| THE ALLISON TIMES |
Written May, 2019
Editors: Herb and Kim Allison
Reporters: Caleb 30, Bethany 28, Timothy 26, Joseph 23,
Hannah Grace 22, Jubilee 13
The Allisons are deadline challenged!
The Long, Long Trailer
Joseph and Shaelee pulled out last March
hauling a 37.5 foot mansion on wheels! Joseph took a job as a rigger at a power
plant in Louisiana where he is the grill king of his trailer park, and he is
lovin’ it! The only problem: 37.5 feet seemed plenty big when they
left, but with two preschool boys and lots of rain, the trailer has shrunk! The
only solution: look for a “home base” in the Keefeton area for the boys to have
a yard and beds of their own (and be close to Mimi), and let Joseph stay in
Louisiana! They can only look and dream for now, because the bank won’t help
them until Joseph has worked one year on his job. In the meantime, Shaelee and
boys keep the road hot, spending about 2 weeks with Okies and 2 weeks with
Cajuns. By October, Joseph had his crane operator’s license and plans to
basically work till he dies.
Family Camp
Shaelee and the boys joined Kim and
Jubilee at Family Camp in Big Sandy last October. They were blessed with
unprecedented freezing rain every day. The bright side: in lieu of the
forecast, they opted to stay in one of the 8 X 10 cabins instead of the tent.
Jubilee and Kim were sure it would be a bummer without a tent, but Shaelee said
anyplace with anyone was better than the trailer by herself. The boys enjoyed
the stick-horse rodeo with Mimi’s homemade stick-horses, and we all enjoyed
the…rain! It’s all good, and another family camp is in the books!
In Good Graces
Hannah Grace squeezed all the action out
of 2018 that it would cough up: 5-K run, mud run (where she twisted her ankle),
911 calls, road trips to Florida, Illinois, Florida again, and finally to
Africa last summer before she landed her new job at the OSU Medical Center’s
new Nephrology clinic in Tulsa! Whew! New job deserves a new
apartment, right? She also got accepted to OU’s RN program, causing a slight
conflict of interest! Will she wear orange and black or crimson and cream?!?
Music that Soothes the Soul
Jubilee’s beloved music teacher, Miss
Rebekah, moved to Alabama in August 2018, but “The Princess” is adapting to her
new local violin and piano teachers quite well. She still hates to read notes,
but when she plays the violin by ear at the nursing home, you can hear a pin
drop. Staff and residents alike stop and stare at Jubilee as she fiddles away.
The nursing home’s piano is out of tune, so the Princess will have none of it.
However, she has taught herself the guitar, which she uses to accompany the
church ladies who sing there once a month.
After one musical visit, a therapist approached
us and said, “For weeks, I have tried to get [a young resident] to open her
fist, and she would not. But today, while she was listening to your music, she
relaxed her hand, and her face showed a positive response for the first time,
ever.” The power of peaceful music!
Deer Report
Herbert won the unofficial deer contest
this year, hands down! Never mind that he was the only family member who even
took a shot at a deer! In his words: “The blind, grey-haired old man got two
Texas deer and two Oklahoma deer – all keepers!” Joseph would like to add that
the biggest one, a 10-point for the wall, was shot from Joseph’s personal deer
stand. This does not bring him happiness.
Amazon Delivers!
Timothy joined a group of adventurers in
2018 to drill a “Jesus well” deep in the interior of the Amazon River area.
Unfortunately, Timothy’s baggage, containing the large pipes needed for the
drilling operation, did not arrive with Timothy. A runner was charged with
waiting and watching for the strange-looking baggage to arrive from American
Airlines, while the team continued 24 more hours by boat – the only way to
access their off-grid jungle destination. Many prayers were going up for the
pipes to arrive, and five days later…at the last crucial moment…the runner
found the team…just in time to slide the pipes in place! Now, an entire village
has clean water, which should reduce their disease by 80%. J James
2:18: “I will show you the faith by my actions.”
Stuck in the Middle
Caleb and his uncle Curt escorted Cousin
Sarah on her Senior trip to Florida in June 2018. While Sarah visited her
friend, Caleb and Uncle Curt visited the battleship Alabama, toured the
Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, took in the Air Force Armament
Museum, and explored Fort Pickens (the largest brick structure on the Gulf of
Mexico at the time of its construction). A history-lover’s dream, the trip was
only complicated by Caleb’s situation between Sarah (the most organized person
in the world) and Curt (the most disorganized person in the world). Caleb
mourned they were equally polarized in their music tastes. He returned with
only a slight nervous twitch but we are hopeful for a complete recovery.
Cat Hair Blues
Due to working two jobs, Bethany had no
fun whatsoever in 2018. Every month or so, Herbert, Kimberly, and Jubilee
(the Allison Lite) would visit Tulsa to make sure she was still
alive. After professional removal of the cat hair and fur balls, she would
always be found somewhere in her apartment. Kim’s job would be to vacuum
Bethany (and the carpet) while the rest of the pit crew performed other
maintenance operations. After being fed and watered, she should be good to go
for another two months or 50,000 furballs, whichever comes first.
Footnotes:🦶
Besides recitals, Jubilee is also playing
and singing in the youth group on Wednesday nights, as well as the church band
on Sunday mornings. She totally believes she was born for the stage!
Hannah Grace's take-away from Africa? "Gratefulness. Naked people living in huts, birthing on a 2' X 2' concrete slab, having no possibility of anything different in their lives - it makes you wonder why you have so much when others have so little."
Hannah Grace's take-away from Africa? "Gratefulness. Naked people living in huts, birthing on a 2' X 2' concrete slab, having no possibility of anything different in their lives - it makes you wonder why you have so much when others have so little."
Herb & Kim spent a few days at Branson
and Ft. Smith, Arkansas, where they discovered their ideas of the perfect
vacation were incompatible!
The “kids” enjoyed hiking around the
Illinois River with Uncle Tommy and Cousins Jason and Jessie. We only wish our
out-of-state family lived a little closer!
The Allison Lite spent
Easter in Louisiana at the zoo with the trailer-dwellers. Joseph said it was
his first trip to the zoo that he didn’t completely hate.
Hannah-Grace and Mom ran another 5-K in
2018, where they were both decorated with medals! As the mom ages, it’s rare to
have more than 3 runners in her category, so a medal is in the bag!
Timothy passed a number of flight tests
throughout 2018 and started Allison Aviation, where he is the boss and TV star.
RSG Appliance Repair is still his bread and butter, so until further notice, he
remains “Tim the Tool Man” to his many fans.
Hannah Grace’s friend, Zenny, flew in from
Illinois and joined us for Thanksgiving Dinner at Nan’s house. The more, the
merrier!
Brantley received a new 4 wheeler for
Christmas 2018 and took off fast and furious! When Mimi wanted a ride, he
dutifully drove very slowly. But at his first opportunity, he let Mimi off and
opted for braver passengers.
Guess who got a new Ford F250 in 2018?
(Hint: starts with a “Joseph” and ends with a $)!
Baylor needs few words, and says fewer words,
but our favorite is ”Dah!” – his word for “yes.” 😄
