Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

When I watch young couples (on HGTV) trying to decide on their first home…I find myself sometimes yelling at the television…”Take Number 2….because it has a porch…believe me…you need a porch!”

When we moved from Briarwood to Miler when I was pregnant with Tommy I had a tough time adjusting to my (now) Happy Room.  Seems hard to believe. Our home in Briarwood had a beautiful front porch and when you came in the front door…there was a foyer and a living room before you made it back to the den (where all the living took place.)

The adjustment problem was that it felt like I had no privacy with visitors coming to the door on Rainbow Road and if the door was opened ….the visitor was right there looking in the den/living room/ dining room….there was no “barrier” to give one a moment to straighten up or put the fork down.

It took me a long time to get over that sense of a lack of privacy…today I don’t feel that way…because I have a porch to stop at first on the front and a deck on the back. When I added the storm doors a few years ago…it also provided that moment to halt and reflect upon entering my home.

In my latest novel I am reading… one of the characters has the same  deja vu moment that I experienced. …the importance of a porch. Her husband died suddenly in an accident and she realized later the problem lay with how she heard the call…. she didn’t have her personal “porch” to break the news a little slower…it was too fast…too quick…too straight forward. Just an emergency telephone call directly to her from the hospital.

“She wondered who the architect was who first understood that basic human need to have a place, a moment, to pause before entering, to shift from the person you were outside to the one you would become when you walked through the door.”

I love that thought…it is so true…it is like we need a moment to shed off our “work clothes- our other life” and become the person again family and friends love …our true selves

I know this Thanksgiving post is short…but remember last evening was my Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends- Wednesday, Thursday…the day doesn’t matter does it…just the gathering of all blessings coming together. . It is time to check on Mr. Turkey, put in the dressing, and “Get stuffed.”

Happy thanksgiving! May blessings fall like rain upon you and all your loved ones!

So until tomorrow….Let us give blessings for pauses in our lives thatprovide us the moment of grace we need to become who we are in God’s world.

“Today is my favorite day.”  Winnie the Pooh

*Mary Fennemore sent me some gorgeous pictures I will share with you tomorrow….thanks Mary!! What a Thanksgiving treat!!!

*We had fun!!!! Full moon and all…it gotta a little crazy but that is what family celebrations should be….you’re only two once!

The Dingles arrived first…5:30…an historical benchmark…Rutledge was ready to be here and he was hungry….Woo and little Roo.

Mollie looked great and she said she felt good but her voice was shot…she couldn’t speak….that brings back memories of me last Christmas!

Walsh has been on this detox health food program….he lost nineteen pounds in thirty days…and he said he really feels terrific…off sugar.

Kaitlyn’s parents- Butch and Susan were able to join us this year and we loved having them to share Thanksgiving.

Carrie’s birthday was Tuesday and Kitty Kat’s Wednesday….Kitty Kat couldn’t make it for the Pre-Thanksgiving dinner but will be home today. Happy Birthday wonderful nieces!

Vikki and her mother and grandmother…wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without them.

Susan helped Mollie with Lachlan…little ones really do need a village of holders so everyone can eat.

Uncle Tommy and Uncle Ben enjoying a little beer and wine.

Rutledge is going to be my storyteller…he can tell a tall tale!

A game of football in the dark broke out….Rutledge saved his tackling for the porch….Uncle Lee and dad.

What happened to the football.…”Oh no…Uncle Tommy ate it!”

Aunt Vikki came to bring re-enforcements catching the ball! It was too cute…I took Rutledge out in the street to show him the full moon…he stood on the grass in the yard and then grabbed the hem of my tunic to pull me off the road so a truck wouldn’t run me over…so sweet!

Boo and the boys….! Look at all the lovely hostess gifts I received from the family….I love you one and all…I am a most blessed woman.

Dear Reader:

Certainly one of the most unusual experiences about a lowcountry Thanksgiving is the diverse variety of spring, summer, fall, and winter plants all blooming at the same time!

I moved my two natural poinsettias from the thick adjacent driveway foliage to the front porch. Both poinsettias have survived a whole year without any help from their owner…I think the extra rainy season and mixture of cool and warm days did the trick naturally.

Several fall mums are having their second blooming and even the summer impatiens are continuing to bloom and glow. The impatiens were actually planted in late spring…so all four seasons of the year are represented on my front porch on this Pre-Thanksgiving day. My day to cook and enjoy the company of family and friends!  I can hardly wait!!!!

Hibiscus, the red poinsettia, a fall mum and yes, even “Big Red” are still standing proudly on the left side of the porch….the close freeze didn’t get our red geranium Monday night or early Tuesday morning. Gotta love “Big Red!”

The four seasons of the year are applicable to the lowcountry….even though we live in a geographically designated semi-tropical terrain. Our springs, summers, and early falls are longer seasons than other areas in our country…with winter being the shortest in intensity. *Residents from other parts of our country (who move here) sometimes complain about the long, hot, humid summers and short, late falls….but the complaining stops (I notice) with our, also, short winters. It is why people move to this area.

I don’t think I would like to live in an area that had no seasons….it is something about the four changes that keep us humans in sync with God’s time. I always feel energized as one season gives way to the next.

So on this almost Thanksgiving Day…I want to stop and wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving with the ones we love and if we can’t be with all the ones we love…let’s love the ones we’re with! After all…we are all connected in God’s eyes as “children of God.”

So until tomorrow: For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, For love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*And last night was my favorite night…I was taking my garbage out since our neighborhood has pick-up on Wednesdays and the bright light filtering through the tree branches made me stop mid-way to marvel at the delicious Harvest Moon in all its beauty. “Shine on…shine on Harvest Moon…up in the sky…”

John, Mandy, Eva Cate, and Jakie flew home to John’s parents in Huntsville, Alabama for Thanksgiving…I know they are having a marvelous time! Mandy texted to let me know everyone had arrived safe and sound. I told her to take the kids outside and check out the moon…Tell Eva Cate that Boo is watching the same moon she is and sending her love from it.

Dear Reader:

The symbol of a rose….how many fairy tales, legends, and myths all begin with this beautiful symbol? (Today the symbol lives on in “reality” shows…with The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.)

You might have observed from the photo (above) that the gift of this special rose sent Eva Cate floating off into her own little happy zone. It took her until intermission to snap back out of it.

Mandy, Eva Cate, and I were at the Disney on Ice (Let’s Celebrate) show Sunday afternoon for its final performance. During one of the celebrations…all the Princesses and their ‘Prince Charmings’ skated out on the ice performing elaborate and breath-taking romantic dance duets.

At the end of this part of the program the famous Disney couples started circling the rink….looking at all the children. (Mandy ordered our tickets back in September and we actually ended up with front row rink seats -to our surprise!- So cool…both figuratively and literally!

As Aladdin and Jasmine skated by ….they slowed down and nodded at Eva Cate in unison…then Jasmine extended the “Princess Rose” to Eva Cate and asked if she would like to keep it…thus becoming a selected member of the Princess Hall of Roses!!!. For the first time in Eva Cate’s life she was a complete mute. Her eyes grew wide and starry. She could only nod. She had been given a Princess Rose by Jasmine!!!!!! (Her favorite princess)

Her eyes stayed glazed over the rest of the night.

Unfortunately for our little boys in the family….everything has not been coming up roses…more like prickly thorns.

Because of Jakie’s recent diagnoses of severe allergic reactions to nuts, eggs, and milk his primary doctor has had to wait until he has completed all the tests to find out the degrees of severity before giving him his one year vaccinations.

He was finally given the okay….as long as he was monitored for reactions and he got his immunizations yesterday….much to Mandy and John’s relief and Jakie’s chagrin. These thorns were definitely a little painful. But the good news is…he had no reactions to the ‘shots’ so he is good to go with all his vaccinations now…he came out smelling like a rose. (And a hungry one…the shots didn’t slow down his appetite for lunch yesterday!)

Little Lachlan has found himself in the briar patch too….his “thorns” yesterday were two tubes in his ears. He is definitely following in his big brother, Rutledge’s footsteps, with the bad ears…Rutledge has suffered from ear infections since soon after birth…and he, too, has to go to MUSC next Monday to get one (that fell out) replaced. The poor Dingle boys and their bad ears.

Mollie picked me up at Mandy and John’s house at 6:00 a.m. Monday morning to help with little Lachlan… getting him ready for his minor “surgery.” Everything went like clockwork until we were called back to get vitals taken….(Lachlan hadn’t had any food/milk since 2:00 am and we thought he would be going right in for the procedure)….instead we had to wait on a  surgery that lasted an hour and a half…while the tubes in children take about ten minutes. Really?

Lachlan was really a champ during the long wait…he did better than I would have…it was after nine o’clock before he got his tubes inserted. He woke up confused, disoriented, and hungry but too sleepy to eat and thoroughly disgusted with the whole procedure. The nurse gave him some Tylenol and he promptly fell asleep in mid-cry. He was out like a light.

During the  high’s and low’s of waiting, waiting, waiting…he showed everyone his two new teeth for Christmas…bottom ones.

Hurry up and wait….hurry up and wait….and then get hooked up.

Rutledge managed a reassuring smile for mom before leaving with the man in the mask…(which he was trying to pull off.)

Lachlan returned (initially upset) but a little Tylenol was all it took for him to give up the fight and finally fall asleep.

Another hour of observation and Lachlan was released from his first “surgery” ….we pray it is his last. I hope Lachlan had wonderful dreams of milk, and milk, and more milk. Deep breath…we are all gearing up for Rutledge for next Monday -unfortunately he knows the “procedure”…sometimes “ignorance is bliss.” But…I have no doubt…he will emerge smelling the roses too!

So until tomorrow…life is a balancing act….the highs and lows teach us different lessons…but mainly to savor the moment when a magical rose comes our way. Sometimes in life that memory is what keeps us forging ahead when the thorns take over our lives temporarily.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

One of my favorite quotes from Madeleine L’ Engle reads: “The real question is…not if you believe in unicorns…but do they believe in you?”

I think the greatest accomplishment we humans can obtain (during our lifetime) is never letting the wonder of the child within us disappear from our lives. This is the part of us who still loves Christmas, the first snowflakes on the tongue, Santa’s arrival at the end of each Thanksgiving Macy’s Day Parade, snuggling with grandchildren, and planting the seeds of imagination in each of them… to last a lifetime.

Gloria Houston, my friend and beloved children’s author, sent out an update on her health a couple of days ago and my admiration for this extraordinary woman intensified with each sentence….with each health challenge she has and continues to face.

L”Engle says: “We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.”

Gloria exemplifies this quote perfectly. When she first told me about this rare cancer (over a year ago) she said that no one to date has survived it…so it is up to her to be the first one to do so. Unicorns still believe in Gloria.

I will share with you her message she sent to those who have contacted her and understand her journey she is on…she wants us to fully understand the challenges she is facing but also her renewed determination to overcome it.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your concern, prayers and positive energy over the past  months I have neglected to communicate.  I have spent more time in hospital than out during that time, with side effects, infections and other delights of cancer treatment.  I am “home” at the marsh house and hope to be here through the holidays.

I had the side effects of two chemo treatments at one time, but they were necessary.  I had localized chemo to the largest tumor in my liver, which was successful in destroying that beastie.  I also started a systemic chemo which has shown some success.  I must finish that protocol before we begin the newly FDA approved drug with the highest success rate. 

We have been waiting a year for this one, Yondelis, with the greatest success in treating all soft tissue Sarcomas- it has been approved for use by the FDA for leiomyosarcoma!  While waiting for that approval, we started a round of another chemo with some success with leiomyo. . . It was developed for one specific type of breast cancer, but has worked for leiomyo. . .often enough for us to try it. 

Spent most of September and part of October in hospital with Sepsis and edema, but I’m “home” again, working hard to build myself back to strength to fight the beasties with all I have. I survived the Sepsis with numerous antibiotics and was on my way home when the most incompetent doctor in my experience continued to feed me IV’s of fluid until my legs would not bend, I had trouble breathing and no food would go down. 

The edema specialist told me that I was filled with water!  I am overcoming that situation–slowly–albeit angry that it happened.  It cost me an extra week in hospital and numerous epensive tests to prove that I do not have congestive heart failure!  Right now, I’m praying that no permanent damage to my body was done.  Medicare is investigating the situation.

My daughters want to bring me to NC to see the new production of Virginia Satcher’s adaptation of The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by the Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville.  I have seen this excellent adaptation by large theatre organizations twice, so, at this point, I don’t want to face the cold, especially now that my newly black hair went down the drain, and I am again bald.

Have a wonderful Holiday Season, whatever you celebrate!

Dear Reader:

When I got back home yesterday afternoon from Mt. Pleasant I immediately ran to check on my one cluster of buds/ blooms from “Big Red.”

In an earlier post, I explained how fragile the old geranium was and I had not seen one bloom all summer. Now it is so close to blooming completely but an accident and the upcoming weekend cold front might prove more than “Old Red” can take. I can only hope and pray that this will not be the case.

Hope was created a couple of weeks when I sighted buds on the end of one major stem shooting out from the plant…first I saw one bud, then another, and finally a cluster. I felt like if “Big Red” could bloom again one more time before the winter winds fall…it would be a sign, again, of perseverance and hope.

All was going quite well until two days ago. The bloom is at the tip end of one stem that sticks out quite far from the pot. I had a couple of smaller stakes trying to help stabilize it…but the stem grew higher than the stakes over time. Then when I went to check on it Thursday morning…the whole stem was dropping down on the bench with the cluster of buds crushed up against it..

I was so scared that the stem had popped…snapped from the weight. It had not completely broken in half… but it was definitely bruised and battered where the weight had pulled it down.

I scrambled all over the yard hunting for a longer stake and finally found Honey’s dragonfly stake (which stands in the pansy barrel)…grabbed it and it held the stem perfectly…but the other leaves are looking a little withered around that one section now and I am afraid that the nutrients aren’t getting to all the leaves and buds on this partially damaged stem.

I thought about the possible outcomes….and then I decided to  take a picture of how it looks right now… this very moment….It is stunning!….All the buds are in some stage of opening and all are unique and exquisite in their own right.

So no matter, if this is the closest “Big Red” comes to blooming in this late fall season… so be it… because this “floral friend” of mine has taught me a lot about hope, perseverance and inter-relationships. Hope is not a conclusion…. it is not a geranium filled with clusters of buds opening in all their brilliant shades of red. Madeleine L’ Engle explains it best:

“One of the things that we have learned, having opened the heart of the atom, is that nothing happens in isolation, that everything in the universe is interrelated… And another thing [scientists have] discovered is that nothing can be studied objectively, because to look at something is to change it and to be changed by it. Nothing loved is ever lost or perished.”

I am hoping and praying for the best for “Big Red“… but, I now realize, that this faithful friend has already taught me the lesson it was put here for seven years ago on my front porch…Never give up and bloom where you are planted.

So until tomorrow….”Big Red” you have changed my life by your presence in it….I hope for many more years with you…but if not…”Nothing loved is ever lost or perished.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Friday evening I kept Eva Cate and Jakie so John and Mandy could attend a birthday celebration for Kaitlyn given by her parents on her ‘official’ birthday. I spent the night so I could see Eva Cate’s dancing class go through their routines…they had pulled in chairs for parents and grandparents to watch on this ‘special’ dance class.. Too cute.

What Eva Cate lacks in natural agility or tapping rhythm she more than makes up for in creativity and determination. She is not afraid to try anything…even backward somersaults (with help from the instructor)…. where she emerges victorious… no matter the amount of pushing going on to help meet her goal. She dances to the beat of her own music in her own little zone…hilarious!

Anybody else in the class is welcome to do their thing too….not sure Eva Cate realizes the concept of dancing in unison...she is simply the star soloist and creates her steps as she goes along.

  Take a bow, sweet girl…you”done” good! Our little “Dancing Queen.”

Kaitlyn and her “little boys” on her birthday! Precious!

* Jakie gave everyone a scare yesterday after lunch….he ate something that he is allergic to (still not sure what….in this particular case) and broke out in welts…this time they were worse then normal and around his neck. Mandy and John rushed him to the emergency room at East Cooper….they were so kind and kept him for monitoring purposes for a little over an hour… but he came home rash free.

It is tough having a child with milk, egg, and nut issues….lots of tests and food samples…then just when you think you have it under control…something else pops up. But Jakie is fine and just kept on playing.

*Photos after John and Mandy got dressed for Kaitlyn’s celebration Friday night….Jakie adores brushing his teeth…and staying true to Auburn with his Dad.  

*

Please say a little prayer for Lachlan….unfortunately the “bad ears” have been passed down from Rutledge to Lachlan…early, early Monday morning Mollie and I are taking him to MUSC to have tubes inserted.

Rutledge has only had a little success with his tubes …improving his ear aches….hoping Lachlan has better luck with his.

Dear Reader:

As a history teacher for over three decades I thought I knew everything about our first President-George Washington. That is until I came across this article on the purchase of a camel that President Washington made to entertain his guests.

Evidence of this strange purchase comes from Washington’s personal (financial) ledger. I remember reading that his mother couldn’t spell CAT….sadly, as you will soon decipher…George wasn’t too far behind….he definitely spelled it the way it sounded to him.

 “By the man who brot. A Camel from Alexa. For a show. . . .0.18.0.” 

These limited words found in Washington’s expense ledger are the only surviving mention of a camel’s visit to Mount Vernon for Christmas in 1787. However, based on surrounding information, it is possible to gain some insight into the camel’s arrival at Mount Vernon.

*Aladdin the Camel is a frequent guest at Mount Vernon during the holidays. (MVLA)

George Washington had a significant interest in both domestic and rare animals. He often paid to see them on display. Over the years, Washington and various members of his household were able to learn something about the world outside of Virginia from the itinerant entertainers who traveled along the eastern seaboard and would have been drawn to large gatherings of people at events such as fairs. Many of these individuals worked with rarely seen or specially-trained animals. In one instance, Washington recorded paying 10 shillings to see a “Lyoness” in June of 1766. While President Washington saw a “Cugar” in Philadelphia as well as a “Sea Leopard,” a type of sea lion.

There is nothing in the surviving records to indicate precisely how the camel ended up at Mount Vernon for Christmas in 1787. However there is evidence pointing towards who might have had the opportunity to view the animal. According to George Washington’s diaries there was a fairly large crowd gathered that day at Mount Vernon that could have viewed the camel.

Also at the Mansion House Farm were slaves, several of whom might well have previously seen camels with trading caravans in Africa before their enslavement in the Americas. The large number of people at Mount Vernon that Christmas is a possible explanation for the fairly high sum paid by Washington to see the camel, eighteen shillings. (That a large sum of money back thenfor entertainment.)

Since 2008 Mount Vernon has brought back the tradition of the 1787 Christmas camel and named him Aladdin. He is from Berryville, Virginia….but from Thanksgiving to Christmas he resides at Mt. Vernon and poses with guests and tourists…. known to very friendly… He rarely spits or bites.

You can pull him on Facebook and see some of the families who have posed with him in the past. Just pull Aladdin, the Mount Vernon Christmas camel.

Somehow, it makes old George even more special…..to want to entertain his own two grandchildren (by his marriage to Martha)…Eleanor and George….both of whom were raised at Mt. Vernon after  their son (Jackey’s) early death at 26.

Isn’t that the nice thing about history….just when you think you know it all…you learn that you really don’t know as much as you thought you did. We never know a historical figure until we see him as human with all the frailties that go along with the term.

If you think your children or grandchildren would be interested in this story…you can purchase it from the gift shop at Mt. Vernon or on-line. It would make a great Christmas gift to all our future historians.

So until tomorrow…At this Thanksgiving season….let us never judge others because we are seeing only what we choose to see or what in our limited knowledge we are privy to understand….We must remember everyone, all humans, are children of God and we must never forget it.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

It was last year, November 19 (anniversary of the Gettysburg Address) that the bottom temporarily fell out of my life. I think I shed more tears that day than the total accumulation of all  the “little c” treatments over several years.

Some of you might remember ‘what went down’ that day. I was contacted-through email- by a “representative” from some company telling me that I had used (unknowingly) an internet photo of an historical marker (in my blog) that was copyrighted. I would have to send a certified check immediately to prevent a lawsuit.

After much anguish (Tommy and Kaitlyn checked out the source to make sure it was “legit”)….the money was paid and I was left shaking in my boots…completely paranoid and wondering if the possibility of this happening again….was worth continuing the blog..

On November 25…the decision was made….partially based on a letter I got from Honey Burrell who said:

Dear Boo,
My heart has ached all night . I just am so sad that someone has tried to steal your joy and the joy you give away each day. I don’t understand but there must be a reason. Keep your spirit!

We all have pictures we can share and I know they add to your creative flair. But Becky, it is really all about the message you give us of hope and love. The wonderful pictures of you and your garden and wonderful family are what I always look forward to and enjoy.
I love you so much,
Honey 

………………………..

If you would like to re-read the first blog back after almost a week of praying for guidance on how to proceed….click on the post below.

When to ‘Cut Our Loss’ and Keep Moving A’head

Dear Reader:

Isn’t it a “joyful experience,” in itself, when we discover a writer whose words flow like a ‘ babbling brook’ over smooth stones… transforming ordinary words into an intoxicating prose?

Erica Bauermeister, author of The School of Essential Ingredients and the Lost Art of Mixing, leaves her earlier cooking themes for a novel about seven women friends who each agree to take on a  daring personal challenge in the upcoming year.

*Now that I think about it….this novel, too, has a similar central/cuisine theme flowing throughout the story….and that is finding our appetite…our hunger… again for life and joy…in the most unusual places and ways.

Like we learned back in our high school English classes…if we are looking for a ‘focus question’ for this novel…it would run along the line of: What would do you with a second chance at life?

The publisher’s introduction to the novel immediately captures the reader’s curiosity.

Having survived a life-threatening illness, Kate celebrates by gathering with six close friends.  At an intimate, outdoor dinner on a warm September evening, the women challenge Kate to start her new lease on life by going white-water rafting down the Grand Canyon with her daughter.

 Kate, however, is reluctant to take the risk.  That is, until her friend Marion proposes a pact: if Kate will face the rapids, each woman will do one thing in the next year that scares her.  Kate agrees, with one provision — she didn’t get to choose her challenge, so she gets to choose theirs.

I immediately identified with Kate, who underwent treatments for breast cancer and once released felt strange being alone with her body again.

(A few months ago…my monthly check-ups were extended from four weeks apart to six weeks. Aren’t we such creatures of habit…as happy as I was with my oncologist’s extension of time between check-ups…there always remains a part of me needing reassurance that “little c” is still sleeping and hasn’t awakened again to come sneaking back in without permission.)

Perhaps the character, Kate, explains it best when she says:

” For the past eighteen months my body had been  the property of others-doctors certainly, but also friends and relatives…Now the medical professionals had declared it hers again, handing it back like an overdue and slightly scuffed library book.”

Since Kate’s challenge, by her college-aged daughter, was pretty physically intense (white-water rafting down the Grand Canyon) the other friends expected similar daring risks…Perhaps climbing mountains, crossing long, dangerous bridges, bicycling across roughed terrain…but when Kate goes to a large glass bowl (on the center table in the den) and pulls out six beach rocks….(to give each participant as a reminder of the year’s challenge)….the first challenge to Caroline (who is stuck and not moving on from a sudden divorce) is to get rid of her ex-husband, Jack’s, books.

*(Caroline realized she would have preferred climbing the mountains.)

And so the year of the challenges begin. Another author, Garth Stein, describes the book this way…. with a thought-provoking comment:

“Moving, touching, wonderfully written; inspiring to read.  Joy for Beginners takes us on the emotional journeys of seven women seeking to transform their lives and proves that sometimes what we really need to inspire us to change is a good, firm shove.”
–Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Ya’s all witnessed this transformation in Jackson… and she didn’t even need a “good firm shove” from any of us….just a reassuring hug that we saw her life-altering decision as sound and opportunistic in finding joy in a different location.

So until tomorrow…Remind us Father that joy is the simplest form of gratitude. ( Karl Barth)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*The light blue chair, in the second cover of the novel, reminds me of my own  ‘computer’ chair….well, it was once my computer chair. It literally broke in half (the seat) one day in the middle of typing my blog post….I wasn’t sure how to interpret that ‘sign’….perhaps I am gaining weight or I need to quit buying whimsical (flimsy) wooden chairs that has a short longevity. Probably a little of both.

I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away….so I have put all of the books of this author in it and tucked it away in the corner of the room.

Dear Reader:

If you have been to Columbia lately…especially in neighborhoods affected by the storm last month…you have probably seen these signs all around.

The idea, behind the words, shows a united front of storm victims sticking together to rebuild a better future. Everyone who sees it likes the sign and what it represents. South Carolina strong.

Sometimes, we can remain  “SC Strong” while, still, selecting a different path to our problem-solving.

Jackson (when presented with all the facts and numbers from the damage to her home) realized that the option of rebuilding (with no flood insurance to fall back on) would leave her  financially depleted; living only on  hope and a prayer that nothing else happens to her home ever again in her lifetime?

All homeowners know that the price of owning a home comes with a high risk factor… One of the non-perks is an (almost) continuous house & property upkeep expense that soon becomes the norm…not the exception.

Jackson greeted us yesterday with lots of hugs and then told us we needed to talk. She said that after doing her homework, like a good student/teacher, the numbers just didn’t work for her to attempt to start completely over… rebuilding/renovating her home.

She had spent many a sleepless night, tossing and turning this decision over in her mind, but the numbers never changed. She let her son, Matthew, know the day prior (to our visit) and he accepted her decision as a  wise one.

It is always hard to give up our legacy, our home, our past…but there comes a time in everyone’s life that we simply must move on. And that is where Jackson is today.

She has found a wonderful apartment near her familiar neighborhood and school….the part of Columbia that she feels most comfortable in…she made a deposit to hold it while she gets to help pick out new accessories and renovations to update her new “home” ( exciting)… while, hopefully, selling her house/property.

I couldn’t help but remember a little anecdote on the analogy of pulling a tooth and letting go.

If you ever have had to get a tooth pulled (that was too far damaged to save)…you remember, initially, feeling only relief from the pain. Over time, however, you realize that you have a reminder of that missing tooth every time you run your tongue over it…a gap lies there where once the healthy tooth  had taken root…and you can’t help but miss it on occasion.

Rationally you know the price of keeping that damaged tooth would have been too high…it would have continued to cause you pain. After some time passes you know you made the right decision;  it’s time to move on and let go.

Like Matthew, we were all in concurrence with the decision. By leaving one part of Jackson’s life behind…she can now start over with her new life….less stress with no upkeep issues and still close enough to catch occasional glimpses of the past.

Jackson’s street looked eerily like a ghost town yesterday. We soon realized that the facade of the houses was just that…a facade. Everything looked normal until you realized that there was nothing inside of them….they had all been gutted and left to the owners to make a decision on their future in this or another neighborhood.

It was emotional….we are only human and associate this home with so many fond memories…and, of course, there was the feeling (especially for Brooke and me) that this, most likely, would be the last time we would see our friend’s home.

You might remember that one of the quirky things still standing immediately after the flood was Jackson’s bottle tree…with just one bottle still on it. Today it is completely covered with bottles because neighbors kept finding them while cleaning up (some of these bottles were not even Jackson’s to begin with) and bringing them to her. It became a symbol of the unity and love of neighbors.

Jackson’s flag had fallen and Matthew placed it in a tree where Old Glory could continue flying over the free and the brave.

It is strange how small a house looks with walls and furniture gone…but it was important to see it in all its starkness, tell it good-bye, thanks for the memories, and then go look at the location of Jackson’s new home. We all loved it…no pictures yet of it until Jackson lives there.

Then we met Linda, Libby’s sister, at California Dreaming and had a spectacular lunch  We were all ready to eat, get our strength, and gear up for what the future brings our Jackson… and all of us!

We did one regular pose, then one funny face….Brooke took the funny category…”face down.”

So until tomorrow…. To our special friend, Jackson, on a birthday that will go down in the annals of Ya Ya history… as the day the past faded and the future brightened.

“Surrender to what is, Let go of what was, Have faith in what will be.” – Ricotti

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Today is Betsy Clarkson Crick’s birthday, Libby’s daughter, and as many of you know this is quite a birthday to celebrate….her five stones “felled” the giant and rare cancer she faced. What a special woman…what a special birthday!

Dear Reader:

You might remember, in an earlier blog,  I commented on the fact that the first half of November feels like an extended October period to me. Then after that…I feel like it is time to ‘gear up’ for the Thanksgiving Stressful Stretch to the Christmas Holidays.

Over the years I have tried several different options in my approach to ‘handling’ Christmas. Some years I start really early but then usually can’t remember what and/or where the gifts are when needed.

Another drawback to early Christmas buying is discovering the same loved ones who say (yearly) “I don’t know…anything” actually come up with a gift they want and you have already gotten something else.

Books on how to survive Thanksgiving and Christmas abound during the holidays. We Americans love “List” books (hang-over from the Dave Letterman days I presume.) If an author puts a big 10 on a “to do” list….it will be a best-seller….especially if it is about ten survival tactics concerning Thanksgiving – Christmas.

What I like about Caldwell’s All I Really Want (book on Advent devotions) is that he takes the opposite approach. Instead of trying to simplify Christmas…he encourages us to amplify it. Instead of deleting items off our “to do” list he encourages us to add to the list (while taking off the “run around in a circle busyness” from the holidays.)

Here a few short excerpts from the introduction…and I think you will better understand why this is going to be my “go to” book this Christmas. Starting November 30 (first day of advent) I will share with you some of his thoughts and meditations…they are homespun, common sense, and truly funny!

“I’m not here to simplify anything for you. Neither is God. If you have too many cookie exchanges or whatever, you’re just going to have to deal with it yourself.”

“This book is actually designed to complicate the season. It’s here to invite you to stop, think, and pray a little more deeply about it, not organize it all until it’s easy.”

“The Christmas season is a time when churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike tend to experience strong spiritual longings. Whatever the longings looks like on the outside, for most of us, deep down it’s a longing for an experience of something holy, something beautiful. 

“So although this book is here to add things to your to-do list, not to take away, I hope that the doing of them will create room-maybe just enough room, for God to show up.” 

“I don’t know about you, but that’s all I really want.”

………………………..

* As you are reading the blog today ( I hope!) the Ya’s are in Columbia…for Brooke and me it will be the first time we have seen Mama Mia’s home since the flood….deep breath…it will be hard…we have so many happy memories associated with this home.

Several of you readers have asked about Jackson and where she is in all of this on-going paperwork. She and her son, Matthew, have done all they can  to date. This is the tough part…they are stuck in Dr. Seuss’s “Waiting Room” ….Waiting on the hands being dealed…and especially waiting to hear if she can re-build. So please continue to keep her in your prayers.

Sis Kinney has asked for prayers for her sister-in-law, Marilyn, who has just received news that she has breast cancer. Please keep her, also, in your prayers as she tries to process it all…especially here at the holidays.

Kaitlyn put this photo on Facebook…a picture she took on their way up to Asheville…Riding by…she did a double-take and there was the name of the mini-mall. I emailed her back and told her that it was a God-Wink.

Tommy and Kaitlyn have been staying in the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Asheville. I’ve had several friends tell me how gorgeous it was and from the photos yesterday …it is beyond that…..

You might remember that  years ago…I gave Susan a Christmas cactus for her birthday and it has become her “Big Red“…I wish I could take credit for it…but it is Susan who has cared for this gigantic cactus. Just look at the size of it!

Mollie took these ‘loving’ pictures of the “brothers” while out for their daily wagon ride….too sweet.