Poetry About Jesus and Salvation 

Cindy with her childhood dog.  

Back in those days it was mandatory for girls to wear dresses or skirts to school. I feel lucky about that. I have fond memories of my mom taking me school shopping to pick out new dresses. My, how times have changed.  All the boys had a boy's haircut too.There wasn't all this wondering if someone is a male or female, like it is in today's society. There was a clear distinction between the genders. When the Beatles came out in the 60s everyone thought their hair was outrageous.

Randy, a very handsome boy 

Randy's mom and dad's wedding picture

Vowell (Red) Wyatt and Phyllis (Nadine) Huckaby were married in 1943. Vowell was 17 years old and Phyllis was 19 years old.

Randy's family when he was a boy

His mom and dad were Vowell (Red) and Phyllis (Nadine) Wyatt. His older brother is the sailor, Barry, and his younger brother is Steve.

Randy's dad passed in 2005 at age 79, and his mom passed in 2014 at age 89. 

Randy's mom and dad grew up in Marmaduke, Arkansas and moved to Michigan when they were young. In Michigan they started two donut shops called Supreme Donuts, and both worked very hard, his dad making donuts, which he loved to do, and his mom running all the business aspects of it and training employees, including myself, and waiting on customers. It was a sit-down coffee and donut shop too.

Randy with his Wyatt grandparents, (Granddad and Mama Lura) and his baby son, Tommy

L to R: Robert Wyatt, Lura Wyatt, Tommy Wyatt, and Randy Wyatt

This is at his grandparents home in Marmaduke, Arkansas. We drove down there so they could meet their new great grandson, Tommy,  at 5 months old.

Granddad and Mama Lura with Cindy and Tommy

This was in 1977.

A younger version of Randy's grandparents, Robert and Lura Wyatt 

Randy's grandparents from his mother's side, Mama and Papa Huckaby

Leona Huckaby and Millage Huckaby

 These grandparents are also from Marmaduke, Arkansas. They used to be farmers.

One thing I noticed right away about this precious couple when I met them was how they were always saying sweet things to each other.

Tommy, Mama Huckaby, and Aunt Ruth (Randy's mom's aunt)

One thing we remember about Aunt Ruth is that she always patted people real hard on the back to show her love for them. I was a little worried about her burping Tommy.

Aunt Ruth patting Tommy, as you can see her hand a little bit up from his back 

This is what made Tommy a tough little boy. Aunt Ruth is his great great aunt. This was in 1977.

This poor lady lived with crippling rheumatoid arthritis for most of her life and never complained.

 Mama and Papa Huckaby with their grandson Randy and their great grandson Tommy 

This is taken in front of their home in Marmaduke, Arkansas. Mama Huckaby had a condition in her left leg where she was unable to bend it.

Mama Huckaby had four daughters and Phyllis (Nadine) was the youngest. Her oldest daughter was born from her first husband who died. Then she married Papa Huckaby and the other three daughters were born to them.

Mama and Papa Huckaby with grandson, Randy

Randy's mom and dad (Nadine and Red Wyatt) with his older brother, Barry

Randy's very first time deer hunting when he was 15 years old and he got a nice buck

Randy and baby Kimmy with his best lifelong friend, Marc Benzing, who now lives in Florida

This picture was taken in Flint, MI. in 1979.

Jennifer, A.J., and baby Tyler at Randy and Cindy's house

Cindy and books

This brings back memories of my life when I was in my 20s and 30s (in the 1980s and 1990s). In the days before the internet and youtube, I read books all the time from the Sword of the Lord, many by John R. Rice and Oliver B. Greene and many other great preachers, like Monroe Parker, Tom Malone, Lee Roberson, and Curtis Hutson.  Books are everywhere, in the bookcase and on the table, along with my glass of ice tea which I drank in those days. The books really helped me to grow in my Christian walk with the Lord.

Christian Articles from some of these Preachers of the past

Grandpa Wyatt (Red Wyatt) and baby Tommy Wyatt in 1977 

He was pretty excited to have his first grandson after already having 3 granddaughters from his oldest son and wife, Barry and Sharon Wyatt.

Cindy and Randy with Tommy, Kimmy, and our niece, Kelli Wyatt, in red (Steve and Anne's baby girl)

 This was on Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's (Randy's parents) house in 1980. Kimmy's dress is one that I made for her. I loved sewing clothes for my little children; it doesn't take much material.

Poor little baby Kelli went through a really rough time when she was a baby and spent a lot of time in a Children's hospital. Thankfully, through much prayer, God miraculously healed her and she eventually became in good health.  

Grandma Wyatt (Cindy) and Tyler in the middle at Cedar Point riding on the junior roller coaster for little kids 

This was such a fun day with Tyler that I will never forget. I remember holding his hand so tight and never leting go that day so I wouldn't lose him. We went with Tom and Niki and Jennifer. Jen wanted to ride the big roller coasters with Tom and Niki, so Tyler stayed with me and we went on the kiddie rides together. We had a great time together. That was the last time I ever went to Cedar Point.

Tom on the far right as a BMX racer when he was a kid in the 1980s.

Tom was also the state champion BMX racer for four years in a row. 

Kimmy, the BMX racer

Kimmy saw how much fun Tommy was having and decided to follow in his footsteps and do some BMX racing herself. Just like her brother, she gave it her all and did her very best.

Even I (Cindy) got into the fun and rode once in the Mother's Day race for mothers at our local track, and got first place. I wasn't near as fast as my kids though or jumped in the air on the hills.  It's a lot harder than you think to go over those hills and jumps and sharp corners. All the mothers were slow, though, that's why I won.

Randy used to work as a volunteer at the local track. He worked the starting gate and did staging and corner marshalling. 

Tommy, third on the left, at his Christmas program at Columbiaville Baptist Church 

Andrew James Pedley (A.J.) with his newborn son, Tyler, at the hospital in 2004

A.J. sadly passed away unexpectantly from a drowning accident on August 10, 2012 at the age of 28.

Jennifer Wyatt Richter's Family

Jim and Kim Wyatt Peters' Family 

Tom and Nicole Wyatt

Randy and Cindy Wyatt 

      

Cindy with her first newborn child, Thomas Robert Wyatt

Robert is the name of his Great Grandpa Wyatt. I couldn't stop looking at him. It seemed like such a miracle. I was 21 at the time. He was born on January 2, 1977 at Lapeer Regional Hospital in MI.

It was on a Sunday afternoon and I remember my parents came over to our house to give us a bassinet for the baby and I was in labor, but I thought it was false labor because it was 3 1/2 weeks before his due date, even though my water had broke. But they persuaded us to go to the hospital and sure enough it was real labor, not false. He was born at a little past 11:00 that evening. 

Cindy with her second precious little baby, Kimberly Michelle Wyatt, born on May 7, 1979 at around 7:00 p.m. at Lapeer Regional Hospital.

Sweet baby Jenny, my third baby, and the baby of the family.

Jennifer Lee Wyatt was born on June 1, 1982 at about 2:00 in the afternoon at St. Joseph Hospital in Flint, MI. I was dreaming that I was in labor and I woke up at 2:00 a.m. and I was in real labor. 

Jenny was my only baby that was bald. Tommy was 5 years old at the time and he used to always rub her head.

Cindy's older sister, Brenda, class of 1972

Brenda passed away at 49 years old in 2003

Cindy, class of 1973

1973 was also the year I got married on December 8 to the love of my life, Randy. We met at the donut shop which his parents owned and where we both worked.

Randy and Cindy at wedding 

Cindy's mom and dad, Edsel and Jean Byers

They were married on February 14, 1953 (Valentines Day). Edsel was 24 years old and Jean was 23 years old.

Cindy's dad passed in 1990 at age 62, and mom passed in 1996 at age 67. 

Getting married on Valentines Day was very fitting for them.  They always seemed to be in love for their entire marriage of 37 years. I remember when my dad worked third shift they always were in the side mud room smooching every night before he went to work.

My dad worked very hard to support his family as a machine repairman at GM in Flint, MI. My dad had to drop out of high school after the tenth grade because it was after the great depression and he had to work to help support his family (his mom and dad's family). But even though he didn't graduate, he still tried to better himself with a higher paying position as a skilled tradesman at GM by taking some college math classes.

My mom was a homemaker and did a lot of things with her children and was always there for us. Two things my dad always wanted to do for us was to take us on vacation once a year, usually sightseeing and camping, and to give us a nice Christmas. 

I appreciate both of them for giving me a good childhood. With all the terrible things going on in the world today with child abuse, abductions, molestations and sexual abuse, and the awful things that children are being exposed to in public schools about homos being normal and being a transgender is fine, encouraging kids to change their gender, it makes you feel grateful for having a normal childhood. But I do feel very sorry for all the children in today's wicked world. 

Edsel Byers

Cindy's dad was a medic in the US Army during the Korean war time.

This photo was taken in front of my grandparents home, Frank and Maud Byers, in the city of Flint, Michigan. I still remember going to their big old fashioned 3-story house. My grandma died in her 70s when I was 6 years old and my grandpa died in his 80s when I was 9 years old, both in the 1960s.

L to R: Edsel Byers (my dad), Frank Byers (my baby brother), and Frank Byers (my grandpa)

My baby brother, Frank Byers, was born in 1959.  My grandpa, Frank Byers, was born in 1880. After having a whole slew of grandchildren from his 8 children, his very last one, my little brother, was named after him.

My grandpa Byers used to be a carpenter. My grandpa Morse, from my mom's side, died before I was born in his 50s from a heart attack.

My dad really loved his parents and talked fondly of them. He always called them "Ma and Pa," kind of like Little House on the Prairie. My grandpa was actually born in 1880, so he was alive during Charles Ingalls' lifetime and he lived in the horse and buggy era. 

Cindy's family when she was a kid standing in front of her grandparents home in Flint, MI

Kids L to R: Brenda, Frank, and Cindy Byers

Mom and Dad: Edsel and Jean Byers

This same area today (2022) is filled with gangs and shootings, but it wasn't back then in the 1950s and 1960s. Flint, MI now is one of the most dangerous cities in the country with a lot of crime and murders.

Sisters, Brenda and Cindy

Cindy and Frank playing store with our Christmas present

Frank Byers

This was in the first house our family lived in when my siblings and I were born. It was a small two bedroom house on Way St. in Burton, MI right by the railroad tracks in our backyard.

My sister and I used to go up to the fence where the railroad tracks were and talked to the train conductor if the train was stopped.

When I was 7 years old and Frank 3, we moved to our house iin Davison, MI, and that is where my parents lived for the rest of their days until passing away. We lived in town and could ride our bike or walk all over town without being worried about getting abducted. Those were the good old days. We also always walked to school.

When we first moved to Davison in about 1962, the old train station was still there, which is now at Crossroads Village, a tourist attraction in Genesee, MI that has historic buildings.

The only restaurant in Davison when we moved there was Whitey's, famous for fish and chips. It was esstablished the year I was born, 1955, and is still going strong today (2022)

My sister Brenda and my dad, Edsel Byers

Cindy in 7th grade with her mom and dad after going to a band awards ceremony

My parents were very supportive of me when I was in band and bought me a very nice saxophone when I was in 9th grade.

My mom was at all the concerts and events and my dad went to all of them when he wasn't working. I remember whenever I played somewhere, the first thing I would do is look for my mom in the audience or mom and dad. She used to record everything on one of those old fashioned cassette players. Those cassette players were really popular back in those days and they didn't sound the greatest; it was fuzzy sounding.

 Cindy's Uncle Milton Byers

This was a very close uncle of mine from Monroe, Louisana, who used to come up to Michigan often. He is my dad's brother. He never had any children of his own.

He was a US Navy career man for 25 years and was a Pearl Harbor attack survivor. He always had a lot of stories to tell.

After retiring from the Navy, he had a small farm in Louisana and was also a US Postman.

I was very blessed to have such a wonderful uncle, especially since both my parents died kind of young. Uncle Milton died around 80 years old. One of the funny memories our family has about him is how he always used to say "down in Monroe" everytime he wanted to tell us something about it.

This is the sailboat we bought with our inheritance from my Uncle Milton in the early 2000s. We had a lot of adventures in this boat, some scary, like getting caught in a very bad storm. 

Poetry about sailing and also the storm

Uncle Milton with his great niece, Maghan, (Frank's daughter) at Cindy's parents home.

Cindy's mom (Jean Byers) with newborn baby Tommy.  

This was her second grandchild, the first one being Tracy from my older sister, Brenda.

Cindy's mom, Jean Byers, at her house

My dad (Edsel Byers) loved his lawn tractor, even though his yard was a small city lot. 

The funniest memory we have about my dad's tractor is when one day when Tommy was about 10 years old he was on his grandpa's tractor in the garage and he drove it right though the garage,  My dad started yelling, "Hit the brakes, hit the brakes!" It was like a huge door that was fastened tightly shut, so it was easy to fix.

My mom, Jean Byers, opening her Christmas present at Randy and Cindy's house 

This was when she was a widow. My dad died 6 years before her.

Cindy with her sweet little boy, Tommy

This is our house when it was built for us in 1975 for $25,000.

We have been very blessed to have lived in this house for 47 years now (in 2022). We have since added a detached garage that Randy and our son, Tom, built in the early 2000s. Tom was an experienced builder from his occupation of building houses.

It has been a really nice place to live, in the country in a nice quiet neighborhood with a small store nearby, and only 10 minutes away to the nearest town.

All of our children were raised in this house since they were born and now it is just Randy and Cindy again, along with our two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

It's also a blessing that it has been paid off for quite some time now. The only thing we have to pay to live here is property taxes, though we have paid for major home repairs, like new windows and a new roof.