My most favorite Lucy!

Well, you aren't surprised at my choice are you, Lucy Mae?  We have been waiting for your arrival for a long time.  All of us are so thankful that you are here and perfect in every way.

It is probably a good thing that Diva and Poppa live far away cause you would have chapped cheeks from all their kisses. 



Mommy kisses are the very best!  Diva will tell you a secret...you have the very best Mommy and Daddy ever.  They will love you and play with you and protect you your whole life long.  Your Daddy is big and strong and will make you laugh.  He gives great hugs and will show you all his toys.  He loves to wear costumes for Halloween so I am sure he will be thinking of a costume for you too.

You also have a big sister to laugh and giggle with, share secrets and help you with things you can't reach yet.  She is your built-in friend, protector, and playmate.  

You are growing so fast.  We are so thankful that your Mommy keeps us posted with new pictures of you and Lyra.  It is not as good as being with you but know we will be there as soon as Diva can travel.

We love you little Miss....get lots of sleep so Mommy and Daddy can too.

We love you and pray for you daily.

Your Proud Poppa and Darling Diva

Xena, Warrior Princess

 Ok sweetie, by now you are probably thinking "poor Diva, she is really losing it.  What does Xena, Warrior Princess have to do with Lucys?"

Years ago, when your Daddy was in college he used to tease me because I enjoyed watching Xena.  She was a "kick butt and take names" kind of woman in a land where most women were victims.  She was strong, could fight like a man, and had a weapon.  Xena was everything that your sweet, silver hair diva is not...my alter-ego, my opposite. 

 One thing you should know about Diva is that I can appreciate and get excited about seeing a person using their talents.  I can watch Ninja Warrior, Project Runway, Top Chef, or Top Shot and get just as enthralled because these are talents that are unique and special. I envy anyone who has perfected their special ability.

 Xena, Warrior Princess was played by  Lucy Lawless from New Zealand.  

So what can you learn from Xena....strength, empathy for those less fortunate, justice, and wisdom.  I pray you keep your body strong and physically fit (unlike your marshmallow shaped Diva) and that you will lend a helping hand to those around you.

So, my adorable baby girl,  I hope when you look for a superhero you will remember my girl Xena, Warrior Princess.


Your soft and fluffy Diva

Coming to see you soon

 

We are very pleased and blessed to welcome a new grandchild.  Lucy Mae was born April 29th to our son and daughter in law Rachel and big sister Lyra.  Lyra is excited to have everyone look at her baby and has been very sweet and gentle with her.  We are planning on taking a road trip to Fort Worth to go visit them and meet little Lucy and marvel at how much Lyra has changed over the last year.  To say that we are excited would definitely be an understatement.  Please keep us in your prayers as we start our grand adventure soon.  Be on the lookout for blog posts along the way and lots of pictures of our Texans.

A favorite author

Beloved Lucy,

One author of the Anne of Green Gables books is Lucy Maud Montgomery.  She lived in Canada over 140 years ago. This Canadian writer published 20 novels, many of which are still read around the world. But while her most popular creation, Anne (with an 'e') Shirley, finds love and happiness, Montgomery herself wasn’t so lucky. Her life was full of loneliness, suffering, and disappointment. 

She remains one of Canada’s most beloved authors. Montgomery published 20 novels, over 500 short stories, 30 essays, an autobiography, and a book of poetry. Anne of Green Gables has been translated into 25 languages and has been made into movies, plays, musicals, cartoons, miniseries, and radio shows. The book put Prince Edward Island on the map, and the historic site of her birth is a park that sees over 125,000 visitors each year.

       So my darling girl,  what can you learn about this famous Lucy?  You can learn from her character Anne that, despite your circumstances, you can make life better for those around you.  I hope you always have a vivid imagination and imagine great adventure stories where you find yourself the heroine.  I pray that you will love to read and gain knowledge from what you read.  I pray that your life will be rich and full and you will be a hard worker.

Poppa thinks I may be asking too much from you.  I want the best life has for you and I want you to make good, honorable, and kind decisions.  I want you to be the best you that you can be.

Regardless of what happens in life or who you become know that you were always loved and prayed for every day of your life.

Your Diva and Poppa

Good Grief Lucy

Dear Sweet Lucy,

   According to Newton's 3rd law of motion: (ask Poppa) for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  So for every kind and sweet and wonderful Lucy, there is a very outspoken and very critical Lucy.  Lucy is my favorite cartoon character from the comic strip Peanuts.  The main characters are Good 'ole Charlie Brown and his dog Snoopy.  

" Known around the neighborhood (and by her little brother, Linus) for being crabby and bossy, Lucy can often be found dispensing advice from her 5-cent psychiatrist’s booth, yanking away Linus’ security blanket or humiliating Charlie Brown. Lucy’s only weakness? Her unrequited love for the piano-playing Schroeder."

 Your adorable Diva can identify with Lucy.  I often think about making a stand and offering 5-cent advice myself.  I can also be very crabby and bossy.  Your Poppa's grandmother (your great-great-grandmother Penni ) used to call your Poppa " Charlie Brown"   They say opposites attract so I am Lucy to Poppa's Charlie Brown.

So my darling girl, what can you learn from the cartoon, Lucy?   You can learn to laugh at yourself and not to take everything so seriously.  You can decide to be crabby and hard to live with or you can decide to make the situation better.  You can learn to smile and be happy knowing your family adores you and you are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure.

Your (oftentimes Crabby) Diva

The Lucy that is Valiant

Dearest Lucy,

   The next Lucy I love is from literature.  Lucy Pevensie, one of the main characters in the 7 volumes of "The Chronicles of Narnia" written by C.S. Lewis.  The author is a famous Christian writer and the Narnia books are Christian allegories ( a writer tells a fictional story where everything and everyone in it is supposed to represent a deeper meaning. )   I read these books to your Daddy and your Auntie Becky and Auntie Suzy when they were children.

  

    During a game of Hiding and Seek, Lucy, the youngest, hides in a wardrobe     ( something like a closet for coats) and discovers a mystical land called Narnia.  She tells her brothers and sister and no one believes her. Eventually, all of the children enter the wardrobe and enter Narnia where they are told that the White Witch has control over Narnia and "where it is always winter and never Christmas."  All the creatures and animals in Narnia can talk and everyone is waiting for Aslan the Lion to return.

 Of all the Pevensie children, Lucy is the closest to Aslan. Also, of all the humans who have visited Narnia, Lucy is perhaps the one that believes in Narnia the most. She is ultimately crowned Queen Lucy the Valiant, co-ruler of Narnia along with her two brothers and her sister. Lucy is the central character of the four siblings in the novels. Lucy is a principal character in three of the seven books (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader), and a minor character in two others (The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle).

  My prayer for you my darling Lucy is that you will always stay close to Jesus and never be swayed by those around you that will try to get you to go along with them.  I pray that you will love with your whole heart and have a strong sense of right and wrong.  I pray that you will also become Queen Lucy the Valiant (acting with bravery, courage, or determination).

    I know your Mommy and Daddy will read you these books when you are older and I hope you fall in love with your namesake .  I love you and pray for you every day.

Your Diva and Poppa

The Lucy that first stole my heart

Dearest Darling Lucy Mae,

The very first Lucy who stole my heart away had 4 feet, a long tail, and was crazy about Poppa.  I named her Lucy Lou, and she is a tabby cat and littermate to JJ kitty.  Poppa and I lived in an old farmhouse in a little town called New Hope, Virginia.  During the winter field mice would come into the basement and into the house.  Diva does not like mice or spiders living in my house and it is Poppa's job to get rid of them.



It was early December and I begged Poppa to get a kitten to help get rid of the field mice and because I like cats.  One morning Poppa surprised me and took me on a ride to see some kittens that needed a good home.  There were 3 kittens, 2 ginger male kittens, and a little grey and brown female tabby cat.  The owners told your Poppa that "Buster" (JJ's original name) had already caught his first mouse so your Poppa said,  "That's the cat I want."  When your Daddy was a little boy he loved an orange ginger kitten that he named "G.I. Joe"  which later got shortened to  Joey.  JJ got his name because Diva remembered the first Joey so I decided to name this kitten "Joey Junior" or JJ for short.

Sure enough, JJ started catching mice but the frisky kitten needed a playmate.  Our dog Spot was much older and didn't know what to think of this playful cat.  Diva was really missing the cute little grey and brown female tabby that she fell in love with and quickly talked Poppa into going back and taking her home too.  Your Poppa wasn't too happy about having two kittens but he loves Diva so we brought my darling Lucy Lou home also.

Kittens are so playful and we spent a lot of time watching them and playing with them.  Lucy took an immediate liking to Poppa.  She wanted to be wherever he was.  She liked me a little but her heart belonged to Poppa.  She would let me pet her for a little while but then walk away as if to say, "That's enough!"

At Christmas time, we put up our tree.  Poppa had to anchor it on the wall as the kittens would climb it and go to sleep in the branches.  It was cute to see some little eyes watching as you walked by the tree.  We bought name tags, collars, and bells for the kittens as they liked to hide behind the furniture and we were afraid they would get stuck.

Lucy finally learned to love me while Poppa was on a mission trip and there was just Diva at home to feed her and brush her.  Lucy still enjoys attention but only on her schedule (usually in the morning after breakfast).  JJ thinks he a dog so he is always underfoot and curious about whatever is going on.  He likes to cuddle and loves attention.

My Lucy Kitty is soft and gentle.  She likes attention but only on her terms.  She loves to sit in the sun and watch the birds at the birdfeeder. Poppa calls it "Cat TV".  I hope you will always be soft and gentle to those around you and I hope you have a curious nature to explore and see the world around you.  Lucy likes to seek out spots that are pretty and likes to be petted and praised for her beauty. 

You are already a beauty, and everyone will like you and praise you...but look for the inner beauty of others that surround you.  Lucy Lou is normally a happy cat and brings happiness to those around her.  I pray that you will also bring happiness to those who are lucky enough to know you.

I hope you get the opportunity to meet my Lucy Lou, the gentle brown and grey tabby cat.   I love you and pray for you every day.

Your Diva

The Lucy who isn't a Lucy

 The name of your blog is " I love Lucy".  I have several in my life and you, my love, are the newest.  I am so excited to meet you and hold you in my arms and to share all kinds of delicious secrets about your new family.


One of my favorite Lucys is my mother and your great grandmother.  Her name is Janet Carden Watson.  Are you wondering why I said she was a Lucy?  That is because my mom's middle name was Lucille.  Her sisters had two friends they liked and convinced their mom to name their baby sister after their friend Lucille.   My mom told me later she never liked that girl and so she never liked her middle name.  My dad knew that your great grandmother didn't like the name Lucille so occasionally he would start singing, "Come away with me Lucille in my merry Oldsmobile!"  My mom would get so mad at him and walk away.  Later when I was a teenager a popular Country and Western singer named Kenny Rogers would sing, "You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille."  My dad would also sing this song to my mother and make her mad again.  

Your daddy is named after my dad.  Your great grandfather was Lt. Col. Wallace Reid Watson and I named your daddy Andrew Wallace Bennetch.  So you and your dad share a little bit of Diva's history.


  Your great grandmother is currently living in Alabama with my sister.  She is 90 years old and is the last living member of her family.  Your great grandmother was very fashionable and very good looking.  She met my Dad on a blind date and he held her hand and said, "I have finally met the woman who will one day wear my ring".  She thought he was crazy but a year later they were married. 



 My mom was a great cook, a wonderful hostess, loved her family, and wrote her mother a long letter every week.
Great Grandmother loves going to church and is currently the oldest member of her Baptist church in Union Springs, Alabama.  She is legally blind but uses a big projector to read her Bible every day and to study her Sunday School lesson.  She asks about you and your sister often and prays for you.

Lucy, you will probably never have the chance to meet your great grandmother but I hope you will have her kindness and love of family. She loves roses and had a big rose garden.  She was generous and very gracious.  She also had a temper and likes her independence.  She lives in her own cabin down the road from your great aunt Bobbie.

I think great grandmother looks like Queen Elizabeth of England. I like to call her "Queenie"  just to make her mad...(I guess Diva is more like your great grandfather.) She still gets her hair done every Friday at the beauty salon.  She says she doesn't like dogs but she pats my sister's 3 dogs and always talks to them. 

I love you very much my little Lucy.  I can hardly wait to watch you grow and see what special gifts God has given you.  Know that Diva and Poppa love you with our whole heart and pray for you every day. 

Your Diva and Poppa

All my favorite Lucys

Hello, my Darling Baby Girl Lucy...  

    Your Poppa and I are so glad that you have safely arrived.  We have been praying every day for you ever since your Daddy told us in August that there would be another "A" month birthday in April.       
    Your sweet Mommy and Daddy will tell you all about your birth.  Poppa, Diva, Auntie Suzy, Uncle Tim, and Auntie Becky were all waiting impatiently till we got the good news of your birth.  We laughed, and cried and notified our praying friends of your birth.
    I am your Diva....your Daddy's momma.  I chose the name Diva because a Diva is someone who is special and I want to be your special someone.

Years ago there was a TV show with a zany redhead called, "I Love Lucy".  Lucy was funny and got herself into silly and funny situations.  I grew up watching I Love Lucy on a black and white TV set (ask your Poppa what that is).  Your Daddy also grew up watching reruns of I Love Lucy (again, ask Poppa what a rerun is).  Even today Lucille Ball is recognized as one of the funniest women in comedy.  She could make us laugh and laugh and forget all our grumpies. 

 My wish for you is that you will always put a smile on the faces of those who love you.  I pray you will have a sharp mind like your Momma and your Daddy's charm and humor.  I hope you love sports, Star Wars, Movies, Musicals, and your family.  

I pray that you will always know how special and loved you are by all your family and especially your Heavenly Father.  I pray you will come to know Jesus at an early age and serve Him all the days of your life.  I hope you will know that even though we don't get to see you very often, you will come to know that you are always in my heart, my thoughts, and in my prayers.

We love you little one,

Your Poppa and Diva