The Seven

Today my sister Joan shared this  picture of "The Seven" -- me and my six siblings. This was taken outside Trinity Un ind Methodist Church on the day of my Mother's funeral on August 6, 2021. Our Beth, the youngest of the girls, died one day less than a year later on August 5, 2022. So sadly, this was the last photo ever taken of "The Seven". 

My Mother used t enjoy bragging that seven is the number of completion and perfection. 

Joan's children presented Joan with a framed copy of this picture for her birthday yesterday, as you see with the background obscured to emphasize just us. I thought I'd preserve a copy of it here. Each of these six siblings of mine have had an important influence on my life and I cherish them all. How we miss Beth.

Left to right: Sharlyn Beth Shaw Roszel, Charles Terrell Shaw, Deborah Ruth Shaw Lewis, Janice Dianne Shaw Crouse, Lynda Joan Shaw Turrentine, David Baird Shaw, Mary Carol Shaw Johnston.
I find it interesting that many people make a big deal out of which is the first name. That has never been true in our family. Three (Debi, Jan, & David) go by their first names while four (Beth, Joan, Carol, and myself) go by our middle names. My mother (Sarah RUTH Baird Shaw) and grandfather (Benjamin WILSON "Wilse" Baird went by their middle names, as did my uncles (Wilson GRICE Baird , John THOMAS "Tom" Baird, and James LEON Baird), and aunt Esther LOUISE "Sis" Baird

Old Leaves: Seven Siblings

Next Friday will be the birthday of Mary Carol Shaw (Johnston) my next younger sister. Here is an old "Sunday Seven" from her birthday in 2007. I and my seven siblings have been thrown together more than usual for more than a year now as we have worked through laughs and tears to distribute my Mother's belongings of 98 years. Often a book or paper or doll or dish has brought a beloved memory to share and compare. It has been a sentimental and sometimes overwhelming job.

If anything I love these six humans more than ever.

Some of the facts in this post from fifteen years ago are a bit out-of-date, of course, but the sentiments still apply; so here's a "rerun"...

LATER NOTE: I scheduled this post quite a while ago and had forgotten it was about to be posted. As many of my friends know we lost my youngest sister Beth on August 5, 2022. So this post from way back in 2007 is even more precious to me now.

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Sunday Seven: Seven Siblings

Today is the birthday of my sister, Carol. I thought it would be a good Sunday to finish this little tribute to the Seven Siblings that I got a start on a while back. I wish I had a larger selection of digital pics handy to choose from, but these are pretty illustrative ---

David the long-expected

  

(Above left, the little rascal turns to watch his older sister enter on our father's arm. And at the right he stands as my Best Man.)
He is the youngest of us. When Mama was expecting the seventh, Daddy and I hauled all the baby furniture out into the yard and painted it baby blue. I was thrilled as an 11-year-old to announce his birth. I read him Huck Finn when he was about four. I wonder if he got anything out of it. He brought Vicki into the fold and they presented us with Jessica, Katie, and Haley - the blessings keep flowing! And his barbecue is smoked to perfection!

Beth the adventurous



(Above left she is a wistful attendant to Joan the bride. And at the right Toddler Beth enjoys a holiday meal at Mama Shaw's)
I often misspeak and say "Beth!" when I call "Brannon". Maybe my slip has something to do with their shared derring-do. Brannon, my daughter, spent three months in Europe with a backpack, completely on her own with no set itinerary. As an adolescent, Beth took off on her own to visit our eldest sibling in Taiwan, then jogged over a few hundred air miles to visit Thailand while she was at it. Never mind there was a war on. And Beth is responsible for two wonderful additions to our family - "Amandarooni" and "Joshaway". Even her "beloved curmudgeon" adds a lot of smarts and bold dash of spice to the mix!

Debi the reader



(Little girls dressed up: "I feel pretty, oh so pretty!" at Joan's wedding.)
We nearly lost her before we knew her to pneumonia, so we've spoiled her rotten. I suspect that when we left her at the filling station that time, she had her head stuck in a book and didn't notice her family pulling away. When she finished the last book in the world she married an author and even decided she'd have to write a few herself. She and Gregg have also been most prolific in new family editions - Andrew, Matthew, Lisette, Benjamin, and Jonathan! Those five are more like siblings than cousins to my two!

Carol the rival



(Don't tell me you can't see the mischief in those eyes. Left and right at Joan's wedding, and center at Mama Shaw's table.)
She is closest to me in age and we FOUGHT in childhood. I remember, at about 9 or 10, threatening to kill her! As teens, college kids, and then young adults, we grew close. I'm not sure how I would have survived my last two years of college without her sympathetic ear... and her typing skills! And today is her birthday! Happy Birthady, Sis! And thanks for the two extra blessings you and RT presented us, "Stinkeroo" and "Skalawag"! "Stinkeroo" has added two more beautiful blessings, "Sweetstuff" and "Sunshine"!

Me the little big bro



(At left I am the somber alternative to the gleeful Carol. On the right the proud groomsman at Joan's wedding.)
As the first grandson on Daddy's side, they spoiled me rotten. As the little brother of two, they spoiled me rotten. As the big brother of four, I assumed the lead. And now as the sole Democrat, I take the heat. I may or may not be a blessing, but I surely am a blessee! And for all my faults, I gave my siblings a new sister, Sheila, a two fantastic neices: "Brannyroo" and "Lillyloo".

Joan the intellect



(Above right Joan enjoys her nutty uncles. And, of course, the beautiful bride.)
I worshiped at her feet. I bragged when her picture appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as the gorgeous and stylish Georgia Peach of the Week. She is the calm, brilliant center and the peacemaker. She and Jim, obviously mentally challenged, even loaned me their car for dates! And she and Jim gave us our first wonderful niece blessing, Lyn, and a fine nephew, Steve. And these two have presented us with six additional wonders - two rough and tumble guys (a middle-schooler and one who thinks he's a middleschooler) and four brilliant, determined sweethearts (a set of near-triplets and a gorgeous teen).

Jan the leader



(Big sister at grandmother's, as bride, and as Matron of Honor for Joan.)
Eldest and born to lead, she marshaled us to any task that was at hand. Though ready always to list all the pros and cons of every way to proceed, proceed she did and does. When I was a bewildered youth, she and Gil counseled me and even loaned me money and taught me to ski! She and Gil gave us Charmaine and Gil in quick succession -- what a blessing they have been! And now those two have done their part -- four rambunctious boys and 3, uh, (yep) rambunctious girls! We need to see them more often, Jan!

This post is so inadequate to express my love and admiration for my six siblings. They collectively make up one of the greatest blessings of my life. As anyone who reads our blogs knows, we have significant differences on many issues. But we share a wonderful heritage and a deep love. I am truly thankful this Sunday for these blessings.

The Perfect Seven

 

My Mother used to say seven is the Biblical number of spiritual perfection and completion. Here is, I suppose, the last photo of the (ahem) "Perfect Seven" of her children. We lost my youngest sister, Beth, yesterday. We certainly feel incomplete now. 

This was taken by our great niece Hannah Yoest outside Trinity United Methodist Church in Rome, Georgia, one year ago today, after Ruth Baird Shaw's funeral service. L-R: Sharlyn Beth Shaw (Roszel), Charles Terrell Shaw, Deborah Ruth Shaw (Lewis), Janice Diane Shaw (Crouse), Lynda Joan Shaw (Turrentine), David Baird Shaw, Mary Carol Shaw (Johnston)

I'm so thankful to all the folks who contributed to my Mother's beautiful memorial service. I am tempted to name names but I'm sure I would leave someone out. I will thank three non-family folks again who were so loving and helpful: our wonderful pastor, Nanci Hicks; our friend Beverly Harris who filled in beautifully as pianist on very short notice, and Chip Rogers who made sure the service was live-streamed and recorded so those who could not attend could participate online.

 I watched the video again yesterday. Here is the link to that service.

For Sister Number Five

Daddy had just graduated from Asbury College that Spring. During the summer he had moved his five children, pregnant wife, and a small trailer load of belongings from Mackville, Kentucky to Griffin, Georgia.  He had enrolled in Emory University's Candler School of Theology and accepted an appointment from the North Georgia Conference of The Methodist Church. Daddy would serve Midway, Sunnyside, and Vaughn churches near Griffin. Our modest, and might-as-well-say-it, sort of rundown parsonage was at 333 South Ninth Street. 

Santa arrived with our Christmas present a few days early that year at the Griffin/Spaulding County Hospital. Mother held a beautiful little girl, my fifth sister, up to the window so we could see her on December 19. 

You gotta admit, that's a cute baby cleaned up for Olan Mills...

... or cleaning up the icing spoons and bowls for Mama.

The whole family for Christmas. This must have been 1955 when Beth
would have been a few days past her first birthday.

When I think of little Beth I think of what a cutie she was and I think of fishing. I think of the day most of the family climbed into that '54 blue and white BelAir to head to a lake for a day of fishing. Hot and tired and six of us, at least, if not all eight, were riding back from the lake when somehow Beth got a fish hook embedded in her earlobe!  A few years later, when we were on another fishing outing in a trout stream (maybe Noontooley?) a very surprised Beth reeled in a Hellbender! 

Another Olan Mills picture taken at Belk Gallant department store in Griffin about 1958.

This Olan Mills shot was taken in a second story studio on the square in Ellijay about 1960.

This snapshot was taken the front yard of our parsonage on Dalton Street in Ellijay about 1960.

Mother used those Olan Mills coupons... maybe 1962?

I sometimes fought with my closest sister, Carol. Maybe even with Debbie occasionally. But little Beth could do no wrong in my book. She was only ten when I went off to college. 

A school pic. I wonder what grade -- I'd guess about fourth.

I took this sideways picture of Beth in the yard of Trinity's parsonage on Timothy Avenue in Rome.

Two more of my pictures of Beth... 

... in the yard at Trinity's parsonage.

Beth and a couple of her buddies on a Trinity church school outing
to the Pocket in northern Floyd County.

Beth's Sunday School class at Trinity, Easter 1964.

A picture we printed ourselves of  Beth in the yard in Rome.

Our family did a lot of camping. L-R: Terry, David, Beth.

Sometime in there she became a wonderful singer. When Sheila and I wrote our vows and planned our wedding ceremony we definitely wanted her to sing. It was almost a Beth Shaw concert. She sang "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", and "Follow Me" -- yes it was a 70s wedding.

Now, sixty-seven years after that day in December 1954 when Mother held that pretty little baby up to the window, Sharlyn Beth Shaw is going through some rough times. But she is a strong and determined woman, and she will do it. 

I thought this would be good time to share some random pictures of her and hers; maybe she will enjoy seeing these during her recovery.

Glamorous Beth -- High School?

Outside Tallahassee heights United Methodist Church, August 8, 1971, immediately after our wedding.

The bride...

...with Mother...

... and Daddy.

Lyn and Steve holding Matthew, Josh, and Andrew.

Watching Josh with his cousin Andrew.

Steve putting devil's horns on Beth.

I love these two shots...

...I wish they were better exposed.

Singing to David's accompaniment at Mother & Daddy's 45th anniversary celebration.

Baby Josh trying out his walking skills in the hallway at the Trinity-Austell parsonage.

Beth with Amanda and Josh at Mexico Beach.

Beth, Josh and Amanda with me, Sheila, and Brannon...

... at the Coosa Valley Fair, 1984.

Cousins Brannon, Amanda & Josh...

...on the bench in our front yard on Cedar Avenue in Rome.

Brannon and Amanda with Grandshaw, 1986, just four days before Daddy's death.

Lillian's new uncle Chuck...

...gives her a ride on his motorcycle.

Then it was Jessica's turn.

The Perfect Seven with Mother

The Seven with Mother at Don's funeral.

Beth with Jan.

Celebrating with Mother at a book-signing at Barnes and noble in Rome. L-R: Beth, Debi, Mother, Carol, Joan, Terrell.

L-R: Mother, Beth, Amanda, Josh.

...and of course I could do another whole post on the next generation: Beth's five grandchildren.