In work,
do what you enjoy.
In family life,
be
completely present.
~Lao Tzu
Hello Shepard Family and Friends,
Greetings to all of you on this first day of May, 2010. Happy 99th Birthday TODAY to Mildred (Beck) Davis, the oldest living member of the family of Bura (Davis) Shepard. Mildred, who lives in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, was married to Jesse Davis, Bura's brother.
Mildred's son Bud Davis (see them both in the picture above) emailed me about their early birthday celebration:
We had a wonderful time together and brought away many good
memories. Just sitting in the living room with Mom and family nearby, even without
saying anything.... the unspoken warmth of those you love.... able to communicate without words.... all of the stories as we remembered
the good ole times... watching the little ones
interact with Mom, and her smile at seeing them... all this and more made
it a magical time.
All five of my sisters were there - Jessie, Charlotte, Nordeen, Becky and
Kathy. We marvel that we are still blessed to be there
with Mom on her 99th birthday. Many grandchildren and Ggrands were there to see her. Mom does not
like a lot of attention or fanfare so we have to be careful about too
big a production. Her most frequent question was: "Did you have enough
to eat and do you have a place to sleep?"
One conversation included trying to recall Jesse
Davis' favorite color. Several in the room in unison said "red". Becky asked Mom if she remembered the red dress that dad bought for her
at Nellie's Dress Shoppe in Boise City, Oklahoma where we grew up. After thinking a moment, Mom said with a gleam in her eye, "I remember I
made him take it back!" Dad liked to surprise Mom with a gift and
apparently it was not the right size... or maybe she just did not want
him spending their hard earned money on her. Mom continues to be
blessed with almost no pain. We are planning her next birthday already,
the big 100.
One conversation included trying to recall Jesse
Davis' favorite color. Several in the room in unison said "red". Becky asked Mom if she remembered the red dress that dad bought for her
at Nellie's Dress Shoppe in Boise City, Oklahoma where we grew up. After thinking a moment, Mom said with a gleam in her eye, "I remember I
made him take it back!" Dad liked to surprise Mom with a gift and
apparently it was not the right size... or maybe she just did not want
him spending their hard earned money on her. Mom continues to be
blessed with almost no pain. We are planning her next birthday already,
the big 100.
The picture above shows Jesse and Mildred Davis and their 6 children in 1954. This picture is from their family history booklet compiled in 1993. The picture below, shows Jesse Davis and his sister Bura (Davis) Shepard in 1965.
More 20th Century Brookses. Last week I mentioned that James Brooks Davis had two 20th century descendants who were given the name "Brooks". One of JBD's granddaughters, Becky Davis, informed me that I failed to mention two other 20th century Brookses. George Brooks (Bud) Davis has a son named Jeffrey Brooks Davis, and a grandson named Trey Brooks Davis. The name Brooks has been in our family for at least 300
years now, and it appears that it will continue for many more years to
come.
Trivia Question Answered: Last week I asked a trivia question: How many GGGGGGGG (8 Greats) grandparents does each of us have in our family tree? The answer is pretty amazing. Each one of us has 1,024 GGGGGGGG grandparents in our family trees. (Good luck trying to find the names of all them!) What
an incredible gene pool from which we are each a unique creation. Special commendation goes to Nathan Shepard of San Francisco for being the first to give the correct answer. Honorable mention goes to Steven Paul Shepard of Anacortes, Washington, for working the hardest to find the answer.
- - -
Steve
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