What a crazy week it’s been!
Let’s start with Monday, at which point my head was in a cloud concerning the combination of Mother’s Day and my birthday. We traveled to Lafayette to attend the academic awards ceremony of our eldest granddaughter, Sweet Ava Jaymes. She was named to the A/B honor roll and was recognized for perfect attendance. Her sister Addison Victoria also attends the school.
Life went on from there, Scott style.
We climbed to the top/back middle of the bleachers, apparently because I needed the exercise. Someone soon ran in the gym asking who drove a Jeep Cherokee. My ears perked up, but knew that we were not blocking anyone in.
“Your Jeep is on fire!” someone yelled.
Half of the attendees ran toward the door. My husband Alan was slow to rise, and I tripped out of one of my shoes down the bleachers. Our Jeep is new, so we both thought that it was not our Jeep.
It turned out that it indeed was our Jeep Cherokee.
One of Ava Jaymes’ friend’s dad is a fireman who happened to be there, and it turned out that was equipped to put the fire out before it did damage to the inside of the Jeep. That, folks, was a God thing, because if he had not been there and we had to wait for the fire department, I’m sure the fire would have consumed the Jeep and everything in it. To take it one step further, the fire started without anyone in the vehicle, so no one was hurt, and no other cars were damaged.
Pat Hill, who is the director of the George Wallace Senior Center in Glencoe, will chastise me for this, but my purse with my new phone that my children bought me for Mother’s Day/my birthday was locked in the Jeep, along with my daughter Eva’s wedding set. She asked me to hold it while she went swimming the day before, and I put it in my purse to keep it safe.
It turned out that our Jeep Cherokees caught on fire because of a squirrel’s nest with acorn shells and twigs inside the motor. Apparently, the motor is salvageable, and the Jeep is in the shop as I write this column.
This past Tuesday, our group from First Baptist Reeltown visited my old stomping grounds at Providence Baptist Church in the Beauregard Community. I shared with them about the time when the church’s former pastor, Reverend Dismukes, discovered me in a dumpster when I was around eight years old. I seemed to have trouble putting things where they belonged at that age, and my mother would throw everything on the floor in the trash. Our trash was taken to the dumpster that day, and I had to sift through it to find something of mine that she threw away. I was crying when Reverend Dismukes drove up and he asked my father what was going on. After my dad told him, the good reverend handed something to him. He then climbed in the dumpster with me and started sifting through the trash!
When we arrived at Providence Baptist Church’s new building, we were greeted by none other than Reverend Dismuke’s wife! We took pictures at the monument of the church members who lost their lives in the March 3, 2019 tornado. What a joy it was to see Mrs. Dismukes! Thank you, Jean Ivey, for inviting us!
On Thursday, we visited other two granddaughters, Saylor Rhea and Tyler Kate, in the Millbrook area, where we saw Saylor Rhea recognized for being on the All-A’s Honor Roll and I returned Eva’s wedding band set. Saylor Rhea and Ava Jaymes are the same age and are cognizant of their looks. Both had their hair in place and wore dressy heels on with a cute dress. Both girls clapped for everyone as each accepted their award. I praise God for them and their sisters, who have been such a blessing in my life. God uses them to make it well with my soul.
Roasted jeep and dumpster dive
