Lufkin, Texas with my Dad....a trip down memory lane

My dad and I had been trying to plan a trip to Lufkin.  The first time we planned it my dad didn't feel good so we cancelled.  The second time Cash came down with a fever the day before which I thought for sure God was trying to tell me something.  Well we headed to Lufkin as Cash didn't run anymore fever....just my dad, me and the kids.  Stephen was meeting us up there.  We of course made a stop at Bucees along the way as that has become a staple for any road trip!  We drove an hour that evening to eat right across the border of Texas in Louisiana.  It was a place that served catfish...supposedly really good catfish.  We met Russell and Kelly there with their boys...or I should say men now.  To say the least the food wasn't worth the drive AT ALL but the company was good so that made up for it!  I couldn't see well driving back in the dark so my dad heard a lot of "where am I going now?".

The kids slept great that first night and we were up bright and early the next morning for breakfast and our walk down memory lane.

We drove down Peavy Switch Rd (now Cty Rd 54B) by the place my dad was born.  We started there and ended at Narroway Cemetery where my dad will be buried...where all his family is buried.  It was a very surreal time....like coming full circle to something that hasn't happened yet but will.  I for sure thought I was prepared for the death of my dad as he has lived such a long life and it becomes only natural that he will pass.  Driving down this road of memories reminded me that I am not as prepared as I fooled myself into thinking.  I held back sobs as my dad told us he wants the hearse to drive past the old place on the way to the cemetery.  I dread that drive but its also comforting knowing exactly what he wants and the peace he has in such knowledge.

We stopped on the side of the road and I use the word "road" loosely to explore Jack Creek.  A bridge that has been revived numerous times.  Horse and buggy once crossed this bridge and now cars.  Crazy to imagine what this bridge has seen.  

This tree is well over a 100 years old.  My dad got in big trouble for knocking roosters out of the tree.  Pa Brown found a switch and well he probably didn't knock roosters out of the tree again.  Joe and Carey, my dad's brothers, were also knocking roosters out of the tree but they quit and my dad didn't. He ran and hid in the hog pen before getting officially caught.

Peavey Switch is where the old place was which is now close to a subdivision and Granville Switch is near the farm road and Narroway Loop Rd.   Peavey Switch and Granville Switch is where the Southern Pacific train switched tracks.  Granville Switch is where Carey and Joe caught the bus for school.

My dad's mom, Nanny, was raised behind this gate by Uncle Ed and Aunt Sister (actual name Florence - which was Nanny's Aunt....her mom's sister - my dad remembers her as a great cook).  Her mother died when she was young and her dad just didn't know how to raise his children alone.  My great, great, great grandfather (Andrew Jackson Smith) and great, great, great grandmother (Rebecca Stockstill Smith) are buried in a cemetery behind this gate known as the Dubose Fairchild Cemetery.

This is the cemetery my dad will be buried at.

As strange as it seemed my dad already has a head stone in place.  Again there is peace to knowing he has all in order which relieves those left behind of those details and allows us the time to mourn.  I guess that is a double edge sword in some ways.

No-one likes a Snickers like this girl!

The kids were excited that the hotel had an indoor pool..but it was more like a plunge pool..which wasn't heated as marketed.  That didn't stop Emma girl from taking a dip.

My Aunt Patricia...my dad's brothers (Joe) widow.  I called him Polliwog because from the moment I was born that is what he called me...it stuck.  We had a bond like no other.  I was devastated when we died.  It was so sudden and a profound loss!

Sunday morning before leaving to head to Beaumont we went to church.  The Union Rd. Church of Christ which is where my dad went to church and was baptized.  Its no longer in the same place but it was something I wanted to do with my dad.  Remarkably there were a couple of men my dad's age that remembered him.  I thought the odds of that were pretty crazy just considering their age and the one time we would be in town to attend church.  It also showed that though my dad has aged he doesn't look much different than when he was young.

We met Stephen, Will and my mom at Floyd's for some YUMMY crawfish.  I ate my fill for sure! In fact I ate my fill of seafood that weekend.  Couldn't get enough.

Stephen's son Donovan and E.

So here is the part I knew God was trying to tell us something.  The morning I was heading back to SA my parents were heading to LA.  My dad had a feeling they should go home but they didn't and as they were going over the bridge heading into Baton Rouge a man hit them from behind going about 70 as he fell asleep at the wheel in the middle of the afternoon!!!!  Thank the good Lord everyone was ok as it could have been much worst.  

This was a trip I will never ever forget.  One I will treasure....memories that are just priceless.