This week I was blown away by a Christmas story that Oliver's aunt shared with the family via e-mail- Oliver's aunt is incredible creative and I don't want to claim ANY credit for this Christmas story (especially because said aunt is one of my few blog readers)!
Anyway, Oliver's grandmother, Bette Thorne, died of breast cancer when his dad was young. I am the lucky girl that gets to wear her engagement ring and I honestly think it gives me a connection to her....I mean a girl has a special bond to her engagement ring! So I love hearing stories about her - she still has many many friends in Greenwood that we get to see and hear all about her....how she loved to refinish furniture, how she loved to shop at Neiman Marcus, how she dressed her youngest boy in all white all the time.......
This year for Christmas Oliver's aunt and uncle made a donation to the American Cancer Society...her is her Christmas letter to us:
Alan and I both grew up in Greenwood and our parents were friends before we were born. I can look in Alan’ s baby book and see that my mother gave him a sun suit for his baby gift! When Alan and I married, my mother gave me a recipe that Alan’ s mother had handwritten. The recipe card was yellowed and stained from repeated use. The story goes that once, when our family was eating at the Williams’ home, Alan’ s mother had made a cake for dessert. Apparently my brother Al devoured his piece quickly and Alan’ s mother offered him another. After Al’ s third piece, my mother was embarrassed and asked Alan’ s mother, Bette, if she would mind giving her the recipe!
Alan’ s mother died several years later of breast cancer at only 36 years old. Fourteen years later, my brother died of a brain tumor at 27. So many families are affected by cancer. This past year, a high school classmate of Sarah Thorne’ s , Callie Dunaway, has been bravely battling a brain tumor and has done so with faith, grace, courage and humor.
In a new book, A Biography of Cancer by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, he writes, “ Cancer research has been transformed in the last decade. We now understand many of the mechanisms by which a normal cell becomes a cancer cell, so we can use highly targeted drugs against these mechanisms. Before, we’ d be throwing darts at a dartboard in the dark. We’ re still throwing darts, but the lights are now on.”
This year we have chosen to honor your family with a donation the American Cancer Society. The mini loaf is Alan’ s mother’s Spice Plum Cake recipe that my brother loved so much, and I have photo copied for your family the recipe that she hand wrote for my mother all those years ago. The loaf is wrapped in Limited Edition Red Cling Wrap by Glad. Glad donates a dollar of every box sold to help children with cancer.
We wish your family a wonderful Christmas! May you be blessed with happiness and health in the New Year!
Attached to the e-mail was a copy of a note she recieved from one of Bette Thorne's good friends....this is the part that will make you so thankful to be alive and celebrate this special time with your family.....even when they all drive you crazy:
"The note was real special, especially about Bette. I have fond memories of her. Several times she came by the house or left something. Maybe it was her cake. I have special memories of her - about three weeks before she left us. She came in Star Tailors (Aunt Lou and Uncle Phil's store downtown) with James and asked me to help find a suit for him. She selected a light brown. It needed minor alterations. I told her we would do it and I would drop it by the house the next day. She told me she wanted to do it and knowing her, I knew why. She passed away three weeks later.
She was a special person and we all have missed her! I'll try the recipe. Thanks!"
Twas' the night before Christmas -- we started the evening by having dinner with my parents and grandmother and then going to the Senatobia FUMC Christmas Eve Service. Then, we headed to Greenwood.
We got to spend some great quality time with some of our oldest friends.....Oliver has known all these boys his entire life. Olivia and I met in college and lived together for four years....I still haven't even lived with Oliver for four years!
We got to spend some great time with these little nieces.... 
Obviously this picture is tiny because I tried to download it from my sister's flicker page but this is Sis and I with our second cousin, Nancy. She was a junior bridesmaid....her parents and Laura's parents are very good friends....such a small world!
From these five boys came this huge Williams
