Prayer Meetings

    

Old St Louis

       My Mother, Helen Ruth Keen Anderson, was a beautiful lady that lived every minute of her life out loud. Mother's only sibling and a very handsome one at that, may I add, James Edward Keen was born when Mother was 10 years old so he was always her baby brother. Mother loved her baby brother so much and was so proud of him. Jay, as we lovingly call him, adored his big sister Helen. So it was a mutual admiration society.

     It was around 1987 when they got together and decided to go on an adventure together and what a quest it was! They thought that it would be great fun to go back to their home town of St. Louis,  MO. for an "Old Times Sake Journey."

    Now, St. Louis is a stately ancient city that boast of the great Arch. It is filled with many different ethnic neighborhoods, foods, languages, styles, and designs; oh, and I mustn't forget to mention their outstanding bakery's. It also lies along the great Mississippi River where so many exciting things activities, smells, and sounds can be seen, heard, and enjoyed. The barges navigate  "Old Man River," shipping goods up and down the great waterway and it just keeps rolling along. The Farmers Market is in full swing, selling everything from fresh produce to spices, to coffees from all over the world. Thousands of busy people scurrying here and there.

      They were having the time of their life going down Memories Lane. They visited old neighborhoods, their old schools, churches and talked about how things were when they were kids. They enjoyed the food delicacies and the excitement going on all around them, talking and discussing everything they had seen; the changes that time had made and how they remembered St. Louis being. 

     As they talked about their precious memories, they decided that they would visit  the old Union Train Depot. When they arrived they were pleasantly surprised to find an enormous craft guild open with all kinds of goodies for sale. Of course, mother LOVED this and Jay did too, but don't forget that my Mother lived totally out loud!

     As they walked up and down the aisles, they saw all kinds of pottery, wood-carvings, handcrafts, bird house made from old license plates, picture frames made form old barn wood; it seemed that whatever you might want it was there.  Suddenly, Mother stopped at a table that had beautiful water color paintings, and started  getting really excited...In her nice loud out door voice she says, "Look Jay, at this picture," and there in a beautiful wooden frame was a house where they had lived as children. Their old home. It was a three story brick home and that painting brought back those childhood memories...Jay said there was a Park across from the house where they would go and play and the Depot was not far from there. Mother loudly oohed and aahhed, carrying on and on, and finally bought the picture.

      I don't know what happened to that painting when my Mother pass away but I do remember how excited that my Mother and Uncle Jay were when they discovered the painting of their old home, the sweet memories they shared, and just for a few minutes remembering their childhood games and antics. 

     Memories are a precious commodity that God gives us to enjoy and He made our heart out of elastic so that it will stretch and stretch, already packed full, it will always have room for more..

     I love my Mother and my Uncle Jay very much and one of the reasons is because they are a special breed that can appreciate the special moments in time that God allows us to enjoy and have to keep and secondly they are both just plain lovable.