“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” That’s one line from an old song written in 1970. And like a lot of songs, it’s the only line I remember.
This one line brings one person in particular to my mind. My mother.
Category Inspirational
sometimes thought-provoking. occasionally wise. always simple
Simple gifts and two remarkable women
Yesterday I took myself out for a little Christmas shopping. The Friday before Christmas. I just had one last person to buy for, but he’s an important one. Yes. The husband.
Continue reading!Looking through windows
Recently I read a story that pulled the curtains back from a window into the life of a mom and her difficulties with her young son. His behavior is so poor that kids avoid him. Classmates say their parents forbid them from playing with him anymore. He comes home from school and says he was told he is “bad.” He has been removed from that kindergarten now. His mom and dad are struggling to help him.
Click to Read moreVolume off. Love loud.
His name was Charlie and his wife was Myrna. Charlie worked with my dad for the county road maintenance department.
Charlie and Myrna were deaf. Myrna was profoundly deaf and couldn’t verbalize much more than grunting type noises. Charlie was equally deaf but not totally mute. Plus he read lips fairly well. He gave serious attempts to communicate verbally and sometimes he was successful. If he became irritated enough the words “chicken shit” left his lips quite clearly. And without fail if you asked “How are you?”, he would say loudly “Old man 95” and start walking all bent over to fully answer the question.
Continue reading “Volume off. Love loud.”Where do you dwell?
Our first….home?…. I use that term loosely, was a tiny apartment that was part of a four-plex of red brick apartments. The location was in the armpit of Wichita. Not far from the hospital where I went to school. And the most deciding factor for living there? It was cheap. We were poor. Continue reading “Where do you dwell?”
The beauty of enough
How well I recall the day I learned my family was poor. The news didn’t come from my parents. I often heard them having lively conversations about finances early in the morning while they were eating breakfast. While I was exercising my sloth-like tendency to sleep late. I heard them, but it was never serious enough to fully awaken me.
No, reality hit one day in the third floor library of the junior high building in my hometown. Probably my eighth grade year, during study hall. Continue reading “The beauty of enough”
One Word. Two Words. Three Words.
One of my favorite Christmas gifts ever was from my sister Lois. I was eight or nine years old, she was 16 years older than me and, in my little girl eyes, quite wealthy. She was a Medical Technologist and worked in a hospital laboratory in a big old hospital. 😜💲💲💲 What was this magnificent gift, you ask? A Scrabble board game. I was ecstatic. Seriously!!
Continue reading “One Word. Two Words. Three Words.”Hmmmm. Did not expect this.
A couple months into this new experience. Hearing aids.
My goal was better hearing. Being able to be more “present” in conversations instead of constantly thinking to myself “what did they say?”.
Mission accomplished. I love them.
There has been, however, one result that I didn’t expect. I can hear myself better. Continue reading “Hmmmm. Did not expect this.”
Lullaby voice. Just see what happens.
The year was 2006, the month was March. I’d been longing to be a grandma for oh so long. Prayers were prayed, decisions were made to adopt, and we traveled to Guatemala with our daughter and son-in-love and Grandma Cindy to meet the baby who would be our very first grandchild.
We met him, we held him, we watched him react with his new mommy and daddy. And we fell in love. My grandma heart was fully activated. Continue reading “Lullaby voice. Just see what happens.”
The Man.
Every now and then I’ll be doing something and a long-forgotten memory floods my mind. You, too? Often, it’s something I’d just as well leave forgotten. You, too?
But sometimes, a memory takes me back to an experience that was fun and so worth remembering. A memory that wraps around me like a warm hug. Such a good feeling. Continue reading “The Man.”
For Real
“Wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door.” Words from an old Beatles song. I’m old enough to have listened to it when it first came out many, many, many years ago. About the same time I started wearing makeup. About the same time teenage acne made its unwelcome appearance on my young face. About the same time my confidence and self image plummeted. The face in the jar by the door became my routine, my shield against insecurity. I really never used very much makeup, honestly just enough to feel comfortable with the girl in the mirror. Not always a successful endeavor. Continue reading “For Real”
Where seldom is heard… an encouraging word
The dentist office has historically been a very unlikely place for me to receive words of encouragement. My oral cavity has been the location of a lot of drilling and bridgework and excavation…. seriously there should be tiny little orange cones in my mouth most any day of the week. Always a work zone of some sort.
Continue reading “Where seldom is heard… an encouraging word”The fluff of stuff. And the power of a photograph.
A few months ago I was in my mom-in-law’s house with her. My eye caught sight of a vase I’d not seen before and I said, “Wow, that is gorgeous. I love it!”. To which she immediately and without hesitation emphatically said, “Take it. It’s yours. I do not need all this stuff.” And she waved her hands around the room.
So, I took it home. Continue reading “The fluff of stuff. And the power of a photograph.”
The worst everything.
Thanksgiving. Time to make the list. The “what I’m thankful for” list.
You know the drill. Most lists have the same items on them year after year no matter who is writing the list. “My family. My friends. Food. Shelter…”
Gratitude is a good habit to practice. One time several years ago I sat down and quickly wrote 100 things I was thankful for. All the wonderful good things in my life I could think of. It was good medicine for my attitude and kept me happy for, oh, maybe 10-20 hours. Continue reading “The worst everything.”
Subliminal learning. The beauty of failure.
For the first twelve years of my education I attended the same school system. Tiny little town, tiny little school, tiny little class sizes. There wasn’t much mobility in family life back then, so for the most part the class members in Kindergarten went through all 12 years together and graduated high school together. Continue reading “Subliminal learning. The beauty of failure.”
All we know.
Don’t you love looking at a baby’s face for the first time? Looking into eyes that stare back at you like “What in the world is that thing? Put me back, please”
Prior to this newborn moment, baby was a well thought-out design of God. Being formed in His image as God picked out hair color, eye color, size and shape…. fearfully and wonderfully thought out and created with love as the main ingredient. And those months in the warm womb were a blissful time of just baby and God. And mommy, of course. But I believe God knows baby long before Mommy does. Continue reading “All we know.”
Young. And Old. And Future.
Sixty three years ago on this day, my 15 year old sister loaded up my pregnant mom and my two other sisters in our old car and drove to the hospital 25 miles from home. My sister’s skills included driving a tractor and she could drive a car, too. Dad was working, driving a road maintainer for the county. Probably far out in the country on a dirt road and there weren’t cell phones in that day. He was probably clueless that the whole hospital thing was happening. I don’t think I was quite due to be born yet. The first and last time I was early for anything. Continue reading “Young. And Old. And Future.”
To Hear Him Sing
Music. It’s really everywhere around us. Radio. You tube. Movies aren’t movies unless there is a soundtrack. TV advertisements couldn’t exist without a catchy tune. Elevators, subway stations, restaurants….. we are surrounded with song. Continue reading “To Hear Him Sing”
Remedies and Remedy
Did your mom have her list of go-to remedies for every malady you might experience? I’m thinking your answer is probably “yes”. My mom sure did.
Milk of Magnesia would cure everything. Tummy ache? Take some milk of magnesia. Tired and worn out? Take some milk of magnesia. Ingrown toenail? Same remedy….. well yeah that might be an exaggeration. Continue reading “Remedies and Remedy”
Passing time and snapping fingers
Her name was Elnora Christina Borgen Reed… Nora was her common name. I didn’t know her, but she knew me. For the first six months of my life I believe she may have held me, maybe sang to me, definitely prayed for me. They were the last six months of her life. Continue reading “Passing time and snapping fingers”
Simply B 