01 02 03 The Dayton Houghs: Everybody needs a Bubba Lady... 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Everybody needs a Bubba Lady...

34
There is a very special lady that goes to our church. Some people know her as Della, but to our family she is "The Bubba Lady." We first met her about 11 years ago. We were still relatively new to our parish and we didn't know a lot of people by name yet. Brian and I had only been married about two years and we were caught up in the whirlwind of being newlyweds having three preschoolers and we had just welcomed our first baby into the family. Little Isaac was the answer to many, many prayers (as all babies are). When we were first married we wanted to have a baby right away. We didn't want a big gap in age between the older three kids and any new babies that we would be blessed with. It was very frustrating as time went on and still no baby. And then DJ was diagnosed with Leukemia and our world sort of spun off balance. As usual God's timing is always perfect and shortly after our 1 year anniversary, we found out that we were expecting. DJ was through the initial intense phase of his chemotherapy treatments and was starting to feel better. Our lives were finally headed in the right direction again. Things were looking up!
 
August 4th, 2002 Isaac David made his grand entrance. Oh boy was he cute. He had the roundest little head and the biggest blue eyes. He was absolutely precious. We went to church, as we do every Sunday. One of the things that made fall in love with our parish, was the warm way that we were welcomed there. When DJ was diagnosed, the outpouring of support and help from our parish was amazing. The birth of a new little one brought about a similar reaction. After mass we were surrounded by people congratulating us and sneaking a peak at the baby. And then the Bubba Lady stepped in. I was getting ready to buckle Isaac into his car seat when this woman held out her arms and said "Hand him over." It wasn't a question. It was more like a command.  She was vaguely familiar to me because she was a regular church goer, but I had no idea who she was or what her name was. I didn't know what to do. Here was my sweet little baby, and this woman that I didn't know wanted me to "hand him over?" The thing is, well, I hate confrontation. I didn't want to cause a scene by refusing. So  I sized her up and decided that if she tried to make a run for it, I could take her down. ( She was in her 70's or so.) So I hesitantly handed him to her. She took him in her arms and just looked at him. She smiled up at me and said, "Look at those big eyes. Oh, there is something special about this one." I knew immediately that I had made the right decision. This woman wouldn't do anything to him, well anything, except love him. So every Sunday after mass, she would come up to me and expectantly hold out  her arms to take him. He seemed to know that he was safe with her. He was always content in her arms.
 
There was a tiny problem though. We had no idea what her name was. Not a clue. We had to call her something, so she was named "The Bubba Lady." It was an obvious choice, since Bubba was her "special guy."  After a while (far too long!) we finally found out her name. The kids' Nana Rose introduced herself to her and asked her name. The Bubba Lady revealed that her name was actually Della. She is sort of like a superhero, at least to our family. It only makes sense that she had a secret identity. Ok, maybe it wasn't really a secret, but whatever. Eventually we confessed our little secret. She thought that it was funny and loved her new name. She fully embraced being "The Bubba Lady." She has spoiled our family. She is always giving the kids little rosaries and books, stickers and statues. She brings a little bag of treats to mass every Sunday for the kids. She gives them little cards with $2 bills in them (which the kids think is really cool!) and always signs them "The Bubba Lady."
 
It has been 11 years since the Bubba Lady first stole our hearts. Our little family has grown and we have added 5 more kids to the brood. She has held and cuddled each one of them. She always checks with me to make sure that they are all doing well. If someone is having problems, I know that I can count on her to pray for them. She loves all of the kids, but Isaac is still her "special guy." He just holds a special place in her heart, and she in his.
 
 
Here is the Bubba Lady with her Bubba Boy. 
 He still sits with her after mass and gives her a hug.
 
I have given her pictures of the kids. She always just looks at the picture and smiles. The last time, her eyes filled with tears. She looked at me and said, "This is so precious to me. You don't know what this means to me." I don't know what it means to her, but I know what she means to us! She is a very special lady and we are very blessed to call her our Bubba Lady!
 
 
35 36 37 38 The Dayton Houghs: Everybody needs a Bubba Lady...

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Everybody needs a Bubba Lady...

There is a very special lady that goes to our church. Some people know her as Della, but to our family she is "The Bubba Lady." We first met her about 11 years ago. We were still relatively new to our parish and we didn't know a lot of people by name yet. Brian and I had only been married about two years and we were caught up in the whirlwind of being newlyweds having three preschoolers and we had just welcomed our first baby into the family. Little Isaac was the answer to many, many prayers (as all babies are). When we were first married we wanted to have a baby right away. We didn't want a big gap in age between the older three kids and any new babies that we would be blessed with. It was very frustrating as time went on and still no baby. And then DJ was diagnosed with Leukemia and our world sort of spun off balance. As usual God's timing is always perfect and shortly after our 1 year anniversary, we found out that we were expecting. DJ was through the initial intense phase of his chemotherapy treatments and was starting to feel better. Our lives were finally headed in the right direction again. Things were looking up!
 
August 4th, 2002 Isaac David made his grand entrance. Oh boy was he cute. He had the roundest little head and the biggest blue eyes. He was absolutely precious. We went to church, as we do every Sunday. One of the things that made fall in love with our parish, was the warm way that we were welcomed there. When DJ was diagnosed, the outpouring of support and help from our parish was amazing. The birth of a new little one brought about a similar reaction. After mass we were surrounded by people congratulating us and sneaking a peak at the baby. And then the Bubba Lady stepped in. I was getting ready to buckle Isaac into his car seat when this woman held out her arms and said "Hand him over." It wasn't a question. It was more like a command.  She was vaguely familiar to me because she was a regular church goer, but I had no idea who she was or what her name was. I didn't know what to do. Here was my sweet little baby, and this woman that I didn't know wanted me to "hand him over?" The thing is, well, I hate confrontation. I didn't want to cause a scene by refusing. So  I sized her up and decided that if she tried to make a run for it, I could take her down. ( She was in her 70's or so.) So I hesitantly handed him to her. She took him in her arms and just looked at him. She smiled up at me and said, "Look at those big eyes. Oh, there is something special about this one." I knew immediately that I had made the right decision. This woman wouldn't do anything to him, well anything, except love him. So every Sunday after mass, she would come up to me and expectantly hold out  her arms to take him. He seemed to know that he was safe with her. He was always content in her arms.
 
There was a tiny problem though. We had no idea what her name was. Not a clue. We had to call her something, so she was named "The Bubba Lady." It was an obvious choice, since Bubba was her "special guy."  After a while (far too long!) we finally found out her name. The kids' Nana Rose introduced herself to her and asked her name. The Bubba Lady revealed that her name was actually Della. She is sort of like a superhero, at least to our family. It only makes sense that she had a secret identity. Ok, maybe it wasn't really a secret, but whatever. Eventually we confessed our little secret. She thought that it was funny and loved her new name. She fully embraced being "The Bubba Lady." She has spoiled our family. She is always giving the kids little rosaries and books, stickers and statues. She brings a little bag of treats to mass every Sunday for the kids. She gives them little cards with $2 bills in them (which the kids think is really cool!) and always signs them "The Bubba Lady."
 
It has been 11 years since the Bubba Lady first stole our hearts. Our little family has grown and we have added 5 more kids to the brood. She has held and cuddled each one of them. She always checks with me to make sure that they are all doing well. If someone is having problems, I know that I can count on her to pray for them. She loves all of the kids, but Isaac is still her "special guy." He just holds a special place in her heart, and she in his.
 
 
Here is the Bubba Lady with her Bubba Boy. 
 He still sits with her after mass and gives her a hug.
 
I have given her pictures of the kids. She always just looks at the picture and smiles. The last time, her eyes filled with tears. She looked at me and said, "This is so precious to me. You don't know what this means to me." I don't know what it means to her, but I know what she means to us! She is a very special lady and we are very blessed to call her our Bubba Lady!
 
 

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