A trip to Alvin

For the past few years  Mom and I have been saying that we need to take a trip back down to Alvin, TX (outside of Houston) to visit friends. Ryan, Patrick and I were born in Houston and my parent's lived down there for a long little while. Alvin is where my Parent's were happy newlyweds for awhile, where they grew their family, where they were active members of the church, where my Mom got her nursing degree, where lifelong friends were made, and ultimately where my family fell apart.
Throughout it all there were people left behind in Alvin once Mom moved us to Abilene who have and will always love her, love us. I was 4 when we moved from Alvin, the memories I have are limited but cemented in gold.

It seems like life always has another agenda instead of us making the trip down. The 12 hour drive was a deterrent enough honestly but after the past few years revolving around weddings and babies I felt like we would run out of time for Mom to get down there before the right time came along. If not now then things would come up and she may never to get see these friends and remember them. So two weeks ago I texted our friend Linda ,who was one of the biggest supporters of my Mom and Dad during their time in Alvin, to see if we could come for a visit the next week. She had no hesitations!

We planned it for the week after Tammy and Kelsey moved in with Mom and Nana, knowing the chaos would cause Mom some frustration and that having her out of the house while things got settled would be ideal. Drew maybe thought I was crazy to take a week long trip with Mom and Everett by myself.  Truth be told I thought I was a little crazy myself.

We left on Monday from Amarillo and drove to Keller to spend the night with Uncle Pat and Aunt Paula to help break up the trip. On our way there Ryan called with news that they are expecting their next baby! Then we left Mom's purse in a Target which caused a small breakdown on her part. Uncle Pat to the rescue and after dinner with the Blanton Family there, as well as Patrick and Taren who came over from Dallas we rested up for a 5 hour drive the next day.

Everett is a wonderful traveler right now and Mom gave him bottles when he was hungry. We pulled into Alvin about 4 and were greeted with instant love and excitement from Linda Talley. She made us feel completely at home and welcome. We spent the next day packed with visitors from precious friends. Wanda Davis Oehlert drove over from College Station with her grandson and photo albums to share with Mom. I was a little worried about how well Mom would remember people but she did great! She cried and held hands with Wanda and when she couldn't think of what else to say she would tell her how much she loved her. After Wanda left Bill and Joyce Davenport came over for a long while. They had employed my Dad at their business and been there for my parents through it all. We had a nice visit with them, Mom's focus was primarily on Bill's health as we had received word last year he had been having some problems. She cried some more and showered them with love as they did her.

 

For dinner that night we were visited by Linda's daughter Renee' and her family. It was a wonderful ending to a day filled with old friends. Mom was deeply moved by all the love she was shown and the memories she had locked away in her heart.

We spent the next day with Linda, Renee' and Evan, Renee's son, as the took us to the local Bucee's and then to the mall to spend some time.  Initially I thought I would be nostalgic to see all the old houses my parent's lived in, where their lives were lived there as it was the last place they were somewhat happy together. I thought I would want to spend a few days in the past but upon leaving I was glad we didn't do that. I didn't need to carry those places with me as I have few memories of those times and that is probably just as well. I felt resolved in the fact that now as an adult I have made a bond on my own with a woman who was there when I was born and knew me as a child.  and I can carry on the friendships my Mom started all those many years ago.