Feature Friday with Dee Dee Bailey

1. What is your full name?

My real name is Mary Dee Sisson-Bailey, but I've been called Dee Dee since day one, my godfather's last name was Dees and it just stuck.

2. How long have you been married?

Ron & I have been married for 40 years, 41 this July.

3. What advice do you have for newly married brides/couples?

Treat each other special, give each other respect and learn to control your temper, your speech and your voice levels. It really is like the old saying, “Everything I learned in life, I learned in Kindergarten!!! Your spouse is your best friend...treat them that way.

4. How many kids and grandkids do you have? What are they like?

Ron & I have two daughters, both are married and between them we have 5 grandchildren.....what can I say, I am blessed. They are all healthy, bright and very active kids.....not a quite one in the bunch!

5. What advice do you have for new moms/parents?

My best advice for new parents......keep a date night......every week set time aside for just the two of you. If you can't go out to dinner and a movie.....fix a picnic and go to the park, or take a long bike ride.....just make time for each other. Young parents have a tendency to plan everything around the children, but you have to remember to take some time everyday for yourself, to be renewed and refreshed.....and then you are a better parent and spouse.

6. What do you think are the biggest challenges parents with small children face now as opposed to when your girls were little? Do you have any advice for those?

There are so many challenges parents today have we didn't even have.......technology for one, you have to protect them from too much television, computer time, electronic games, the list goes on, as well as society problems, my girls could go outside and play and I didn't have to worry about anything....today you have to have an adult outside watching them play on their own block.....and you have to do these protective things without scaring them and yourselves. I think you still have to daily place them in God's hands, ask him to send Guardian angels to surround them and protect them from any evil that would try to harm them. I still pray that prayer everyday for my family.

7. You have spent a lot of time tracing your ancestry. What is your favorite story?

I have really loved tracing my family tree, I have ancestors that lived in Plymouth and ancestors that were already here, but my favorite story of all is about a great grandmother that lived during the American Revolution, her name was Mattie McFarland McGee Bell. Her 1^st husband my great grandfather had been a Col.(sp) in the British Army before becoming a patriot and he died about 1777, and left her with 5 children to run their farm and the town mill.

When one day the English General Cornwallis and his army show up at her front door and claim her property and stores and take everything. They camped there for a few weeks and in the process she learned about their plans for Yorktown. So when they left, she put on her deceased husband’s uniform and rode on horseback for 2 days to reach the Patriot Army , Col. Greene. And the information she gave him led to the Battle of Yorktown, in which we won our freedom from England and Gen. Cornwallis had to surrender!! I admire her courage under fire and her bravery.....she could have got caught and shot as a spy.....but she didn't.....I believe she was born as Esther was...for such a time as that! Later on, two of her sons became Methodists ministers and every Circuit riding Methodist preacher that went through N.C. stayed at her home....she was called the Mother of the Methodist Movement in North Carolina. (It's a long story but I think she's worth it) She's one of my heroes.

8. You are a breast cancer survivor. Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for others facing breast cancer?

My best advice is to remember you may have cancer, BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO HAVE YOU! I read a book a few days after my masdectomy called, “The Cancer Conqueror” by Greg Anderson. It changed my life....and I got my life back. That book should be number one on any cancer patient's list and their family.

9. You have been a Christian for many years. What do you think are the most important things to focus on as we try to live out our Christian faith?

In this life we are going to have good times and bad.....we must remember, He Will Never Leave Us or Forsake Us....that is a Promise! And God ALWAYS keeps His Promises. No matter what happens in this life, I KNOW HE is with me....ALWAYS!

10. Lastly, you have some hidden talents as far as art and craftiness go. Will you share what you do?

I love to paint....I do oil painting and some watercolor, but oil is my favorite. I started painting again about 12 years ago, ( I was an Art Major in college) and I love it.

I also love to scrapbook and do crafts. I recently started taking old suitcases, mostly from the 40's and 50's and I turn them into Memory Boxes. They have been a huge hit. I even made one for my 8 year old nephew and grandson that was about baseball, they both love the Yankees. And my granddaughters each have one they use for their overnight bags when they go to a friend’s house. They are really girly and personalized!

 

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I met Dee Dee five years ago when I signed up to be on the prayer team at church.  She opened her house up once a week to anyone who wanted to learn more about prayer.  On the first night, a guy named Matt and I showed up.  For a year, we literally sat at her feet (she in the chair, us on the floor) soaking up every word she had to say.  We listened to her teach for a while and then the three of us would pray together.  These are some of the most precious memories of my life.  The fact that we literally sat at her feet… 

She is an amazing woman who still speaks into my life today.  If there is an incredible spiritual story or experience, she has heard and/or experienced it herself.  I love Dee Dee dearly, and every moment I get with her is a true blessing from God. 

Thank you Dee Dee for letting me feature you!