And still another chapter?!!

More true stuff from when I was a kid. Sometimes our cousin, Diane was "left off" with the grandparents for a Summertime visit in Platte at the same time as Mikey and I. She is the daughter of Alice and we were the sons of Enid. It seems there was some sort of collusion or conspiracy in this timing. Neither of the mentioned Moms had a reputation of being the World's Greatest Mother or would't have even showed up on that list.
Not that they were bad mothers, but they seemed to need more space that many women of that era who stayed barefoot and pregnant and loved to cook and clean and talk about their "Little Dears!" Diane was more of a Dear than Mickey and I were. As a matter of fact when the three of us boys (David came later--he was nearly 11 years younger than me and 9 years younger than Mickey), were all grown up and having one of our very few heart to heart talks with our Mom--and this was after she went into the hospital with lung cancer and never came out. She got us all to hold hands with her in the hospital bed and she whispered, since her lungs were so bad she couldn't make more than that---She said "when you boys were young, you were totally incorrigible and I hated your rotten guts!" This didn't really take us by surprise, as we had become rather fond of being known as "those D--- Johnston boys!" Our Mom had a VERY strong personality and raised three sons just the same as her and it is true that opposites attract and likes repel. Dad was completely opposite from her and they TOTALLY ATTRACTED. He gave everything to her and she took it. I can't say that he got much in return, but after she died at age 60, he was so alone and sad for the next 7 years until he died that he kept her ashes in a ceramic jug with a cork (Yep! It was an antique liquor jug he had found in her parents cellar) It was incised with her name and dates and so on. He used to pull the cork out and talk to her. When asked how come, he said--"We made a vow to always be together and I think she can hear me better with the cork out." Both their ashes were put into the same hole after his death when we three boys followed his instructions. I played my harmonica and Steve Persons was the funeral director at Platte where they were burried.
My wife of 46 years and I plan on this same dealie. Whomever is still around will have the other's ashes kept (but "NOT IN A LIQUOR JUG!" says the LSW). Our three children (not an incorrigible one in the bunch) have been told to cremate the other one when it's time and MIX the ashes together in a suitable container and put it aboveground in a nice columbarium for visits. Funny word>>> COLUMN- BARY- 'UM, isn't it??