By Charlotte Byus
Most of us have told our children, whatever you do will come back doubled. And most of our children just blow it off, until! That is what this is all about. When I graduated from High School, Mom and Dad purchased a Chevy11 for me to drive back and forth to college. Of course, that is not all I drove the car to and from. Some times to the dance halls

By Charlotte Byus
As I told you last week, we are cat people. RR did not start out to that persuasion, he was a dog person. Of course, I helped him enjoy both cats and dogs. They get along very well with each other. When we purchased the house on Boyt, we had just adopted the little cat that had been abandoned when the people next door in League City left her

By Charlotte Byus
In August of 2008 we purchased our home on Boyt and met our neighbors two doors down. They are Larry and Debbie, Larry enjoyed spending more time at the beach house as Debbie was still working. So RR and I spent most of our free time aggravating Larry. Larry likes his quiet time, between us and our cats, he had to endure friendship and

By Charlotte Byus
Because our boat was hand made in Palacios we need to purchase a trailer made for this boat. (Who knew, not me.) RR knew, so one weekday he says, “How do you feel about taking a little drive to Seadrift?” I said, “I’ll be ready in 10 minutes, including a cooler. He laughed, well not that soon how about tomorrow? Being the one in the family

By Charlotte Byus
Like everything else at the beach our boat trailer has just about rusted to the ground. That thing that holds the wheels on is just about gone, you know the axle. Every time I go into the storage unit for our boat I see more rust flakes on the cement floor. And then there is the trailer hitch, that is sad, if it rusts any more we will need to push the boat out

By Charlotte Byus
I am very lucky, my Dad was loving but firm, funny but go-by-the-rules type of man. He did not have an education like men do today. His was hard knocks and figure it out yourself and a fine job he did. Every morning he would take the Houston Post to our cleaning shop and after all the clothes were cleaned and pressed he would rest and slowly read

By Charlotte Byus
This past week has been fun, old friends are back and new ones are introducing themselves to us. We are basically a quiet group, up just after sun up and in by a little after dark. Remember dark is almost 9pm! Some of us have started that business of walking again and chattering as we go, that helps when you have sweat in your eyes and cramps in

By Charlotte Byus
For the last few weeks, RR and I have spent time in Pearland with our first born, Chris, and two out of three of her children. We leave here on Thursday and come back on Saturday. We work on Sunday. Dianne always has projects, small and large. This time it was to put the water fountain together and put up lights on the patio. We came in on Thursday

By Charlotte Byus
This past week my daughter and two grandson’s have witnessed the harassment of local and international media. Both grandsons attended Santa Fe schools for many years. Yes, they knew the children and teachers. They were friends of the older siblings and parents. On the morning of the shooting, Jon was on the way to work,

By Charlotte Byus
For many years RR and I have been friends with a couple that have two houses. One in California and one here in Crystal Beach. We have played scrabble, Mexican Trail, cards and had many a good dinner or lunch together. We have been through the good and the bad together. She has taken me to the doctor and visa versa. We have

By Charlotte Byus
This past weekend was fun and entertaining to say the least. As members of the Lions Club we few try to assist in the Beer Booth each year for Crab Feast. And a fine job we did! RR and I worked Friday afternoon and into the evening. The bandstand is directly across from our work station and we had the best seat in town. The bands were great

By Charlotte Byus
I have no idea why this has just dawned on me but it has. I’m not sure if it was started with the thyroid scare and surgery or the breast surgery. Sitting here in the ferry line in the peace and quiet by myself my brain/heart has been talking to me. I know I’m slow but it has taken two years for me to realize a few things. I really did not think I was that slow but I’ll

By Charlotte Byus
Last week RR and I did something scary, we went to Baybrook Mall. For the younger world, that is just fun, but in a big dually and two old people this is not fun. First you have to travel down the Gulf Freeway in that lovely construction in lanes that scare an 18 wheeler driver, much less us with limited sight. Well, we made it, and now finding a space

By Charlotte Byus
The last few weeks I have not had much to write about, I have tried, but most came out fussing or complaining. I kept the notes but realized I needed to work on Charlotte and find my happy place. The following was not funny at the time, but a day later I really had to laugh. Yesterday was Friday the 13th on a Sunday. Every Sunday there are two ships

By Charlotte Byus
We all here on the peninsula can tell a story about the horrors of Spring Break, but this is about a different type of Spring Break. Several weeks before Spring Break, I ran into friends that lived down the street from our home on Boyt Road, we were all voting at the community center. Karen told me she had asked her church to assist in helping

By Charlotte Byus
Well this is how I judge Spring. The Salt Grass Trail and all the other riders have lumbered down the Main Streets of Houston so it must be Spring. I have judged all my planting by this time. For 52 years this judgment has never been wrong, well there was the year RR and I met on the Salt Grass Trail, the next week was all ice and frozen from

By Charlotte Byus
I am really in a turmoil about how to write this but I will try to share and not scare. With that said, I would have never written or told anyone about what we have been through BUT, with sharing with a few friends, they have all gone to have a mammogram. And if this helps someone else see that this is a necessary step in any man or woman’s

By Charlotte Byus
This article will have words like “breast” and “cancer” in it, if you want to stick your head in the sand, do not read this or next week either. Now, let me tell you a story that started in January with my annual doctor’s appointment. You know blood work, Mammogram and truth to Dr about the last year. Well the good news is

By Charlotte Byus
I don’t know about you, but every rainy day I say I am going to do something productive. Most of the time that could be a nap or finishing a book I’m reading. One of my resolutions, I would try to slim down what is in cabinets or drawers. I have done “pretty” well. I do have a nice size bag for Second Going, but there is so much to do and or

By Charlotte Byus
So many people on the Peninsula truly dis-like the Ferry system. Some parts I understand, and others, it is our government at its best/worse. I get my mail before I head out for a boat ride, or I enjoy the ships and tugs coming and going. But, the most fun is watching the tourists. Let’s face it, how many times have you laughed because

By Charlotte Byus
When the first knee went down in protest during our National Anthem I quit watching football. That was very hard to do, you see we have been fans of many teams along the years. For several years, we along with several other friends had season tickets to the Houston Oilers. We had all the gear, including cow bells our youngest daughter made for

By Charlotte Byus
I am not going to write about the horrible ice, cold, and weather in general, but I will say I do not like it! Please let the good ole days of winter come back, you know those days of 70 for a high and 60 for our lows. Anyway, about last week: we had fun with my sister and our youngest granddaughter Emily. My sister and her friend came down from

[This heartfelt story was written two weeks ago by Charlotte, and was somehow overlooked by the publisher, I apologize. Place yourself back to January 2 when you read Charlotte’s words.]

By Charlotte Byus
Today is January 2nd, it is always a sad day for me and RR. You see, we were married in December, we have enjoyed decorating our homes year after year, RR calls me his December Bride. Our first Christmas in 1965, we could not afford a tree and we did not have any decorations. The Saturday before Christmas our dear friends

By Charlotte Byus
I have been trying to write this story and observation for over two months. In October I decided I needed to get out of the house for at least a day or two. A friend suggested I put my application in at a company that had just started accepting applications. So I did and was accepted to work one day a week. As you can tell I am trying to keep that part of

By Charlotte Byus
This year our Christmas day was so different, different than any of our Christmas days ever. My Mom and Dad always had an open house for friends and family. The morning was always about opening presents with my Dad in his red flannel shirt and rolled cotton on his face. Most of you may not know what rolled cotton is, that is real cotton wrapped in

By Charlotte Byus
Most people have converted their whole life to a file and/or their phone. You know there is an app for that? I love paper. As a young bookkeeper everything in my working world was on paper. Most was 13 columns and a Big eraser and I must say I loved it, except when I transposed a number. Forty lines down and 13 across and you have to find

By Charlotte Byus
Our Anniversary was this week. It was a lovely day, sun was shining and not snowing! When RR woke up I got my morning kiss, hug and Happy Anniversary wish. After this many years, as you well know, you do things on this special day, like wash clothes and dishes. Sometime after breakfast, I started thinking about what to do for dinner. My first