Louisiana writes her friend in Del Rio, Texas, another letter after Diane has taken the time to write to her.
Tuesday, the 19th of October, 2004, 10:39 a.m., C.S.T.~
Dear Diane~
Hey there! Thanks for writing; it is good to hear from you again! Hope this finds you and your family (reasonably) well and happy! Forgive me for not answering your letter sooner; but we had been at the Tennessee State Fair for nearly a week, and we are now all "faired" out. We are back home, and we are trying to recuperate! LOL I have since been back to work; but I am so sleepy now it is all I can do to keep from wanting to fall asleep!
I am glad the weather is starting to cool off, but knowing Texas, I know you will have some hot weather left before the winter sets in. I know it is supposed to be warmer than normal for about a week until another cool front comes your way, according to the Weather Channel; I know you are probably sick of the heat! We are sick of the rain; we have had a spate of severe weather the past few days, and last night, we were awakened yet again by lightning and thunder, plus the tornado sirens were sounding off again, which sent us fleeing to the basement. Needless to say, we did NOT get much in the way of sleep last night, and Ronee' was up a good part of the night, just crying out in pain; as she was flaring from her JRA, so she is home from school today as well. We thought she would go back today after she had an asthma attack yesterday, but she flared; and so she is still sick and stuck in bed, trying to get some needed sleep. Thankfully, the weather has moved south, but we still have a chance of thunderstorms until later this week. GREAT. Just what I did NOT want to hear!
My son, Johnny, is doing better: he hasn't had a seizure since the last time you wrote; but he is spending more time on his oxygen; and he has days where he is so weakened it is all he can do to get out of bed. Everything just wears him out, and it scares me because it tells me that his muscular dystrophy is worsening; and that is something I can't deal with. By the way, Johnny has the severe form, Duchenne's muscular dystrophy; but as for Louisa Mason, my friend in California, she doesn't have Duchenne's. (Duchenne's strikes primarily boys.) She has a milder form of the disease, called Becker's, but like all muscular dystrophic diseases, it makes her feel weak at times, and she has her bad days and her good days. Her daughter, who is seven, also has suspected Becker's muscular dystrophy. So does my oldest grandchild, Jamee, who is nearly seven now. She was just diagnosed with it a few months ago, and we are still coming to terms with the diagnosis and trying to cope with it.
In reference to your question about my singing or making music, I sing somewhat, but I mainly play music. I play the pedal steel guitar, which I learned when I was a child of 13, just barely a teenager. I also have since learned the guitar and the Cajun French accordion; and I also can toy with a banjo or piano. We have sang at some opries here in Tennessee, but I have never sang at the Grand Ole Opry, not like my daughter, Ronee', or my son, Johnny. They have both been on the Grand Ole Opry, but Ronee' is more into it than Johnny is. We do have a band, but we only perform during the summer, when the kids are out of school; and sometimes we perform during the spring or fall. We also perform around Christmas time, like in the Christmas cantata or during a special Christmas-themed show; but we mainly perform during the spring and summer months of the year. That is our busiest time. I hope this answers your questions.
Oh. I forgot: my husband does sing, and so do a lot of the kids; and they all play instruments as well. Most play one or two instruments, but some (like Johnny, Ronee', Gemini, and Dwerlina) play several different musical instruments well. Most are self taught, or they took lessons prior to their joining our family; and we just got together and formed a family band. We went through several name changes, but now our name is the Singing Sandusky Family Cajun Band. (Pretty original, hunh? LOL) We mainly do Cajun music, but we also do country, bluegrass, and southern gospel while Ronee' primarily does Cajun and traditional country. She also does some pop, rap, and R $ B, to show off her prowiness as a young performer, and she does a really good job!
Yes, Louisa has contacted me, but I wrote back; and I haven't heard from her. I hope she isn't having more trouble with her MD acting up again! That has got to be so hard, living with a disease like MD, and then raising a kid with the same thing! Plus she has more disabled kids to raise! No wonder I don't hear from her as often as I do the others! I have been keeping her in my prayers, and I hope that she is doing better! I also have heard from Kendra, and she is getting ready to adopt a new child from Japan; so I don't expect to hear from her until she gets the kid and things have settled down somewhat! I will tell them to drop you a line if you want. Is that okay??
I also have heard from Sari and Nikolas; both are back home in their respective countries, and both are doing well. I also have heard from my friends in Alaska, Jenna and Michael Doucet and also Sikik Eegeesiak; and all of them are doing well. Sikik Eegeesiak has sent my kids Johnny and Ronee' some sweatshirts with the Northern Lights on the front, plus she sent Johnny a home-made Inuk-style flute, and Ronee' a baby harp seal (toy, stuffed; not a real one, thank goodness! LOL). The kids really enjoyed their gifts, and they have already wrote back to Sikik; and Sikik has since written back to Johnny and Ronee'. So the computer has gotten a real workout, between all the emails flying back and forth! LOL
Well, Diane, I have bent your ear long enough, so I will cease writing, as I am getting a serious cramp in my writing paw! LOL I will write more later; until I next hear from you, thank you again for the letter, and thanks for writing! It is always great to hear from you again! God bless you all, and know that y'all are in my prayers and thoughts each and every day! Take care!
(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tennessee, Louisiana Mayrah. :D
Let this coming of age story of a boy named Bean take you back to a simple time. Set in a small southern town in the 1960's, encircled by a river and gleaming white cotton fields.
A wicked Cajun Fairy named Robes Pierre entered the impenetrable Magical doll land of Sha Bebe. Queen Faustina, the ruler of the doll land, thought she had destroyed him, but he's back! Will the doll land survive his evil ways?
Tuesday, the 19th of October, 2004, 10:39 a.m., C.S.T.~
