I Carry Your Heart With Me

To my daughters and Granddaughters,

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in
my heart) I am never without it (anywhere
I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)...

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

-E.E. Cummings

Kindness

Kindness covers all my political beliefs. No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make other less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I did not always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find this out.

-Roger Ebert

Estes Christmas

December 1957, Connie is 6 months old. Gloria, Linda, Rosemary, Connie and Inez all together for Christmas 1957. Mother and Daddy always made Christmas so special. They were big, unique and lots of fun. I miss Mother and Daddy and all that our family was!

In The Good Ole Summertime

Constance Mary Davis Estes in her swimming costume. Summer was a big time for the Estes family. They always took big vacations, sometimes spending weeks at the beach and often at New Symrna and Daytona.

Connie Estes

When we lived on Star Lake, Connie was born and she was a very pretty baby. I was about 16 and I would take her shopping with me and everyone thought she was my baby. I always said she was. Sometimes when Eddie and I went to the drive in movie, we would take Connie and let her sleep in the back seat. We very close. She loved Eddie too.

One time, she was in her baby bed in Mother's bedroom and she was fussing and wouldn't go to sleep. We were all in bed. I remember Mother spanking her and she started crying loud and didn't stop until morning. Mother took her to the doctor to give her something to calm down. I remember putting the pillow over my head so I didn't hear her so much.

When Mother came back home from town, she said we can never spank Connie again. She can't take it and it makes her sick. So we knew something hard to understand had happened that night and we could never spank Connie again.
Once when Connie was a toddler, she caught the flu. That year, a lot of kids got a real bad flu. She had to be put in the hospital and given fluids. THe babybed in the hospital looked so big and she was so little. When she had a hard time and was scared in the hospital, the nurse would let Linda come in and rock her to calm her down> All she wanted to do was go home. I could understand that. I think Connie was in the hospital 10 days.
Then another time, Connie had to have her leg operated on for a bone spur near her knee. I believe Linda and John came to sit with her during that time too. I guess mother was not comfortable in the hospital. Some people just can't stand a hospital. DOris is like that. She is terrible with a sick person.

When Eddie and I got married, Eddie held her while we practiced the night before. She was going to miss us a lot and couldn't understand where we were going. We went to Colorado and New Mexico for 5 years. Then we moved back to Florida.Connie was the youngest of us sisters. She will have to write about her young school years. If I remember right, she was so smart and was so bored with the Alturas school. They didn't have special smart classes. I think when she got to Bartow school, it got better./