Deborah Nancy Lee Boshear - Feb 5, 1956.

Mother: Patricia Boshear

Father: Walt Boshear

The kids

Email from 11/1/2000:

I know.  I remember that Christmas as the best one too.  

For those of you who don't know...it was the first Christmas the kids came to live with me.  They had been living with their father for almost 6 years.     I didn't make much money at all.  My rent was included in my salary at work, so we had a roof over our heads and food stamps to get thru each month.  Actually, we had no money really and no tree,   no lights or decorations even if we had a tree.  

I went and bought a permit for a dollar from the Forestry Dept. to go up into the Sierra Mountains and cut down a tree.   The weather was terrible, it was snowing hard and we stopped where I worked for a break in the coffee shop there before moving on to try to get our tree, the only way we figured we could get one.

The personnel director saw us and asked what we were doing out in the weather.  I told her our plan and she refused to let us go try to get the tree in the storm.   She gave us money for a Christmas tree.   She insisted on doing it and said it was our Christmas present from her.   We bought the tree and then made all the decorations ourselves.  Just me and the kids, together.  Then we splurged and bought a clear plastic cheap star for the top that had 6 lights on it.   We were so proud.   

I loved the time we spent together making the decorations and singing Christmas songs as we worked.   I kept that star   all these years and we have always had it on our tree.   It's been taped together a million times, tied with thread, string, whatever would hold it together.   Finally last year the star shorted out.  I tried to replace the lights on it, but it just won't work.  I replaced the wiring for the lights, but now it's too heavy and won't stay together.   

Savannah has a little tree of her own that she decorates every year with the decorations she gets from her grandmother.   On top of that little tree sat that old star last year.   It won't light up for very long before it goes out, but it's there...the proud little star.   We now have an angel on top of the tree that watches over us and the little star.

Geesh....now I'm gonna cry....sniff.    I was just telling Janice on the phone earlier how it just doesn't seem the same anymore with the kids grown and gone and just Savannah and I here.   I have the box of Christmas stuff sitting on top of my file cabinet here near my computer....I can almost feel that little star in there.

The next year we did go up into the mountains and cut down our own tree.   It was hard, took ever so long, it was crooked and the best tree we ever had.   We didn't have the right kind of tools to cut the tree down, but we worked and worked at it, laughing the whole while.   It must have taken us near 2 hours to cut thru a 2 inch tree trunk.  

I wouldn't trade anything I have or will ever have for the memories of the Christmas' I have spent with my kids.   God has granted me so much in my life.   

I better go....I must be losing it or something.  I never write long emails....must be getting too close to the holidays or something.

Love Deb

Deb's new do

When we were kids I lived with Debbie and Stella and Shae for a while. I was closer in age to Stella so Debbie and Shae were just in the way most of the time. When you're 10 years old you don't need no little 9 year old (Debbie) or 7 year old (Shae) hanging around.

I was pretty mean to both Deb and Shae most days because they just bugged me. There are a couple stories that I remember about Deb but my memory probably isn't as clear as hers about them since she was on the receiving end of my bad attitude.

I don't remember the circumstances exactly but on at least two occasions she learned not to dare me. One of them had to do with emptying the contents of a pencil sharpener into her mouth. The other one I remember better. The three of us kids were waiting alone in the car for some reason. As kids do we were playing and cuttin' up. Somehow somebody accidentally spit. And that started a spitting war. Personally, I hate spitting and I couldn't stand this so finally, being the oldest by three months, I put my foot down and laid down the law, so to speak.

I yelled, in a very firm voice, "Okay, that's it! If one more person spits I'm gonna spit in their mouth." I knew that was so gross of an idea it would stop them for sure. What I didn't know is that you can't ever, ever, ever predict what Debbie will do when you challenge her.

She spit on me. Then she held her mouth open and dared me to fulfill my threat. What she learned about me though is that I don't make threats. I just tell you what I'm gonna do and then I do it. Kinda like that scene in Billy Jack where he is surrounded by the Sheriff and all his men and he looks at the Sheriff and he says "I am gonna take my right foot and kick you in the left side of your face and there's not gonna be a damn thing you can do about it." Then he did it.

Of course I'm no Billy Jack but when somebody sits still and opens their mouth... I did it.

I'm not sure who won that test of wills but I do know don't challenge her anymore.