To see my Dad Thomas "Tom" Michael Spencer with his older sister Annie Martha Spencer Ashburn was to know instinctively they were very close in spirit and love. He named his second son Frank Ashburn Spencer after Parke Ashburn Sr., Annie's beloved husband and dear brother-in-law to Tom. I believe Tom laughed and talked more with Annie and Parke, completely at ease in their presence than with any people I have ever seen him with.
Annie and Parke were meant to be together. It was in their countenance, their obvious love and respect for one another, and the way they shared their lives. He was a farmer and worked hard all of his life. Annie was a nurse and was night supervisor at a hospital for many years.

Their joy in life was their children Parke Ashburn Jr. and Doris Ann Ashburn. They adored them! Parke and Doris Ann grew up to become educated, kind, caring human beings who chose wonderful life partners when they married. Their children were a blessing to them and to their grandparents.

Uncle Parke did his backbreaking work all his life with his farm animals and crops to work continually. He never complained. We kids loved to go visit them from the city of course, and Uncle Parke would kindly take us on the animal tour. He was quiet natured, calm and straightforward, even when we questioned him numerous times about the farm animals. Bedtime was an adventure because Aunt Annie would place covered "blocks" under our feet to warm us in the wintertime until we fell asleep on the soft feathered bed and pillows. We loved it!

She was the most awesome cook I ever knew and when she prepared a breakfast it was unbelievable having "homemade" everything: ham , bacon, potatoes, eggs, gravy, biscuits, jellies, applesauce, grits. Those were the happy days of childhood many years ago, but vivid to me as if yesterday.
When I drove from Texas where I lived to visit my Dad in Virginia, he was now a widower, legally blind but still full of spirit and sassy as usual. I wanted to get him out of his house and give him some adventures while I was there. The best enticement I could think of was to go visit Aunt Annie and Uncle Parke whom he adored, as did I. Off we went on our journey to their home in the country near Suffolk. The picture of Aunt Annie Ashburn and my Dad Tom Spencer was taken on that visit in 1979, both in the twilight of their lives.
Here I am now in 2020 thinking about my wonderful loved ones and looking forward to seeing them again. I can almost visualize Aunt Annie cooking and chatting with me as I savor the fragrances, and stand over her wood stove nearby warming my hands in the winter. They were caring and kind as Uncle Parke labored all those years on their farm, with Aunt Annie working nights as a nurse Supervisor in nearby hospital, never complaining, rearing their two children to be educated, wonderful, kind human beings.
Now their loving daughter Doris Ann and her loving husband has joined them, with her children and Parke Jr.'s family living on with their lives and family memories . With love until we meet again.