Memory Lane is Paved with Pictures

This is one of my favorite pictures from my childhood. I was I think three and a half ( this was back when that 1/2 year meant so much). My Mom had taken ill and was in the hospital. My grandmother came to our house to help look after my three older siblings, I returned to Levita with my grandfather to stay until my mom was better. My Aunt June who had recently returned from Germany with my new cousin Todd was also staying there until my Uncle Charles returned back from the states. She was substitute teaching in Jonesboro. I remember this because every morning we all climbed in to my Grandfathers old plymouth and made the drive to take her to work. While it wasn't more than at most 10 miles away, it took forever as my grandfather never drove over 30 mph. We made the same trip again in the afternoon to pick her up.
Well seeing as I was such a big responsible girl at 3 1/2 years old I was given the job to help care for my baby cousin. I had never really been around babies before as I was the youngest of 4 in my family. Well this of course made me feel very grown up and very special. Maybe this is why I remember it in such detail nearly 50 years later.

This was one of many times during my childhood that my mother was hospitalized. Up until I started school I was always getting shipped off to neighbours , friends or family. seems that so many of my young childhood memories are of these events. Fifty years my mom has been sick from many various ailments. My memories of her will always be shaped by her poor health. Even now that she resides in a nursing home, I get calls multiple times a week when they need to inform me of an illness, injury, new mediction, or several other things. Yesterday at 6:14 am, moments before my alarm I received a call. She had fallen and had injured her ribs. She was being taken to the ER for x-rays. I wasn't really surprised as I had noticed two days before she wasn't doing well. Many of her old symptons tht she had a few months ago when we placed her there had returned. I could see a real decline in her progress. It could be depression or stress. Maybe just tired as family had been in town all week. Her house was being cleared out and made ready to sell. I imagine I would be feeling a bit ill too if I were her.

I have many more pictures yet to look through. pictures from my childhood all the way through my adult years. Many more pictures are of my parents before I was born. So many memories. How did I fit it all into 53 1/2  years.