Bah, Humbug!

Everywhere I look, it is getting harder to fool myself: Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!  But my heart wonders if it will really feel like Christmas this year.

Think of all of the characters that hate Christmas (i.e. The Grinch, Ebeneezer Scrooge).  All of those characters rolled up in one big ball would just begin to describe the EXACT OPPOSITE of my Mema.  So many of my Christmas memories revolve around her.  She always made it special.

When I was a child, Mema worked as the activities director at Oakdale Manor Nursing Home.  I remember going up to the nursing home to help Mema decorate.  As long as she worked there, the residents enjoyed elaborately decorated trees in the dining rooms and lobby areas, each with its own theme.  She also made sure there were lights and Christmas scenes outside.  There was also a Christmas party for the residents, complete with a live performance from the Glenwood Trio.  Oh, and me too.  I would sing for the residents, and it was a highlight of the season for me. 


Mema's own home was always decorated to the hilt.  Complete with tree, fireplace decorations, special placemats, and outdoor lights.  We all gathered at her house for a Christmas Eve celebration.  Everyone tried to be there on Christmas Eve, even if we had to spend Christmas Day somewhere else.  For the past several years, we all would bring a "Mens" or "Ladies" gift, and Mema made us play the "Right Family Game."  Basically, she would read us this story and every time she said "right" we passed the gifts to the right, "left" to the left.  We all rolled our eyes all the way through it, but it was fun.

Oh, and let's not for get about the Church!  She loved to have the church decorated and to have some kind of special Christmas service.  As us kiddos got older, she always gave us an opportunity to think of something creative to do.  Someone would write a play, or a skit, and we'd all make fools of ourselves.


 

And the Carols!  Oh, the Carols! She loved to go caroling.  Whether in the neighborhood or to a retirement center, she loved to go sing the Carols!

And now, she's gone.  I'm happy for her.  She's in the best place to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  But I am having waves of bittersweet emotions.  Last Saturday, Mom, Emily and I went and decorated Mema's tree.  Ok, it's Papa's tree too, but will forever in my mind be hers.  I could hear her voice telling me to turn the light on in the dark living room so I could see.  I cried the whole time.  

Christmas 2010

As hard as it's going to be to celebrate this season with out her, I'll do my best.  I'll put away my "bah, humbug" attitude.  It's what she would want.  This weekend at church is our special Christmas service. We'll sing the carols.  The kids will act out the Christmas story. Emily is playing her flute.  We'll make new memories, but keep the old....one is silver and the other's gold.   Merry Christmas, Mema!!

The Glenwood Trio

After Mema and Papa started Glenwood Full Gospel Church, they had a radio program.  Papa would preach and Mema, my mom, and my aunt Patti would sing.  (Papa is one of those family members that is less musically inclined.)  The radio program came and went, but the church and the Glenwood Trio became lasting standards for years to come.

When I was little, I spent a lot of time traveling around with "The Trio."  We used to joke because people would book "The Trio" and then fifteen people would descend upon them.  The band and those that traveled with us changed a bit over the years, but we NEVER only traveled as a "trio".  Eventually we changed the name to "The Glenwoods" so people wouldn't be so surprised when we unloaded off of the bus.

The trio sang at churches all over Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and Missouri.  We went to prisons, nursing homes, outdoor singings, etc.  They made two local recordings and four in Nashville.  Mostly, the songs that were recorded were original songs.  If you'd like to take a listen, Janet Gaulding Arnold has posted them on a Facebook page.

I am posting several pictures of "The Trio" through the years.  This is something that brought Mema so much joy.  The past several years, we haven't been traveling.  But we have a singing at our church every month.  Mema sang with the trio at the singing up until the very end.  Now, when the trio sings, I sing Mema's part.  It makes me feel so close to her--and makes me miss her--all at the same time.

Shirley (drums), Kathy (Guitar), Janet (Bass), Patti (Alto), Helen (Tenor), Sharon (Lead and Piano)--Late 1970's-ish

"Just in Time" Album Cover Photo.  I got to go with them to Nashville for this recording/photo shoot. 

The last album cover--"Rejoice"--circa 1989

Mid-1980's

Janet's van--I was the "co-pilot"

Our upgraded ride--Silver Eagle--Travel first class!!

Tanya Tucker once toured on this bus--with some fiddler guy.

Gotta Keep Singing....

Mema is on the left, holding the song-book.

Pretty much anyone that knew my Mema, or has spent any time with our family, probably knows how much she loved to sing.  According to family stories, she came by this trait honestly.  Grandma Versie taught all her kids to sing, and sing harmony.  Mema then taught all her kids.  The Aerys (and their derivatives) are a very musically talented family.  We have singers, songwriters, musicians of all types.  Of course, we also have the token "can only play the radio" types, but we love them anyway.

Front Row:  Mema, Gene, Wanna

Mema sang in churches and on local radio and television programs.  She was in a singing group with her pastor, Gene Winfrey and his wife Wanna.  Don't ask me who these other people are, because this photo WAY pre-dates me:

Papa was traveling around to different churches ministering, Mema was teaching Sunday School and singing in various places.  But, this was the 1950-60's.  When people in their church circles found out that Mema had been divorced, they were no longer allowed to minister in certain capacities.

But, the gifts and callings of God are without repentance.  And God knew about their past before He called them into the ministry.  So, Mema and Papa left the baptist church and joined the independent Free Full Gospel Fellowship.  It was this experience that drove Papa's decision that Glenwood Full Gospel Church would be non-denominational.  That we would accept anyone and give them an opportunity to work for the Lord. 

As they struck out on their own, first meeting in homes and then later acquiring a little store-front building at 5300 Charles Page Boulevard, the musicians Mema worked with were home-grown.   She started out singing with her brother, Kenneth, and his wife Carolyn.  Later on, she taught my mom and my aunt, Patti to sing harmony, and the Glenwood Trio was born.  More on this to come....

Kenneth, Carolyn and Mema...at the old church building at 

5300 Charles Page Blvd. in Tulsa

Sharon, Patti, Helen--My Mom, Aunt, and Mema--The Glenwood Trio