Chapter 7

I showed which finger it was to be worn on. They all put theirs on immediately, and I don't ever remember seeing them off again.

The next day was Momma's Doctor appointment. I asked Lena to go with me since she was a healer. We took her to Troy to the doctor.

While Momma was in with the doctor, Lena told me that she couldn't really see anything wrong with Momma, except she was getting old. Some people get ready to die and their health just fades away.

"Maybe we should help Momma want to live," I said.

Momma had three prescriptions, one was to keep her insides working because she was lying down so much, one was to help with her arthritis pain, and the last one was a mood elevator. In other words, nothing was wrong with her, except she was getting old.

When we got home, I asked Momma if she would like to sit outside for a while. She said she would like that. All the girls came outside, and brought Davey to play. I walked next door and borrowed the neighbor's tractor and disk to fix Momma's garden spot. He said, "I had heard you were dead."

I answered, "Not hardly, I just moved out of the country. I have a wonderful family. I have one son and another daughter on the way. We came back to be here for Momma's funeral. She isn't sick enough to die, so I am fixing up her garden. She just needs something to do since Daddy is dead and I am gone. I am going to try to come back once or twice a year, but it is so much trouble and expense to get here."

I disked up her garden spot in just a few minutes, and returned the tractor. The girls were in shock. That machine was so wonderful. "I am going to the co-op to get some seed and fertilizer," I said.

Betsy asked if she could come along, so we went to pick up some seed and fertilizer and pay for the windmill.

We bought some tomato and pepper plants, and some peas and butter beans. That would be enough for starters.

While we were there I thought about growing some wheat for bread. I told Betsy that we needed to buy some wheat and corn seed when we picked up the windmill.

When we got home everybody pitched in to plant the garden. Momma watched Davey. Momma asked why we were planting the garden. "I like to garden, and you need something to keep you active. Lena says you are getting old, but you are not dying. She is a better doctor than most," I told her.

"How about a cookout," I asked everyone.

My family was not very excited, we cooked out all the time. Momma said she would like to, so I went to the store and we got chicken and we had a cookout.

"Why do you want to cook outside when we have this wonderful stove?" Maggie asked.

"It is just for something different. We will still need to cook a few things on the stove. I am only cooking the meat outside," I explained.

That seemed to satisfy her curiosity.

The girls liked barbecued chicken, baked beans and salad. We had chocolate milk to drink. They all loved it, even Davey. I said to Maggie, "Davey really likes that chocolate milk, but I bet he doesn't like the delivery system as well."

She gave me a funny look and then a slap on the arm, with a giggle. Then everyone caught on and chuckled.

We cleaned up, and had a nice evening visiting and listening to music.

I got up early the next morning and watered the garden. Momma had gotten up and was moving slowly, but moving all the same. She made hot tea and all my wives had to try it. They liked it. Betsy said, "It is not the same as the tea we have at home, but it is very good."

We did things with Momma and spent time together during the week. The girls talked me into letting them order some sets of stainless steel bowls from the television. We used Momma's credit card and I gave her the cash to make up for it.