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recognized for her contributions there (she received numerous awards), but that career never quite held the same attraction as "mother" did. Mom and Daddy were both by worldly standards, and by their own - great achievers. The "world" respected them because they raised nine children in the tear, but most of all in the LOVE of God, but to themselves - their greatest achievement was that they had so much tun with us. One of the last things Mom said to all of us was that "it was so much fun raising all of you". They often reminisced on how they were in God's hands with some or the things they let us do. They told how they would sit on the beach enjoying themselves, watching all these "little different shaped fannies strut out to the water to swim (as Nana was wont to putting it) without ever being afraid something would happen to us; and "the wonderful thing", as they always said, "nothing ever did"!! My greatest joy as an adult was to be privy to their gratitude and exclamations of faith that God was always with them "through it all". Another wonder was that we "all were normal" and they never thought we would be anything else. We all made the "honor roli" when we were little, we "took leading parts in plays", we "all made the homecoming court", we "were popular they would say, we often got honors and one of us, Susie even got the "best dressed" which always made them both laugh. They wondered why Susie - since we all wore the same clothes ( ano all of us wondered why Jo had received the award for leadership in her class when we all wanted Susie to be in charge when Mom and Daddy were in New Orleans); and to this day I feel embarassed to think I got on the end of the bleachers so I could get out easily when "Julianne Blanchard" was called up to receive "the most valuable player" award - and Di had to climb over me amidst the cheers and screams of "Dianne Blanchard" ..(she showed me up in academics, too!). They use to say "we just took everything for granted". I won't even begin to touch Mug and Bootsie s childhood accomplishments (their art and their poetry was everywhere). In viewing old Sea Sprites, our school newspaper, they would say,"It's almost indecent ..." and then the attestations of faith - "He planned it that way". hHow good, the Good God"! Included with this are two poems, one by Bootsie, and one by Trish, and I cite these because Trish and Boots give "credit where credit is due". Boots says, ?Thank you for making and keeping your commitment" and Trish says, "You made it that way". Mom and Daddy were rignt but so were Boots and Trish.
DADDY
I said Daddy loved people - and we were his favorite people. "Run, Julie, run". These were exclamations of 8 siblings as I took off - with Daddy close at my heels. It was apparent that Daddy didn't appreciate being called Buoy by me! Daddy told, and retold this story and he always ended with "..and they were pul 1ing for Julie". He had many such stories -
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