LAWRANCE MATTIX

A month ago my mother suggested I write something about our friend, Lawrance  Mattix on my blog.  We had just learned from him that he had congestive heart failure, and the prognosis wasn't good.  “I’m sure he would appreciate it, Kathy”, said my mother. 

I waited too long.  This morning my mother called the care center where Lawrance had been admitted    and  was  told by the attendant  he couldn't speak at this time, the nurse was sorry she couldn’t give my mother any more information.  A few minutes later, Lawrance’s grand-daughter Patty emailed telling us her grandfather passed away last night.   I’m grateful both my mom and I got the opportunity to speak with Lawrance during the last week. While mother and Lawrance had a good conversation, and were able to laugh some together, and share about things that connected them, by the time I spoke  with him, he was tired and his words were slurred.  I don’t recall all I said,  but I knew Lawrance knew it was me talking.

Lawrance and his wife, Patsy married when they were very young.  Patsy was only 17, Lawrance 19.  Patsy and my mom were just 21 when we moved next door to them on Gifford Avenue in Bell, California.  From the moment they met Mom and Patsy were simpatico and quickly become the best of friends. They would remain so until Patsy’s early death at age 55.  

Patsy left a huge void in the life of the people who loved her, especially her husband.   Lawrance did remarry, moved to Wisconsin and had a good life with Iris. But all who knew Lawrance, understood Patsy was his  true soul mate, whom he often longed for - the mother of his children, and the one who knew him best.

I knew Lawrance from the time I was 4 ½ years old.  I'm 61 now. It’s hard for me to think about my growing up years without including Lawrance.  He was a good and faithful husband, a devoted father, and loving grandfather and great –grandfather.  He was always so proud of his family, he sang their praises constantly, and didn’t think there was anything they couldn’t do.  He was also a strict disciplinarian. I so well remember Lawrance telling us neighborhood kids how he left for work every morning at 4 am, and when he came home at 5 pm he was tired, and   didn’t want to see our   bikes laid out across his driveway, bikes that he would have to move.  It would be sad he said if he had to run over them.  Lawrance made his point and I can tell you for certain, we kept his driveway clear of our bikes!   Wasn’t that a good lesson for kids to learn? I think so.   Lawrance was teaching us responsibility and to be considerate of others.  

Another thing I remember is Lawrance telling his daughter Linda - she was only 16, he would give her his car when he bought a new truck if she would take AUTO SHOP.  Linda argued she’d be the only girl in that class. Lawrance said, “Then you’ll be the only girl who knows how to fix her car if there’s a problem”.    He was right.   Linda was the only one of us girls who knew how to fix a car. I know, because other girlfriends and I were with Linda when the car we were in broke down, and it was Linda who got under the hood and fixed the problem!  

Lawrance was a good role model, a mentor to my brother, Walt.  One of our favorite Mattix – Cooney stories is how Lawrance and Patsy took Walt to buy him his first pair of cowboy boots when Walt was only five years old.  From that day forward my brother loved cowboy boots, and when he passed away at age 55 was buried with his boots on!   Lawrance wasn’t a big banker, lawyer, doctor or high ranking executive, he was in construction, a blue collar guy who worked hard to provide for his family, and lived life honestly.

In my last email to Lawrance dated Friday March 23 , 2012 I wrote:

I don’t know if you’ll see this email, but want you to know my mother, Lenore and I are thinking of you at this very minute. We love you, Lawrance and are so grateful for the cherished friend you’ve always been, and the sweet memories we share. I  just looked at a picture of you  and Patsy on Southall Court  standing in front of your very cool Studebaker – you look pretty cool yourself.  Last Saturday  my mom told her friends in Clarkston about how you would babysit  Linda and Pam and me and Walt so Patsy and Mom could go Christmas shopping,  and how you’d drive up to Cooney’s Donut’s on Florence Ave  at midnight to buy mom and Patsy fresh donuts while they were wrapping presents.  Please know you were a good example, and made such a positive impact on my mother, brother and me – especially during some of our hard times. You can be assured we will keep you in prayer, and in our hearts. God Bless you always.  Love, Kathy.

And now, LAWRANCE TIMOTHY MATTIX  Rest in peace, May Eternal Light Shine Upon You  +

RAIN 2

       

Another night of rain
and i quietly sit with 
book in hand, listening
again to pellet size 
water drops hit 
rocky ground
This night it doesn't 
remind me of falling
tears from sad, lonely
people, but God 
baptizing the earth,
ready for Spring
and new birth

RAIN

i  hear rain falling
from the clouded sky
it reminds me tonight
of tears falling
from the eyes
of one hurt and
lonely, broken from pain
and weary with  life
But soon the rain
will stop, like the tears
Blue sky will appear,
the sun will shine
bringing hope and
renewal to our land,
and to the soul
of troubled man

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Tis a day to be Irish
and a wearin' of the green
Lookin' to the rainbow
for your pot o' gold dream
St. Patrick's Lorica, and
Celtic song; Shamrocks, a
shillelagh and  the wee leprechaun

WIND

Like a thief in the night
it comes unexpected
moving fast and furious
Like a mountain lion
ready to attack its prey
You can't see it, but
you feel its power
and hear its howl
as it slashes through
trees,  breaking branches
and twisting limbs
The mighty March wind
Like the sound of ocean waves
crashing against a sandy shore
doesn't relent, but presses on
until it meets the calm
on the other side
of the storm

An Author's Name

 Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of The Frugal Book Promoter and   guest blogger  for  Writing North Idaho -  a Web-Retreat for Writers in the North Idaho Panhandle wrote  To Pseudonym or Not to Pseudonym  listing  reasons why authors like Nora Roberts, author of more than 150 romance novels  choose a pen name .

Number one is  marketing, and branding. A simple defintion of branding is when a writer becomes well known for the genre they write, i.e. romance or horror, then decide to write another genre i.e. children's stories - the author  will often use a pseudonymn to help brand it for the reader, and to broaden  readership.

Howard-Johnson  got me thinking about other authors who chose to use a pseudonym - Mark Twain first came to mind.  I wondered  if  his The Adventures of Tom Sawyer  and Huckleberry Finn  would have found less success and popularity published under his given name, Samuel Clemens. And what about George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans) and George Orwell (aka Eric Arthur Blair )?  How would their famed novels, Silas Marner and Nineteen Eighty-Four have fared if   they hadn't used a pen name ?  I guess we'll never know.

Then, with whimsical pondering,  I considered what pseudonymn  I might use if my book was to be  published, and  thought about the cards and emails my friend Phyllis and I exchange, and the letter writing pen names we have used over the years;  Heckle (aka Phyllis), Jeckle (aka Kathy) or sometimes   Calamity Jane (Phyl) and Annie Oakley (me). My cousin Shauna and I have done the same, Shauna aka Shaunneaqua Warrior Princess,   and I'm Kathiawatha. While those pen names make me smile , and are fun between friends and cousins, I doubt they'd work for an agent or publisher. So,  guess I'll  stick with my own name, Kathy Cooney Dobbs.  Now, just to write that novel !

Spring Ready

Not  fully awake, I was  still laying
cozy and comfortable in my
warm bed when I heard the
cheerful sing song sounds of
an early morning bird  coming  through
the slightly opened window
My eyes opened wide to
see bright sunlight  peering through
the slatted shade, I  sat up  as it
dawned on me, migrating birds
are back ! Spring is on the way