Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

What a day yesterday was …a combination of interstate highways and “Old State (back) Roads” amid thunder showers to and from Columbia. Brooke and I had a ball!

We arrived at Jackson’s home in Columbia just as the physical therapist, David, was leaving…(cute) and he bragged on Jackson and all her progress to date… to us. We could see the progress since Jackson was walking alone…with no help from crutches, canes, or walkers. You are amazing Jackson…three weeks after replacement knee surgery and you are up and walking around by yourself!

Em, Jackson’s sister, has been there through thick and thin…a wonderful helper and aide to Jackson…besides great company! She also has a wonderful sense of humor as you can see in the following gifts we each got from her.

I came straight home and proudly hung mine from the oven handle.

And here is the Dynamic Duo of Jackson and her sister, Em!

Brooke and I had planned on picking up lunch and bringing it to Jackson and Em but no doing…they were ready to go out to eat. Jackson was just full of surprises! We had a terrific time catching up with lots of laughter.

We have talked a lot about our “Happy Places”  and how important it is to have such a niche in our life…a place to go to and think, mediate, pray, or just enjoy the beauty of life around us. My computer room is my happy place for my creativity and the garden is my happy place for sanctuary.

Em told me that Jackson’s sanctuary and “happy place” is her deck outside filled with beautiful flowers.

Brooke and I had noticed on the way up to Columbia that the traffic was really heavy at times and we realized with this being the Friday before the Fourth of July holiday that it was people trying to get a jump  on the holiday before the late Friday afternoon traffic. We decided we would have to keep the visit a little shorter than planned to start back before it got any worse. (That didn’t happen exactly…)

We had arrived in Columbia in a thunderstorm but left with the sun shining…however ten miles away we started hitting thunder storm after thunder storm with traffic on I-26 completely bogged down.

Brooke decided our best bet was to get off the interstate and get on Highway 176…or “Old State Road”…a back road that runs parallel to the interstate. We got off at St. Matthews and started driving to the first small town…Cameron. It was still drizzling..but not pouring and the scenery was beautiful! The farm houses and crop fields glistened in the falling rain…with the crops beautiful shades of green.

I became nostalgic looking at the architectural designs on the old farm houses that brought back memories of my childhood in Laurens, South Carolina. Brooke found a station that played sixties music and suddenly we were back in college.

We knew all the lyrics and sang loudly…( for me…off-key.) As we sang “Hang on Snoopy“, “Red Rubber Ball” “The Tracks of my Tears,” and “See you in September” we were passing over little creek bridges by names like “Flea Bite Creek.” There was little or no traffic…just the comforting sound of pattering rain against the windows.

This “magical” back road abruptly dropped us right off onto I-95 and we were right back on the “parking lot” interstate again. We crept and crawled until we saw the Walterboro exit and then we knew we had made it.

 I love Brooke’s rustic palmetto tree and crescent moon on her house…I gathered up everything from Brooke’s car and moved it into my car for the last leg back home to Summerville…but Brooke had one more surprise.

“The Traveling Pocketbook“! Em gave the Ya’s each a Spartina clutch bag at Jackson’s son, Matthew’s wedding. I love mine and carry it everywhere! Then Brooke’s daughter-in-law, Veronica, received the larger matching pocketbook as a gift, but she had just gotten a new summer bag, so she gave it to Brooke, who she knew had a matching clutch purse, but then Jackson and I gave Libby and Brookie Spartina pocketbooks for their birthdays in June. So…Brooke gave me her pocketbook and I am thrilled! Thank you Brookie…so glad it ended up with me at the end of its journey!

As if this day wasn’t spectacular enough…as I left Walterboro to start the last leg of the journey home… amid more heavy thunderstorms…look what I glimpsed inside one dark cloud. What a way to end the day! A pastel rainbow!

So until tomorrow…

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Don’t forget! Today is the first day of July! Remember to say “Rabbit” for good measure and good mojo all month!

Dear Reader:

John and Mandy have had Eva Cate participating in several mini-day camps to keep her busy and having fun this summer. Most of these are put on by the “Rec” Center in Mt. Pleasant. But Mandy also signed her up for a four-day cheer-leading camp put on by the Jr. Varsity and Varsity Wando High School cheerleaders…a fundraiser for their own camps and programs this upcoming school year.

It concluded yesterday with a parents’ invitation to watch their children exhibit their new cheer-leading skills. Eva Cate asked if I would come see her. So John, Mandy, and I cheered Eva Cate on to victory as she cheered her little heart out.

They were broken down into age groups from 4-11….Eva Cate was in the 7 year-old group (about 25 in each group) I think this “Fund-Raiser” was quite successful. Actually they had done a marvelous job with these little girls in a four-day period. It was very organized and the program was over in half an hour. Considering the number of participants it was nothing short of a miracle.

Yesterday morning…Eva Cate was excited and nervous at the same time…since she was one of the tiniest in her age group…she was on top of one of the pyramids…which she accomplished quite well…standing tall and waving to everyone.

One of Eva Cate’s outfits for the Princess Theme was wearing her Minnie Mouse ears along with her Minnie Mouse t-shirt that said “Who Needs a Crown When You Have a Bow.” (Mandy and I took her to Wild Wings, as a surprise for her successful cheer-leading camp.)

While eating, I found myself staring at the saying on Eva Cate’s t-shirt and I thought to myself…”Who DOES need a crown when you have a bow?”

I still have dreams and goals, myself, and like Minnie they aren’t about gold or riches but my goals fall in the time-and hug categories. I just want more time to hug and kiss my children and grand-children. Every day that I wake up is so glorious that I might as well be wearing a crown.

I told Eva Cate that I was a Junior Varsity Basketball Cheerleader when I was in high school and when I heard my name called out over the intercon I thought my heart would explode. (A little girl’s dream come true. I wasn’t as interested in cheering necessarily as much as getting my “Letter Sweater.”)

Eva Cate started giggling and asked what a “Letter Sweater” was…so when I got home yesterday…I pulled it out of the closet…mothball holes and all, smiled at the fond memories and took a picture of it for posterity. *And I might add…I have gotten the ‘last laugh’…letter sweaters are making a come-back…as seen in this advertisement:

What’s old has become new again—classic, school letter sweaters are back! Neff’s throwback letter sweaters allow students to proudly display their hard earned chenille letters and patches while providing a lightweight alternative to a traditional wool or softshell jacket. 

(I am upper left) Still had braces so never smiled showing my teeth…until they were finally taken off right before my senior picture!)

So until tomorrow…

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Brooke and I are off to Columbia to see Jackson today…as many of you know she just recently had knee replacement surgery…and we need to “lay our eyes on her” to make sure she is really okay! Will fill you in tomorrow!

Dear Reader:

I have watched so many Hallmark movies I can almost tell you to the minute when the story line is going to start tattering and the relationship between the couple is going to start falling apart. It takes place in the last half hour of the movie and lasts about fifteen minutes so then the characters have to make up and get back together in the last ten minutes before the show goes off.

I am not making fun of Hallmark movies…I really like most of them but I  have just watched too many, not to recognize the repetitive patterns now. It is like there is a time-line for each story line that must correlate to the commercials and interval segments of allotted time between commercials…so as not to run over.

Life doesn’t work like that…yet if we stop any of our own stories before they are complete…our stories turn our differently at different benchmarks.

Mark Nepo shares this concept in a story called: The Boy and the Drummer. (* I had almost forgotten this story…but it is a good one to make us pause and reflect.)

The Boy and the Drum

There is an old Hindu story. In it, there is a boy who wants a drum, but his mother can’t afford a drum, and so, sadly, she gives him a stick. Though he doesn’t know what to do with it, he shuffles home and begins to play with the stick. Just then, he encounters an old woman trying to light her CHULHA, her wood-stove. The boy freely gives her the stick. She lights her fire, makes some bread, and in return she gives him half a loaf.

Walking on, the boy comes upon a potter’s wife whose child is crying from hunger. The boy freely gives her the bread. In gratitude, she gives him a pot.

Though he doesn’t know what to do with it, he carries it along the river, where he sees a washer man and his wife quarreling because the wife broke their one pot. The boy gives them the pot. In return, they give him a coat.

Since the boy isn’t cold, he carries the coat until he comes to a bridge, where a man is shivering. Riding to town on a horse, the man was attacked and robbed of everything but his horse. The boy freely gives him the coat. Humbled, the man gives him his horse.

Not knowing how to ride, the boy walks the horse into town, where he meets a wedding party with musicians. The bridegroom and his family are all sitting under a tree with long faces. According to custom, the bridegroom is to enter the procession on a horse, which hasn’t shown up. The boy freely gives him the horse. Relieved, the bridegroom asks what he can do for the boy. Seeing the drummer surrounded by all his drums, the boy asks for the smallest drum, which the musician gladly gives him.

…………………………….

Didn’t it take a long time for the boy to realize his dream, his wish? Haven’t we all experienced this same kind of wait from a prayer we so earnestly delivered to God for something we wanted or needed?

If the story of the boy and the drum had stopped at any of the earlier intervals in the story…we, the reader, would have been left thinking this was a story of not getting what we want but accepting what we are given, or perhaps witnessing moments of altruism or sacrifice or even the benefits of barter and exchange.

But if we read the entire story and watch it take it full and natural course, like in life…we come to see the most important lesson emerging from the story. And that is: The longer we stay in our story, the more we begin to see how everything fits together and how answering the needs of others is the secret for finding our way through life.

Mark Nepo eloquently concludes:

Often, this courage – to wait and let the fabric of the Universe reveal itself – dissolves our individual sense of ownership into a sense of guardianship over gifts that no one owns. In the larger fabric, gifts rush through the Universe, moving from one place of need to another in a pattern too big to really see, in much the same way that blood rushes to a place of injury in the body.

This humble story, allowed to unfold, lets us recognize that the unexpected gift that comes our way might not be for us. It might be that, like the Hindu boy, we are called to carry it to another. We might be but one exchange along the way and one exchange from realizing how we are all connected.

So until tomorrow…Give us courage God to learn to wait for the end of our request by understanding that while we are waiting…You are at work…and sometimes it takes a little longer for all the variables to connect…but given God’s Time…they will and be revealed to us.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*And speaking of “reveal” (we haven’t gotten to the last ten minutes of the Hallmark movie)…but quite soon a “revealing” in the Dingle clan just might take place. Stay tuned!

I will share two of the garden’s “revealings” with you. The front yard barrel just gets more beautiful and abundant every single day…while the hostas are beginning to bloom and reflect in the fountain water.

Dear Reader:

Yesterday evening I started reflecting back on all the activities of the first two days of this week and I felt this nostalgic love for my “little” town sweep over me unexpectedly.

I love showing it off and having Mollie come accompany me around town Monday just brought back renewed feelings of love and appreciation for the ‘ville’ I proudly call home.

There’s no denying that Summerville has changed pretty drastically since I moved here in the early seventies…getting my first teaching job at Alston Junior High. It was still a “sleepy little town” at the time with lots of young teachers arriving in droves since we were the “baby boomers.”

Alston Junior High was the only “Junior High” in the district. Before I left the school district in 2003…there were no junior high’s…just middle schools and they numbered (at that time) five.

My own children, who grew up in Summerville and attended its outstanding schools, now all live in and around Mt. Pleasant. It is funny to me to hear them complain about the congestive traffic and crowded conditions in Summerville…not the same town they grew up in. Even they, now, get a little nostalgic about the “way it was.”

(I will have to admit that having family dinners at my place in Summerville really is almost an impossibility on a week night…it takes forever to get here (from Mt. P to Summerville) after work…so my family entertaining has been reduced to a weekend here or there and some holidays.

I think I have adapted to the changes by staying pretty loyal to the “old” Summerville. I find myself still patronizing the restaurants I have since I arrived…places like Continental Corner, Oscars, Eva’s…etc. I usually find out about a new restaurant from my “Mt. Pleasant” family before discovering it myself. We are creatures of habit! My car seems reluctant to travel much farther than the Highway 78 intersection.

It is not that I am opposed to all the new shopping areas closer to the interstate…I enjoy stopping in once in awhile over there to eat, run in a shop, or go to the movies but I always feel like that part of Summerville is an addendum or “add-on” addition…not part of the original design.

After the lovely encounter at FLY boutique (that I wrote about in yesterday’s post) Mollie and I went to Affordables and heard the story behind the change (coming soon) in this store chain’s name to Aiden. Who is this little girl that is behind the name change to Aiden? What is the story? Every store has a story…will wait to tell this one when the name officially changes.

After Mollie and I left Affordables we started strolling down Short Central…my favorite little street in town. I stopped and poked my head in Josephine’s Alterations to say “Hi” to Josephine and thank her for hemming a pair of pants for me for the wedding. Summerville really is the town where you can stop, shop and “everybody knows your name.”

It was, however, an unexpected incident that happened yesterday that reassured me the “little” in the town of Summerville is still alive and well!

I stopped at Coastal Produce for some tomatoes, veggies and fruits ..ending up getting another plant (their plants are so beautiful) and my will-power is weak when it comes to adding to my garden.

It wasn’t until I went to pay that a problem arose. I had changed pocketbooks and left a coin purse with my bank check card in it in the other pocketbook. I still had my American Express however, which normally I only use for larger purchases or trips, but I knew they took American Express so no problem.

Except this time. Jessica tried running it through the machine and told me that she had had problems lately with American Express…she wasn’t sure what was going on…something about a pin number it kept asking for and none of her customers, like me, had a clue either. I apologized for the inconvenience and left the plant and bagged food products on the desk.

Jessica told me not to give it a second thought…I could just pay for them the next time I came in. “We see you in here buying tomatoes and vegetables a lot…we know you will pay us back then.”

Without even asking my name or getting any information…she took a business card…wrote her name…drew a happy face,the amount owed on the back and told me to have a wonderful day!

So until tomorrow…that is exactly what I did. After all, how could I not have a good day…I live in Summerville…where the living is still “little.”

Coastal Produce’s card reads “How Sweet It Is”...and that pretty much sums up my feelings for my hometown.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Mollie came to town yesterday and we had a girl’s day out…it has been a long time since we have had a chance to hang together…we had lunch at Five Loaves, went to several boutiques and gift shops and just imagined what a dream home would look like… if we could build homes using boutiques and gifts shops as the foundation. Ah…the wonderful world of imagination. ( I could fill up at least half my dream home with products from Marigolds!)

 One of the shops I took Mollie to was FLY (Modern Apparel) on E. Richardson Avenue. The first time I went there was with Kaitlyn one day last February. It is definitely for the young and young at heart…I put myself in the latter category since you also have to be able to fit into these rather fitted clothing attire selections…and that, my friends, at the age I am… takes more courage than heart. (I stuck to looking at jewelry and it was fun and enticing with a wide diversity of colors and styles!)

As Mollie looked around I started talking to Tammy Hutto (nicest sales clerk ever!) and I casually asked her how the name of the boutique originated. Was FLY an acronym for something?

 She pointed to a piece of artwork on the wall behind the counter (which Mollie took a picture of with her IPhone) and said that the message in it was part of the story. She admitted that there was a personal story behind the concept of a complete  “package of beauty” to make women feel good about themselves…a walk-in and walk-out new woman make-over.

“What if I fall, Oh my darling! What if you FLY?”

The owner, Margie Sutton, had dreamed of owning a place where women could go and literally be “transformed from hair, make-up and fashion.” It took 30 years (and a mixture of trepidation and anticipation) but in 2014 she opened up MOD Beaute Studio and the following year (2015) she opened up FLY Modern Apparel (right next door.)

Tammy said Margie kept the faith during that entire time she was building her dream… believing she could “fly” and would not “fall.” Psalm 46:5 says it best:

“God is within her, she will not fall…”

It really is the one shop (two-in-one) place to go for all hopeful Cinderellas. A series of fairy Godmothers are there, willing and ready, to turn one and all into our own unique Cinderellas…and who among us doesn’t deserve to be one (at least once) in her lifetime?

A special day that transforms us into someone or something we have only imagined about in fairy tales and dreams is certainly justified. Taking time to do something good for ourselves (contrary to southern sayin’s) doesn’t mean we are gittin’ too “big for our breeches”…it simply means everyone deserves a little special me time as we go through life…after all God thinks we are pretty special…and sometimes we need to do something to help ourselves see and think this too.

(Or as my little two year-old grandson Jakie says, ‘I am prez-shous.’)

Every store has a story in Summerville and Fashion Boutique (FLY) and MOD Beaute Studio’s story is all about flying without the fear of falling.

So until tomorrow: Psalm 17: …“I am the apple of His eye.” (FLY and Mod just help put a little polish and shine on that “apple”)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

I remember the days when the children were little and I was doing a lot of carpooling. It seems like I spent half of each evening on the phone calling one or more parents about who was picking up when and where… and getting directions where to meet them “halfway” between ball fields or schools, dance studios…you name it. “Halfway” was a term that was used a lot in that period of time.

The idea of “halfway”, in this sense of the word, is that two people or parties are willing to meet halfway to help accommodate the other and make life easier for all concerned. (Unfortunately, in the present world we live in…halfway and compromise are not readily used or even interchangeable terms.)

I think the “halfway” part in meeting God and communicating with Him falls on our shoulders since He is a part of our daily lives…every minute of every day. He is simply waiting for us to invite Him into our decision-making  plans for our lives.

God has never reneged on His gift of “Free Will.” He is in our Presence continually just waiting for that invitation to help us through this life on Earth. He is so close we really don’t have to travel “halfway” to meet Him… except in our acceptance of His Presence and Guidance.

In Jesus Calling, one devotional reads: “Let My Presence override everything you experience. Like a luminous veil of Light, I hover over you and everything around you. I am training you to stay conscious of Me in each situation you encounter.” 

…“Whenever you feel distant from Me, say: “Surely the Lord is in this place!” Then ask Me to give you awareness of My Presence. This is a prayer that I delight to answer.”

…“What I search for in My children is an awakened soul that thrills to the Joy of My Presence. I created mankind to glorify and enjoy Me forever. I provide the Joy; your part is to glorify Me by living close to Me.”

I believe the God Winks I now recognize as signs and directions from God provide the “awareness of God’s Presence” that I was too busy and blind to see… Pre “little c.”

Blog writer, Joshua Lancette in Finding Peace: “Does Jesus  Meet us Halfway?” recalls a statement he made to a friend upon returning from Panama. He told his friend that he had prayed and meditated during his excursion and now promised to  “pursue Jesus harder than anyone ever had.”

His friend, looked at him with a half-smile and replied: “That is ironic because Jesus is pursuing you harder than anyone ever has.”

He thought deeply about what his friend had said and concluded:

“The truth is, God doesn’t meet us halfway in our relationship with Him. He didn’t save us for our sake. He comes all the way to where we are , and he saves us for His own sake, because He is passionately in love with us, His bride. The truth is, we are sought after, pursued, and loved, and that is something that will never change.”

“As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”- Isaiah 62:5

So until tomorrow…when God comes calling…let us open our hearts to Him in total joy and acceptance…and simply say, “I do.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

With the humidity so heavy the last couple of days…it feels like you need a machete just to cut your way through it. Ah…the “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” are here. The only good thing about it…is that we southern gals get a free facial every time we step out the door.

Accordin’ to southern folklore summer starts in April in the South. So really we have been in this season for a couple of months now. And realistically, since we live in a semi-tropical weather zone…what else should we expect except ‘hot and humid’ as our primary definin’ weather pattern.

Livin’ in the South in the summer is not for the timid or faint of heart…we just have to learn to “go with the flow” as we like to say around here.

Mother was pretty calm and “cool” about most things unless she got HOT! And then…watch out! Back before we had air-conditionin’ Dora would warn us if ‘mama’ was comin’ home from work hot. We knew to run get the one big floor fan and put it right in front of her favorite big chair.

Dora would started fixin’ a big glass of cold iced tea for “Miz Cil” and then  warned us (before she left to catch her bus) that we better behave and not act like “we wuz raised in a barn.” I can still picture that index finger of Dora’s pointin’ and wavin’ at us while shakin’ her head before she left some days.

Mother’s favorite expressions on those hot days of summer when she got home was ” I feel like I’ ve been through the wringer.” “Ah’m bout to BURN up!”  Dora would have left supper warming in the oven. Ben would get the TV tray and put in front of mother’s chair and the fan, David would re-fill the tea, and I would put mama’s supper plate on the tray.

We would set the black and white television on whatever mama wanted to see and then slink back into the kitchen to eat to give time for mama to have a few precious minutes of quiet time and cool down. Even young kids know when to lay low. Hot days were always “lay low” days for us!

The last time the computer gremlins came callin’ I discovered the cutest rendition of the Lord’s Prayer that a pastor had written….most likely after contendin’ with one too many Iphone’s going off in church or congregational members texting or the office computer breaking down for the umpteenth time…(must be running off all those bulletins for church service each week…church computers/copiers have a very short life span.)

The Lord is my Server, I shall not crash

“The Lord is my Programmer,
I shall not crash.
He installed His software on the hard disk of my heart;
all of His commands are user-friendly.
His directory guides me to the right choices
For His names sake
Even though I scroll through the problems of life,
I will fear no bugs, for he is my backup.
His password protects me.
He prepares a menu before me in the presence of my enemies.
His help is only a keystroke away.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,
And my file will be merged with His and saved forever.”

Rev. Ken Fox

………………………..

  Jakie has, hands down, the most southern accent of all the grandchildren…his first word was “Git“…not Get…”Git” and he is always telling me that he is goin’ to “Go Git his truck or go git his favorite blankie.” (Or he asks me to go “git” it.)

And it isn’t just the words…but more the “twang” when he talks now…we all keep shakin’ our heads…“Where did that come from?”…Eva Cate didn’t and doesn’t have that twang or his cousins Rutledge and Lachlan.

(Of course I really can’t talk too much about it…because my Eastern North Carolina twang has hung in there all these years in spite of livin’ in a more cosmopolitan area in the lowcountry. I always have people come up to me when I am shoppin’ or something…and say “I thought that was you…I knew your voice the minute I heard it.”)

Jakie must have genetically inherited my North Carolina “twang” but that’s okay Jakie…at least people will always recognize you by it darlin’! It’s your callin’ card!

So until tomorrow…Remember summer is all about smiles.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

“I’m fixin’ to close the blog up now for the night but will see everyone tomorrow…Heck Yeah!”

Dear Reader:

While Mandy and I were wandering the aisles of Marshall’s Home Goods, Hobby Lobby, and TJ Maxx Thursday I got caught up in reading little messages on throw pillows, decorative planks, trays, etc. I am always drawn to these printed sayings….and many times it does appear to be a God Wink telling me something pertinent about something going on at that moment in my life.

I came across this small wooden tray and smiled. How many times, as a child at the beach, did I hold a conch shell or some other large shell up to my ear only to hear the sound of the ocean in it? My imagination would take over…with visions of pirates, walking the plank, stowaways, exotic islands and tropical adventures.

I should have known then that I would end up living near the beach outside Charleston (and be fortunate to have friends who have houses or relatives’ homes on the beach that allow me and friends access each year to my childhood dreams of living close to that “shell sound.”)

I have been surprised lately when I check my WordPress updates on things like which blog or blogs has pulled in more viewers/readers and which blog has the highest amount of interest in a week’s time…I keep noticing that a blog titled (The Legend of the Pawleys’ Island Shell) I wrote back in January when the Ya’s all went to Pawley’s Island for the week, keeps “reigning” as the top contender each week.

You might remember I looked for something new to write about  Pawleys Island as the backdrop for my blog post before leaving for the beach and the “Legend of the Pawleys Island Shell” popped up.

It all had to do with the production of some special gold and silver shells that John Whitmire of Whitmire’s Fine Jewelry Shop at Pawleys Hammocks Shops creates.

It was our first stop when we arrived at Pawleys Hammocks Shops. We ended up spending half an hour or more watching parts of the process behind making this fine jewelry in the back room. Fascinating! (And the story behind John Whitmire’s personal story of how the shell became the Pawleys Island Shell … even more interesting.)

I was, graciously, given a beach shell that they use for the model for making the jewelry along with a copy of the legend.  I keep it on my dining table as a memoir of that happy week at the beach, along with the Ya’s and the wonderful experience I had at the jewelry store.

I am so glad it seems to keep recapturing more readers’ attention as time goes on….I am hoping that I have contributed, in some small way, to perhaps bringing more people into the shop if they are vacationing in the Grand Stand area. Perhaps, inadvertently, in some small way, I helped this sea shell tell its story.

Speaking of “shells”… in my ‘secret garden’ (as I call my tiny patch of garden outside my computer window) I have a clerodendrum, a Ginger “Shell” plant plus moon flower vines growing bigger and bigger. Soon my moon flowers will be blooming as darkness descends. What a way to end the day and the blog post!

I did get my home, after all, by the Ginger ‘shells’… just not by the sea…and no matter… how I love my secret garden!

*I am really hoping my Ginger Shell blooms for the first time this fall…my neighbor Vickie, who gave me the plant, says the scent is divine…a wonderful smell from ‘the shell.’

So until tomorrow…God has a way of making our dreams come true…just in a much more creative way than anything we could think up…

“Today is my favorite day’  Winnie the Pooh

Joanna King, you wonderful art teacher and now flower decorator for Tommy and Kaitlyn’s wedding… Look what I found while cleaning out desk drawers Friday! You and Tommy…he is holding his end of the year award: Joseph R Pye: Creative Art Award. You were and are such an amazing teacher… with multiple talents!

Dear Reader:

Wednesday while I was waiting to be called back for my doctor appointment I started walking around the waiting room looking at all the new beautiful paintings that now covered the walls. There were paintings, of all medium, on display in cancer centers around the country.

The artists were family members, caregivers, friends,  medical staff, or the cancer patients themselves. I felt myself being drawn back to this watercolor painting called Lynn’s Meadow. It only labeled the artistic ownership as a family member, friend or caregiver.

It was the colors in the paintings that drew me to it…particularly the yellows and pinks sneaking into the meadows that seemed to be teeming with life and promise. There was a little description at the bottom that said:

“My cancer journey can best be described as feeling helpless, wishing I could do more for family and friends. I painted a meadow with the sun rising or was it setting? There is no right or wrong interpretation. It is how you feel when you think back on your cancer journey.”

I love sunrises and sunsets equally because to me both promise a new day, the completion of a day, and a promise of another to come.

I remember thinking when the family was celebrating Lachlan’s birthday on St. Patrick’s Day at the River House that the sun setting over the Wando River amid the laughter of little children making smores was about the best life could get.

The nice thing about sunrises and sun settings is that we don’t have to choose one over the other…God gave us two, I think, for a reason. He wanted us to know that just like the sun will rise and set each day…He will never desert us but promise to be with us always. The way I look at it…we are covered better than any insurance company I know. (And the premiums are free!)

Yesterday I went over to see some of the changes Mandy and John are making in their house, one so John can find a space to work on his computer, in the evenings,  somewhere beside the kitchen counter. Not only had they found and fixed up a place but it gave Mandy the “bug” to start making some other changes around the house.

Nothing big but just enough to make you feel a sense of accomplishment and a feel of  “newness” to the same-old. We had fun yesterday shopping around for bargains that Mandy could fix or re-design at cut-rate costs. A mother-daughter shopping adventure.

I told Mandy that I was becoming her, not the other way around the older I get. I can’t stand clutter anymore, though when I was young it didn’t bother me at all. I have come to realize that there is a direct link between real clutter around the house and clutter in my thoughts. I can think more clearly when I am not surrounded by clutter but have items organized and in place.

Mandy has always been organized and a minimalist…now I am slowly evolving in that direction…step by step and inch by inch. (I think the line should end in a cinch but believe me…getting organized (at least for me) is NOT a cinch. It is tough, grind it out work!

But maybe by my (and Jakie’s birthday) on the 24th of September I will have something to celebrate….a home clean of old useless clutter…time will tell.

Photo of last year’s celebration with John, Mandy, and I leaving for the Oaks to meet up with the rest of the family.

So until tomorrow….

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Mandy cleaned off all the shelves in the den and replaced everything with a selection of pictures, books, bottles, and shells. I kept Jakie playing in his room to give Mandy some time to think through everything and get it placed and put up. (Of course Eva Cate wanted to be a “helper.”)

Dear Reader:

I love Henry Van Dyke’s poem, thoughts, and quotes. He definitely “nailed” the ambiguity of time in this title quote. Time is something different for everyone.

“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for  those who love, time is eternity.”

We have all experienced the different variances of our feelings towards time…depending on our individual situation at the moment.

Treating cancer produces quite a variety of conundrums. Each patient reacts differently to different medications and treatments…some more successful than others. I had a “new kid on the block” cancer medication four years ago that proved very successful. It literally took my breast cancer and put it into a stagnant stage that  slowed most, if not all, of the activity.

And then last summer it started slowly creeping back again….which brought about a new drug. The conundrum is all about balancing different medications, while treating cancer simultaneously. Under the earlier medication the cancer responding remarkably well, but its side effects affected my overall general health in different areas.

The new drug(s) I have been on since the end of the summer haven’t kept “little c” in check, as well as, the earlier one…but my overall general health (glucose/sugar levels are good, blood pressure, and other vital stats are all back to normal.) It is obvious that the latest drugs aren’t bothering the rest of the body systems like the earlier drug but, unfortunately to date, not as visibly effective either.

“Life is a balancing act.” Lots of conundrums. Right now my oncologist is keeping his eye on certain specific spots to see if they are leveling off or continue to grow. Depending on what happens down the road with these issues…other options or treatments might need to be considered.

Someone once told me that teaching a classroom of  middle school students was like trying to hold thirty corks under water at the same time. This is my analogy of what treating cancer must feel like to an oncologist…you do one thing and that helps one area while other problems pop up due to the initial treatment. Must be aggravating.

 I was updating the Ya’s, as usual on my monthly check-up…Brooke told me that this potential medical situation reminded her of “Little Bunny Foo Foo.”  (Brooke was the elementary teacher.)

I started laughing and asked her to remind me how the little jingle went. She began:

Little Bunny Foo Foo,
Hopping through the forest
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin’ ’em on the head

Down came the good fairy and she said

“Little Bunny Foo Foo,
I don’t want to see you
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin’ ’em on the head.
I’ll give you three chances,

And if you don’t behave
I’ll turn you into a goon!”

Brooke said it was all the problems popping up in my treatments that reminded her of Little Bunny Foo Foo ….scooping up the field mice and boppin’ ’em on the head.”  (I wish I could bop this newest drug into ‘kicking a little more arse’ to my nemesis “little c.”)

Jackson said, the “conundrum situation” reminded her of the game “Whack a Mole.” (It is also an arcade game)….the more you whack one mole, another pops up. (Kinda like my yard…what I get for living a block away from a golf course!)

After I finished my appointment, I met Anne for a burger and some catch-up time. While discussing the appointment with her…Anne vocally observed that so many dilemmas in life were and are time-related. She has been struggling with a financial decision that involves a time-related issue and was about to bite the bullet and plunge into the paperwork involved in the decision when she read today’s entry from Jesus Calling.

“Wait Patiently with Me, while I bless you. Don’t rush into My Presence with time-consciousness gnawing at your mind. I dwell in timelessness. I am, I was, I will always be. For you, time is a protection, you’re a frail creature who can handle only twenty-four hour segments of life…”Though you are a time-bound creature, seek to meet Me in timelessness.”

Anne decided to step back and give her situation more time. I am happy to have another whole month before returning to see if we are still chartering the same course (but seeing improved results) or crossing new seas to a new horizon.

So until tomorrow…”Joy lies in the in-between.” A month is a long time for adventures and new perspectives. Time is a protection for whatever the future brings…we have time to embrace the situation and then turn it over to God. In the meantime I just need to keep on loving life and everyone in it…now that stops time for eternity.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I want to thank so many of you for your sweet comments and supportive remarks about this stage of my cancer treatments. I am sure everything will shake itself out….God and His Instruments are hard at work…of that I have no doubt! In the mean time:

*And speaking of time…yesterday was the longest day of the year…the summer solstice. I hope everyone took advantage of the extra time and the cool temps (with this lovely rain) to enjoy it. Welcome summer to the Lowcountry…please be kind!