So far away

I'm in the northern yellow, Mary is in the green

Living 12,000 miles away from my daughter sometimes hurts so bad that my shoulders droop and my heart breaks.  So far away, I am not there to teach her many things that my mother taught me: history of Mom’s adventures, stories from my childhood, how to make a pie—and, not there to rock her little boy and sing him songs my mother sang to me.

So we watch that little boy Benjamin play, talk, cry, and grow up over the computer and hear how our daughter Mary is doing in Switzerland.  

Recently she stepped in a pothole while crossing the street, fell and twisted her ankle.  Benjamin looked down at her right next to him, still holding his hand.  He moved so he could sit on her lap and pat her shoulder, and hug her.  It’s alright, Mummy.  It’s alright.

Facebook is good as a tool to see what they are doing.  Richard, Mary, and Benjamin went to a petting zoo recently, where the goats received more than they deserved, bags of goat feed to buy; those goats were well padded.  He patted their furry goat butts, and gave them all the love and smiles that weren’t mine.

To be so very far away and watch a two year old become a three year old is a year he grew up and I grew older. 

Dang it.

Life is too short to....

Source:drifkidz

When I was in college, my dorm was the oldest on campus.  It had four floors, including the basement.  I was on the top third floor and was in great shape traveling up and down the 6 flights of stairs.  Good times.

But, the most interesting floor was the basement.  At least, the most interesting girls lived there, and their activities were legend.  But, I won’t go into that; it was the late ‘60s, early ‘70s and college life seemed to float above the ground in certain dorms.

One thing this group did was recycle tea bags.  They stapled the tea bag onto the low ceilings, so that when one made tea, one could go about the room and lift the mug to the next waiting tea bag.  Ah, the stuff of legend.

Which leads me to the essence of this post:  Life is too short to reuse tea bags.

Then a list of my own emerged.  Life is too short to:

·         buy cheap shoes

·         wear cheap shoes

·         order the least expensive thing on the menu

·         delay a dream

·         ignore your children because you have ‘work to do’

·         stand in line when you are so tired you can barely stand

·         hold back when you should give all (think on that one—it will mean something different to each reader)

·         nurse a grudge

·         hurry by something when you should stop and enjoy it

·         not eat ice cream

·         keep silent when you should shout

·         doubt/belittle/blame yourself

What would you add to this list?  Do you have a list of your own?

Source:fluteislife

G is for Grandma

Few words exist that still manage to stir up deep emotional responses.  Think about it…

Yorkie puppy, darn cute

Babies of any species (especially puppies)…the image of trust, warmth, softness wake up even hardened hearts.

All photos courtesy of Bing.com

Bailey's Irish Cream Ice Cream

 Ice cream…oh, yes. 

1965 Mustang convertible, cherry red, mint condition…wipe the drool before you need a bib.

And, then there is my personal favorite word:

Grandma…Grandmother…Nana…Abuela…Granny…Gran…Grand-mère…Grootmoeder…Isoäiti…Großmutter …Bestemor…nonna…名詞... Avó…

My daughter and her husband came by to visit one evening.  After a few minutes of awkward conversation, she gave me two gifts.  I opened the first one; it was a book, Grandma’s Favorite Stories.  The second gift was a bib that said “I love Grandpa!”

I started sobbing and hugging everyone.  My husband looked at the book and bib in confusion, and said, “What?  What’s going on?”  My daughter explained it to him, slowly.  Then he chuckled and hugged her.

Grandmothers are the glue of the family, whether they realize it or not.  They are responsible for passing on the family legends, knowledge, recipes, etc.  They pick up the slack when parents seem to miss what to do next.  Grandmas have open arms, warm hearts, and want to listen to everything their grandchildren say.

Well, at least, I do.  My grandmothers did.  

What about you?  What did you think when you read the word “Grandma”? 

Where would I live?

Blarney Castle

 Where would I live?  I mean, any place in the world, in any house?

“California ranch-style home” really means small rooms with a narrow hall, small closets, small bathrooms, and small lawn. 

In some closely built homes, neighbors can shake hands through the facing windows.

Where would I like to live?  How about these places:

How about this place in Portugal?

It's all water under a bridge....

I can see clearly now...

Drainage looks good, but on a slippery slope.

Writer's place

Short-term capital gain?

For those stuck between two worlds...

Kinda rustic, but...we'll take it!

There are more of these houses on this amazing crazy site.  The original source site is no longer fuctioning.

Most of these photos are from a friend; I hope I did not step on copy-righting toes in using them.

Lists of Happy Thoughts

The past year has been hard for my family. Over the past 15 years, we lost two brothers, our father, and now our mother. The rural area that had been ‘home’ for generations dating back to the 1820s, now has no ties for us. When our mother died in April 2011, there went the last reason to return to the farmlands and small towns. Most probably, we would never again drive down those country roads we once knew so very well.

All this made me realize how truly wonderful life is in general, and my life in particular. The things and events that have made me stop and reflect have been small in the large scale of life, but significant. This list may not make sense to anyone but me, but here goes:

1. The smell of angel food cake baking.

2. The sound of a violin solo and getting goose bumps

3. The jasmine blooms winding over the front door

4. Holding hands with my husband in a dark movie theater

5. Churning homemade ice cream under a maple tree on a hot summer day

6. That first cup of coffee (or tea) in the morning

7. Holding a baby

8. Walking on the beach with the tide washing over my feet

9. Watching a smiling young couple pushing a baby stroller

10. Writing anything

11. Singing the “Hallelujah Chorus”

12. Reading poetry aloud in an empty house

This is my list.

Do you have a list? What would be on that list?