Pictured above is yours truly at about age 10. Would doofus be a good adjective? Anyway, from the early 60's come these 'vintage' family photos. The locale is Waco Texas at the house of Uncle OC (Olvy Clayton) Hartzog and Aunt Clyde Clay (Hartzog). Aunt Clyde is the one in dark attire and my grandmother Ima Julia Clay(Hornbeck) is the other lady. I suppose Neece (Bernice Shipley-my mom and daughter of Ima Julia) snapped these photos. Of course Ima and Clyde were 'Clay' sisters. For both Uncle and Aunt, actually they would be my 'greats', this was their second marriage each, but I never knew the first spouses. I did get to know a cousin Willa Mae Hartzog whose mother was Margaret Arnold, first wife of Uncle OC. In fact, Aunt Clyde went to live with Willa Mae during the latter part of her life and passed away in Brownsville Texas. I think this interesting to know that a daughter-in-law loved a mother-in-law enough to care for her in her declining years. The word 'declining' does not fit my Aunt Clyde, however. She lived to be a wondrous 96 years old!!!! I vividly remember her wonderful and often wry wit and sense of humor, traits I am sure were passed on to my Mom.

For most of the early 60's, my summer family vacations would take us through Texas and Oklahoma to visit relatives. Uncle OC and Aunt Clyde were among my favorites to visit. Uncle OC was practically blind for the latter part of his life but he could do jig-saw puzzles. I remember a closet just off the living room filled to the rafters with all manner of said puzzles. It would be a treat to sit with him by the coffee table and put the puzzles together, some of which were extremely difficult. He taught me how to start with the edges and then work in according to different colors and patterns. Wow, how is that for 50 years time span!!!!! He was a warm and kind man and I felt good being around them both. Aunt Clyde was a 'hoot'. She had enough of a Texas accent to make everything sound just a little different. When a question was asked of her, she would start with the words, "Well now Honey" but you have to imagine how honey would sound with that southern accent, something like 'huhnneh. I can't do it justice, so the next time you are around someone from the south, just ask them to pronounce the word and you will then know Aunt Clyde. She was also a perpetual optimist, another trait passed on to Neece. I don't mean to spite my Grandmother Ima, but she was not an optimist and was not an overly jovial person. She was however an excellent musician and played piano and organ throughout her life. Neece did get her musical genes from her mom, and they were passed down to me and my 'musical' kids. One humorous, I think, remembrance of Aunt Clyde that my half-brother Dan and I have is that for years at Christmas time she would send the both of us cans of Glade Air Freshener as 'gifts'. We never knew if there was a 'deeper' message involved, but it got to be something we would look forward to and just have a hearty laugh about. We wound up placing the 'cans' in the boughs of the Christmas Tree so that all could see and comment on. It was pretty funny.

Why am I recalling all this? Last Wednesday in the Oakland Temple I had the privilege of acting for Uncle Olvy Clayton Hartzog as he was sealed to Aunt Clyde Beaulah Clay (Rosser, Hartzog). I took the opportunity to orally reflect upon some of the above remembrances to all the people present and as the sealing was being performed, Brother Russell, the Sealer, paused for a moment to allow the spirit to fill the room. I won't say that my Aunt and Uncle were present, but there was a special feeling that caused eyes to moisten and light to flood hearts. Such is the beauty of Temple work which is supposed to be performed for the dead when in fact there is nothing dead about it!!!! I find myself at different times experiencing this same 'soulful' delight, especially when I catch myself really thinking about the words of the ordinances I am performing. All is well, all is well.