The Rock Wall

As I got ready to have this chat with you, I kept hearing a familiar voice in Kimball’s office. I finally got up and went to investigate.

It was Megan Tammer-Lane (who you may remember as Megan Flesher). She said that when the judge granted her the name change, he called her Miss Fisher. She said she had been called Miss Flasher “Which is the reason I change my name.” At the time, she also changed it because she intends to become a writer and liked the sound of her new name.

After she left us, she worked at Shopko Hometown for awhile, then moved on to Wal-Mart in Ft. Scott because both she and her sister, Shannon, worked there and company policy would not permit siblings to be promoted. Now Shannon is getting management experience she didn’t expect as she is in charge of closing down the local store.

Meanwhile, Megan has become a drug pusher. She is in charge of the pharmacy racks and aisle displays at the Ft. Scott Wal-Mart.

– My sister, Margaret, told me Monday that Gary Dobbs had passed away. When they were both working at the school, she thought he looked familiar and asked his name. Then she knew that she knew him from Uncle Cleo and Aunt Thelma Long’s house, our mutual aunt and uncle. We always thought of the Dobbs kids as almost  our cousins because of that relationship.

When Gary was at the school, he always gave me a friendly hard time every time our paths crossed. Of course, I may have been guilty of the same.

The third brother, Wilburn or Sonny, was a classmate of mine.

Dad grew up with their mother, Martha.

– Over the weekend, Kimball and I had a totally new experience – being grandparents with a house full of kids, grandkids and great-grandkids.

Margaret, and her husband, Tom, were good enough to join us and their granddaughter, Alexia Gilbert, with her son, Laythan, arrived about 5:30 p.m. after Harold Fugate rescued them when her other grandpa’s pickup broke down at Harrisonville.

I had a hard time writing the cutline – figuring out 2nd and 3rd cousins and great – aunts and such. I probably got something wrong, but the picture Margaret took is right.

Saturday morning before the crew started arriving. I unloaded every gun in the house and separately hid the ammo and the clips. When the stampede started, I just sat in the living room talking to Tom and Margaret without a worry.

Friday evening at dinner when I sat by Van, I could tell he had no idea who I was. Pretty soon, he started playing with a sheet of paper they give kids to color. He’d move it and I’d grab and release it. Pretty soon we had a good game going.

Saturday at our house, Van was saying “Momma” and “Daddy” so I asked if he could say “Grandpa.” He came out with “Pop-EE.” Suited me fine.

I’d ask, “Where’s Van?” and he would run off patting himself on the head.

Davis took Ben down below the house and let him shoot his pistol.

Reese slept through most of it sometimes with her momma holding her, sometimes her dad.

Laythan and Ben enjoyed chasing each other around the circle inside the house.

Alexia, Davis and Adrian did some catching up.

Cain hid the Easter eggs. The miracle was that he remembered where he put each one and they all got found. We had volunteer Easter eggs come up for years where Kimball hid them and the kids couldn’t find them and she couldn’t either.

The whole noise level sounded like we were at Grandma and Grandpa Longs back in the day. I saw why they enjoyed having “the kids” visit so much. Loved it.

Kimball asked Tom to bring his signature pineapple dessert “because the kids love it.” Well, Davis proved it by taking the leftover dessert home with him.

Adrian, Cain and Van and Snider Cain, due Sept. 8, had to leave early Sunday long before normal boarding time because Adrian left her purse with her ID in a Dallas Airport bathroom on the way up. Kimball went to the office Saturday night and found Adrian’s Social Security card, official copy of her birth certificate, some student IDs and old drivers licenses. That was more than she needed to get checked in. Her purse in Dallas lost and found was missing a pair of sunglasses and a couple of dollars.

Kimball is better at finding important documents than at finding her own Easter eggs. Good trade-off. KL