Nancy Drew - a 'Keene' author

As a girl, I often took Nancy Drews with me into the bathroom. These pageturners livened up my days, and I couldn't put them down until Nancy solved the mystery. My Dad is responsible for my introduction to this series as he brought home several copies from a used bookstore one day. Thanks to him that started a lifelong love for all things Drew.

Over the years I have enjoyed reading these books, watching "Nancy Drew" on television, and playing HerInteractive Nancy Drew computer games. This led to reading about and watching other mysteries too. A favorite read is "Behind a Mask", a collection of thrillers by Louisa May Alcott. Last year's Masterpiece Theatre based on Charles Dickens' "Bleak House" and Alfred Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" are also time well spent. OBT and I enjoy a story with a twist, something unexpected.

Just yesterday I was reading an article called "The Mystery of Millie Benson". How was I to know that this article would solve a mystery in existence for years but unbeknownst to me until now? Those familiar with Nancy Drew probably know that Carolyn Keene wrote the stories, but what you may not know is that Carolyn Keene was only a pen name for the ghostwriters who actually wrote the stories. Millie Benson was the first.

Things I like to hear

Sarah (sung while working on her schoolwork): You can't go near the sycamore tree. You can't go near the sycamore tree. You can't go near the sycamore tree 'cause it's sick today.

Sarah (when we were having chicken for dinner): Can I have an arm?

Leora (during Grandmother's funeral): Jesus is in my heart. Gigi is with Jesus so Gigi is in my heart too.

Sarah: How can God see me (L's note: Since I can't see Him?)?

Sarah: Where will God be when we are in heaven?

More Christmas pictures

Two happy girls!

I hope that he always is this happy about the Bible!

Grandmother

This picture was taken last September when we and OBT's parents went to see Grandmother for the last time. We did not know that then, but at 95 years old we knew that our time with her was growing short.

Many memories come to mind when I think of Grandmother. The time when I sat on the front pew with her at Jackson Primitive Baptist Church and called out "The House of the Lord." Then she told me that it was the first song sung at her home church. The first time OBT came to see me we met at his grandmother's apartment. Our first Christmas after we got married was with OBT's parents and grandmother. When Sarah was born, they all came to see us, and Grandmother remarked as she held Sarah in her arms, "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful." Having Grandmother with us in the Smokies when Leora was three weeks old and she 91. Taking the children over to Gigi's apartment to play. Going to see her in Missouri. Hearing stories of her from OBT and making her dressing for Thanksgiving.

Grandmother left this world for a home on high on December 22, just a few hours before her 96th birthday. Grandmother, we will miss you.

A first

This year my parents joined us for Christmas, and we had a wonderful time. We took them to the Keim Family Market, anAmish store nearby. We had our first Christmas tree this year, and everyone enjoyed decorating it with handmade ornamentation. OBT got an idea from Food Network - putting gingerbread cookies on our tree. If you do this, be sure to make holes in the cookies beforehand unlike us.Again we anglophiled our Christmas dinner adding Roast Potatoes this year instead of mashed, a must-have for a 'Full English'. You will find the recipe I used here. For dessert, Sarah and I made buckeyes (after all we are in the Buckeye State now. Why not enjoy it?), a mincemeat pie for Grandpa and me in particular, and had fruitcake for OBT.

A Christmas to remember for always - Christmas 2008.

Home

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com