OK, I finally decided to delurk. I came here in search of hoot. Missed his posts at CS. We live in middle Tn. with milk goats, meat rabbits, ducks, two inside psycho cats and a dog. My dh is disabled and our grown son lives with us. Chronologically he is 29 but is mind is somewhere around 6yrs. old. We have a handicapped foster son and my elderly fil is here most of the day. Our lives have been enriched by the Lords blessings and we have found life to be good in this part of the country. We grew up in central Fl and moved here 15 yrs ago. I enjoy cooking, sewing and rug making and the Lords work. Hope ya'll are richly blessed in your place. Blessings Peggy

-- peggy (peggyan2@msn.com), December 12, 2001

Answers

Delurking seems to be more common around here lately. You mentioned central Florida, I am from St. Cloud and was last living in Winter Garden before moving to WV. I just needed to get "back to America" because of all of the insane regulations and foreign people moving in, so what city, town, wide spot in the road did you leave?

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), December 13, 2001.

Welome Peggy! Glad you are here. I hope we can learn from you and youcan learn from everyone here too.

I had a MH Aunt, who died last February of cancer. She also had the mental capacity of a 6 yr, old, and loved Christmas. Every year she came to my house for her big Christmas Party. We all loved that day so much with the whole family. She so looked forward to it. I know this will be an extremely difficult year. We are continuing the tradition, but there will be an empty spot at the table and in our hearts...

-- Melissa (me@home.net), December 13, 2001.

Mitch, we grew up in Plant City. Well my dh actually lived in Turkey Creek, just outside Plant City. When we were growing up it was a small rural farming community. But not anymore. It doesnt bear any resemblance to the town I grew up in. We both had wonderful childhoods there but really wanted our children to experience small town living. So my dh's family all moved here in middle Tn where my fil grew up. It was like fallin into a time warp. Its changed some around here in the last 15 yrs but nothing like Fl. I found I have more in common with the folks around here. Our lifestyle doesnt look strange like it did in Fl. Some parts of north Fl still has small town living but anything south of Ocala is too full of yankees and forigners to suit me. The people here have had a lot of laughs off me. Like when I wanted a building permit to build a shed for the lawn mowers or asking the bank tell how long they would hold an out of state check for $1500 before cashing it. She just looked at me for a long minute and said in her best Tn drawl "well honey, we'll hold it for as long as you need us to". Now in Fl where I'd been banking for 20 yrs they would have held it for 10 days. Here without an account opened yet, never seen me before she just opened the drawer and cashed it. That sort of thing has changed here in the last couple of yrs but it sure was strange when it happened. Melissa, I know you will miss your loved on during the holidays. It always amazes me that these folks with such limitations in this world can touch so many people so deeply. Our foster son cant walk, talk, dress or feed himself. He just sits in his chair and sings along with music we play for him. He's picky about what he likes to hear. In the two yrs we've had him he has really affected so many people in a positive way. Right now he weighs 51 lbs. Another 25 or 30 lbs and I probably wont be able to do the lifting of him as much as he needs lifting. The Lord has blessed me with strength for 52 yrs I guess I'll let him decide when its time to quit. Right now I have to quit and feed the animals, inside and out. My ds keeps showing me a roll of sausage which means he's hungry. I hope you all have a blessed day in the Lord. Blessings Peggy

-- peggy (peggyan2@msn.com), December 13, 2001.

Hello Peggy,

It is a pleasure to meet you Peggy. My wife (Meli) and I moved two years ago from Kissimmee, Fl to the Missouri Ozarks. We had to leave the rat race behind and are so glad we did. Hope to see more of your postings here.

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), December 13, 2001.