tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147528202024-03-07T01:09:12.002-05:00Off The GridObservations and personal opinions from an adventuresome Southern retired teacher who still finds life exciting.Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.comBlogger275125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-89760189592922514932019-01-06T14:32:00.001-05:002019-01-06T14:32:53.748-05:00How to Remember A visit to the local potter, a staple in our community, was on the list the day after Christmas. My son and I wanted to find out if he made pots for cremains. He showed us some lovely examples for those folks who earlier thought of what we only recently considered. He creates a vessel of your choice with tops. He also crafts small vases which will hold one flower. How do the cremains fit into something small? These tiny ones have a color glaze with cremains added. When he pointed out the exterior of one small vase, in the white area of a red were scattered reflections of silica or the cremains. A teaspoon of cremains is all that's needed to create a beautiful glaze. In the larger "urns" the glaze is seen but inside are the remainders. If you have a pet's ashes to add to yours, he creates a separate area. When disposed of, all the ashes mix as they aim for their destination. The urns then can hold flowers or sit on a table top.<br />
On my computer I accidentally hit a key and a site came up in which cremains are added within beautiful blown glass. All shapes and sizes. I recall the site was Artfulashes.com.<br />
My previous ideas described are just two of at least 17, according to funeral zone.co.uk. There's the diamond which can be worn as a ring, earrings, cuff links, etc. Actually this is an old tradition.<br />
Then added to fireworks so you can "send" your loved one into the skies with a bang; include ashes taken by an underwater company in England who'll add them to reef; and--I'll bet you've not thought of this--have a tattoo artist add to ink and select a design or name or dates to a body part; or allow an artist to add to paints and create a design on canvas for you.<br />
I can't leave out what many people prefer--plant the ashes around a tree in a memory garden or in you own garden. Place a small plaque under the tree, or hanging off a limb, name, date, etc. If the tree is outside your dining window, you can remember that special person more quickly.<br />
So many ideas in one place. Hope you find something perfect for your loved one(s).<br />
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<br />Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-83477432003830970572019-01-04T16:42:00.002-05:002019-01-04T16:43:46.488-05:00Caregiving This is not an interesting subject but it is one many of us become involved with. Over ten years ago I cared for my dear mother. This was my gift for the wonderful life she created for me. I loved taking time to talk about yesteryears, driving to her hometown and locating the area where her home once stood. We visited aging cousins and searched for "familiar" places that no longer we're familiar.<br />
Then she had to have dialysis. That required me to drive her a rather long way from home and spend the four hours required to clean her blood.<br />
I thought I was handling the responsibility well. I had my dad at home and my husband returned from work waiting for supper nights. Before I knew it, I crashed. Couldn't take what was needed to keep my wonderful mom happy in her last days. We had to move her to a retirement home where she was cared for by others. Broke my heart. In the meantime Dad died.<br />
No one can imagine at the beginning of their care taking that the responsibility will be arduous. Of course, you can move the parent immediately to a home, but I wanted to keep Mother close and show love and appreciation as I know she'd do for me. However, there comes a time and situation that keeping a parent at home is too much. <br />
In 1999 there were no guide books to give instructions to the care giver. Everyone had to use common sense. For example: when I found Mother walking down the hallway with her shirt on inside-out, I'd ask,"Mom, where are you going?" She'd wave her hand and keep going. I'd follow and find her in the kitchen where she'd put the skillet on the stove and turned the heat to high. I thought this amusing. I'd turn off the skillet, guide her back to her room and we'd chat awhile.<br />
Or, she'd relate at breakfast when I'd eat with her and Daddy, "A man was in my bed last night/A couple was pushing me off my bed/Marvin (her deceased brother) slept with me." Daddy and I would go along and tell her to kick them out. If it were her brother, I'd ask, "Did you ask him what he was doing in the area?" She'd have a plausible answer. This was rather fun, you know, playing along rather than fuss and declare, "Oh that's all in your mind."<br />
Mother loved to travel. In those aging days she'd say one day, "Lets go to Colorado today." I'd say, "What a lovely day to go somewhere." So we'd hop in the car and I'd drive around and then tell her it was too late to go to Colorado without plans. We'd spend the next day looking at a US map, plotting how we'd get there. Another time she'd want to go to New York, Chicago, Florida. The map was a way to keep her happy. We'd talk about the sights we'd find in those places.<br />
Now I'm caring for my husband. The good point is he has his mental faculties. Oh, a bit of forgetfulness, but he can still give me a word I'm searching for as I write a story. He reads and naps. I cook and deliver his two meals, roll him to the bathroom, keep him warm. He is easier than my mother was, so I shouldn't complain. Yet, stress creeps in like a fog and before I know it, fatigue has embraced me like an old coat. We're solving that situation soon.<br />
Have a wonderful January, everyone<br />
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<br />Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-17455462028388197732019-01-02T12:08:00.000-05:002019-01-02T12:08:07.109-05:00Relax and RememberMy blog entries were quite some time ago. Those gremlins of age hit at the wrong time. I've beaten ill health, but aspects still remain with different names: memory loss and arthritis. Two worst ailments that refuse to disappear.<br />
<b>Musings while driving today: </b><br />
The accident I had last summer day. Every time I turn the corner of those two streets I drive several times a week, I remember clearly what happened, although the facts were mixed like a martini at the time of the impact. I'm positive I turned left behind a car before the light changed. What happened was a small Ford truck slammed into my right fender, both of us turning away from a more serious bender. He didn't want to press charges, the cop said, as I fumbled in the glove compartment for identification. I knew not to say, It's not my fault, Sorry, I didn't see him, or I did not run a red light. Ford driver's comment was She ran the red light. In the process of police interrogation my blood pressure hit the top, my innards squeezed and churned, and my voice was a bit shaky. Of course my gray hair and the handicapped card on the dash didn't help me look and act younger. However, I manage to review the scene every time I reach that particular crossroad, and every time I knew, just knew that guy ran into me.<br />
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Now my hair has silver stands that my adult children accept. I colored my hair from age 40 til 80, when I realized I wasn't going to see many people I wanted to think I was ten years younger. And the walking cane I now use has overshadowed my hair color. Do you know, ladies and gentlemen, that owning a cane and carrying (on your arm) opens more doors and achieves more kind remarks (Good morning, Well, hello, You need a bit of help) than if I leave my cane in the car. I love to know there are thoughtful souls, young folks as well, who exist in my small world.<br />
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Driving allows me to rewrite one of two stories I paid to have criticized. Because they have merit, I have to rewrite certain paragraphs the critics suggest. One story is based on a real incident of a friend of the family. This meant changing names and towns, and anything my friend would attach to her own experience. The second one is based on some poor wives who have husbands who demand too much. This main character decides one evening to find a way to get rid of this non-romantic buzzard she married twenty years ago. My critic suggested a scene to be transferred to the opening of the story. If you have similar problems, ladies, let me know. I need more fire.<br />
Oops, this is enough for one entry.<br />
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<br />Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-81679599609969076842017-05-09T19:27:00.000-04:002017-06-05T11:02:00.901-04:00The Telephone CallThe time was the 1930s. My parents both worked nights, including Christmas Eve. I was too young for our small family to have formed any traditions at this time of the year. On this particular evening I was staying with my dad at his job. He was a telegrapher for the Postal Telegraph Union, later to be called the Western Union. <br />
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In those early days there weren't many crayons and coloring books, so my responsibility while waiting for daddy's job to end at midnight was to stay quiet. People came and went sending their families a beautiful Christmas telegram. Noise from electric machines was loud in the back of the room. Local messengers came in and out to grab local 'grams to deliver immediately.<br />
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1938 clipping</div>
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The office was one large room with a small area entered by the front door where a counter ran from one end of the room to the other. Here, patrons composed and finalized their telegrams. More telegrams were sent in those days because many people didn't have telephones. To receive a telegram--strips of paper upon which a message had been typed then pasted onto a sheet of paper with a big banner at the top declaring: POSTAL TELEGRAM could be joy or sadness.<br />
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For a time I sat looking out the wide windows at the rushing people outdoors. In those days much purchasing occurred Christmas Eve. When people became less, I'd get up and hop across the front of the room from one linoleum block to the other, counting the entire time. Never did the numbers change.<br />
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At one end of the counter for patrons was a telephone booth. The phone rang. I didn't move. I had never heard that phone ring. I continued to sit, the phone continued to ring. Finally, one of the workers in the back yelled, "Get that, Vivian, I think that's for you!" I didn't rush. Who called little girls? With a bit more effort from the man in the back, I opened the door, stood on the seat and picked up the small black receiver, leaned into the phone and said, "Hello?" <br />
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"Ho, Ho, Ho, is this Miss Vivian?"<br />
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"Yessss, sir."<br />
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"Well, Miss Vivian, this is Santa calling you from the North Pole. I'm about to leave and wanted to be sure I have your list filled."<br />
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My heart pounded like a hammer on a nail. Santa had called me! Nervously I recited my three requests: a pink dress with pockets, a Sonja Heini doll wearing ice skates, and a barrette for my hair.<br />
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"That's what I have on this list, too, little lady. When you get home, go right to sleep, and I'll be there before you know it! Bye now."<br />
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I dropped the receiver, ran through the swinging door separating the front from the back and jumped up and down like a toy clown, and yelled to the night workers, "I just talked to Santa Claus. " They hugged and danced and said, "What a lucky girl you are!"<br />
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After closing time Daddy and I hurriedly walked the six blocks home. I jumped into bed without any supper. I couldn't wait to wake up the next morning.<br />
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Many years passed before I asked my Dad who called that night. He admitted it was he; but I declared "it surely didn't sound like your voice." That story became a part of our celebrations every Christmas until I left home. Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-5843413187093183832017-05-04T15:12:00.003-04:002017-05-06T10:36:22.852-04:00A Know-It-All Person<br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">You know people who'll insist they know a subject better than you. Oh, if you could sweep them under the carpet, wouldn't you feel better? Well, I'm one of those. I pride myself remembering many facts and I have a stern personality to back my decisions/opinions. My serious mien doesn't scare anyone. But when I know something to be correct, I'm out to prove it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">For instance, advising my daughter and her husband about the new plants they should put in the yard. I've been through so many plants and flowering bushes and discarded the same number through forty years that I know what is best for OUR yard. Mind you, not anyone else's.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Despite never having studied plant science, two summers visiting plant growers in New Jersey on the lookout for just-the-perfect greenery and blooms to sell in my son's Kudzu store in Barryville, NY., I gained a lot of expertise. Twice a month I'd journey fifty miles south where the soil is a gorgeous black and flowers and plants flourish. At the end of one summer's discussion with nursery owners as I selected the best plants, I loaded up on the Latin names so I could repeat them to store customers. I learned which plants liked sun, which felt good in the shade, which ones grew best in pots, which needed no special care. Armed with this knowledge in one summer, I could have opened a nursery. I visited some of the prettiest companies showing their best in acres of tilled fields. I loved these trips and what I learned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">When my daughter and her husband bought our house with the idea we parents would remain en situ, I tried to remain quiet about the changes made inside the house. When it came to hiring a landscaper, I sat on edge. These fifty-some year olds didn't ask me for advice, since I'd planted more shrubs and blooming plants in our yard than they..My choices often were not those of my husband's, who didn't like to dig in the soil. I'd choose a plant, dig a hole and let it marinate for a year. Then my husband would play "Let's change shrubs" The more I planted the more he'd pull up because he didn't like the leaf shape or the blooms turning yellow, or the black spots that formed on leaves after a rain. You can tell we didn't see eye to eye about beauty. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The day the landscape plans arrived to discuss any changes, I sat down and googled all the plants to be sure I was correct about shade and sun. I pointed out to son-in-law the shady areas of the front yard, stressing that the plans call for sunny plants, vice versa. He insisted "things have changed since you last planted anything in the yard.”A nice way to say “You don’t know anything, you’re too old.” When the workers came one morning with threatening clouds overhead, I watched as hostas found their place in the sun and small palms in the shade. I barked at the men, "You have to move these to there and those to here!" I had the authority of experience, didn't they know? With a hang-dog expression boss man looked at me and said, "I can't change anything on the plans." I stomped (well, almost) into the house and saw hosta food within easy reach of the ten deer I'd seen last week crossing the road. Don't tell me there's this spray and that one that will drive the deer away!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">On one of my trips in New Jersey was a visit to a hosta farm. These variegated green leafed plants originated in the Orient and brought to Europe in the 1700s. Today there are over 2,500 cultivars and I believe this farm has every variety planted under shady trees scattered over five acres</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">My first question to the grower was "How do you protect the leafy greens from deer mouths?" His answer,</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> "There's not anything except daily spraying and watchful eyes.” Their kids had the fun of watching out for deer and other small animals,, plentiful in the area. Some precious hostas that cost tons of dollars had a fence enclosure. I became enamored with the varieties and realized our local nurserymen never sell any but a few of these varieties. Some were as large as four feet across. One plant would suffice for a bed. So with that visit I became an expert on</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: black;"> hostas</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; color: #333333;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Our house now sports a beautiful landscape. The workers have gone home and left a beauty of greenery speckled with yellows. Hostas will wink in the sun, starve for water in the summer's heat. By next summer we’ll have the prettiest front yard of anyone on our block. How many days will pass until the deer find their midnight supper at our front porch? </span></div>
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Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-3987002623538644162017-05-02T12:38:00.001-04:002017-05-02T12:46:14.898-04:00Tribute to My Sister<br />
I remain at home a lot now. At my advanced age I find little entertainment to take me away. However, I feel the pressure to finish family genealogy and write more about my family. I began family stories in earnest ten year ago. Mostly I write about my growing up front the 1930s until now. Amazing I can remember my growing up years better than my today time. I don't keep a journal. Too much triviality is written there. My sister faithfully kept her journal for over ten years. I have to read hundreds of pages to glean anything of any importance. It is through her writings that I find the key.<br />
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Sis died December 31 of last year. She passed away on my second son's birthday. How fitting. We'll never forget the date. Sis was persistent in keeping a journal, even as she lay dying, she'd ask for her "notebook." Barely able to hold a pen she hen-scratched something, unable to follow the lines, weaving her words only she could understand. <br />
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She and I had decided a year before to donate our bodies to the local University of Mississippi Donor Program. We'd never been ones to visit our parents' burial places, change dry flowers to new, sweep off the leaves from their eternal beds. We didn't want our families to feel pressured to honor us by spending thousands of dollars that could help a grandchild finish college or pay for summer camp or purchase new books to read. Little did we know she'd be the first to leave.<br />
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I gathered her writing books, not the journals, and planned to read her thoughts penned in moments of joy, of unhappiness, of contemplation. I was six years older than she and we never had much in common. I became her little mother, taking care to see she was dressed in the mornings as a child, then walk her to nursery school and later to elementary school. I reminded her of her duties, her responsibilities, and at the same time giving her permission. I forgot and stayed her mother when she was grown. Our mother worked full time. We were latch-key kids in the 1940s. Sis never forgot my rule over her. As an adult I gave her advice, wanted or not, about boyfriends( me, with little experience). I felt I was a good critic of guys. What I failed to realize in those early years was that regardless of what I preached, Sis followed her own heart. In her writings she poured her heart into the pages describing her unhappiness with what she had been dealt. She mentioned often my "meddling." I learned a lot about Sis from the words she poured onto three-holed notebook paper.<br />
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We became close when we retired. We made up for lost time in the 20 years left of her life. We traveled together to writers' conferences, to historical points in the South, to western US to see the national parks in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico. I showed her places we as kids accompanied our parents when they took us "out west" in their new Ford Station wagon with "real wood sides," as the advertisements stated. She was eight years old, I fourteen. I still had memories of the places we stopped and when we revisited these sites, she had no memory of them. Through my oral travelogue I reminded her of our young lives. We laughed about how we fooled Daddy when we wanted to go to Sun Valley, Idaho, to see where Sonia Heine had made her movies. We let him sleep in the car, after having driven all night, and Mother took over and steered us to Sun Valley. In those days before air conditioning, traveling in the cool of the night was preferable.<br />
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She critiqued my writings and rejoiced when I won an award. She was always ready to go places. She volunteered one year at Ghost Ranch in Santa Fe (a Presbyterian conference center), and shared her experiences. She went on to Abiququi, NM to help out and she felt she was at the end of the world. She and I went hiking in Santa Fe with Elderhostel. She proved a better hiker. I was there for support. If I didn't go with her to a destination, she went alone. She attended plays in Montgomery AL several years I couldn't accompany her, driving the four hours there and four back alone. One year we saw all the movies up for Academy Awards, a feat difficult for Jackson, Mississippi, where choice movies are often missed. We attended history lectures and drove hours to visit a grave or a cabin or a road mentioned at these lectures. We'd drive out of the way on one of our trips so she could photograph some famous musician, writer, or historian.<br />
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Me and Sis<br />
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We made up for lost time in the twenty years we had together. Then the old scourge returned and took her life. I'm lonesome. I have no place nor anyone with whom to travel. With Sis' death my original family is gone. She is at peace. Wonderful memories sustain me.<br />
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<br />Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-85887681836131463932016-03-11T11:13:00.001-05:002016-03-12T14:05:38.970-05:00Remembering My ParentsI'm in the middle of a biography of my parents. When my parents came to live with me the last five years of their existence, I made one request of them. Write about your growing up. I handed them a bound note book I thought would entice them to write. Daddy, hungrily took the book and went to his office, a separate building in the backyard where he repaired clocks. Mother, on the other hand, put her book in the bedroom saying, "I'll think about it."<br />
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In a few days Daddy handed in his book, completely filled with a note attached "Addendum 1 in the works." Daddy not only had florid script, Palmer's best, but a way with words. Sis and I can claim our love of writing came from him. Today those words ring more true to his identity than they did when he handed me the book and announced, "There, that's the beginning." I will write his story soon.<br />
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Mother took her time to write. I knew heart strokes erased much of her memory, as her writing covers her youth with her brothers. She dwells a bit about Daddy's family's unacceptance of her. Her mind couldn't get out of her childhood. I knew direct questioning would be the best tact for her.<br />
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Time after time I'd sit with her and ask questions. She couldn't understand why I was surprised at her marrying Daddy after six weeks of dating. I held back from then on to make light remarks at some of the experiences she enjoyed: early boyfriends, her poor school grades, life in the big city alone.<br />
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My first project was about Mother. I felt I had a better understanding of her after the many talks. Too, she had diaries she kept from time to time in her married life, the letters she wrote me, and notes of our small talks. Together with old snapshots I created Mother's life. I felt good with what I'd accomplished.<br />
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I shared the fourteen pages with Sis. "That's not at all what I know of Mother! I'd never have written her life that way. You left out Daddy." I explained I wanted to concentrate on each of them and then their marriage and family. " I'll write about Daddy later," I explained. I wanted some tidbits she remembered about the woman who raised us, paid for our every need, taught us to be independent. We were early latch-key kids before the term originated.<br />
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True, we siblings have different views of our parents. Surely some events are shared more than others. Sis sums up her contribution with, "I wrote about Mother in an essay. Find it and use that. I don't remember like you did."<br />
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My trouble with Sis was my approach. I should have sat down and discussed each parent and taken notes. I didn't. Don't make the mistake of waiting too long to get your sibs to contribute to family stories. Writing who your parents were and their personalities are components to letting them live in your own children's hearts.<br />
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Note: having my parents write in their own handwriting is as precious as ever. In future generations their descendants will admire "the old way" people wrote. Be sure to leave something in your own handwriting, whether it is a grocery list or a note to you. <br />
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<br />Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-33627947779145812872015-12-18T10:42:00.000-05:002017-05-06T10:39:02.510-04:00MY FIRST AND LAST HIKE<br />
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I don't count how many years ago Sis and I signed up for hiking around Santa Fe and Abiquiu, New Mexico. We walked three miles daily at the local park and I was about to increase time to three more. Sis made a suggestion one March morning while the sun was warming us ,"Let's go with Elderhostel's hiking group to Santa Fe." Hey, I walk daily, I can hit the trails with ease, so I thought. With doctor's approval of my good health we signed up.<br />
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I had "the big head," an expression we used to use meaning being overconfident. I anticipated the week-long trip to be adventurous, full of new contacts, exploring the beauty of that part of New Mexico. But I wasn't prepare for lay ahead.</div>
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Being inexperienced kept me back from enjoying the treks, the beauty of reaching new heights, the feeling of accomplishment to make the climb. I made a few trails, some so narrow I refused to look down, some squeezing between rock formations older than I, some climbing over tricky rocks with no room to wiggle. I began one trek when I realized how arduous the three-hour hike would be. I sat down at the lower end of the trail and waited. The group was composed of very experienced hikers who wondered what a cluck I was to make the trip. Sis did well. I whined the entire time due to my embarrassment over being inexperienced. I had a few hikers helping me with their pats of reassurance that I'd find something good about the trip. </div>
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We spent two days in Santa Fe and three in the distant outpost of Abiquiu. Our lodging was at Ghost Ranch properties in both places. While in Santa Fe we had evening activities to enjoy.The latter three days about the only activity we had was hiking. </div>
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When Saturday arrived, we packed up our cars, hugged everyone and headed home. Before we headed for Mississippi, Sis and I toured four states along the border checking out the Indian sites. Despite being April, we had quite a lot of days of chilly weather. We arrived home to begin our three mile walking on flat ground at the local park, memories of hiking pushed away in our brains. No more 6,000 ft elevations.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early Stage of Hike</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entering the Narrows</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Climbing Old Indian Ladder</td></tr>
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Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-44586809556239230902015-09-29T14:59:00.001-04:002015-09-29T14:59:59.228-04:00BRINGING BACK THE OLDMy last entry was about my birthday plate (among other things.) I'm busy writing stories remembering the time of growing up. I feel ashamed, in one way, that I've spent so much time about myself, but I span 50 decades of changes in daily and world-wide operations. I want readers of the future to know what someone in the "dark ages" felt, thought, and acted. <br />
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Today I want to share a common recipe with readers. If you grew up in a rural area during the Depression or a time when money was less than usual, your mom/granny/auntie/ or that wonderful person who cared for you surely made HOE CAKES. I put my sample photo on Instagram only to find some similar ones showing a hoe cake dressed up. I made mine from cornmeal mix and made them thin as were the old-timey ones.<br />
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The two best ways to eat these, warm or cold, is to have on hand old fashioned butter like the brand put out by the Amish. Tastes like the kind my grandmother made when she churned. She made a lot of these hoe cakes. She put them on top of the wood stove, which held heat, and any time of the day, family could grab one, slather it with cane syrup or use the home made butter. </div>
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For a memory lift I warmed two and poured local-produced cane syrup, dark and thick, over the cakes. A treat that carried me back to age five. This is easy to make with a mix. However:</div>
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Hoe cakes, according to dear Mother, were made with plain cornmeal and water. Nothing added like baking powder results in a flatter cake. She related her job as a pre-schooler of taking lunch to her brothers and the field hands in a metal bucket. Most ate with nothing added, as utensils weren't handy in the cotton field. The field hands in the early 1900s had nothing more to eat than that for their evening meal. At lunch they ate a slab of meat and a couple of hoe cakes and kept working throughout the afternoon. When we kids were left to our own play, we stopped long enough in the afternoon to snatch a hoe cake, swat it across the butter still sitting on the dinner table, and run to finish our game. Biscuits from breakfast were available until noon. Biscuits were big enough for us to punch a hole with our forefinger and fill with syrup. Umm, makes my mouth water.</div>
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The next time you are in a restaurant and hoe cakes are on the menu, chances are the chef has dolled them to resemble a taste of corn bread smothered in seafood, roast beef, onions, and served it for a price that is ridiculous. Try them yourselves, give them a topping, and show them off at your next meal.</div>
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Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-77324044248106044502015-08-28T13:32:00.000-04:002015-08-28T14:25:03.328-04:00MY UPCOMING BIRTHDAY<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; text-align: center;">
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Someone asked me last week “How are you celebrating your birthday?” I said “No special way. No one notices my date except a few close friends, my Sis, and my adult children.” As I reflected, I thought how important Mother made of Sis and my birthdays. She even had “Happy Unbirthdays” to celebrate with us. She loved giving us gifts like a bracelet, a book, or a new dress. She reminded us weekly, if not daily, how much she loved us. Throughout my growing years I wanted a cake baked by Mother to sit on the tiny footed cake plate she bought for me. It had to be decorated in pink letters made of sugar that said, "Happy Birthday Vivian." That plate is still as colorful as when the first cake sat there eighty years ago.<br />
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I married a man who rarely remembers dates of any kind. The few times he has and has produced a gift, I’ve been surprised. Early in our marriage I usually got a flower pot or something worth giving Goodwill. I decided I didn’t need any more flower pots so I insisted he not worry about my special date. Then he began taking me to dinner. That lasted three years. Here’s a man who, with each of three children born, gave the hospital nurse three different dates for my birthday. We had been married five, six and ten years at the time. The fact that he’s still living and talking to me every day is gift enough.</div>
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Sunday I’m turning 83 and I don’t care about a present. I need a hug and a vocal “Happy Birthday, love you”. I don’t mind if they add, “Old gal.” I’m excited to be my age and in decent good health. That is the best gift I could receive.</div>
Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-60394099304536109342015-08-23T11:30:00.001-04:002015-08-23T11:30:09.245-04:00RECOLLECTIONS & REFLECTIONS<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<b> In the last years of my life</b> I’ve had to make sacrifices. The material kind. Moving out precious memories in the forms of travel items, writing materials, cooking vessels — about anything I’ve accumulated in sixty years of marriage and eighty years of living</div>
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Today I spied a white box sitting in the living room. I intended checking the contents and discarding any and all within. Inside were the best annuals I’d collected from my own school and college attendances. Also were a number of yearbooks from the various school in which I’d taught. For the next hour I revisited those schools, remembering the students I either taught or with those I came in daily contact. I mulled over each photo on every page. I searched the faculty and could count most of them had passed. Only a few like me were still functioning. </div>
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Yearbooks are memories we want to cling to. High school was a remarkable experience. In her article “Why You Truly Never Leave High School,” published in New York Magazine (Jan. 20, 2013), Jennifer Senior makes these observations based on studies by sociologist, developmental neuroscientists and psychologists:</div>
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“Not everyone feels the sustained, melancholic presence of a high-school shadow self. There are some people who simply put in their four years, graduate, and that’s that. But for most of us adults,s the adolescent years occupy a privileged place in our memories, which, to some degree, is even quantifiable: Give a grown adult a series of random prompts and cues, and odds are he or she will recall a disproportionate number of memories from adolescence.”</div>
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Senior goes on to state the music sung and danced to as adolescents remains with us throughout life. Oh, I’m happy to know that music of the 1930s and 1940s I still enjoy listening to is okay. I can sing almost every line of every song written and performed over the radio. I’m okay, the writer says, since neuroscience has proven this.</div>
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To round out my family stories I searched Google for a list of 100 songs of the 1940s and spent time going through the list singing as many lines as possible. I thought printing that to include with my memoirs would tickle the readers who take my place in this world. </div>
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Who writes songs with titles like “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” Ac Cent Tchu Ate the Positive”, “Shoo, Shoo, Baby,” or “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy?” These songs covered all aspects of living. Also during WWII love songs and patriotic songs kept our spirits high.</div>
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So it is with the yearbooks I’ve kept from 1949 until 1994. They comprise pictures of life which swirled around me as I grew to became an adult. They comfort me, more than reunions with people I don’t recognize but once taught or shared a classroom. My hope is my descendants will hold onto these memories as a keepsake of what life was like in “the old days.”</div>
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Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-12515665621659856112015-07-21T18:05:00.005-04:002015-07-21T18:05:43.248-04:00Changing GearsOur house was built in 1968. Today inside has numerous spots that need improving: painting here, plugging holes there, repairing this and screwing that. To say our house is falling apart -- no. It's in need of a makeover. R is too weak to worry; I'm too weak to worry. What a spot we're in.<br />
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When we built the house we had two sons and one daughter living with us. We arranged the rooms to give the kids their own space with two exits to the back yard. Our area had none. We had to go into the living room, through the dining room to two exits. Perfect set up. We planned to live in this house forever --whatever that means. We didn't take out nursing home insurance nor life insurance. We planned our demise in this home with its now too large of a yard. One weekend our daughter and son-in-law visited us and announced, "We want to buy your house." Like manna from heaven, those words seemed.<br />
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We whipped out some plans. R and I had space to live in until we moved out. No big changes would occur unless we all agreed. A lawyer drew up the papers. Our daughter began her plans to move into the area she and her brothers once inhabited: two bedrooms and a bath. We'd have the same area we used: bath, study, bedroom. <br />
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However, we had the responsibility to pare down our belongings. You've had to do that also, haven't you? Loads of clothes, books, souvenirs from previous travel, collections of dishes --all disappeared within weeks. The most difficult goodbye was to dishes I'd collected from my mother's day, some she'd used. Nothing fancy. She bought them at the grocery store. Yes, even in the 1940s grocery stores offered dishes a piece at a time. Long before this time I had given away our orange juice glasses that once held jellies; my first set of dishes, picked out before our wedding; vases and pots picked up at some Indian post out west; all difficult to whisper "goodbye."<br />
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Several years ago I gave to oldest son the set of Lemoges china my parents bought directly from the factory in Paris on one of their last trips abroad. I was always afraid to use the pieces because if one broke there was no replacement, so I thought. A few years ago in a shop in New Orleans I watched as the clerk in a china shop unpack a set of the same pattern of Lemoges I owned. Their price for a set of six, with all serving dishes was $100. I was anxious to buy the set. I'd always have a replacement. However, the wise old man with me put his foot down.<br />
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I've not decided what to do with my crystal dishes. They are beautiful. They mostly are for serving. There are some dessert cups and small plates. Right now they are lined on every surface of my bedroom. In fact, the bedroom has everything I've no other place to store. We sleep surrounded by mountains of down comforters, precious books, high school and college yearbooks, boxes of snapshots taken over fifty years, and loads of memorabilia saved for genealogy. In short, our bedroom is a MESS. However, since we are asleep most of the time while there, we don't worry about moving anything --yet.<br />
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Separating oneself from precious collections is no easy feat. The easiest ones leave in boxes bound for Goodwill, the dearest ones sit quietly and unobserved until the pass-along fever hits. Not one to sit dripping from heat during a garage sale. In a few days I don't remember what I once owned.<br />
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In fact, this situation happened when my parents no longer could take of themselves. They moved in with us and said farewell to those ugly lamps, a collection of salt and pepper shakers, pots and pans, dishes, and Daddy's clock repair tools. Occasionally, one would say, "I can't find that book on the Civil War." and I'd remind that a it sold at a library sale. So now R and I are repeating their experience and everyone else's who've had to move and pare down.<br />
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This move is no different from the need of our having to change environments. What's important is to cooperate with our new owners, share in housework, eat what is served, and not worry about a dripping faucet, the failure to mow the yard, put out ant poison, or any of those natural responsibilities. As our daughter says often, "It's your turn to sit back and relax. We'll take over." <br />
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Truly a beautiful feeling.<br />
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<br />Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-52595769684663062782015-04-14T01:24:00.002-04:002015-04-14T01:24:46.857-04:00The Perils of Growing OlderFor years I've related to friends, doctors, dentists, nurses --practically everybody I've conversed with - that I'm planning to live to be 140 years old. I didn't announce this because I was attempting to equal or compete with the oldest man in the Old Testament; no, I needed a goal.<br />
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Yes, I saw those within my bragging circle grin slyly when I announced the high number. I knew the age was unattainable, that no way in this world I'd reach that goal. I felt enthused, full of life, until that day arrived when I turned eighty years old.<br />
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You don't look eighty, says the cashier at Walgreens, as she notices the anti-wrinkle cream I'm buying; Are you sixty? asked the movie ticket seller when I ask for the discount ticket; or former students from the 1970s and 1980s whose eyes turn the size of plates when we meet at a 60th reunion. I acknowledge I take after my mother who remained young looking.through her eighties.<br />
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The years following eighty seem to plow through my life like a runaway car with me in the back seat. There's this sniffle, that leg pain, this fatigue, that catch in my knee. Why, I ask myself, why is this happening to me?<br />
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I retired at age sixty. The first appointment I made was for an exam to understand how good or bad my body was behaving. I entered the waiting room of a new doctor and what did I see? Everybody over the age of ninety -- or so it seemed. I asked the Doc "Hey, I've never seen so many old bodies in one waiting room. What goes?" I went on to say "I thought when we reached retirement age we had a yellow brick road to skip down."<br />
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He smiled. "Every illness and pain you had as a child returns in your later life. Most of those folks out there can relate their troubles now to what a they suffered from as youths. I'll bet after our visit here you'll agree."<br />
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Later at home I dug deep into my mother's diary. Her words reminded me of the illnesses that plagued me since birth. Stomach problems heads the list. No local doctor could tell her why my stomach ached so often. Mother found through a friend of an Indian doctor south of town who could "cure" anyone. So we traveled to Magee to see this doctor from India. He wore his turban, which to my four-year-old eyes made him interesting, not scary. As I recall he turned off he lights in his exam room, sat opposite me on a stool. After a few questions he reached over and punched around on my stomach, saying "Does this hurt here? Here? Here?" I shook my head no.<br />
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As we drove home Mother said the Doc told her I had worms. Well, I did go barefoot often. I don't recall any medicine I had to take but to this day I know "worms" wasn't my problem. The term for my problem was not found until I was thirty years old. And it was in a magazine advertisement. Prior to that my internist of 20 years insisted I drink less milk. Milk was my favorite. drink, especially in milk shakes. But the advertisement claimed a new over the counter pill would solve disgruntled stomachs. Lactose. I sent the coupon in for a free trial, used it after that for many many years. Voila! I had been lactose intolerant since birth. <br />
<br />
Beginning with junior high school years I had aches in my joints. No MD seemed to know why. I'd never heard of arthritis in the 1940s, but a visit to an ophthalmologist one summer in NC where I was a camper, revealed his opinion that my weak eyes (I'd worn glasses since grade one) caused the aches. I took tons of pills which seem to ease the pain. The aches lasted through college and suddenly disappeared. At age 65 joint aches rejoined my seemingly healthy life.<br />
<br />
A point I want to make is that those of us who were born before medicine had a good foothold and prognoses depended on the Doc's education, most of us didn't know what we know what was w wrong with us unless it was heart trouble. As we age if the Doc doesn't tell you what is wrong with you, you'll find your answer your on Google!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-15416449706386413522015-01-13T12:12:00.001-05:002015-01-13T12:12:03.786-05:00Fleeting Invention Ideas<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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We had the greatest idea. Our imaginations ran wild. We’d
have tee shirts, buttons, flags with our logo. Logo. What could we use as an
identifying reminder of our idea?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The above conversation began after a birthday dinner in
which the family sat in an upscale restaurant (for our area it was “upscale”.).
The members turned to me and said, “Did you hear our conversations?” I replied “No,
but I got the gist of it.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Son 2 said he knew then how difficult it was for me to hear
(a) between walls (b ) in a crowded place (c) around corners (d) and everywhere
in which no one was facing me. So began the process of helping me enjoy family
get-togethers in the future with ideas flying left and right.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After figuring out what the logo would be, Son 2 went to
Google, “Just to be sure there’s not one already.” There was - - not just one
but variations of the standard logo for impaired hearing. We were disappointed
but happy. Disappointed we didn’t think of printing tees and buttons and signs
and whatever forty years ago when my hearing problem was in its infancy;
disappointed that we hadn’t learned the symbol wasn’t used more often in public;
disappointed that I had lost so much enjoyment in the myriad of table
conversations.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We found a company that printed anything you want on tees and
buttons. I ordered several buttons with nifty statements. From the logo alone
to a few words. Each button makes clear the message I need to convey when the
cashier babbles incoherently (I think) “Thatistwentythirtytwo.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe she’ll read on my lapel <b>“Speak a little
louder and more clearly.”</b>I won't have to ask for a repeat several times.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What would you as a hearing-impaired person choose to wear?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7PMaVDA4WB1kFgCWedO9ia82dP7ymIgSuEftLv39W_Os0xmIF5Bbw6SQS1-huyKxY4I1lfaFp-x7BnL1djRngpfEnQ0-T49IRP_Fy5TeD2-3p0VV3EJeBa9IlpaOGa0YGTqg/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7PMaVDA4WB1kFgCWedO9ia82dP7ymIgSuEftLv39W_Os0xmIF5Bbw6SQS1-huyKxY4I1lfaFp-x7BnL1djRngpfEnQ0-T49IRP_Fy5TeD2-3p0VV3EJeBa9IlpaOGa0YGTqg/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-74800830758624180272015-01-11T15:53:00.001-05:002015-01-11T15:53:56.371-05:00Making ChoicesToday's market of giving the customer his/her choice in whatever is offered, especially in restaurants, is becoming too much for an old lady who grew up taking what was offered. Take for example:<br />
<br />
I drop by a sandwich shop for a quick pick-up . I order a tuna melt -- do I want lettuce, tomato or not? wheat, rye or sourdough? I ask for iced tea -- do I want lemon or not? I add a cookie,-- do I want it in a bag or not? I pay for the order thinking that if I'd shaken my head si or no, I'd leave with a headache.<br />
<br />
However, if I were to buy a car, the scene would be about the same. Do I want a 4-door or a 2-door? Do I have a preference of make/model? Would I prefer a particular color? What about mileage? and the list goes on. The next time I purchase a car I'm going to hand the salesman a paper written with my preferences:<br />
<br />
<em>white, specialty wheels, gas saver. soft top, white or black, leather seats, stick shift, automatic windows, compass, bright interior lights (did I leave out something important?)</em><br />
<br />
A quick glance and if the salesman is a good one, can immediately inform me yes, no, or maybe. This time he makes the choice.<br />
<br />
Of course, life isn't that easy. Next time you go somewhere, check yourself how many times in one trip you have to make choices. Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-89014071497045866712015-01-11T15:50:00.002-05:002017-05-09T19:34:55.380-04:00I Know I'm Getting OlderOn two occasions when my husband and I wanted an item from a store, no clerk seemed to know what we were talking about.<br />
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R ran out of cotton handkerchiefs. He went to a large store, WM, found a clerk and asked, "Where are men's handkerchiefs?" The clerk looked into the air, apparently searching for an answer, then said, "I think you can find them in the bedding section."<br />
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Had handkerchiefs gone out of existence?<br />
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I ran into our popular McAllister's for two sandwiches one evening. I gave R's order, a tuna on rye; then I said "Let's see (thumbing through my mind of what I can eat, ignoring that fact and ordering anyway), " I'll have a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich on white." The youthful clerk wrinkled her brow and said, "I don't think we have those." The older clerk standing nearby said, "Hon, that's a BLT." "Oh," she smiled sheepishly and completed the order. I learned a lesson on keeping up on vocabulary changes.<br />
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R found his cotton handkerchiefs online. Six for $4. A steal. He didn't have to shop in person any more.<br />
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The kind of vocabulary I seem not to understand or use relates to the computer. After many hours spent with a tech online following instructions, I have to stop him and ask, "Now what is a router? Is it the big box connected to my screen?" or "Let me repeat your instruction so I understand: you want me to unplug the black cord from the big box and keep it off for 30 seconds. How fast can I count?"<br />
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I know I'm getting older.Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-82695350552673995212014-12-08T13:21:00.000-05:002014-12-08T13:21:54.597-05:00Remembering One FriendshipThis time of the year I receive a call from my friend G who lives in Texas. The other day I thought, "I'll surprise G with a call from here." Then I remembered: G died from cancer in the summer. I knew I should make the call to check on her husband, B. Their daughter answered to say that her dad had died a month after her mother of an aneurism. Gone, two special people.<br />
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I'd met G during classes in 1959 at Mexico City College in Mexico, D. F. There was a six-weeks session given in Spanish. She and I shared one grammar class and ate together for lunch. This was the only time we could speak English. She'd tell of living with a Mexican family and I'd share my living experience in a motel-like setting with a huge dog who only understood Spanish.<br />
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At the time she was a college student and I was married and expecting my first child. The ages didn't seem to matter. We shared the fun of learning.<br />
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When we separated we stayed in touch via letters: her graduation, her marriage, her children. Then emailing developed and we kept in touch more easily. We both continued to learn. We planned to have a reunion 25 years later at Mexico City College, which had changed its name and moved south of Mexico City. I couldn't spare the six weeks, a disappointment for me. She went alone and kept me up-to-date on her experience.<br />
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I saw her after that reunion-that-didn't happen, when our family traveled to Dallas on our way west for vacation; she in turn with her husband visited us years later on their way home from a conference. Then it was back to emails.<br />
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Her last contact with me was by telephone: "Vivian, I'm calling to let you know I'm dying. I don't have long to live. I want you to know how much I've appreciated your friendship." I found few words to reply, but I did with, "Are you OK with this situation?" She said she was surprised that she was. She worried about her husband who wasn't well.<br />
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She entered hospice and died a month later. Her husband called and that was the last time I heard his voice. <br />
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Dying is difficult on those who remain alive. I miss my dear friend.Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-7919767460564279192014-10-10T17:50:00.000-04:002017-05-14T18:14:06.522-04:00Autumn Photos<br />
One of my Facebook friends lives in Maine. She often posts landscape photos to emphasize what all her friends and relatives are missing. I admit the windows looking onto the front of our house peer at a quiet street and a wooded lot across the street. In the fall there is no exciting display of color from the tree leaves that curl up, fold up and drop. Even the tree branches cast a wicked look on dreary days. Here's one announcing fall:<br />
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Compare it with scenes of the season we spent in the Delaware area of New York.<br />
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Highway from Barryville to Narrowsburg<br />
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I'll never forget the fall colors of this lovely area of the world where the Delaware Recreational Area beckons visitors from the city to its environs. Living in the woods brought a satisfaction never before experienced.</div>
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Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-2917458862919892772014-09-18T14:54:00.002-04:002017-05-09T19:36:13.958-04:00Lying Down on the JobWe don't often have to buy necessities that have a 10-20 year warranty. Refrigerator, check; freezer, check; washing machine, check; dryer; microwave, check. Mattress??<br />
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Husband decided we needed a new mattress. The last one we bought was hardly five years old. When R decides to change a necessity he goes forward with such enthusiasm, then he fizzles within 24 hours.<br />
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He spends hours perusing a model, checking his copy of Consumer Digest, musing about the size, the ability to perform. And that goes for mattresses, also.<br />
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Everyone last Saturday who were shopping in the mattress department at a local store were serious enough to spend a lot of time lying down. One lady we met scrunched on a king-sizer, said she had been in the store every weekend lying on this and that mattress. She was determined to make a decision that afternoon. Every time we looked around she was splayed on another mattress. She had fibromyralgia, and it was important to her to get the right "feel" for her muscles. She was so educated on the type we were interested in, her testimony was as good as any salesman. This type was the all foam modeled after those developed by NASA.<br />
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Then R lay down on the first mattress guided by the sales clerk. He lay this way and that way, on his stomach, on his back. I lay down on my back and declared, "Not for me!" I was giving him the prerogative to choose which softness or firmness was best. I figured I could adjust with a board under my side. After several hours and the impending store closure, we left without a decision.<br />
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As I waited for R to decide, I glanced around the mattress area to fill my time. Sure enough, there were many couples and families lying around. I thought I'd snap their pictures and put a few on this blog. You'll notice how they choose to lie.<br />
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This is the lady who spent weeks resting on this mattress to be sure her money and body would benefit her choice.</div>
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This couple spent only awhile resting without coming to a decision</div>
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Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-53663486665859723822014-09-06T13:35:00.000-04:002014-09-16T12:30:51.844-04:00Birthdays Come and Go Without FanfareYou don't see many photographs in the newspaper these days of the celebration of a birthday, unless the celebrated one is 100 years old. We can't imagine ourselves getting to that point in life where someone else takes care of us and all we do is sit and watch TV. Too weak and weary. Enjoying fewer interests. Sitting and sleeping.<br />
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I have reminded my dentist, doctor, and opthlamologist that I plan to live to be 140 years old. They will have to resist retiring because I don't want new doctors at my age. I turned over the birthday leaves 82 times now. Do I want to be weak and weary, enjoying few interests, sit and watch TV all day? Absolutely not. I have chosen 140 as a far-reaching goal in which to keep myself healthy, learning, participating, and keeping in touch with my friends. I refuse to say "I'm ready for the Lord to take me."<br />
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My birthdays are spent being remembered by a few close friends who continue to send cards I cherish and my children finding something hand-made or a book to read. I now own a lovely hand-made frame holding a relaxed family in our front yard. No perfume, no night out on the town, no elaborate gifts of any sort.<br />
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Because I was reared in a frugal household, Mother always saw my sister and I had a new dress, or shoes, or socks. We didn't ask for expensive items. However, Mother's job as backstage manager for Merrill, Lynch Stockbrokers allowed her to earn a good salary when we were teens, She gave us small gifts we called "happies." When the Disney movie was shown in the theaters, one of the songs had a line, "We wish you a very happy unbirthday, to you, to you". And we began to call those happies, our unbirthday gifts.<br />
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I don't want to be 110 before I pass on. I won't be able to accomplish what I'm doing now. I'll find some reason to sit in a comfy chair and read or watch a movie on some new-fangled electronics, which I will try to understand the mechanics. No one will call me because I'll be so deaf I'll have to have a chalk board hanging around my neck for communication. I won't be able to eat out with friends because I'll be drinking only Ensure. The kids won't be able to stay around me long.<br />
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I've painted a dark side of my later life. There will be no dark side. I have too many friends and sweet-loving kids to help me avoid being nothing but bright.Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-67075095967695924512014-08-12T19:19:00.003-04:002014-08-12T19:19:38.415-04:00End of Summer ThoughtsI wasted, so I thought, the summer with little advancement in my writing. For years I've had stored in the computer two creative nonfiction stories written multiple times, attempting to find the best lede. Opening the story with an illustrious picture of words seemed to escape me. During the early summer I read of a contest in Alabama. Figuring few readers or judges had ever heard of the topic of my CNF, I took one more look at the first paragraph of one story and decided this was the last time I would rewrite it. Sitting only a few minutes I remembered the words of Rick Bragg a few years ago . "Make your opening so your reader wants to keep reading." Of course, many other writers have said the same thing, but I've not <i>heard </i>their <i>words.</i><br />
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Typing as fast as I could with the words jumping around in my head I got the opening lines finished. Printed the 1500 word story and mailed in a recollection of my six-month stay at a state preventorium. What is a<i> preventorium</i>? A place like an orphanage or a boarding school especially for children who may or may not have TB. I was sooooo skinny with little appetite, always a sickly brat, the utlimate place, my parents thought, was a stay with other kids who needed special attention. I returned home six months later before my eighth birthday. No one in the family talked about my time there and I pushed the experience into the recesses of my mind. Only after I was married did I reveal what I thought was a terrible experience.<br />
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However, to view the time spent there with my today's mind, I realize I had a little paradise. I couldn't appreciate it because I wanted to be home with my parents and new sister. Eight years ago I began to write what I remembered. Then a FaceBook site appeared and I read about other little patients and how they coped with the loneliness. The height of this early summer was to be reunited with some of these patients. They are grown men and women who felt as I had, the necessity of keeping the "P" a secret. By exchanging memories I realized how different my recollection was from theirs. I was at the preventorium in 1940; they arrived anywhere from 1950-1960. We cruised the grounds, saw some similarities of the now buildings to the then ones.Thoughts came tumbling.<br />
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My entry into the contest didn't include a lot of what I learned about others' memories, but I received the support I needed to let the public, however large or small it be, know there had been a place in central Mississippi, as well as many around the United States helping kids..<br />
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A creative nonfiction is taking facts and surrounding them with your story. I explained how TB was detected in 1940, the purpose of the sanitorium for adults and the preventorium for children, the daily routine developed for us kids, and the attention the workers gave to us. We lived on a large campus and were supplied with all we needed.<br />
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My story entitled, "A Secret Place" will be published in the Alabama Writers Conclave emagazine AlaLit sometime next year. I'm proud not only of winning first place (a certificate and $100) but of having the opportunity to get the story in print so others can learn of the scourge of tuberculosis and how the state played a part in stamping out the disease.<br />
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Oddly, I read online the information from the Mississippi Department of Health that not a single child living in the Preventorium were ever found to have tuberculosis. Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-38129198893852673512014-07-30T21:27:00.003-04:002014-07-30T21:27:25.912-04:00A Brief Moment from WritingAs most writers know, there is a lull in writing when nothing comes from the brain to the fingers. Some call it "writer's block." I call it, "being tired". I had about lost the incentive to stick with my family story writing for posterity. Posterity in my family means a "possible look into that green book Mother left for us." Most writers, as most parents know, when children become adults they aren't the least interested in what you're doing. You can say, "Look at this picture I painted." They'll glance and say, "Uh huh." When I tell them I'm collecting stories about my life I hear, "Uh, huh."<br />
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I've spent the last few months collecting facts and stories about the Newkirk clan, the ancestors of my husband. A tough job that began as a Christmas gift to my three adult children. One morning reading through my mail, I spied a writing contest to be held by the Alabama Writers Conclave and I entered the creative nonfiction section. Creative nonfiction is the act of building a story around facts. I had been writing two stories many times over (the editing process) working to get the words just right. Finally, I felt I was ready for story #1 to go to the contest. It is about the creation of the Preventorium for children located at Magee MS in the 1930s and 1940s(closed in early 1960) I was a patient there because I was undernourished. Looking at old pictures we kids all had the same knotty knees and skinny frames. None of us had TB, as adult patients had at the Sanatorium located nearby. It is an interesting story, one I didn't mention for many years. Still today, few people I mention the story to have ever known the excellent job the Mississippi State Health Dept did for us kids.The story will appear later in the emagazine ,AlaLit, magazine of the Writers Conclave.<br />
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When I received notice I had won one of four prizes in my category, I told my family ( who for once sat up at attention and stayed alert until Sat night the 12 of July.) The family told me to text what place as soon as I could. I did manage to their delight.<br />
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The announcement surprised me and gave me hope that I could keep plugging away. When my name was called I halfway raised from my seat (I was on the front row with other winners) and raised my arms as if to say "Praise the Lord!" I won $100. I've been writing for 20 years. However, I've had other stories published in the Quarterly of the Gulf Coast Writers group.<br />
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I have been collecting family stories of my relatives and ancestors. What a job. I have a list of projects to complete before dying, and I wonder if I can make it through the points.<br />
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In the last week I've reworked a short story to enter and another creative nonfiction I hope will make it to the Honorable Mention. I only know how to write true stories, so the fiction may be a bit silly.<br />
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I apologize to my few readers for my absence. Below you see my sister and I celebrating after the win.<br />
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<br />Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-39917283285964185062014-02-17T00:30:00.002-05:002014-02-22T16:54:28.272-05:00Traditions I IgnoreTwo traditions I dislike attending: funerals and marriages. They are cookie-cutter ceremonies. The worst part of funerals is listening to a minister who probably has more attendees standing in the hot sun or hovering together to keep warm or huddling under the tent or personal umbrellas. No matter the raw circumstances the attendees face, the minister sees the group, and decides to preach the sermon of his life. Not only has he already said enough inside the church or home, but also he feels he has to continue under the tent as we look at a box hovering above an abyss.<br />
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How can one be sympathetic/empathetic for the family of a lost one when tradition overshadows the life of the deceased? If you think about the whole situation, more emphasis is given to a few remarks given by friends and family (some truly informative and funny) a few sad hymns, and then marching out of the sanctuary, getting into your car and forming a line to the cemetery. The bill for the casket and funeral that comes later in the mail takes the family's breath away. Or a quickly written check that could feed a few homeless men is given with smiles.<br />
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Or, if there are cremains or a closed casket, guests are ushered into a community room to feast on something simple like coffee or punch and a brownie. Someone later remarks on the frugality of such simple fare. If the group is large, you walk into a room filled with six or more tables laden with food that easily will feed more than the thousands Jesus did when he broke a loaf of bread.<br />
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And feast the attendees do. You'd think they skipped a meal and planned to save buying lunch or dinner.They load their small plates overflowing. Try eating from a small paper plate lying in one hand, drinking punch or wine with the other that also holds a fork or a large chip and you're bound to have a few disasters. These attendees go home talking about the variety of food -- the deceased is given a "poor soul" remark on the way home.<br />
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Marriage ceremonies are similar. Why does nearly every woman want the "dress of her dreams" that cost Daddy a bundle, plus all the ornamentation that goes with the ceremony and the entertainment and food that a family feels it must display for the attendees to prove their financial status. <br />
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You know families like this. Have a funeral or a wedding the way others have in order to "keep up with the Joneses" or to prove something deeper. I admire the couple you read about in the paper who had a simple wedding whose family and friends know the couple is as married as another couple who left the country club an hour before. I understand personal weddings and funerals are being introduced these days. Hurrah!<br />
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I'm sick of the television series "Say Yes to the Dress". To pay thousands of dollars for the "perfect" dress worn once that previously the act of choosing caused tears and anger among family members who supposedly were to support the bride-to-be, then the bride has to choose all the ornaments and food and china and crystal and flowers, etc. Marriage takes four people and a minister.<br />
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Then there is the process of burying a loved one in the finest mahogany casket lined in satin that sets the families back thousands of dollars they may have to take out a bank loan to repay--all the time knowing that time under dirt will disintegrate the box and its contents. How this reveals a lack of sense, a refusal to think outside the box in order to avoid ridicule and stress figuring which casket will honor a dead person who doesn't care one flip what he's put away in. Or the choice was made by the funeral home who pressured the family to "remember your loved one in the finest way."<br />
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Rarely do I attend a funeral and if I am hungry I'll attend a wedding. Otherwise, I'll stay at home and write a proper note.Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-754000293507075102014-01-07T15:49:00.000-05:002014-01-07T15:49:14.696-05:00A Few Weeks Have Passedsince I ranted and raved about celebrating holidays. Regardless of how I felt, the celebration continued. I'm not one to avoid celebrating the time to remember why this is set aside, but the pressure of a lot of activity in the house at my advancing age is a bit much.<br />
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Thank you for the comment "dkzody" for agreeing with me. You mentioning "curmudgeon" gave me a moment to reflect. I always associated that term with professors who couldn't keep up with their students. However, I did feel it a proper description for me. <br />
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I have a lot of projects in the works as a writer. I'm editing manuscripts of two friends, attempting to write stories about my past experiences, and a short account about my maternal grandmother whom I knew a short time. Perhaps the need to do that pushed me over the edge. I'm one of those people who has to be busy, knows when its time to stop and read a good book, work Scrabble on Kindle, or see the latest movie. I'm like my dad. I declared he'd die behind the lawn mower one summer day. He didn't. I figure I'll pass away in front of the computer trying to finish something. <br />
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I don't make resolutions any more. I make "reminders". They are usually posted on the wall near the computer and stay there until the stickiness disappears. A quick check to see if I've accomplished something mentioned and then into the trash can.<br />
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Another project in the works is a blog of my family stories. My free library class in "Mining your Memories--Writing Family Stories" has gone well. I've a notebook full of experiences of the past and present that my adult kids (tell me there's a better term) might take a minute to read. Also it is a means of letting my class know that although I'm not a perfect writer, I'm recording in the most interesting way the funny and the serious of my years on earth. I'm anxious for everyone to write stories, not so much from beginning to present, but little experiences of several lines to several pages to leave for your descendants. Progress has already warned us that what we do, say, believe, enjoy, hate will change drastically in the next 20 years and we should record stories for someone in our family to enjoy.<br />
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May the coming days and months bring blessings/goodwill to all of you.<br />
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<br />Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14752820.post-55019608743589010552013-12-24T19:36:00.000-05:002013-12-24T19:36:08.273-05:00Bye, Bye Holidays
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This year was hectic. Illness prevailed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gifts purchased with little thought. The
“real looking” tree remained in its box. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, to confess to all, there’s no desire to
celebrate holidays. Two out of four weekends in the month of each year my
family of husband, daughter and two sons, one grandson, a daughter-in-law, and
a mother-in-law have eaten together or gathered in one room to visit. Now it’s
time to celebrate “together” again. Wasn’t it last week we ate pasta together?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Can’t I have Christmas<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> my</i> way? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Son 2 here
this year, the evening <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of the 24<sup>th</sup>
begins the magic: sitting in front of fire drinking hot apple cider, nibbling
cheese on fancy crackers, and snuggling with pets Ace, Deuce, and Scratch. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laughing at the funny events of Christmases
past. Reviewing old snapshots, laughing at the hair styles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the night wanes we’re relaxed. Then to bed
to arising Christmas morning at our own time, teasing with the few gifts
remaining under the tree, finishing off the cider, selecting a rum muffin, a
boiled egg and returning to the fireplace. The afternoon is spent having
friends and family share a glass or cup and catch up on each of our lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Son 1 and his family live nearby and have their
customs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We shared their customs for
several years. Who can say which side of the family has better celebrations? They
wish to include us gathering on Christmas Eve for a great meal, watching the grandson
open his gifts early the next morning, having a light breakfast, leaving around
noon to return to a family house a few hours later for a festive meal is eye-appealing and too much to digest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How often we’ve reminded Son 1 with his family he has his customs, we
have ours. He wants both but has to make a choice. How many other sons and
daughters have wrestled with where to go on Christmas? I don’t want to be a
part of that decision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Blame this on age. Younger folks do not understand how
aging begins to rob us of the ordinary. We must refocus on new conditions that
we can handle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Age has lessened the excitement of riding around the
neighborhood looking at the holiday lighted decorations. Age has tired me of p
& b sandwiches. Age has frozen my need to create a meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Age has eliminated the act of rising before
six a.m. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worst of all, age has
interfered with my typing. My fingers like to wander to other keys than the
ones I prefer to tap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I didn’t know age would insist I nap more
frequently, have an empty pantry of hostess delectibles, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>take away my social life, suck energy from my
body, or allow me to ignore the messy living room that could never be on the cover of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Architectual Digest</i>. Traditions and
obligations have become stressful with age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How difficult <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it is to maintain
an outward appearance of enjoyment with a pain pulling here and there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After 30 years of meeting work schedules, husband R
and I want to live each day the way we choose: sleep late, eat when and what we
enjoy, and wear our robes all day, if we so desire.</span></div>
Vivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02918893592905183874noreply@blogger.com1