Quilters Part 16

Trip Around the World Quilt Block

Betty loved to travel. The pictures of her early marriage show lots of trips to visit relatives in Iowa, Texas and Oklahoma. When their family arrived and they bought the farm, traveling days were over for a while.

They did join another church family, taking their children to the St. Louis Zoo. They stayed in a hotel room and the fathers brought in a new delicacy, McDonald’s hamburgers. Having grown up in the Louisville area and understanding the idea of White Castles we ordered accordingly. When the bags arrived, we tasted the burgers with mustard and catsup and we didn’t eat them.

When Raymond joined the REMC and Federal Land Bank Boards they traveled the US. When daughter, Devona’s, family moved while in the Air Force, there was reason to travel again. Grandchildren went to college calling for more trips and then it became necessary to travel to Copenhagen, Denmark to visit a granddaughter. Raymond was happy for Betty to go, but he didn’t want to spend money to look at old buildings. So Betty and Sandy visited Katie and joined a whirlwind tour of Europe. Betty was so excited, it was a dream come true, there was so much to see!

A trip to Alaska was necessary to visit Katie again, so a van was purchased, traveling companions solicited, and a seven week trip commenced. It was suggested that a cell phone would be a good idea. After thinking about it Betty replied, "I’ll buy the phone, but I don’t think I need to pay for all that service. " Truer words were never spoken!

Family trips to Emerald Isle and Patoka Lake were highlights for the family. When Betty and Raymond celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, Betty determined she wanted quality family time. Devona helped her rent condos on Emerald Isle on the East Coast. The week’s beach adventure included treasure hunts, delicious food, and Granddaughter, Lindsey, loosing teeth. Saving Private Ryan was the movie that premiered that summer and Katie and Karoline turned 21. We had so much fun, we returned a second year.

It was for their 60th anniversary that cabins were rented on Patoka Lake. Devona and Steve provided their boat, and Sandy acquired the nickname, Aunt Soapy Face when she overdid the sun screen to entertain the kids.

Dennis, Jill and Rayanne took Betty and Raymond to a resort in Central America where Betty experienced the full spa treatment and Raymond enjoyed the hijinx of Caribbean entertainment.

Betty's cup runneth over.

(Pictures include Lucerne, Copenhagen, England, Amsterdam and Venice)

Quilters Part 15

More Wedding Ring Quilt Blocks Steve Burns: One is all the time hearing jokes, negative comments, smart remarks, etc. about the in laws. I hear them, and sometimes laugh, but then think how fortunate I am to have the father and mother in law that I have in my life, along with their daughter. Jokes and smart remarks aside, you both are awesome and I thank God for being blessed with your support through all these years, especially when I had Devona and the kids off in all parts of the country. Thank you for always being there.

Jill Byrer Boley: My daughter’s best qualities can definitely be attributed to the Boley genes. Thank you for the time you have spent with her. You are both model grandparents, and the love and influence you have had on her and the other grandchildren is priceless. Every meal together is a special occasion. Of course I have fondly referred to our gatherings as the ‘Boley Eat-a-thon’, where you leave your willpower at the door!!

Tom remembers: I remember the day trip of driving Lindsey, Scott, Sharon, Grandpa, and Grandma Boley around the Amish country near Montgomery, Indiana. We drove all over the countryside trying to spot Amish families and stopped at Amish stores, but had little luck of seeing many that day. Grandma once again reminded us that we could of gone to Wal-mart and seen all the Amish people we wanted to.

Quilters Part 14

Star of Bethlehem
She made the most of all holidays. Christmas didn’t matter when as long as we were together. There were Fresh Christmas trees from the woods and presents wrapped in comic paper.

Dennis: Our family took full advantage of all holidays, going all the way with whatever traditions that happened to stick. What mom and dad said was a little was always more than we needed when gifts were handed out. Togetherness and fun must have been what they were trying to instill in us.

Sharon: The Greatest memories of any holiday is the fact that we are together as a family. Christmas fun always begins with great food like Mom’s cookies and egg nog.
Mom and Dad seemed to always have special gifts for the grand kids like matching clothes, jewelry or skunks. Dad called the little kids poll-cats, so Mom made the kids stuffed skunks. Then Sandy started the yearly gift exchange of ugly shoes, which were old, but somehow Mom ended up with chicken shoes.

Quilters Part 13

Sun Bonnet Sue and Sid Quilt Blocks

And then the Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren arrived:
The grandchildren shared many memories of time with grandma. As with most families, themes of food and cooking are center stage. They remember warm bowls of cream of wheat and fluffy French toast lovingly prepared for breakfast when they spent the night. Delightfully soft Christmas caramels individually wrapped in wax paper squares, homemade eggnog and oatmeal cookies are other grandchildren favorites.

They remember working in the garden to pick vegetables. Picking tomatoes was a highlight, because a salt shaker always went with them so they could appropriately taste the tomatoes! They also loved snapping beans and seeing who could fill one of Grandpa’s boots first.

When they weren’t in the garden, they went over the hill to get the mail, took walks, hayrides or chopped wood. Of course when you spent all that time having outdoor adventures, you got dirty and that meant bath time! Grandma would sing See Saw Margery Daw as she bathed the girls and always had a fun time getting everything clean!

More recently they have taken sewing and cooking lessons from her. One request, chicken and dumplings, and another, how to develop lumps in cream of wheat like Grandma. The latest adventures had them learning to milk a cow and make butter.

There were thoughtful and sometimes funny hand crafted items. She created stuffed skunks for her grand kids since grandpa always called them “pole cats.” She made aprons and chef hats, purses and wall hangings. She made prom dresses and entered us as models for fashion shows of her work….

Rayanne: My favorite memory was last summer when Grandma and I did volunteer work together at the Refugee Center in Louisville. My favorite thing was Grandma Boley’s toast! Turns out it was only Texas toast with margarine, but apparently it was the way she did it!!
I was such a picky eater as a child, sometimes Grandma would make me toast at gatherings since I wouldn’t eat anything else!!!

She loved whole-heartedly and without judgment. She welcomed new and perspective family members with open arms and treated them as part of the family.

The great grand children also received Betty’s love in abundance. So much so that Karson took his favorite stuffed animal for her to sleep with during her last night on earth. In her last days she longed for Karson’s wit, Abbagail’s singing and the tender touch of Raleigh.

Quilters Part 12

Flower Garden Quilt Block

Betty desperately longed for a home on one level but until the day Raymond saw the “house of his dreams” while delivering equipment, a new house was out of the question.

The new house turned out to be a three level A Frame set in a beautiful wooded area on their farm. It had a kitchen on two floors. Betty worked tirelessly on tall ladders to stain and varnish the vaulted ceilings in the beautiful home. This was a far cry from the one level home she desired. She developed gardens that held flowers gathered from family over the years. Her gardens at the A Frame were spectacular, creek rock and all.

Granddaughter, Kendrah remembers: We had so many memories in the A Frame house. I can still remember that house so clearly from the plaid carpet, to the red bathroom, to the most comfortable bed ever, to the gas pump at the end of the drive way to the hidden key. Growing up, that house was about my favorite place to be. I thought surely the world would end when the A frame days were over, but instead I learned something special about our family. No matter how amazing the house, it wasn’t what I loved so much. It was the love and security that I felt from my family.

Quilters Part 11

Hands All Around Quilt Block

When her children went to college, Betty accepted a job for a few years as Head Cook at the local Lexington Elementary School. She claimed she saved every penny to pay tuition, except for a Christmas present or two. Her expert cooking advice prompted a recent cookbook, Dining With The Boleys, also published by her grandchildren, Kendrah Burns and Karoline Burns Gantt.

Dennis said, It was good when Mom got a job at the school cafeteria. We got to ride to school with her and always knew what we were going to have for supper in advance.

Using exquisite sewing skills, Betty taught sewing and quilting classes and produced many award winning quilts.

Quilters Part 10

Tumbling Blocks Quilt Blocks

There are funny and poignant moments associated with Betty’s children.

Betty and Raymond learned the term, “Pre-existing condition,” when Blue Cross refused to pay hospital bills. Daughter, Sandy, suffered from innumerable kidney infections and at age four underwent exploratory surgery. Three kidneys were found. One immature infected kidney damaged the normal kidney to which it was attached and both were removed.

Even a trip to the Indianapolis office of Blue Cross did not solve the problem.

Devona endeared herself to her family at a young age by asking her grandmother to, “Hot this Potato.” She was always the tender hearted, kind and nurturing person she is today. Raymond recently said, “Devona and I are just a like you know.” Devona was born on Raymond’s birthday. He rewarded Betty with a washer and dryer. Betty reminded us as we reclined by her hospital bed in the lounge chairs provided in today’s modern hospitals that when Devona was hospitalized with respiratory problems, Betty found a board that she placed between two chairs and used for a bed.

Dennis tended to stray while Betty hung clothes on the line so she learned to tie him to the clothesline via his overalls. Betty shared that one of her most precious memories of Dennis occurred in the car. He was about 4 standing in the front of their old auto which featured an extra tall front window. Betty demonstrated his eye and hand movements as she recalled his words, “The prayers go up, and the blessings come down.”

We also delighted in taunting him with an ugly red rubber mule that brayed mournfully. He would cry mournfully in return to Betty's dismay. He called road graders, “Wheel Sippers” and begged to visit Doc and Miss Kitty when we passed a bar in Hamburg, IN called “The Long Branch.”

And then there was the day that Betty lost Sharon.! Betty and other mothers drove multiple carloads to a 4-H club picnic. Dennis recalled, “I can even remember the time she stopped a line of cars in the highway to discover that Sharon had been left behind at Starve Hollow Lake, so she headed back to the park to find her swinging and having fun.”

Sunday dinner was especially delicious after Betty found Sharon’s pet rooster attacking her. Sharon, laying prostrate in the yard, survived the experience but tended to prefer cats and dogs after that.

Devona: "I consider us a family who got to experience the true American life – fresh plowed fields to walk in, hikes on Sunday, sled riding in the snow, fresh tomatoes from the garden, decorated bikes at the community parade, aunts and uncles we really knew, fresh baked goodies, hayrides and lots of friends."

Dennis: "For most of our childhood we were always included in whatever was going on. We always had some expectations of us. Seasonal gardening always brought interesting times. We inspected the garden seed in those little brown bags or pouches, made the rows for the seed and covered the seed with soil after they were dropped with perfect precision. We fought the weeds all summer long, but everyone hung in there until the end. You know, I think that probably taught us to have fun in whatever we were doing. Watch ya got in our early days in the Boley family was the feeling of togetherness, never going without what you really needed, dreaming big but never going passed your resources, and always trying to help someone less fortunate than yourself."

On October 9, 2010, one week before Betty's pancreatic cancer was diagnosed,

we all gathered to provide a community wide 90th birthday celebration for Katie's Grandmother Wildman in Dupont, Indiana. When friends commented on the support Katie received in producing the event Betty remarked,

"Where you find one of us, you find us all."