A late in pregnancy cesarean surprise benefitted baby Theodore, but mom was a little late feeling better.
She was so excited when the time came to be able to take a nice hot bath and this is what she told me....
I was so excited to be able to sit in a nice hot tub and just relax and while I was there, all alone and soaking in my tub, Honey read (the following) to me. I just put her on speaker phone and she read to me and I think I will always remember it!
I think reading out loud, words, emotions, old stories...well...they are unforgettable. It's one of the sweetest things I've ever heard about...this sweet moment between grandmother and granddaughter!
The following is a poem that my Aunt Irene wrote about her Papa, and Theodore August Pshigoda's great great great grandfather and name sake...this is why the story is so sweet
EMAIL:
Grace: My Aunt Irene, Theodore Benton's oldest child
and one of 4 girls was a wonderful poet. All of her poetry was about her
family and her son who had a printing company in Dallas, published a little
book of her poetry and sent each of her children a copy and Gene (my brother)
made me a copy and sent it to me. I get really inspired from reading her
poetry and I think you would greatly enjoy so, when I can get around to it, I
am going to make you a copy (about 50 poems) and send to you. She dearly
loved her Father (Theodore Henry) and wrote about him and her Mother
often....also her children and grandchildren. I am enclosing one poem
that she wrote about her Father, and my Grandfather - Theodore. It is
obvious from her poems that he was a good man and great father. Everyone
loved Grandpa Benton and he was affectionately called "Toad or Toadie".
Talk to you later, Love Honey
My apologies for not responding earlier. First, I was
inundated with orders on my eBay store.
I do want to tell you that I am working on my present to that sweet little
Baby Boy. I didn't want to make him a little quilt just like his brother,
Henry. So I started a different one, and have been swamped and not able
to work on it very much....but I will give you a clue: It is Hiawatha ABC
and has blocks representing Native American items to match the alphabet.
Also, I will send him a little turtle amulet which is for boys. I
received a picture of Theodore and Little Theodore, I think which came from
Gina. I forwarded it to Uncle Gene, knowing he would be so pleased.
My
memory of my Grandpa Benton (Theodore Henry). I loved him so much and he
would teach me Choctaw words which I remember some. One sentence I
remember (spelling is what sounds like to me): Katcha, me au, chum ki
pully - which means: "Where are you going Sweetheart." Grandpa
Benton was also so happy and jovial and loved for his kids to come spend the
week end at Plainview, Texas.
Grandpa
was always a farmer and/or cattle trader. He worked hard all of his life
plowing and planting crops. I think he raised a lot of cotton crops.
He and Grandma always had a garden and she canned and cooked a lot.
She always went barefoot and wore an apron with a pocket and kept her
money tied up in a hankie and pinned inside the pocket. They would sell
eggs and milk. They would raise and kill their own meat also. We
would go nearly every weekend and spend with them at their farm near Plainview
- as well as all of their other kids and their children. People would be
sleeping all over the house. Mother and Daddy would sleep in a bed and
me, Gene and Eddie would sleep at the foot of the bed with our feet going
upward. Wonderful, fond memories. Grandpa and his boys would play
dominoes and the grandkids would play monopoly, etc. It was later that Grandpa
Benton started calling me "Many Feathers". He always said I was
smart and talented and like a bird with many different feathers. He and
Grandma always sent me little presents. A couple of my favorites was a
little porcelain doll and another was a little gold ring with a yellow bead
center. I always looked forward to gifts from them which was not always a
holiday or birthday gift.....just a gift.
Grandpa,
as a young man, went to an Indian School - called "Old Goodland" as
well as my father. My daddy was in charge of looking after a bunch of
little boys who were going to school there. Grandpa Benton, as a young
man and even older in school played ball. He was a very good player and a
"star of the team". Gina's Uncle Gene could probably add a lot
information about Grandpa Toady Benton. I never thought of Grandpa Benton
having a drinking problem, but I remember lots of times that he and his sons
would get a little "tanked up and have a good time". As a
matter of fact, kinda like Gina/Brian and her children get together and
"wine-taste" LOL
Grandma
and Grandpa lived on a farm just out of Plainview, Texas. Hope this
answers some questions. Love to you and your little family, Honey
