My Sweet Daughter, Niki Lyn... 3 21 1980

When I try to think back about the day Niki was born, the main thing that I remember was how scary the whole event seemed to me. I had Cesarean births so 30 years ago when Niki was born, they admitted you to the hospital the night before you delivered the baby the next morning. Well, the night I was admitted to the old John Graves Ford Memorial Hospital was a very cold and very windy night! In fact my window had a small hole in it and I about froze to death until one of the nurses came in and covered the hole with surgical tape!!! Thank goodness.. Back then the maternity ward was in a special wing of the hospital and it had two glass doors at the end of the hallway that stayed shut. No one was allowed past those doors unless it was visiting hours! There were no phones in the room and the tv was a tiny one, maybe 5 inches and it hung on a swinging arm by the bed. The only phone was a pay phone in the emergency room door way and you could only use it at certain times. The whole birthing experience was kind of like a prison for mothers. Needless to say, I did not sleep at all the night before Niki was born.

The next morning, made the isolated night I had experienced, all be forgotten. I had the smallest little baby girl and she was just beautiful. God blessed me with a little girl, the one I had always dreamed about. Jamie was three at the time so he was a great helper when we brought Niki home from the hospital. He loved her so much and so did my whole family, however, Niki only had eyes for her mommy, me! She would not let me out of her sight. She absolutely wore me out! I tease her now because she was my "high maintenance baby" and I never made a move without her attached to my side. Believe me, I loved every minute of her claiming her mommy as her only love, but I don't think I ever went to the bathroom, took a bath, ate a meal or slept all night without my little Niki hanging on to me.

I learned so much from Niki and the main thing was if you wanted something you had to get it! She was, and still is, a determined soul. All of her life, if she wanted something bad enough, she would sell cans, pick up walnuts, babysit, mow the yard, and beg to get the money she needed! It was an adventure watching her at work, but she never failed!!

I still spend everyday with Niki by my side. I have no clue what I would do without her and I don't want to find out. Her determination now goes to getting things her children need, helping others and helping her family. So, on this day, Niki Lyn Brandenburg, I want to say "Happy 30th Birthday" to my daughter, my friend and my business partner. God knew what He was doing when he gave you to me...

My one and only son, Jamie...

I am jumping ahead a whole lot of years to write this post. I want to honor my son, James Keith Gifford, on his 33rd birthday. Jamie entered this world on March 17th, 1977 and he is my St Patty's day gift! I was 20 years old, young, inexperienced and one sick little lady when Jamie was born. I had toxemia and pneumonia in both lungs and to be honest, both of us almost did not survive. However, God had plans and we both have seen Him at work in our lives.

Jamie was named after my daddy, James E. (Jimmy) Moore, he was so excited to have a boy in the family! Until Jamie was born, my daddy had two girls, so he was ready to be a granddaddy to his very first grandson. My momma, Dorothy and my daddy came to visit Jamie constantly, they took him everywhere and he loved them dearly! They were so instrumental in helping make Jamie the man he is today and for that, I will forever be thankful. Jamie called them Mom and Granddaddy. My daddy poured everything good that he knew into Jamie in the nine years that he had with him. When Jamie was nine, my daddy died of a massive heart attack and Jamie was crushed. This really made an impression on Jamie and even though he was just nine, he will forever have a special place in his heart for all of the things my daddy taught him.

Now, Jamie has a 23 month old son of his own, Aeden, and I love seeing them interact together. My little St Patty's day gift has grown into a wonderful, loving and caring man. Thank you God for babies...

Happy Birthday to Jamie...

Tomboy, as a matter of fact, I am!!

I was always a tomboy! My mom and dad had two girls, I was the youngest, so I was my daddy's tomboy. I hung outside with my daddy every chance I got. When it came time for dishes, I was helping my daddy mow... When it came time for cleaning the house, I was helping my daddy pick up limbs and rake leaves!!! You get the point. My toys included Barbie's, but I also had cowboys, indians and their horses, I had baseball gloves, balls and bats and any other toy that lead to the great outdoors! I loved being outside and I still do.

I remember learning to mow at a very young age, in fact, I could barely keep the riding mower running because I was such a skinny little girl. I mowed all of the Moore family land and I loved it! No one ever paid me because back then you just did stuff to help your family for free, novel idea!! My daddy was so proud of me and he would take the mower and "cut out" the path I was to mow. He showed me how to navigate the mower so close to everything that we hardly ever had to weedeat. I can still do that today. I call it the "Jimmy Moore Mowing School Way" and it really is the best.

My poor sister, Linda, was a "girly girl" and she did not like to play outside at all! In fact, she would rather stay in the house and read, can you believe that? It was terrible when I made her go outside and pitch the baseball to me so I could practice hitting it. If I hit the ball hard enough that it went over her head, I had to go get it! She was not much fun outside and I was mean to her because she would never play with me... Looking back, if I had been nicer to her, she might have enjoyed playing with me a little more!!

Since I had no one to play with most of the time, I played with my collie "Teddy" and that big boy never left my side! I don't know if I loved him the most, or he loved me the most, but we sure did have fun! I used to take him on safari's and I would pack a lunch for me and a snack for him. Then we would wonder all over the Moore family land and have tons of adventures! He was by my side when I got my first bbgun and learned how to shoot it. He wasn't even afraid and stayed by my side when my daddy took the mower off of an old riding mower and let me use it as my means of transportation. That mower was loud, but Teddy did not let it bother him! I don't really remember if any children ever were stolen when I was a little girl, but I know with Teddy by my side, that no one would touch me. I was very protected by my very best friend...

School days, school days, dear old golden rule days!!!

We have already established the fact that I attended Great Crossing Elementary School, which was an awesome experience!! Next stop, Scott County Jr. High, was not so great. When I really think about middle school the main thing I remember is the showers when gym class was over. It was awful!! When I was a middle schooler girls were not as developed as they are today. In fact, I was a scrawny little thing. I was the shortest in my class, could have passed for a little boy and didn't fit in very well.

One of the days I remember clearly was when I wore my training bra backwards all day long without realizing it.. haha .. Let me fill you in, when I put my bra on in the mornings, I turned it around backwards to fasten it. That particular day, I must have been in a hurry because, I did not turn it back around! Can you imagine my tears, mixed with laughter, when I got ready to change my clothes after I got home? Hormones raged and it was not a good thing. I was worried to death that people knew and did not tell me, however, that was just not the case. Middle schoolers say whatever crosses their little brains. Even if it hurts your feelings, they just don't have the appropriate filters on their mouths that you eventually get!

Now, going back to the showers after gym. Some of the girls were fully developed and some, like me, were not. In the shower you saw everything that anyone had, big or little, tall or short, you get the point. That was an embarrassing time in my life, the dreaded nakedness! I remember one day I wrapped my towel tightly around my skinny little body and headed to the shower. Guess what happened next? I hit a wet spot on the floor and fell flat! My towel went flying and even if I had broken my back on the concrete, I jumped up like my butt was on fire and grabbed that towel to cover myself back up! Thankfully, that scenario was repeated by others throughout that school year :0

My Forever Family

I have always lived in the Great Crossing community, except for a few years when I moved into town, so my roots are deep here. When my parents built our house in Great Crossing they built the basement first, then we lived in it while the house was being built. They did not get a home loan, they just saved their money and built it! How cool is that? Too bad we can't figure out how to do that in today's economy.

I lived right on KY 227, Stamping Ground Road, and I still do. Someone in my family always lived in the first house coming down the road, my son and his little boy live there now. The second house was my grandparents house, it is gone now due to a fire a few years ago. The third house was my Uncle and Aunt's house, she still lives there today and the fourth house was MINE!! I had plenty of people to visit during the days when I was little, I loved my grandparents and I would go there every chance I got. My grandmother was an awesome cook so she always had plenty to eat. My grandfather kept tiny little bottles of Coca Cola in his refrigerator and he readily shared with me. In fact, we split one of those tiny Cokes!! They also had an old metal storage cabinet in the kitchen. This cabinet held the chewing gum and he always gave me a "cake" of gum. If we ran out of anything Granddaddy would take us across the big road (US 460) to the store to get whatever we wanted. They were awesome grandparents to me and I loved them dearly.

Grandmomma knew how to sew, cook and she could figure out how to make about anything! She taught me how to sew on a pedal sewing machine, it was great and if you don't know what a pedal machine is, you have got to find out. I thought I was something else getting to sew on that machine. Grandmomma also had an iron press machine that she used to iron everything. It was great and I have never seen another house have one. When she used the iron press it smelled so good, like the real meaning of "fresh." She taught me so much and for that I will forever be grateful.

Granddaddy was a "jack of all trades." He did industrial yard spraying, drove a school bus, he ran a store, raised rabbits, was a fantastic gardner and always took care of his family. My daddy had 2 brothers and 2 sisters so I know times were hard but my granddaddy knew what to do to keep his family fed. He was an orphan and he ended up living with my grandmothers family when he got older. Back then, everyone just passed the children out for others to raise them and believe it or not, it worked out! I still try to keep up with the remaining family members and even though I don't know some of them very well, they still are family. My grandfather bought the "Moore family land" and as his children grew, he gave everyone a plot to build on. I still live on my daddy's plot of land. I am so blessed to have been raised by a loving, caring family...