ife with Momma and Daddy.

Camping in the black & white pickup truck with white camper shell on the back of it. My bed was the width of the truck bed up against the cab window. It was a wooden platform with a fabric-covered piece of foam, which a sleeping bag was put on top of. Momma & Daddy’s bed was the length of the truck bed on the left hand side that went under my bed. There was storage underneath their bed. They also had a fabric-covered piece of foam. I think they had sheets & blankets. I’m sure that Momma had designed the arrangement and Daddy had made it.

During this time, I slept primarily on my stomach with my left arm hanging off of the bed. It was an irritation to Daddy since he’s tall and my arm was banging into his feet. Their sleep was interrupted quite a bit if it was a night that I was talking in my sleep.

On one trip, we were driving in TX late at night and I was asleep on their bed in the back of the pickup. All of the sudden, Daddy swerved really hard and I was thrown off the bed onto the floor. There were some horses that had gotten loose and were running down the road headed straight for us. Daddy had to whip it over real quick to avoid hitting them. We were almost up on them before they could be seen since it was after dark. I remember Momma being quite shaken up by that.

Another road trip, going to see Mom from New Orleans at Christmas time. We were broke down on Christmas Eve around the Alexandria area. They had the car on the rack at the only service station that was still open and he didn’t have the part that was needed. I was dressed in my pajama’s w/robe and red furry slippers. I’m sure that I’d been asleep for a while as riding makes me sleepy. This place was filthy, there were stacks of parts books and papers everywhere. The man let Momma lay me down on a counter. He pulled the stacks of stuff to the front of the counter and I was lying behind all of that stuff. A drunken guy came in the service station and said to Momma ‘I wouldn’t have seen him there if I hadn’t been drunk’. We did finally get the part needed and we made it to Mom’s in time for Christmas. Daddy called a friend in Bossier City who owned a parts place. He got up & drove to his shop, got the part and drove it to where we were. It’s great to have friends.

Another camping trip in the pickup, we went to see the Passion Play in Arkansas. During the night a cold front came through, I remember waking up and being soooo cold. I had some blankets on top of my sleeping bag and even Momma’s coat. When we got up the next morning, there was ice everywhere.

Camping trips when I was little have such fond memories for me. Peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches, fried Spam & mayo sandwiches, cold water out of the tan/brown Coleman cooler, eating on the tailgate or at picnic tables in campgrounds, Momma cooking on the Coleman stove, Daddy pumping up the Coleman lantern, Momma and I dressed alike. Back in the day, she did a lot of sewing. We’d both have a white shirt with matching skirts that she’d made. That was a highlight for me to go shopping for fabric knowing that we’d have matching play clothes. In my memories eyes, I can see Momma with her oatmeal box hairdo and her black plastic cat eyed frame glasses. Yep, good times and I’m sure hard times for them but I’m glad they made the sacrifices that they did.

Over time, they were able to afford travel trailers, which made traveling easier and more comfortable. I remember the many vacations in the summer to the Smoky Mts. Waterfalls, Cades Cove, Biltmore Estate, Grove Park Inn, Cherokee, the Parkway, flame azaleas, rafting down the Nantahala River, cold spring fed water, mountain laurel, black bears, and clean mountain air. Rolling out the awning and sitting in lawn chairs underneath, relaxing, reading a book or just listening to nature. Hanging the decorative lanterns around the campsite, eating meals cooked out of electric skillets, apple biscuits, taking a shower in a little bitty shower. I guess that could be why I love the Smoky’s so much today.

Momma would get so frustrated with me when we’d be traveling to a new place. She’d want me to see the landscape and all I was seeing was the backsides of my eyelids. Riding makes me soooooo sleepy. Daddy used to tease me that I’d be asleep before we’d get out of the driveway.

Toledo Bend and fishing with Momma was an experience. I like fishing if I’m catching something but—if I’m not catching anything—I’m bored. It’s hard to read a book, turn the pages, hold a cane pole and watch your cork at the same time especially without dropping one of them. We’d go out before dusk to pick out our set of broken trees to fish around. Daddy would pump up the Coleman lanterns and hang them in the trees to draw bugs. We’d go back to camp, eat, take a nap, and fix snacks for the night and then after dark set out on a lake that’s filled w/stumps and logs. Made sense to me. We’d get to our lanterns that we’d set up, tie up to a tree or toss the anchor out. Momma would get excited and squeal when she’d catch something. You didn’t want to make noise cause you’d scare the other fish away and you’d let others on the lake know that you were catching fish. I’d fish for a while and then I’d get my boat cushion and blanket, yep—you guessed it—time to sleep. Reading was an option if I had a flashlight. Momma got kinda wild when bringing fish into the boat. There’s nothing quite like being awakened from a sound sleep by being finned by a fish, it really ruins dreams. Now, Momma had no problems baiting her hook if you were using minnows or worms but crickets—she’d do it but she’d just about throw the whole container in the lake if another cricket in the bucket got on her while she’s trying to get another one out. She didn’t like things crawling on her and neither do I.

Daddy tried to teach me to cast but I wasn’t consistent and more time was spent untangling knots and cutting away fishing line. I needed lots more practice but I think Daddy’s patience had reached its end. Nobody fry’s catfish and redfish like my Daddy. His French fries aren’t slouchy, either. I don’t like seafood and I’m very picky about how & who fry’s my fish. Since I live so far away from Daddy, I don’t have fried fish often.

One year we went out to Colorado. I fell in love with narrow gauge trains. We rode the Durango/Silverton train. It was so awesome and the scenery was jaw dropping. It was neat to go around bends and see the engine and the caboose with just a turn of your head. I’ve always liked taking the back roads and seeing sights off the beaten path. Doing the train ride, hearing the whistle, seeing the cars wait as we went by, feel the motion of the train as it moved along the tracks. Every train ride that I’ve taken since then is compared to the Durango/Silverton and they all come up short. I like aspen trees and the particular beauty of the Rocky’s.

Vacationing with Rusty was always fun but challenging. Rusty was our yellow Lab and a dark red color. He looked like he’d been left out in the rain & had rusted. Rusty thought that he was the co-pilot, if someone was sitting in the front passenger seat, Rusty was trying to get in your lap. If you got out of your seat, you‘d lost it. There’s nothing quite like having a 100 lb. dog sitting in your lap as you go down the highway. Those bones sure dig into your legs with every bump. Rusty made friends everywhere that we went. We used to say that Rusty saw more of the USA & Canada than most people. One of the more humorous stunts that Rusty pulled was peeing on a neighbor lady’s golf bag. Daddy would walk Rusty w/o a leash and Rusty would get several houses ahead. Everyone in the neighborhood knew Rusty. Little kids would come knock on the door to see if Rusty could “come out & play“. Well, this one day Rusty was several houses ahead and this nice leather golf bag is sitting at the end of her driveway right next to the sidewalk. Rusty paused, sniffed and lifted his leg. Daddy caught up with him just in time to see the lady running out saying “No, Rusty!” Daddy was so embarrassed and mad at him. He was apologizing to the lady and he went back to her house with a wet soapy washrag to clean off her golf bag.

Daddy was a big tease. He loved to get me going. Some of the things that he would tell me were: “I had garments on my back“. I didn’t know what ’garments’ meant and I was used to hearing Mom talking about varmints in the woods. Needless to say, I’d get very upset and come back with “No, I don’t, tell him that I don’t”. Another one of his teasing remarks was “If you stand sideways and stick out your tongue, you’ll look just like a zipper”. This was back in the day when I was really skinny and lanky. Yet another was that he’d call me 20 fingers. If you saw my toes, you’d understand. For years, I wouldn’t wear sandals because of my toes. And still another was, “that I made a good argument for evolution since he was certain that I could hang by my toes from any branch.”

As a family, we used to go dirt bike riding and street bike riding. During my growing up years, they bought me 2 dirt bikes. The looks on my friend’s faces upon going back to school was funny when asked what you got for Christmas when your response was a dirt bike. At one time, Momma had her own street bike. I would ride behind Daddy. I took one long distance trip with him to visit Grandma in Arkansas. He said that if I kept making him stop, we’d never get there. My hips would get so tired, I thought for sure I’d be walking bow-legged for the rest of my life if he didn’t stop. On our way back as we were crossing over the Mississippi River, this little ole lady in a pink Cadillac changed lanes right into our lane. She never even looked, it’s a good thing that Daddy was paying attention.

Momma taught Sunday School and Home Bible Studies, she sang in the choir and played saxophone in the orchestra. Daddy was an usher, mowed the lawn and planted flowers/shrubs.

Janice seemed to have it both ways. She enjoyed the outdoors as well as the indoors. She went hunting and fished. If no one wanted to go, she would go by herself. I was amazed at the “bravery” she displayed. If the dog started barking in the middle of the night, they knew he had found a “varmint”. So, one of them would get up – including Janice – get a gun and a flashlight and out the door to get the “varmint”. Shortly, you would hear a gunshot and then the dog’s bark would cease – all was well. On her fishing ventures, she would catch long strings of fish – even when she went out in the boat by herself.

She was equally talented with projects inside. She sewed quite well, making a lot of her own and Theresa’s clothes. She was an expert with her china painting. She made many beautiful pieces. Also, she must have enjoyed photography. I have seen some beautiful photos she had taken.

Aside from that, she was taken to church from the beginning of her life. So she personally became acquainted with God. She went on to live for Him for the rest of her life – through her school years and on through her college years where she graduated with very high grades. She was valedictorian of her high school graduating class.

After graduation, she accepted a position in the engineering department of the telephone company in Shreveport, Louisiana. She continued to live for God, attending church in Bossier City, La. – just across the river from Shreveport. It was here that “cupid” showed up. She met and married the “love of her life” at church – Dennis Patterson. They have one daughter, Theresa. Theresa also met her husband, Tommy Peoples, at church. They have been married several years and have a wonderful life together.

Now, more about Janice and Dennis. The Lord blessed them both with very good jobs. Therefore, they were able to “have it all”. They took great vacations – traveling to Europe, Canada and many other places. They took many long trips on the motorcycle. Janice “braved the elements” right along with Dennis. I don’t think there was any kind of car made that they didn’t buy. After driving one awhile, they would come up with another one. And then they had their travel trailers and motor homes.

Janice was offered a “package” and retired at a fairly young age. They built a beautiful home on the lake at Farmerville, Louisiana. Dennis continued to work a few more years after her retirement, but eventually, he retired also. They had already purchased a very large boat for their pleasure. They had a pier right at their door, almost, which they had built. They also had a large shed for their boat.

Now about Theresa – I did not get to be with her as she grew up because of geographic locations of our homes along with work, family and other responsibilities. But, Theresa, I have enjoyed the times we have been together. She can keep you laughing with her dry humor. She and Tommy seem so happy together. She seems to have inherited a lot of her mother’s talents.

The Lord saw fit to take Janice home to be with Him on November 22, 2002. She struggled with cancer a long time. She was very brave through it all. She made you feel so welcome when visiting her. She and Dennis always made you want to come back. She would insist on overnight visits when I thought maybe I shouldn’t because of her illness, but she did not want it any other way. We all still miss her.

Janice and Dennis arranged for a Cain Family Reunion at their place in 1994. We had not had one since I was about 13 or 14. Many older family members were deceased. However, we had a very large crowd and enjoyed a big fish fry.

After she went to work for the telephone company she and Theresa lived in Bossier City. When my dad was in the hospital, my mother stayed with Janice and she would take her back and forth to the hospital in Shreveport. I went up to take him home from the hospital to Black Lake on the weekend. She and Theresa went with us to help me get them home and get the house cleaned. I really did appreciate all she did to help us.

When she and Dennis moved to Metairie, James, Carolyn, Jana and I went to visit them for a couple of nights. One night we ate at Copeland’s (I think it was Cajun food). I was sick most of the night and James was too. I have never wanted any Cajun food since then. James’ family and I flew to Disney World from there and they took us to the airport and took care of our car for us until we returned.

Every time we visited them, there or after they moved to Farmerville, she and Dennis couldn’t do enough for us. When we had the family reunion in Farmerville, Dennis was so good to try to see to everyone’s needs. I had 4 flats on the same tire and he always helped to take care of it. In spite of my tire problem, the reunion was a great success and we had a good time.

It’s surprising how much we have gotten to see Theresa and Tommy – especially since they move so much! I always enjoy being with them since Theresa keeps something going and keeps everyone laughing.

Janice and Dennis were a great couple as are Theresa and Tommy. They all are great Christians and have always been faithful to church and really love the Lord.

Dennis, I’ve always appreciated you and your care of Janice. She has always been very important to me, so when you married her that made another important person added to our family. I just wanted to say “Thanks” for all you have done.

Tommy, I’m happy Theresa and you found each other. You have been so good to her and so helpful to the family. I really appreciate you and just wanted you to know that. I thank you for taking care of our girl.

Mother, Janice and I took several vacations together including the Great Smoky Mountains, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, which I have great memories of. She loved being a vacation “guide” and qualified for it because she, Dennis and Theresa would have already made a trip there.

In later years, I had much pleasure being able to china paint with Janice. She had a natural art talent anyway, but after taking painting lessons from many teachers, she excelled and helped me in my painting. These were great times of fellowship for us, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We also attended some of the china shows together which were special. I think of her so much when I am painting.

Janice loved her family and was devoted to them. She tried to help as much as she could to take care of mother, daddy, myself and the rest of the family. Janice and Dennis have always been very generous in sharing their home and trying to make sure you had a good time. I have been very blessed to have them in my life. Dennis has been a big help to mother and me in various things around the house and farm since Daddy passed away. He got firewood for us before Donny moved to Farmerville. He and Donny put up a new yard fence about 2 years ago. He now helps Donny with mowing, getting firewood and helping with a garden on a regular basis. They are presently clearing out rubbish around the place (which is a good excuse for Dennis to play with his new tractor!)

Janice and Dennis have been active in the church for years. They gave generously to the church not only in finances but also of their time. Janice taught Sunday School, and played saxophone. Dennis helped keep the churchyard looking nice as well as helping out with other things.

Janice and Dennis really loved their new home on Lake D’Arbonne. They bought a pleasure boat and really enjoyed taking folks for a boat ride. It was one of the last pleasures that she was able to enjoy.

After he lost Janice, Dennis, of course was very lonely. The Lord saw fit to bless him with another precious wife, Kathy Scott Patterson. Kathy has fit right in with the family with her sweet spirit. She is very talented in music. She taught music in Haynesville High School when she and Dennis started dating. She has taught piano to individuals, is the choir director, pianist, at their church and helps various church choirs from time to time. She and Dennis will soon be traveling to St. Louis where she will teach a class in a music conference at the Gateway College Of Evangelism. She has finished her master’s degree and almost finished the plus 30. She also is a very good writer.

Much comes to mind when I think of Theresa—wonderful (well, some not so wonderful)—childhood memories—like spilling her milk when she sat down to the table and Mom having “sterics”. Daddy got to where he could move fast (as you all know he was a slow-moving guy) as the milk came his way. Better memories are her cute little cartoonish drawings with real character, her putting on a puppet show with all of the sound effects and mannerisms so you had no doubts as to the message she was portraying. She loved to “help” Daddy count the church money (he was church treasurer). She sat on a stool while Daddy sat at the dining table and “supervised”. The farm was her absolutely favorite place to be, with her Mom and Daddy Pop. She loved to help dig Irish potatoes that Mom and Daddy raised in the garden and constantly reminded them to let her know when it was time to dig them. You might find her laying her head on the dog as the dog was snoozing in the yard under the big oak tree or at the barn or even on the side porch eating ice out of the freezer with a spoon.

She loves her Uncle Brubby (Donald Hilburn) but was really aggravated, even to tears, sometimes, by his teasing. Once when her Uncle Brubby was overseas in the service, Mom and I were making a tape recording to send him. We wanted her to say something to her Uncle Brubby and as the tape was about to run out, Mom told her to hurry up. This frustrated her very much as she was trying to come up with something to say and she came out with “But, Mom, I haven’t got it thunk yet”. She still gets ribbed about this.

Another time when riding with Daddy in his truck in Shreveport at his top speed of 35 mph (standing right up against him in the seat), she let her frustration be known with, “Daddy Pop, won’t this crate go any faster?”

A mischievous streak came to light not long ago when her secret of climbing a tree and dropping eggs on people as they walked under the tree. She didn’t get caught (although she had to exit fast sometimes) as she had her escape route well planned out and the tree was down the street from her yard and her mother never seemed to miss the eggs from the refrigerator. This was in the first neighborhood that they lived in after moving from Bossier City to Metairie. Now who would have thought that sweet little Theresa would have done something like that??? Maybe she inherited something from her Uncle Brubby??? I think it still shows up sometimes in spite of her, so look out! I will add though, that she is very thoughtful and spends a lot of time trying to do her best to encourage and help other people, even to the point of being very meticulous in picking out birthday and Christmas gifts. She loves the Lord and tries to make the best of every opportunity to show His love to others.

As you might have guessed, she loves dogs and they have played an important part in her life. She had a yellow lab named Rusty that she was very devoted to, she loved our Major (our first yellow lab), loves our Sandy Man (our second yellow lab) and currently has adopted the last dog that Janice had, a charming (?) rascal named Skippy (Jack Russell terrier/feist combination).

I mentioned Tommy earlier—he appeared after a job move from the Ft. Worth area to the New Orleans area several years ago—and met Theresa at church. After several months of courting, they married. Not too long afterward, they moved to Douglassville, Pennsylvania after Tommy had received a promotion in his job. He worked in Philadelphia and Theresa was able to transfer from a medical lab that she had worked for in Metairie also.

Let me digress here to give some background information on Tommy. His father was in the Army before the Air Force was formed and then was in the Air Force until he retired, so Tommy has lived several places during his lifetime. He was born in Maryland, lived in Georgia, North Carolina, Hawaii, and Virginia. He joined the air force after high school and went immediately to Aviano, Italy, serving in the military police. His next assignment was in North Dakota, then to Las Vegas. He got out of the service while in Las Vegas after having put in 12 years and went to work as a civilian for the federal government in law enforcement. He was promoted with the Bureau of Prisons (actually working inside the prison) in Ft. Worth. From there he went to a higher level of work in New Orleans. Then it was on to Philadelphia where he worked in community corrections. At present he is working in DC where he writes policies and programs and provides data to other levels within the Justice Department.

Tommy and Theresa were very active in the church they attended in New Orleans and King of Prussia, PA. They co-taught Sunday School in New Orleans. Theresa participated in church dramas in the New Orleans church and in the King or Prussia, PA church. They housed many Bible college students when the students would be visiting their church.

They truly loved living in Pennsylvania, but after a few years there, Tommy got another promotion in his job and they moved to Lexington Park, Maryland where Tommy commutes to DC. Theresa is a full time housewife. She is enjoying this tremendously and is developing some of her not so well known talents, interior decorating and sewing. She and Tommy are very active in the church doing. Theresa co-taught Vacation Bible School last summer and Tommy played on one of the softball teams. Currently, they are over the married fellowship ministry. Theresa also helps with the phone ministry, the baking ministry, pastoral leadership appreciation committee and decorating committee for their new sanctuary, etc. Tommy is praise singing on Sunday mornings and is assisting in the youth department as a back-up teacher for teenagers. They both are on the prayer teams.

Being a full time housewife has allowed Theresa to practice her cooking and baking skills although Tommy still enjoys preparing meals also. I think his forte is breakfast food. He makes a delicious ham, sausage and cheese loaf. Theresa’s forte is chocolate chip cookies. When they lived in the New Orleans area before moving to Pennsylvania, her chocolate chip cookies were high priority and sold out quickly at bake sales. She enjoys trying different cookie recipes as well as other baking and cooking.

Tommy’s name fits him well as he truly is a “people” person. He loves having company over and cooking, even if it is not breakfast. He is a very thoughtful person, is a wonderful host, but also loves to tease. He loves antiques and has some of his grandmother’s paintings and family antique furniture. Reading is one hobby and you might catch him playing computer games.

As Tommy works in DC, he and Theresa have enjoyed taking visitors to DC and on other side trips from their home in Lexington Park. They quite frequently go back to Pennsylvania to visit friends and go to some of their favorite shopping places.

Poor, Ricky, he had a sad, unhappy, disagreeable childhood. He had three older brothers! When something went wrong, Ricky was always blamed.

Who bounced on the bed and broke the slats and side rail? Ricky did it! I think not without a lot of help. Who threw the spear that broke the aquarium and spilled twenty gallons of water onto the floor and left the poor helpless little fish flopping in the wet sand? Ricky did it! Ricky was probably the target and stepped aside and the aquarium took the hit. Who ate all of the cookies? Ricky did it! That accusation I can easily believe.

Ricky survived with only a few scars and one broken tooth and one broken toe. He still has his warm, friendly smile and is always ready to extend a helping hand.

Oh, by the way, I still hide the cookie jar when Ricky comes home.

After college we only rarely got to spend time together because I traveling around the world during my Air Force career, but we did keep in frequent contact and were as close as a brother, sister and friend can be. Over the years we traveled quite a lot together as we always enjoyed that time together. She and Dennis came to Belgium for two weeks during which time we camped around Europe in our VW camper. We also took some very memorable motorcycle vacations in the Rocky and Smoky Mountains, and also enjoyed some really fun times in southeastern and western Oklahoma riding four-wheeled all terrain vehicles. She even learned to snow ski, I think largely to vacation and be in the mountains with me, but that may just my take. Fond memories!

Also as Linda indicated, Janice did indeed love us and always tried to make us feel at home in her house, and she went out of her way to pick me up and drop me off at airports over the years. And it didn’t seem to matter what stupid decision or action I took over the years, she never judged me, but always loved me and “had my back”. She was as good a “sis” as one can have!

I moved back to Louisiana in September 2000 largely to be with her, Mom and Linda, as we grow older. Janice wasn’t allowed to get much older though as we tragically lost her before her time with her cancer. It didn’t quite make up for all the years I was so far removed from Louisiana, but at least I did have that quality time before we lost her. I miss her so much!

Dennis has been pretty much like a brother to me. We always have enjoyed spending time together, motorcycling, skiing, and traveling, etc. And he has always been good to help me with whatever project I had underway such as cutting and splitting firewood, extending my seawall – he even helped me move here from Albuquerque. And he did a good job of “looking after” my house and yard when the need arose, the year-plus I owned it before moving in. I also have to point out that Janice’s health problems couldn’t have been easy for Dennis, but he took excellent care of her to the best of his ability. I can’t tell you how many days he drove her to Monroe to the doctor’s office her last two years, but it was a bunch! In fact they spent more time going to doctor’s appointments that anything else, which really ate into their desire to travel and enjoy their retirement. He is “good people”!

Theresa and Tommy are also very important parts of our family. Theresa was fun for me to “toughen up” when she was a youngster (although she may complain about the process)! She is now just as much fun but in a different way—always has something to say and a ready laugh. And in Tommy she has someone who also has a good sense of humor, making them a lot of fun to spend time with. But since they live in Maryland we only get small doses of them these days (come to think of it maybe that’s why I enjoy them)! Just kidding! But seriously, they are good people, good citizens and we here in Louisiana wish they were closer to home, but having been there and done that I understand that a career makes demands on families! That said, I need to go visit them as Linda did last year to enjoy their hospitality and to give Theresa a refresher course in tough!