartment, Khaki, kitchen table, laminating machine, linen, tea, watermelon
Here are some of the things I don’t think about without thinking about our times with Mrs. Shery:
Garage apartments – up until two years ago, I was still making trouble up there!!
Decorum – Mrs. Shery always made me look it up, in that big dictionary that took too much room in the kitchen, if I was being rude or un-ladylike~probably after playing Baby Got Back!!
Tea – she loved her tea.
The word Khaki or Slacks – Todd Patton renamed the dog Khaki to Slacks.
Old random buttons – you all know that bowl.
Watermelon – you all remember Rob’s message about Emily.
The number 9 that looks like this instead of a straight line down – that’s how she wrote it.
Critta Mo – Eric G coined it but Mrs. Shery approved and changed it and call me
“my mo!”
Linen outfits – she wore them well.
Laminating – since she was the first person I knew with a machine and I actually received one of those cards from Jason Mackenzie!! PS-I now have a machine of my own and still have that lovely card from Jason!
It’s amazing how many areas of our lives she touched. I actually think I have muscle memory for opening the back yard gate, walking up the Reeves’ back porch steps and opening the back door. Half of the times, I never made it past the first empty chair at the table.
It also amazes me that our stories are so similar about this one woman sitting at this one kitchen table in this one two-story house on this one street in this one small town during a relatively small amount of time in our lives and what a HUGE, LONG-LASTING effect she made on all of us.
I love that even though I haven’t seen, spoken to, or even thought about some of the people sharing or being shared about – we have a common bond that doesn’t take long to reconnect us all – SHERY LOVE.
I love you Emily for doing this.
Filed under: Friends of Rob & Emily | Tags: crossword puzzle, garage apartment, John McConnell, kitchen
One of the funniest/embarrassing moments I remember about your Mom: We were all at your house (usual) one night and Heather Wheatley was there with me. (Stop laughing Emily.) Apparently we were getting kind of hot and heavy in the apartment above the garage and your mom saw the whole thing from the kitchen and promptly brought it to my attention when I came back into the house. I remember thinking, she’s not mad but she’s never going to let me forget it. And when I talked to her 5 years later she brought it up as if it happened yesterday.
And the other thing I give your mom credit for is me doing crossword puzzles religiously. Everytime I walked in that house there was one on the kitchen table and next to it, there was about 10 books she was using to cheat. I always used to try and help her but I wasn’t very good at them back then. Yet today, everyday I work the crossword in the Shreveport Times and usually finish it (with help from about 10 books). I can remember only one person who I would have picked all of that up from and it was definitely your mom.
A memory on Mother’s Day: Mom used to give me bookmarks. Just little, paper bookmarks. She would sign and date them on the back. I still have them and still use them.
I have a great picture of your mom on my fridge when she and Miss Martha and I gave Leslie a high school graduation party at Arts on Fire. And I still have my framed guardian angel your mom gave all the “after Christmas before New Year steak dinner group” (Martha, Melinda, Suzanne, Lettie, Anne and me) in my kitchen window. It’s nice to feel she is here with us, because of daily rememberences.
Filed under: Friends of Shery | Tags: accident, Dian, framing, friendly, hat, kitchen, smile, warmth, welcoming
Your mother was a jewel. I first met her when you and Rob were in pre-school and I taught 3, 4, & 5 year old kindergarden Sunday school at St. Marks. It was not long after that we both joined Stitch and Bitch. What a ride. Her friendship was unique. She was always available, warm, friendly and welcoming.
When I started to display a photo collection, Shery worked with me on the framing. After a few frames, I just gave her the photos and told her to do what she thought would be best. I was never disappointed. She knew her customers and their tastes. After her accident on Line Ave, I waited until the wave of well-wishers were gone, called her and asked when I could come by and visit. She said “NOW”! I grabbed my car keys and fled to the hospital, sat on her bed and we talked for what seemed like hours. It was as though the accident and discovery of cancer never happened. She could always carry her end of a conversation.
To backtrack, you and Rob were going to school at St. Marks. I elected to send my three to Stoner Hill Lab School. It was a risky, but good decision on my part although the rest of the Stitch group was not so sure. One stitch night your mother asked my opinion regarding the quality of education at SHLS. I told her what I thought, but that she should see for herself. Next thing I knew, you and Rob had joined the enrollment. As I recall, you were not too happy with that decision. I may be wrong. However, I was happy to have your mother standing with me as parents of children at SHLS. I remember the wonderful and colorful hats she wore to PTA meetings because she had lost her hair to chemo.
I remember that, to my fear, she always left the back door unlocked. Anyone could come in the house anytime and we did. There were numerous morning and afternoon chats around the breakfast table in the kitchen, which is where Stitch would love hanging out on nights Shery was the host. And, as I recall, we stitched a collage for your mother as a “get well” and “hang in there” momento from us. I hope that was passed along to you.
Although you may have experienced another side, I never saw your mother without a smile. She endured, even through the pain and frustration of losing her ability to function. God has his plan and I am so grateful that he chose to let her stay with us for as long as she did. Never doubt how proud of you and Rob she was or how much she loved you. She talked about you both whenever she could.
May this reflection and those from others comfort you and wrap you in the love she shared with all of us.
