Daddy...

Meet my daddy.

Richard Walter Winsor

January 15, 1932-January 31, 1999.

He was our rock, our glue, our hero, and always, our comic relief. He had a great laugh, a wonderful smile (even minus one tooth on the side) and we never doubted if he loved us. He showed it every chance he got. And he loved God, who I'm sure is still trying to beat him playing horseshoes in heaven. He loved his grandkids...and that is an understatement. Nothing made him happier than to have one or all of them around him. He now has great-grandkids that he never got a chance to meet, and although I hate that he never got to know them, I hate even more that they never got the opportunity to know him, cause they would have sure loved him.

Daddy was raised with 12 (give or take 1) brothers and sisters. Needless to say, there wasn't much money to go around, but they made do, and daddy was never one to be wasteful of what God gave him, even when he grew up and had a family of his own. He pinched pennies 'til Lincoln hollered (old family saying), but we never went without, and I don't ever remember feeling deprived at all. He saved up every year so we could take a 2 week vacation, and we travelled all over the great U.S. of A. What a great time we use to have... Yellowstone, Washington D.C., we went so many places and have such great memories from our childhood. He was a wonderful daddy. He worked hard for a living, but he was never too tired to spend time with us when he got home from work. He was one of a kind, and this ol' earth won't ever be the same without him.

I miss you daddy...and love you with all my heart. xoxoxo

Mama, my Seester, & Me...

This is me, Connie Winsor Roe, on the left, my sweet mama, Janet Duke Winsor, and my big seester, Cynthia (Cindy) Winsor Smith. (It has been just the 3 of us since daddy (Richard) passed away in January 1999. You'll meet him next.) This picture was taken on a trip we call W5WOO! Short for "Winsor Women's Wild Wacky Weekend, WOO"!! We actually have shirts and buttons that say that, and it's mandatory that we wear them at least 1 day of our trip. That's the weekend trip we try to take twice a year to get together and spend time eating, shopping, eating, playing games, eating, hot-tubbing...and did I mention eating? It's what we do, and we are experts at it. They live in Missouri...I, as I've mentioned, in Tennessee. We usually meet up in Sikeston, MO, eat...duh, maybe shop at the factory outlet, then journey on up the road a piece to Cape Girardeau, where we always stay at the Victorian Inn. They have great rooms, decent prices, pool & hot tub, and are conveniently located between Red Lobster & Cracker Barrel. Perfect. We generally spend 2 or 3 nights, and overload ourselves on shopping, sight-seeing, playing Uno Attack, and umm...eating. There are favorite places we eat everytime we go there (My Daddy's Cheesecake, Red Lobster, CB) and last trip, we discovered Dexter's BBQ, along with a great burger place in the historic downtown district. We also found an awesome grocery store that has literally EVERYTHING you can imagine. We hit antique stores, take alot of pics, and mostly just enjoy being together.

I miss not living closer to them and seeing them more often, but I try to take a couple trips or so a year to go see them, mom occasionally gets a chance to come see us, and this past spring, Cindy & her hubby Greg came down for a long weekend to visit...it was wonderful!!! Cindy and I email each other nearly everyday, talk on the phone at least every other day, sometimes everyday, sometimes more than once a day, depending on what's going on. And I talk to mom every couple of days. I would email her, but she's not very technologically advanced. Just last year we finally convinced her to get a digital camera. She doesn't even have a dvd player. Bless her heart. ;o) I hope to go see them again maybe mid-Sept., and then we will have our W5WOO in November. I'm glad we can get together like we do, but I sure do miss them!!!

The Offspring...

Yep...these are our children...and the light of our lives! (From oldest to youngest, going right to left...Bethany, Michael, Joel & Jacob) I am so thankful that they are all close...so many families are torn apart. Oh, don't get me wrong...they have been known to have a squabble or two between themselves...but from outside forces...they are each other's protectors, and God help the fool who tries to do harm to one of them!

At 27 and the oldest, Bethany is, obviously, our only daughter, and the mother hen of the group. She has taken care of these boys from the time they pooped their first diapers. (Well, not Michael so much, cause he didn't live with us, but more on that in a minute). She has a heart the size of Texas and loves her 'baby' brothers unconditionally. She is married to Rickey, who has 2 sons, Rickey & Mikey, our only grandsons. When she was born, it was like God gave me a best friend, and I never went anywhere without her if I could help it. Now, 27 years later, she's still my best friend and we talk about pretty much EVERYTHING. I love you Bethany Rashelle...you are still mama's little girl.

Next is Michael, 26, who grew up with his mom. We didn't get to spend alot of time with Michael when he was growing up, but surprisingly, he fits in just like he's always been here. He's grown into a good-hearted young man with alot of love to share and a great sense of humor. He and his wife, Carolyn, have our first grandchild, Tylyn, who is 5, and are expecting another baby before too long! We are hoping to be able to spend more time with them, as they live in Missouri, and we are in Tennessee.

Joel Thomas, 25, comes next, and he is our dare-devil child. He knows no fear and will jump into ANYTHING, head first, yelling, "Hey ya'll, watch this!" So far that's only landed him in the hospital once for x-rays. (lol) He rides bulls in the rodeo, and even his job is dangerous...he works on a river barge going up and down the Mississippi. He currently has a sweet girlfriend, Sarah, and she has 2 beautiful little girls, Rylee & Lilli, whom we've grown to love. Joel is the last one we have at home (he works 30 days on, 30 days off, so is only here 6 months a year). One of these days he'll get his own place, and we will truly have an empty nest. Then I'll miss him getting up every morning and asking, "Have you hugged your son today?" (lol) Joel is my brown-eyed buddy.

Lastly is Jacob Isaiah, our Cubby Bear...a nickname he's had (now just Cubby) since the day he was born. He has an infectious sense of humor and never fails to make me laugh so hard I nearly pee my pants. As the baby of the family, he now towers over everyone except Michael. Cubby works in the auto repair industry, recently acquiring a new job and quickly being promoted to parts manager...and he loves it. He also loves Michelle, his girlfriend of 4 years, and who we hope and pray he makes a 'true' member of our family before long, as we already love her like our own. They have our 1st 'grandpuppy', Milo, a teacup yorkie. Cubby is mama's baby boy!!

So...this is them..my proudest accomplishments. I may post a more 'serious' picture later...but I love this one, cause it shows them at their best...brothers and sister, all knit together in love.

In Loving Memory...

My sweet mother-in-law, Vicki Haynes, went to be with Jesus. I know, when most people hear the dreaded "M-I-L"...they cringe. But that's because they didn't have one like mine, and that's because, she was one of a kind.

First and foremost, she loved her Jesus, and she loved her church. She taught Sunday School, VBS, sang in the choir & participated in just about everything they had going. She read her bible so much the pages are all folded, the cover worn. She loved to watch Joyce Meyer daily and could point out biblical references to world events at the drop of a hat.

For more than 20 years, Mom was a care giver in her home. I don't just mean she was a babysitter. She was so much more than just a sitter. She loved the kids she cared for. Those kids knew it, and their parents knew it. They knew when they left their kids with Ms. Vicki, they would have attention, playtime, meals and snacks. And by meals, I don't mean a bowl of cereal for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch. She cooked. Eggs, bacon, toast...spaghetti, meatloaf, chicken, veggies. Her kids were well fed, loved beyond belief, and taught to believe in Jesus. All for about $5.00 a day per child. Pretty good bargain, I'd say.

Mom always had great advice, but she didn't push it off on us. If we asked, she'd tell us her honest opinion and let us figure the rest out for ourselves. But in the end...she was always praying for us. We could talk to her about anything, and usually did, sometimes until the wee hours of the morning. Her coffee pot was never empty, her house always well kept. Oh, and she made the very best chocolate chip cookies on the face of the earth, and always had me a fresh batch when I went to visit her.

She was a sweet, loving, happy woman, a good wife, mother, friend & Christian. She was taken from us by that horrible disease called Alzheimer's. But even in the end when she forgot how to talk, she still smiled at us and held our hands, and kept her cheerful spirit.

I loved her dearly, and I miss her.