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I’ve already told you about my ‘big brothers’ and now it is my ‘big sisters’ turn.  I have two sisters who are great, but I also have three other sisters who are very special to me.  My two sisters are younger than me, but my three other special sisters are older than me.  As  were my ‘big brothers’, so were my ‘big sisters’ given by God to Granny and Granddaddy Cook, and I became their ‘little sister’.

Eleanor came along and she married Jerry, who has now gone on to Heaven, and I’m sure he is up there singing tenor with all the other relatives.  Eleanor and Jerry lived with Granny and Granddaddy.  They never gave birth to children of their own, but they were more than parents to all of the rest of us.  God knew we needed them and they fit right into His plan.  As a Cook, Eleanor can sing and Jerry was a great singer also, even tho he was not a Cook.  I still love going to Eleanor’s after church on Sunday afternoon for dinner and maybe a nap before going back to church on Sunday night, just like I did as a young girl.  It will always be ‘home’ to me and my girls.

Then there is Rebecca and her husband Z.R., who is also up there with the other relatives.  Rebecca has always been the quieter of the sisters, but not as quiet as our brother Vernon.  She and I have always been close, but since she now goes to church with Rick and me, we have become even closer.  She also has that singing Cook talent.  She has nine children and several grandchildren, but she loves it when we bring our granddaughters to visit her.

And now to Mary and her husband Harold, who is also in Heaven with the rest of our family.  They have six children and several grandchildren, but I’ve always been welcomed with open arms.  Mary is the main singer in the bunch and I could sit and listen to her sing forever.  And she sings a lot of solos at our church that make you feel like you are already in Heaven.  God sure did bless my Cook family with great singing talent.  Also Mary reminds me so very much of my Granny Cook, and that makes her even more special to me.

I guess you can see how much my ‘big brothers and big sisters’ mean to me.  I’m so glad God put me in this big loving family and I love to brag on them.  And one of these days we will all be singing together again.  WOW, what a thought!!!

As most people see it, I don’t have any brothers, but as I see it, I have six ‘big brothers’.  And they are all very special to me.  So special that I’m gonna tell you about all of them and I think you will agree that they are special as well.

I told you earlier about Granny and Granddaddy Cook and how very special they are to me.  Well, it just so happens that these “big brothers’ I’m telling you about came from God and were given to Granny and Granddaddy Cook.  And that,  if nothing else,  makes them very special to me.  So here goes…

First came Clayton, whom I’ve always been told along with his wife Mabel, gave me my name.  He was always taking things apart and then trying to put them back together.  I think he would have been a whiz on computers.  I have to say, I didn’t get any of his ability to fix anything.  But I did inherit some of his being a ‘pack rat’.  He liked keeping things and so do I.  Clayton and Mabel have gone on to Heaven and I was right there holding his hand when he made that trip.  I miss them a lot, but I’ll see them again.

Next there was Ernest and I’ve got to say he helped to spoil me as I was growing up and even when I became an adult we remained very close.  After he went on to Heaven I continued to visit his wife Celia until she joined him in their new heavenly home. I sure do miss our visits and those stuffed peppers and listening to those ‘gospel’ songs with them.

Then along came Herbert, who is one of the clowns in the family.  He has always loved to ‘pick’ at all of us.  We still have Herbert with us, but his wife June is enjoying Heaven’s best with all the other family members.  Herbert also got some of that Cook singing talent.

Now there is Vernon, who is the quietest of the whole family.  He always is so serious about things, but is a very loving ‘big brother’.  His wife Helen is also now living with those gone on to Heaven.

Then there is Charles and his wife Doris.  Now, there are two great folks.  They are both very special and babysat my oldest daughter Amy when I was working and she still thinks they are special and she is so right.  Charles is certainly not a clown like Herbert, but he is not real quiet either.  I guess you might say he is kind of in the middle.

Last of all is Bob and his wife Lorraine.  Bob is the second clown of the family, but he can also be very serious when the occasion calls for that mood.  He is about eight years older than me, so I grew up as his ‘little sister’ and I loved it.  Bob can tell you a joke with the straightest face and you will believe every word then he gets a good laugh because he pulled a good one over on you.  Bob also got that special Cook singing talent.  He also has a special place in my heart because he walked me down the aisle when Rick and I were married.

I’ve told you a little bit about each of my ‘special big brothers’, but there is a lot more that I don’t have time or space enough to say about them.  The most important thing I can say is that I know how much they love me as their ‘little sister’, and I love them just as much.

Next time I’ll have to tell you about my ‘special big sisters’.  I feel the same way about them as I do my ‘big brothers’.  God sure did bless me with a great family and I thank Him every day for them.

Last Sunday night our church had plans for a special singing service and everyone was looking forward to hearing the guest singer.  However, that morning at our worship service, our pastor was joking about what would happen if the guest singer did not show up.  The joke was that one of our deacons would be doing the singing.  And everyone knows that guest singers always show up — right?

Well, the congregation showed up and even a few visitors also were there waiting to hear the singer.  And we waited and waited, but the time came for the service to begin and no guest singer.  And everyone of course told the deacon that he would just have to do the singing.  He has several sisters and brother and a son that sings, but he doesn’t sing except during the congregational songs.  So the choir director came to his rescue.

We all sang a couple of hymns and then our pastor announced that music would be on a volunteer basis, so he and his wife – who are great singers – volunteered to go first.  They sang some beautiful songs and we all enjoyed it very much.  Then my Aunt Mary was next, with her daughter accompanying her on the piano.  My Aunt Mary is one of my favorite singers, so I was very pleased.  Next was the deacon’s sister and her daughter.  I guess he thought they took his place so he didn’t have to sing.  Then we sang a couple more congregational hymns.

Then last of all I decided that it was my turn to sing, along with four friends.  This was our first time ever to sing as a group.  I played the piano and I loved every minute of it.  My love of music comes from the Cook family I’ve told you about before and my Aunt Mary is one of them.  I have a feeling it won’t be our last time to sing together.

After the service was over I heard several people say that they enjoyed the singing by the different groups as much or more than they would have the guest singer.  I believe God fixed it so that we could all do our part Sunday night to serve and worship Him because otherwise we would never have done it.  Sometimes God just has to push us a little to get us to do His will.  Guest singers were there, just not the one everyone expected – but the ones God wanted there.

Rick and I are both just country folk who love having a big yard to mess around in.  We also love big old farm type houses.  When we were searching for a home to buy we looked at a few of those type homes, but we couldn’t afford one all ready to move into without repairs.  The ones we found that we could afford needed much more work then we felt we could handle.  After making a visit with Amy and Gene to help with some repairs, we are glad we got a one story ready-to-move into home.

Amy had left the country to go live in the city when she graduated from VA Tech.  She eventually purchased a house in Wilmington, NC.  We all enjoyed making trips there because she was close to the beach.  But we always worried about her every time a hurricane would go through the area.  God was watching over her because she never had any damage to her house while living there.

Amy has a job that she does from her home, but she does have to travel at times and no matter where she was going she always had to go through Charlotte, NC.  So one day she decided that it would be much easier to just fly out of Charlotte.  And of course the fact that she had discovered ‘skydiving’ and the ‘dropzone’ was just outside of Charlotte was a big factor in her decision I’m sure.

After looking at several houses she found a big log house with lots of land that she purchased.  The house is in the middle of trees of all kinds and sizes.  And wouldn’t you know, in desperate need of a lot of repairs.  Progress wasn’t going as Amy would like so she called me one day and asked if Rick and I would consider coming down and helping out.  Rick and I had already been there, so we knew what had to be done. 

There was one ‘small’ problem — no working bathroom.  Now, I might be a country girl, but I’m not about to do my ‘business’ in the woods, no matter how many trees there are to ‘hide’ me.  And neither is Amy.  Every time I talked to her on the phone she was going to the store to buy something.  And that was also her opportunity to do her ‘personal business’.  She also made trips to the dropzone at night to get her shower.

We made plans to visit Amy this past week and we left Monday night driving down.  When I talked to her earlier that day there was still no shower or toilet working, but her plumber assured her that they would be working by the time we arrived.  Don’t you know, we did a lot of praying all day.  And sure enough, when we arrived we could shower and do our ‘business’ in the proper setting.  God always answers prayers, but not always is the answer ‘yes’; but we’re sure glad He didn’t say ‘no’ this time.

Amy and Gene now live in Rock Hill, SC and it is hot there and the air conditioner wasn’t working properly, but it did cool us off a little bit.  There were several ceiling fans that needed to be installed and Rick got to work on them immediately.  The very first one he put up was in our bedroom.  After getting the fans installed there were doorknobs for every door in the house and with five bedrooms and three baths, plus all the other rooms, that was a bunch of knobs.  Then all the windows had to be replaced.  I think there was one window to be done when we left late Thursday and I’m sure they will get it done without our help just fine. 

I guess you are wondering what Amy and I were doing while Rick and Gene were working.  Amy had to work on her job and most of the time she was on conference calls.  I’m sure that was not easy for her with all the beating and banging and stuff going on around her.  She also did a good job of supervising us workers.

Now, my turn — well I did a lot of picture taking and supervising also.  But I also did some cleaning dust off of the beautiful wood walls.  Then Amy asked if I could stain some outlet covers.  Rick thought he had to do a lot of doorknobs, but I stained so many covers that I hope never to see stain or a cover ever again.

You just don’t do work for Amy unless she feeds you really good.  And that is three meals a day.  I would have been satisfied with a cold sandwich, but nope – she sent us out to eat because she doesn’t have her stove installed yet.  I have nothing against South Carolina cooks, but they do something strange to their food.  I ordered potato salad at one meal and if it had not said so on the menu, I would not have known what I was eating.  I think I’ll stick to the southwest Virginia ways of cooking and just wait for when Amy gets her stove working.  I know she can cook some really great meals.

Maybe next time we visit Amy and Gene it will be less heat and less work.  But we enjoyed the trip and helping with all the repairs.  And by the way, the best food there was the yellow cake with caramel icing that Granny Martha sent down for Amy – and I got to help her eat it!   Hahahaha and Yummy Yummy!!!