Jesse

"Oh mama say a prayer for me
Jesse's back in town, it won't be easy..."
(Carly Simon/Mike Mainieri 1981)


The first of my great nieces and nephews, Jesse Daylon Vicker, was born nine years ago today.

There are a number of songs about a Jesse or Jessie, none of which really fit this sweet young lady at this stage of her life, so I'm quoting a line from my favourite.

This picture of Jesse with her Great Grandma Ruth was taken when she was two days old. She had just come home from the hospital.








Jesse is about as shy as her mama, Kristi, was. At her second Christmas at Grandma Ruth's, she wouldn't get very far away from her Mom.








Jesse was three in this picture. I tried to find one of her Grandma Betty at about that age to compare for any family similarities. It's kinda' hard to tell here - they do both have curls. (Betty is the little one in the picture.)

Kristi has told me of one trait Jesse and Betty share - they both write (wrote) notes to their mothers when they are mad at them.


I still remember being so upset with my sister when she got mad at our Mom, wrote, "I hate you!" on a piece of paper and put it in Mom's hanky box where she knew Mom would find it. I couldn't imagine being so mean.

Jesse's notes to Kristi are longer and more eloquent, but the idea is still the same - something like: "Mom I'm mad at you and you can't come into my room until you apologize." It just fascinates me that Jesse and the grandmother she never knew share this quirk.



I don't know if Jesse can do the same trick Kristi could do when she was her age.
Here Kristi 'walks' up the doorway between Grandma Ruth's kitchen and living room. I don't know how she learned to do this, but it was a neat trick. The other grand kids tried, but I think Kristi was the only one to accomplish it.












One of the best parts of moving to Creston for me has been seeing my niece and great-niece on a regular basis. I am so grateful they are in my life.

This picture of Jesse was taken a year ago when we went to Rainbow Iris Farm. (Or Irish Farm as she calls it.) It was a chilly day, but we had a good time walking around, viewing all the irises and making our selections.

Jesse and I share a love of flowers and gardening and ROCKS. She has quite a collection already.

So, Jesse, I hope you have a happy ninth birthday and many more.

One more line from the song: "I'll always cut fresh flowers for you......"