Dear Reader:

The other night as I was heading home along Highway 17 I blinked and then blinked again….three houses had their Christmas lights already up. Stores have been overlooking Thanksgiving for several years now and I am sadly resigned to that…but really….Christmas lights before Thanksgiving?

I am very protective of Thanksgiving…it is my favorite holiday! We can ‘gather together’ just for the sake of being together. There are few times with our busy families that this happens, so for me, these family get-togethers feel like being on ‘holy ground.’

An article that I really liked popped up while I was trying to see if I was a lone maverick with my feelings or if other people are saddened by the loss of this wonderful time to gather together. I found a fellow Thanksgiving fan…here are some excerpts

“Let’s Not Give Up on Giving Thanks”

Gene Deason

…Don’t we hear too often the expression….”Let’s just get through Thanksgiving and then we can concentrate on this or that Christmas problem. “Let’s just get through Thanksgiving“- sounds pretty cold.

Nevertheless, doesn’t it seem that too often, it’s precisely how it is? There are traditions to be upheld, chaotic travel schedules to be met, added workloads if you’re in retailing, and kitchen chores on top of kitchen chores for those responsible for preparing and cleaning up after the big meal.

Thanksgiving has certainly changed since the first time settlers from Europe and native Americans sat down together, simply sharing a meal in appreciation for mere survival. I can imagine they were deeply sincere about their thankfulness.

Today, with so much physical excess in many of our lives, Thanksgiving Day becomes routine. We mention something about being thankful, talk religion and politics with relatives we haven’t seen in a year, and grumble when the meal isn’t put away before kickoff.

If that’s your Thanksgiving experience, you are truly blessed. We should acknowledge it, even as we think we should be doing better than this.

But for too many, Thanksgiving is little more than a day much like the days faced by our country’s first settlers. They are struggling to survive, just hoping somehow to put food on the table and clothes on their backs.

Perhaps on this holiday, they will be blessed with the spirit of hope, because we live in a land where opportunities for better lives exist. Also, they are often blessed by the generosity of neighbors — people who recognize the needs of others when compared to their own abundance, and decide to use a portion of that abundance to make the lives of those less fortunate a bit easier.

As the observance of Thanksgiving has evolved in American society, it has also evolved within our families. Traditions change, so where the meal is served, the family members who participate, and the activities that surround holiday gatherings are different. Some find it impossible to be there due to work, distance or health. The passage of time means older generations pass away while the new generations are born.

While a few traditions may get passed along and perhaps endure, the details of such family gatherings are transient. For some, the greatest blessing of Thanksgiving is the opportunity to make new memories. For others, the greatest blessing is cherishing those memories.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that all Americans can share, regardless of religion or creed. The busy week ahead is only the first in a series of hectic weeks leading up to Christmas, but we still find time — somehow — to give thanks. Thanksgiving is alive and well in our past memories and new customs…and that’s okay too…for both we give thanks.

…………………………

I was trying to remember what number year our Pre-Thanksgiving dinner was….checked with last year’s and I didn’t put a number beside it… so I must not have known then either. But the number of times doesn’t matter…just the people!

I can hardly wait to see everyone again, especially my new grand-nephew, Rhodes….a baby makes such a difference in how we view life…Rhodes represents hope for the future and adoration for the present.

I hope everyone has a memorable Thanksgiving and thank you so much for your prayers and comments yesterday over my latest health issues…a new chapter in the book of life…it’s going to be the best yet!

So until tomorrow…Let’s replace a speed bump for Thanksgiving with a STOP sign. This holiday deserves more time than a quick slow- down and pause…it deserves a stop to our busyness in life.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

The flowers are starting to take shifts sleeping…some of the summer flowers are getting ready to hibernate while others, like the pansies, are just waking up to cooler weather. (Will share more of the awake flower photos tomorrow)

Remember: Every Day is a GOOD DAY!

Dear Reader:

I believe the statement in the title blog says it all: …“It is thankful people who are happy” and yesterday I had some happy news that I was very thankful for…

On November 7, I went to my scheduled oncologist appointment thinking all was good and things had finally settled down…when he stopped talking and mused aloud to himself “What is this?” Some new lesions had appeared under my left arm…where it all started way back when.

So another appointment was set up to see Dr. Litton, the surgeon, who did another biopsy on the 14th… it was pretty evident from the lesions that it was more signs of the breast cancer making its presence known.

Then yesterday (21st) I returned to see Dr. Silgals, my oncologist, to discuss options. *I think I was more worried about lengthy treatments again, like radiation and infusion chemo, than I was about any lesions. (After a person has lived with cancer or “little c” for eight years and counting…you become much more aware of your body and its reactions to different stimuli…especially medical stimuli. Lesions have come and gone several times during this stage of my life called:  living with cancer. It becomes almost the norm…like a roller coaster…hills and valleys are a way of life.)

The idea of being “tied down” time-wise for daily and/or weekly treatments made me sad…I have lots of wonderful plans made for the New Year and after three years of no medical restrictions…it would be hard to adjust to that again…like sliding backwards back down a steep hill.

Instead Dr. Silgals said he had narrowed several possibilities down to two options: different types of oral medications...he explained his first and second choice of attack and the first option depends on if my insurance will cover it or not. Some companies do, some don’t. * Please pray that my insurance does cover it… as this is a chemo-free oral medication, like the last one. that was so effective.

I was so relieved by the options that left me still “free to be me” that most of the medical names flew over my head but I left the appointment with Dr. Silgals’ office filing for the insurance….As soon they hear back Dr. Silgals will call and discuss the start of the new medication. (Dr. Silgals keeps pulling magical acts…”rabbits out of hats”…I sure hope this will turn out to be another successful act!)

I am so thankful for this outcome, especially right before Thanksgiving…that I am extremely happy! (I am, both, happy and thankful and thankful and happy!)

I saw this excerpt from an article on health and attitude….Certainly true in my experiences…When I receive challenging news concerning “little c” I can become my best advocate or my own worst enemy. Thank goodness that, to date, I have been able to leave the valley of self-doubt and ‘what-if’s’ behind and climb to the higher mountain of self-advocacy. I can do it because I am holding God’s hand and He keeps leading me upward.

*This time I wanted to wait until I knew something specific before letting people know…so I can say this is what happened when and now this is the next step in confronting “little c” again….no  drawn-out wait for everyone.

So until tomorrow…Thanksgiving waits for no man (or woman) so bring on my Pre-Thanksgiving Feast Wednesday night…with all the trimmings…family, friends, and love!

“Today is my FAVORITE day!”

*I was checking on my cousin Bob (Aunt Eva’s son) and his family who own a vacation home at Table Rock and was reassured that the fires were being contained across the highway. Bob just recently became a grandfather and like all grandfathers he adores Annabel Eva (his first grandchild)…What a little beauty- Good genes run in the family!

*Look who just turned 11 months… Brooke’s little “Boogie Boy” Caleb. Happy (almost) one year CUTIE Caleb!

John, Mandy, Eva Cate, and Jakie all arrived in Huntsville safe and sound. John’s mom, Joan, picked them up at the airport…but then she had to leave to take W.T. to the hospital. He has been fighting bronchial issues which have evolved into pneumonia . Please keep John’s dad in your prayers…I know how unhappy he must be not to be there with his family and grandchildren at Thanksgiving. Get well soon W.T and back home!

In the meantime Joan (B.B. to the grandchildren) left the grandchildren’s favorite things to play with…costumes and imagination!!

Honey found this card from a dear friend, Winnie, given to her over a decade ago….showing a guardian angel with two children. Ashley got home and is much improved but mothers always worry. Honey wants a guardian angel for her girls…our “children” never get too old for us not to wish them protection in this world.

(** I told Honey that I sure felt that a guardian angel was with me yesterday!)

Dear Reader:

As I was going through a drawer looking for some tissue paper…suddenly I came across this beautiful little surcie that (most likely) Harriett Edwards  brought me back from an ADK conference. After the Clemson win Saturday night…the orange brought back happy thoughts and yellow (my favorite color) just jumped out at me. I put it on the refrigerator.

Since it was Kaitlyn’s birthday I met Mandy and Eva Cate at her and Tommy’s place yesterday. They had gone out to eat Saturday night for her birthday so Kaitlyn said she was having a PJ, stay at home, leisurely Sunday birthday…just what the birthday girl wanted.

Mandy said she needed to return some of Jakie’s pants she had bought at Nordstrom Rack before heading home…so I followed her and Eva Cate there and three generations of girls did some  shopping.

Eva Cate and Mandy had  good luck picking up some shoes and blouses…Eva Cate was kept occupied modeling hats while mom tried on some clothes. The Turners are heading to Huntsville today for Thanksgiving… so they were packing and getting ready. Safe travels John, Mandy, Eva Cate, and Jakie!

By the time I got home from wishing Happy Birthdays and telling “Good-byes” in Mt. P…it was just starting to get a little dark. As I was checking the plants that might need a little extra cover last night…there in the light of the setting sun was one yellow Carolina Jessamine bloom.

It startled me…especially after finding the little ADK surcie…what are the odds of finding one bloom on a plant that doesn’t even bloom now…not until February or March? A God Wink.

Once our eyes are open to all the miracles and coincidences happening around us…we are never the same again. The message from this little incident came across to me loud and clear…in life we don’t have to wait for the right season to bloom…we should bloom every single day and make the world a better place for us, simply,  being in it.

So until tomorrow…With Thanksgiving approaching…let us give thanks for our ancestors who came before us…determined to make this new country their home…against all odds. It is because of their determination that we can bloom in this amazing country whenever we wish.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

When one gets to the glorious age that I am now…hindsight becomes a constant companion and comforter. Suddenly things that never made sense, while living them in the present, things that caused some of the biggest disappointments in our lives, are revealed with wonderful clarity.

We start musing to ourselves about things like…’No wonder I wasn’t suppose to take that job there…if I had I never would have met my someone special or had the family I had or realized that my vocational direction needed a new compass.’ Suddenly every thing good and bad comes into play through the maze of life… opening up the final path that leads us out of the darkness into the light.

It is one of the great benefits of living to be a youthful senior. ( Don’t laugh! That’s my story and I am sticking to it) We might not be able to do some of the things we once did physically but God provides us with so much insight into life and His Presence with us. This wonderful gift of God Winks more than makes us for a few physical restrictions.

I have three favorite doors now that are always open to me and anyone else who wants to enter. My favorite is this one…leading into my writing (computer) room where I can travel anywhere I wish through my imagination and writings. This is the room that gives my life meaning..because of You!

The two sides of the same door is the front door (which is brown to match the brick and roof on the outside) and on the inside “Haint Blue” to keep out any bad mojo…so only joy with friends and family are allowed in ‘The Happy Room.’

And speaking of good mojo…after the past few weeks of some rather dubious/challenging “karma” some things happened yesterday to start swinging the pendulum back my way again.

First Mollie called and asked if it suited to bring the boys over for awhile yesterday morning…they wanted to see Boo Boo and of course Boo Boo loves to be seen. “Yes”! It was like everything was new and fresh again…The boys were so excited that they actually helped each other and shared riding Hope the Dolphin, swinging,  and pedaling the tractor…

Even without little bro’s help…Rutledge’s legs are almost long enough…next time he comes to visit…I feel sure he will be “King of the Tractor.”

*If you are wondering what happened to Lachlan’s pants..he stepped into fire ants…this child is a magnet for them.

The second good “mojo” happened when suddenly Honey rounded the deck and there she was bringing mountain apples, a tomato, soap, and a key chain breast cancer ornament. (I thought she was back in the mountains and had missed her so it made the homecoming even more special.)

 Ashley, unfortunately, has continued to be in pain from the surgery and MUSC won’t release her until everything is working again properly. So please say a pray for Ashley and the whole Burrell family…we need to get our Ashley home.

Before Honey left she told me about this large bulletin type board that patients and families can leave a message on… about what they are thankful for… both entering and leaving MUSC. It is erased each day to make room for more Thanks’ from appreciative patients and their families.

*Honey told me she signed it thanking the hospital and staff for their kindness and the good results from the surgery. She is looking forward to signing it again…  being as thankful to leave and get Ashley back home.

Later we went to eat at Continental Corner and then on to the park….a joyful surprise happened when Rutledge realized that the favorite/most popular play toy in the park- the “Digger” was back and brand new! Manna from heaven for a three-year-old.

As if I didn’t have enough good mojo going by now yesterday…here is the topper! While Mollie and I were watching the children play…a little boy named Carson wanted to know if I would play with him…kicking his soccer ball back and forth. I said “Sure” and began playing until it was time for us to leave.

After Mollie and the boys left…I went to pull the pictures off my IPhone and no IPhone. At first I thought I might have left it in Mollie’s car. The bad thing about losing one’s IPhone is the conundrum it presents…the new paradoxical, modern-day,”tech” problem. You can’t phone anyone for help because you don’t have your phone.

I was beginning to panic…but I made myself stop and re-think the last time when I remembered having it.

Suddenly I knew…when Carson asked me to play with him…I had been taking photos…so I laid my IPhone on a wooden plank that formed the perimeter of the slide center…my heart stopped. “Oh no!”” What were the chances it would still be there?”

Besides giving myself a stern talk on being so forgetful…I jumped in the car and headed for the park. I literally ran (yes, ran) across the park to the slides and paused long enough to add one more prayer before peeking at the plank board. There was my Iphone right where I left it.

Hallelujah!!!

What are the chances that would happen often in a public park?…There was over an hour’s time period from when we left until I frantically drove back…a Saturday in the Park…a God Wink that reminded me, once again, that  “It is all Good.”

So until tomorrow…When you can’t open a door…go find a new key to unlock the ‘other’ door that is calling you to it. Your true calling…your true key to success.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*It really is my favorite day because my soon-to-be… daughter-in-love is having a birthday today! Happy Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

*Last night the “door opened” for many of our state teams to be eligible to keep the season going. And so proud of our Clemson Tigers…ACC Atlantic Champs!!!!!

  WE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Clemson tops Wake Forest to clinch ACC Atlantic

Dear Reader:

Yesterday’s blog brought back many memories for some of our readers who responded by telling me their connection to the song “I Love You a Bushel and a Peck and a Hug Around the Neck.”

…And in both of the following two responses…it wasn’t a “mother, grandmother, or aunt” singing or humming the melody…but a father. Interesting.

“My dad was in a production of Guys and Dolls when I Was Young and he would sing this song around the house.” Karyn Smith

Patricia Finley: “My daddy used to tell me that saying – such fond memories.”

Music is such a powerful force in pulling up memories we thought were long forgotten. When we hear the song…the music takes us right back to the place, year, and circumstances while the music played… and still plays in our hearts.

Perhaps it was a “special” song between you and a loved one at the time, a song sung by a parent to you, or song that inspired you to take risks at a certain point in life.

When I think of “Memories” and “The Way We Were” I remember thinking (as only a young 20 something could)…that no one on earth should be allowed to die before seeing this movie. (I think I meant before seeing Robert Redford at his hunkiness.) I would cry and cry and then stay and watch it again. (the good old days when they didn’t turn on the lights and shoo you out.)

As if on cue…just as I was gathering material for this blog…I noticed that Libby had forwarded a message to me that she had received from Betsy (her daughter) on her birthday yesterday. Libby had put a picture of her and “Oot” (her late husband) holding Betsy soon after her birth on Facebook for Betsy’s birthday, along with a sweet message.

The picture and message touched Betsy so much…but the story doesn’t end there. Here is the message she sent her mom, Libby.

 

Dear Reader:

How many of you remember hearing this expression (growing up) from your mother, aunt, or grandmother? I do remember always wondering what a bushel and a peck were exactly…but it never distracted me from the hug around the neck….that is what I really wanted…just the warm feeling of being loved by a family member.

When I looked it up…the information was very “dry” because a bushel measures dry volume (whatever that is) and one bushel equals 8 dry gallons. One peck equals 8 dry quarts. There are 4 dry pecks in one dry bushel.

Confused enough now? Me too! Never liked math (all of it was too “dry” for me) and I particularly never liked figuring out measurement- pints, quarts, and gallons when they were wet, much less dry.

But this example does provide a metaphor for the type kisses I got, along with, the “hug around the neck.” Some kisses were wet and some were dry. After a few family reunions… as a child you learned when to run get the kleenex before “Wet-kisser Aunt Wendy” arrived.

(It was comparably later in college when I came to know which history professor spit… so stay away from the front row unless you wore a rain jacket… and which history professor “spittled.”)

I would watch, rather fascinated as one professor’s spittle slowly ran down the side of his mouth, during his lecture, and finally drop to the floor. I seem to remember the class having a “pool” (quarter a piece) for whoever came closest to guessing the correct time it took the spittle to hit the floor. If only poor mother knew what she was really paying for back then.)

According to the above sale sign…a bushel of apples plus a peck would cost the consumer $18.00 (See… I can do math… but just the motivating eating kind.)

Anyway, since the idea of the little “ditty” is to impress one’s abundant love on another….a bushel of love plus a peck…I assume that meant a ‘whole lots of loving’ going on! And my favorite family huggers always gave me a “peck” on the cheeks or lips rather than a mushy kiss. Ugh!

The expression really sounds like a good ole’ southern idiom but actually it originated from the Broadway Musical Guys and Dolls around 1950.

Doris Day made the song popular, as well as, Perry Como. Since Perry Como once lived in Saluda, NC while retired from singing… where many retired teacher friends, from Summerville, now live (Several of whom mentioned seeing Como walking along the wooded paths around Saluda when the weather was good)…I thought I would share his version with you. Perry Como sings the song with Betty Hutton.

*I think this song should be dedicated to Doodle…as you listen to the lyrics you will quickly figure out why…and besides I love Doodle a bushel and a peck! Happy Thanksgiving Doodle!

Betty Hutton & Perry Como – A Bushel And A Peck (1950) – YouTube

So until tomorrow…Isn’t it nice to be loved like a “bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck?” Why not try it on someone today?

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Happy Birthday Betsy! I am so glad you could join the “Jackson Birthday” party lunch and I know the family started “birth-daying” for you yesterday….hoping it was and continues to be a fun week and a memorable gift of joy!

Here’s to the Burrell Sisters (Ashley and Tarshie)…supporting each other. Ashley had surgery Wednesday evening for her on-going battle with Chrohn’s disease…everything went smoothly and hopefully this will keep the disease in check for a most deserving Ashley! Honey, even though there wasn’t time to see you….please know you are always in my thoughts and prayers, along with your wonderful family! See you Christmas! The family would appreciate continued prayers as Ashley continues to heal!

Dear Reader:

The title photo shows a wooden plank from Jackson’s family home (later her home) that Matthew, her son, gave her with a sketch of their house and the quote from Maya Angelou that I used in the title blog. (Many of you might remember that just a little over a year ago Jackson lost her home to the “1000 Year Flood.“)
“I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it!”   Maya Angelou

Matthew nailed it with this quote honoring his mother. Jackson definitely took time to shed her tears over the loss of the home her father, an architect, built but then she refused to let this incident “steal her joy.” She made some tough decisions and then decided to go forward, not backward.

Jackson drove us past her home in Columbia where a brand new home is mostly complete…a large, over-sized house (we thought) which definitely doesn’t measure up to the place we all came to love when we stayed with Jackson going to and from various trips.

Now this is home…an apartment in a wonderful area of Columbia where Jackson feels back at home and quite secure. Look what she has accomplished in just a few short months.

*Jackson’s dad was an artist, besides an architect. Jackson was able to save and restore several of his paintings from the flood. Amazing!

She is so happy in her new home…making it her own piece by piece. (These are just a few photos of Jackson’s home…actually she has a two bedroom, two bath apartment home….spacious, new, clean, and bright and cheery!)

As hard as it was to let the family home go…Jackson admitted that she had gotten to a point, like many of us on occasion, when she questioned if she owned her home or if the home owned her. Repairs were constant and financially draining on an older house…now she has the security of stable utility bills, someone to repair home problems and someone to take care of the lawn. Help is one phone call away….not several calls to different people…plumbers, electricians, roofers, floor repairs, lawn maintenance, etc. It is a good feeling.

It didn’t come easy…Jackson said she had many sleepless nights pondering which direction to go…but once she decided to “let it go” and make the move…she found that “inner peace” she had been looking for and it is so obvious in her beautiful new home. It is her happy place and it makes us all smile.

We were still smiling when we got to California Dreaming, our favorite birthday haunt, and met up with Linda and Betsy…Libby’s sister and daughter. We had a great time, as usual!

Last year and this year….Jackson’s birthday celebration! (Thanks Betsy!)

The celebration felt more like Christmas….Betsy gave us all Christmas presents. Then her birthday is Friday…so a lot to celebrate…life and birthdays!

Before we left to go eat…the Ya’s presented Jackson with some special mementos that we felt she would like. Jackson’s favorite book growing up was LITTLE WOMEN. At one time she was the proud owner of four small classic Madame Alexander dolls…but one was lost and the others got badly soiled and broken during the flood.

Brooke and Libby to the rescue…Brooke got on E-Bay and found the fourth sister while Libby washed, cleaned, and ironed the little dresses. Jackson also received a new copy of the story…the binding on hers as a child had pulled loose.

Jackson was so unbelievably generous to give me her tractor she had as a child for the grandchildren to play on….so I got Anne to do her magic with a brush and watercolor…. paint the tractor. She then matted and framed it with barn wood. Adorable! Thank you Anne so much…Jackson loved it!

So until tomorrow…What a difference a year makes…but some things never change…love and friendship. The two forces of the Creation that can outlast even a “1000 Year Storm.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Mollie sent me this picture of Lachlan playing today at Mandy’s house where their former pre-school teacher (Miss Katie) is keeping all three cousins… since the pre-school closed.What a brave soul. (: *We are starting to see some of Tommy in Lachlan when he was little! What a little cutie!

Dear Reader:

“When time comes for us to again rejoin the infinite stream of water flowing to and from the great timeless ocean, our little droplet of soulful water will once again flow with the endless stream.” –William E. Marks

I don’t know about you…but I think about the conundrum between individuality and plurality, in a spiritual sense, pretty often. It is an endless puzzle that I can’t seem to find the piece for… to answer my questions and thoughts.

I do believe that we are part of something bigger than even our active imaginations can create. I, also, believe that each of us is an equally important part of the puzzle and the puzzle would remain incomplete without our existence. (And that one day “our little droplet of soulful water will once again flow with the endless stream.” )

Will my piece of the puzzle be complete when I “flow with the endless stream?” I don’t know. I hope so…but I am not sure, exactly, what my piece should look like.

These days I am more interested in finding inner “peace” than becoming another piece. I have finally realized that inner peace is about as close as we can get to understanding eternity and our place in it. (The feeling that we are one with the universe, one with our Creator.) It is an amazing feeling and one I wish I could maintain permanently…but I am not sure that objective is obtainable on this side of the veil. We get only glimpses of a perfect world where unconditional love reigns.

I read a story the other day from Huffington Post that brought together some of these questions I have had and gave it new light…mainly the connection between one person’s inner peace and its affect on the universe. The story went like this: (Source-Huffington Post – Alan Briskin) ” A Taoist Parable”

For better and worse…we adults need to demonstrate the right actions in front of little children because they will imitate our actions…Thank goodness for John…Jakie imitated his dad wiping dew off my car, and cutting the grass for dad with his lawnmower.

Back at you Jakie…I had fun! Stay healthy for Thanksgiving at W.T. and B.B.’s house!

Right across from Mandy and John’s corner is a Wakendaw  East sign. For two days a neighbor (down the street) worked on re-painting their sign to make it fresh and appealing for people driving, walking. or even riding their bikes by. He uses his retirement and talent time to keep all the street signs in Wakendaw looking updated at their best. What an act of kindness!

So until tomorrow…Father show us the way and then give us a nudge when we lose direction.

“Today is my favorite day!” Winnie the Pooh

*Today I am meeting Brooke in Walterboro and we are off to Columbia to spend birthday time with our Ya…Jackson. We are all looking so forward to being together again!

Happy Birthday Jackson and Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful it is this year and not last (Jackson lost her home in the 1000 Year Flood) and we are all here together for you and another celebration of life!

Dear Reader:

A little thought fluttered by me yesterday morning after reading some of your comments on the amazing man who gives up his only day from work, each week, to honor veterans by cleaning their tombstones and statues. He said in a CBS  video that he can’t think of a another place he would rather be.

The other day I had just finished the second book about this author’s experiences in France…. which involved meeting her future husband, their marriage, becoming parents, and now proud owners of four popular vacation rentals in the Burgundian vineyards…Laura Bradbury.

At the end of this particular book (in the series) Laura is an exchange student and meets Franck for the first time….after months of falling in love she must return home to Canada to start her university career. The parting is almost unbearable at La Guardia airport so Franck yells at her as she walks towards the plane when her flight number is called:

“Not Au revoir ‘until I see you again’ Laura…but A bientot ‘Until soon.’

I love that expression: A Bientot-  ‘Until soon.’ So much hope is attached to that expression…not later but soon…we will be together again.

Don’t we think so many times when we are young and go to cemeteries we think, mistakenly, that death is a lifetime away?…when in actuality is A bientot…”Until soon.”

Mev wrote in a comment yesterday about the importance of maintaining cemetery markers:

“Memories…the continued presence of loved ones…of their love, their touch, their smile…. What an awesome gift God has given us–the ability to replay memories over and over…as often as our heart needs to see, hear or feel them….”

I re-read Mev’s comment and thought how true her statement is. What a gift a memory is…what if we never could remember anything…we would be like little Dorie the movie Finding Dorie.

Poor little Dorie can’t remember anything and forgets everything. As seen in the movie this produces a chaotic, stressful lifestyle. It definitely forces one to live in the moment, but, unfortunately, without memory the moments don’t mean anything.

Memory is an awesome gift, just like Mev said…to be able to pull back a loved one into your life in a second’s notice when you need them again. Then I thought.. that just like “Free Will”…memories can be both happy, sad, and even detrimental to veterans and especially those suffering from PTSD. Some people spend their whole lives trying to bury memories instead of honoring them.

Memory is a gift if used wisely and appropriately. It can bring a smile to our faces…like life…it can enhance our existence or lessen it. The choice is up to us to use this precious gift in the best way possible.

So until tomorrow…Let us remember to share memories with loved ones in the present and past…but most importantly share memories of loved ones for the generations to come…so they, too, come to know those  ancestors who tread before them. Who made them who they are.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

After mother died in 2000 Ben and I were saddened to see how time had erased some of daddy’s military cross information and David’s marble slab at Forest Lawn Cemetery. It had sunk very low half under the grass…one had to dig down and push back the grass to read it.

We talked to the owner of Forest Lawn Cemetery in Laurens and expressed our concern. We were assured the slab would be dug back up and replaced on top and the more dirt filled in…but later at my aunt’s  grave site service….Ben and I had a chance to check the slabs and markers again….sadly nothing much had been done but for a brief debris removal…the markers were again becoming illegible.

David probably wouldn’t have minded…he was the most tolerant person I have ever known in my life. Because of  David’s physical disabilities (Marfan’s Syndrome Disease) he knew how it felt to be singled out, pointed at, and made fun of. Instead of these childhood experiences making him bitter, however,…he became just the opposite…the most tolerant person who befriended people living on the perimeters of society…the ones who had no voice…just hope for a better tomorrow.

I think mother understood that David’s physical disabilities would result in a potentially shortened life because she tried to give him every opportunity to see the world in his short life. Just months before he died he went on an interim Erskine trip to Spain (for school credits.) At the end of the tour he was voted Most Tolerant by his fellow student travelers.

(David is in the white sweater at the bottom of the photo)

Yes…David would be tolerant of even the sinking slab problem but not me. When one can no longer read the names on a marker in the cemetery the name of the one who has passed is lost forever…no longer a person who once walked this earth to observors.

One is still alive as long as there is one person who still remembers him or her. (One person who still loved and loves the person beneath the marker.)

I caught part of a televised documentary for Veterans Day on a man simply known as the “The Good Cemeterian.”  His real name is Andrew Lumish and he works at a carpet-cleaning company. One day while cutting through a cemetery near Tampa, Florida he noticed the terrible conditions many veterans’s tombstones and markers were in…their engraved names…literally illegible.

He began experimenting with different chemicals to clean diverse stones, clay, etc/other  materials used for markers until he became an expert at knowing what to use on what.

He felt like our veterans had given enough, their lives, and their names should be legible and honored.

“They were forgotten. I couldn’t properly thank them. I couldn’t properly understand who they were or what they were about.”

So Lumish has made it his life’s goal to scrub away that grime, and uncover the names on veterans’ headstones so visitors would see them.

“If they can’t read it at all, they can’t celebrate it, they can’t honor that person, they can’t appreciate that person,” he said. “Whereas if you properly restore the monuments, you can begin an entire conversation, and potentially — in a figurative sense — bring that person back to life.”

So one day a week, Sunday, the only day he has off, he spends it in cemeteries cleaning off veterans monuments, tombstones, and markers. He can think of no better way to spend his day off.

I want my David honored too…so I think Ben and I will be making a trip back to Forest Lawn Cemetery in the near future. I want David and daddy’s name to be seen by one and all. They both died young, too young, (David-21, Daddy-31)…but their lives were all about giving back to others who needed a helping hand.

So until tomorrow…“There are memories that time does not erase… Forever does not make loss forgettable, only bearable.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* At Forest Lawn Cemetery I could always use this statue to find my family’s grave. When Mandy and Walsh were little (while mother still lived in Laurens) they would start running from our family grave site to the statue yelling “Jesus” as loud as they could.

There are steps leading up to the platform….they would climb the steps and both seat themselves around Jesus’ feet… hugging the bottom of his gown/feet. A trip to the cemetery wasn’t complete without this ritual. My hope is that they never let go of holding onto Christ.