Friday, January 30, 2009

More Past Meanderings....

Here's another post from my old blog....It was actually labeled "mature" by the blogsite, so if you wanted to read it, you had to get some sort of combination from somewhere to open it. So now, here it is, EVERY SAUCY AND UNCENSORED BIT OF IT, MAN! READ WITH CAUTION!!!

Jul 17th, 2007
PUT YOUR PANTS ON!!
It's summer. It's hot. I've been through many hot, dry summers. In the distant past, it was never a problem. Wear a shirt to bed - that's enough! A tee shirt was good and helped ensure a good night's sleep.

Suddenly, during my 52nd year, it's not so easy anymore. Oh, the tee shirt in bed is fine....Walking around OUT of the bed is the problem. Suddenly, I don't feel comfortable running out on the porch to get the paper in the morning! Hell, I don't feel comfortable walking through the HOUSE in the morning!! So now when I get up, the search immediately begins for something "presentable" to wear.

When did the knees start sagging? When did the butt start hitting the back of the knees? And WHY DO I CARE?? I care because I can remember a time, long, long ago. The time was 1969. Just a few years after "The Summer of Love", when all at once, women everywhere decided it was just fine to burn their bras and run outside in a tee shirt, feeling all sexy and free, when in fact, all many of them did was demonstrate Newton's law of gravity!! The really scary thing was that some of those women were old enough to be our mothers!! YIKES!! I vowed to myself then that I WOULD NEVER DO THAT WHEN I TURNED 50!!! No matter how great I look to myself, I WILL NOT RUN NAKED IN THE STREET. I've been there and done that (well, figuratively speaking). And now it's time for me to allow my "little sisters" to take over for me.

YOU GO GIRLS!! AND DON'T MAKE ME COME OUT THERE!!!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Identity Crisis?

I am in the process of moving some posts from my old blogsite to this one. Here is one of my very first "meanderings"....

You know, I've wanted to "blog" since I first heard the word. I thought about it - all the life experiences I've had and how I could record them in a blog. At first I found a private blog site, because Lord forbid someone read my thoughts! I signed up, but never got the gumption to actually write. Recently, I discovered that several of my old friends from high school were "blogging" on a regular basis. I visited their sites and was totally captivated. They all seem so carefully organized, with pictures accompanying each message. Profound quotes sprinkled throughout the blogsite. Pure inspiration. "I can do that", I told myself. "I've reached an age where I can put my thoughts on paper in an organized, entertaining manner". And I WANT to do that!

And so, I found this blogsite and signed up. And I immediately realized that I may not, in fact, be ready to create a blog. First thing, I'm asked to select a symbol that bests describes me. Well, let's see... Certainly not a picture of myself!! No, let's pick something more anonymous to start....Let's see....Ocean waves breaking on a pristine shoreline? Nooo, although I do dearly love the ocean. An eagle soaring in a cloudless sky? Too dramatic. A child lovingly gazing into the camera, holding a daisy under her cherubic chin? Cute, but not me. Well, how about a cute little Pekingese dog? YIKES! I'm well into middle age, but I don't yet consider myself a DOG!! Well, what, what, what identifies me? And then - THERE IT IS!! UN-ASSUMING...HONEST...IN YOUR FACE......AN OSTRICH!! So that is now the representation of "who I am". A damned old, obnoxious, beady-eyed ostrich!! I love it!! It's "me".

How funny that in my quest to identify "who I am", I have learned that I am content and happy to be represented by a big, flightless bird. I have an identity and am ready to move forward.....

Now, what the HECK do I write about?


(Written May 31, 2007)

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Ain't

He was just a little boy, On a week's first day.

Wandering home from Bible school, And dawdling all the way.

He scuffed his shoes into the grass; He even found a caterpillar.

He found a fluffy milkweed pod, And blew out all the 'filler.'

A bird's nest in a tree o'erhead, So wisely placed so high.

Was just another wonder, That caught his eager eye.

A neighbor watched his zig zag course, And hailed him from the lawn;

Asked him where he'd been that day, And what was going on.

'I've been to Bible School ,' He said and turned a piece of sod.

He picked up a wiggly worm replying, 'I've learned a lot about God.'

'M'm, very fine way,' the neighbor said, 'for a boy to spend his time.
'If you can tell me where God is, I'll give you a brand new dime.'

Quick as a flash the answer came! Nor were his accents faint.

'I'll give you a dollar, Mister, If you can tell me where God ain't!'
Author Unknown

Monday, January 26, 2009

Inauguration Nation - A Muddah's Irreverent (and irrelevant) Look at an Historical Day

Last Tuesday, our nation celebrated the inauguration of its 44th President. I was unable to watch the historic event because it was a workday for me, but as it turns out, a kind little old muddah who lives a few doors down from me viewed the entire event on television. As I stepped out of my car that evening, she was right there to tell me all about it. I would be remiss if I failed to tell it just as she relayed it to me, so get comfortable - She's a long-winded old gal! Her story went something like this:

"Well, hey there, how ya doin' tonight? Me, oh I'm fine but I watched the inauguration all day long and I tell ya, I feel like I been there! Matter of fact, that guy from the Today show said that if I watched it all day long, I could say I WAS there, so I just might use that in the future. Anyway, I'm home all day ya know so I figure it was my civic duty to watch the thing. I'm tellin' you, it was a wonderful site. They started out showin' the Bush's and the Obama's meetin' on the White House porch. Mrs. Obama (I can call her that because at that time, he hadn't been sworn it yet) was carryin' a present for Mrs. Bush. I tell ya, it woulda been nice if they'd made her open that thing right then because I wondered all day what was in there. It looked like a big ol' box of Russell Stover's! By and by, they all walked into the White House, so I didn't get to see what they did after that.
Before long it came time for them to get goin', and they all walked out of the White House again. And this time, the gals was together and the men was together...Isn't that always the way? I guess it don't matter how uppity we get, when men and women get together, they always split up like chickens...Hens on the one side and roosters on the other. They was just all standin' there in the cold and all the sudden, the gals took off and left the guys just standin' there on the porch! I'm thinkin' those gals decided to go shoppin'. Anyway, the men were just standin' around and pretty soon, a whole bunch of cars drove by. And they looked pretty important too, with flags and stuff hangin' all over 'em. I'm pretty sure it was a bunch of military folks - Would you believe it though, Mr. Obama didn't even salute any of them cars!! I mentioned that to my brother and asked him what he thought about that. He said it was probably just a bunch of taxi drivers trying to be the first one to give Mr. Obama a ride, but I said I didn't care - if people are kind enough to drive a bunch of cars with flags on 'em past you, the least you could do was salute 'em! Especially if you're gonna be president pretty soon!
Finally, this fancy car came by and picked up Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama and I'm tellin' you, that car was BIG. I bet they could've stood up and walked around in that thing, it was so big. But, SLOW?? That car was sooo slow, it took them forever to get where they were goin'. I got all the mornin' dishes done up before they got to the inauguratin' place.
The TV kept pannin' out over somethin' they called the mall, so I'm pretty sure them gals did go shoppin', but I'm tellin' you, it wasn't no mall I ever been to! It was outside and it was long and skinny, and there was a lake runnin' right down the middle of it! And that thing was packed with people like sardines in a can! I'm thinkin' they were all in line for the inauguration, but there is no way they all got in because there were just too many of 'em! I'll bet some of 'em are still standin' out there. I hope somebody tells 'em they missed the inauguration because it's cold out there! Cold as it is here, I'm thinkin'!

Anyway, it came time for the inauguratin' to start and you know, they had to parade all them important people down them stairs and into their seats. Finally, Mr. Obama came down the stairs all by himself, and he looked lonesome! Ya'd think they'd at least let him walk in with his wife and babies, but no! He had to walk it alone. He stepped right up to the podian and flung his hand up all ready for the oath. I could tell he was nervous too, because he started rushin' that guy in the robe, and then he messed up! And I could tell right away from the look on his face that he wanted to call overs, but he managed to keep his mouth shut about that and they got through that thing in nothin' flat! He was all oathed in as our 44th President just like that! A man got up and prayed and then a lady read a poem but it didn't rhyme and then Miss Aretha Franklin got up to sing and I love her but Good Lord, what a hat!! You won't believe me when I tell you that hat was bigger than Miss Aretha's head and it was ALL BOW! I tell ya, I never seen such a thing in all my life! Then some guy got out his fiddle and I'm thinkin' now we're really gonna hear some music, but then another guy with one of them big fat fiddles started playin' with him and do you know what those guy's names was? You're not gonna believe this! I'm not sure about the one guy - somethin' like Yiksak or somethin', but the other guy's name was YO-MA-MA!! Can you believe that? I thought my brother was gonna fall off his chair when he heard THAT name!!

I can't tell ya all the folks who was in the stands watchin' Mr. President Obama get oathed in, but there was a bunch of 'em. I did see the Jr President Bush's dad, Sr. President Bush, and you won't believe it but he had on one of them Elmer Fudd hats! Do ya think he was serious about that hat, or did he wear it just to get on TV?

Next they all went to lunch together and I'm not sure where they went, but it warnt no IHOP because the place was huge and they used President Lincoln's dishes to eat off of! And then poor Mr. Kennedy got sick and they had to take him out and another older gent got hauled off too. They didn't say why the older gent got hauled away...I'm thinkin' the seafood musta put him off. Seafood can be hard on the older folks, you know!

After lunch they all went to watch the parade. And I'm all for a parade, but honey that thing went on for hours and hours!! And you could tell even President Obama got tired of it because before long, he was turned around talkin' to folks sittin' behind him. Now I didn't think that was very polite because some of the people in the parade were little boy scouts and they turned and saluted the man as they passed by the stands. And I'll be damned but President Obama didn't salute those little folks back neither!! Somebody evidently noticed his not salutin' after awhile because I noticed every time a group of our military folks marched by, a commander or somethin' was standing by the President so he could know when it was time to salute! And when they warnt standin' with him, Mrs. Obama was standin' beside him. I think she was there to keep him facin' the right way and stop turnin' his back to the parade, because that's not kind, you know? People all marchin' and playin' for ya, and you all turned around makin' a golf date with some guy behind ya!

Anyway, I had to quit watchin' then because it was time to get some supper, but I tell you, it was quite a day! I didn't vote for the man, but I watched the whole thing anyway and you know, I think I'm gonna like him ok if they teach him some presidential protercal!"

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

A Difficult Gift.....

This graph shows the improvement I made during my time with Dr. Grant.

After a wonderful visit with my kids, I flew back home to Idaho. One week later, I returned to work. Since then, my life has pretty much returned to normal, or at least my life's definition of it!
Years ago, I found this verse while on a visit to the Oregon coast....

~Those who can perceive eternity in the sea
Understand there is no death - Only change...
No loss - Only difficult gifts~

I've always believed that God placed us on earth to learn, and that there is a lesson within every experience. This latest experience reinforced that belief for me in ways I never imagined. I learned that my husband is a wonderful, forgiving man, with more patience than I believe I will ever have. I've learned that for every doctor out there who seems to view their patients as nothing more than walking dollar signs, there's another whose craft has become their vocation; Who views their patients as hurting, feeling humans in need of a little compassion, and one who remembers always to "first, do no harm".

I learned that friends are amazing treasures. I was touched and encouraged by those who cared enough to continue to call, email and ask about me, even after I failed to return their calls, reply to their emails or even visit with them when they came to my door! THESE people are truly inspirational. I have learned from their example, and I am so very grateful to still have them as friends. I will strive to be at least half the friend they've been to me.

I've learned that although my children are grown and live their lives very far from me, they truly do love me and will not hesitate to be there for me when I need them. This perhaps is the most precious lesson of all. How many mothers have wondered if their grown children still love and care for them? And how many children are willing, in this difficult age, to pre-empt their lives to stop and help their parents in need?
When I began this "adventure", I viewed it with dread as a curse. But through this adventure, I have come to know it as more of a difficult gift. I have learned that life itself is an incredible thing. That as dark as it seems at times, you can learn to find the light. I've learned that my youth is not lost, but lives quietly within me as I am introduced to middle age and all of the adventures it will bring. And most importantly, I've learned that I am not on this journey alone - My family and friends accompany me.

Thank you Lord, for difficult gifts.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

A Visit to Maris's House

When we arrived at Rick and Jennifer's house, my little Maris was waiting outside with her mama. I was so excited to see them, and they seemed happy to see me too!! I don't get many opportunities to be with my little Maris and her mama and daddy, so each visit is precious to me. Rick works for Michael Waltrip, the Daytona 500 winning NASCAR driver (go here for Rick's bio). You NASCAR fans know that the drivers and their teams travel every week to race, which means that my Rick is on the road almost every week from February to November. This makes it practically impossible for them to travel to Idaho to visit for any length of time. In the off-season, they are busily preparing for the next year, so they rarely get a vacation. This made my time with them even more precious to me.

Jennifer is the cook in our family, and she had a beautiful dinner waiting for us when we arrived. Carly, Carson, Maris and I very much enjoyed the homemade lasagna and salad she prepared.
Shortly after dinner, Carly and Carson left for home, and Maris, Jennifer and I went to the airport to pick up Rick, who, with Michael and the rest of the team, were returning from one of the weekly races. We went to a private airstrip and waited for their plane. After some time, the plane and the team finally arrived. I don't know which of us was more excited to see Rick - Maris or I!!!
My little Maris is an absolutely beautiful little girl, both inside and out. She's a sweet little angel with a beautiful smile, and we planned to have a good old-fashioned sleepover that night. It was so much fun getting to know her again... Here's a picture of my little Maris Olivia.....There is no cuter 4 year old girl on this planet!!

By the time we drove home and got settled back in the house, it was time for bed. It had been quite an exciting day for me, so I was ready for a little shut-eye.

The next morning arrived. I was scheduled to fly back home late that afternoon. Rick took the day off so all of us were able to spend the day together. We had such a great time in spite of the short period we had to visit!

Whenever I visit Rick and Jen, Jen and I always have a meal at an exceptionally wonderful restaurant. Because this was a hurried visit, we all enjoyed a fantastic lunch at a restaurant right beside a beautiful lake. The food was outstanding, the scenery breathtaking and the company was simply divine! This is one view of the lake, taken just outside the restaurant.


I just had to get a few pictures of all of us together:My boy Rick, with Maris, and my daughter, Jennifer (if you look very closely, you can see little Sophie!)


A shot of Maris and Maw-Maw....


My wonderful kids and me....

After lunch, Rick took all of us over to RaceWorld USA, home to the Waltrip racing team. If you are ever in Charlotte, you MUST plan to visit there! Inside are fantastic exhibits, information about the world of NASCAR racing, as well as Michael's shop! If you're very lucky, you might catch the pit crew practicing their lightning fast tire changes! It really is an awesome place to visit! Of course, Rick's office is also located here. It was fun to see where my boy spends his workday and to meet his colleagues!

As you walk around the facility, you see the mechanics feverishly working on getting the cars ready for the weekend's show. You never know who you might see during your visit. I was lucky enough to run into Dave Reutimann, driver of the UPS car this past season!It was a fabulous day and it passed much too quickly. Before I knew it, it was time for us to head for the airport so I could catch my flight home and begin my new and incredibly improved life. But before I left, I just had to take one of the cars out for a quick spin: Just a bit more car than muddah could handle... ;)

Thanks kids, for the wonderful, wonderful visit! I love you all so much!

Friday, January 9, 2009

The Entry

This is a poem, written by Mike on August 12, 2002. It is eerily prophetic...

Entry
His journey nearly over.
Weary, but unbowed
He enter into the dark valley.
A trumpet blows in the distance
Dimly heard through mortal ears
But his heart beats faster with its call.
He does not hear
The shout through the city.
He does not know
The trumpet blows for him.
He does not know
As his earthly body stumbles
and falls,
That his heavenly welcome
has begun.
For a moment, he does not see
Multitudes within the city
Gathered with joy
To greet the hero.
For a moment, he does not see
Angels and seraphim
Saints and friends
Patriarchs and heroes
Coming to greet him
As he enters his eternal home.
His mortal body stumbles and falls
And having done all it was meant to do
It finishes its earthly race
And leaves behind the things
of earth.
But the pilgrim himself does not
stumble and fall.
Freed from earthly bonds and cares
He leaves his broken mortal body
And enters unbroken eternal life.
Now he sees the welcoming crowd.
Now he hears the shouts of joy.
Now he see the saints and heroes
And now he knows he has come home.
He hears the blowing trumpets
He sees the streets of gold.
He hears the sounds of heaven
And eternally he is home.
Nothing earthly can this equal!
Nothing mortal can this match!
all surpassing joy and victory!
His at last! His at last!
Through the gates he comes with wonder
Seeing all the King's great works.
Mighty beauty, glorious music
Light and joy and love and peace.
Surrounded by the shouting greeters
Joining in their praise to God
He finds completion of his journey
Knowing he is really home.
Yet still he senses incompleteness.
His journey's goal was more than this
Still he knows there's something missing
Still he misses heaven's kiss.
Then the pressing crowd goes silent.
Shouting greeters move aside
Even heaven's glories falter
All else is laid aside.
The greatest One now stands before him
and he sees his precious Friend.
Now he knows the joy of heaven.
As he bows before his King
Jesus above all else exalted!
Nothing in earth or heaven compares
King of kings and Lord of Glory!
Jesus, savior, King and Friend!
Jesus is the King of heaven
We will see Him face to face
We will hear his voice of welcome
Finding He has made our place.
O to bow before the Savior
O to see His precious face
O to hear His gracious welcome
Saved by His unchanging grace.
He will be the best of heaven
The King is who we want to see
Jesus is the One exalted
To be with Him is all we need.
(Inspired by II Timothy 4:8; Revelation 21 & 22; Matthew 25:21, 34. Pilgrim's Progress (the welcome of Christian), and John Hall's "Palms of Victory")

Thursday, January 8, 2009

I Hardly Knew Ye....

I attended a memorial service today for a man I worked with for about a year. I thought I knew him fairly well. Day in and day out, he and I worked in the same office. His reputation preceded him - not for his personality, brilliance or looks necessarily, but because he pastored the Assembly of God church in our city. I'd attended "Assemblies" on occasion through my life, and I always viewed the members as a little "off-putting". They struck me as being just the opposite of the pious, reverent, never-turn-your-back-to-the-alter Catholic I was raised to be. I also had it on good authority that he spent as much time sheparding the customers who walked in as he did helping them find gainful employment. Being a Christian myself, I admired this trait, and at the same time secretly admonished him for not doing what he was being paid to do. "An honest day's work for an honest day's pay" was something I was taught early in life.

I never spoke too much with Mike, other than the perfunctory "good morning" or "have a good night", and the longer I worked with him, the more perplexing he became to me. He seemed to have the strangest compulsions, such as making sure there was no ice on the sidewalks in morning and making sure HE was the one who locked all the doors before leaving at night. He took it upon himself to make certain the state car was always washed, serviced and sporting adequate tires, depending on the time of year. If he didn't already have someone with him, he was always rushing up to the counter to grab a poor customer and usher them to his desk, whether they needed the services he provided or not! On more than one occasion, I witnessed him holding a counseling session and a Bible study, right there in his cubicle! He also had a way of "helping" me by explaining how to operate my telephone or the copier machine, or the fax, for heaven's sake! He must have thought I was some kind of idiot, or was he trying to show me that he was the most wonderful, knowledgeable person in the office? I decided he was simply obnoxious.

Mike also kept an array of weird objects littered around his cubicle; Pine cones, stones and all manner of sea shells. And LOTS of pictures of his grandkids! The pine cone was my "favorite". It was HUGE, and he displayed it with pride by fashioning a sort of stand for it out of cardboard. As I was walking by his desk one day, I casually asked him where he got such a big pine cone. "The pine cone? You like that pine cone? Want to know where I got that?" He then launched into a presentation about how it came from a specific tree in California, that it featured particularly sharp points on the edges ("Feel those....Come on and just feel one!"), and that if it fell from its tree and hit a person on the head, it would probably kill them. Before I could escape, he picked up the conch shell and insisted that I hold it to my ear to hear the ocean in it! Before I knew it, he held another shell called a nautilus, saying "I'll bet you've never seen one of these before, have you? Do you know what a nautilus is?" Good Lord, I was just trying to be nice!! Of COURSE I knew what a nautilus was! I used to work in a Nautilus Fitness Center, for heaven's sake! "YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY MAN WHO KNOWS ANYTHING, MIKE!", I screamed at him from inside my head. From that day forward, I carefully planned my trips around the office to avoid passing his cubicle.

On a few occasions, my kids came to town for a visit and stopped by the office to meet my co-workers. I was reluctant to introduce them to Mike, because I knew they would not be allowed to leave until they'd each received one of his special cubicle tours, whether they wanted one or not!

I had acquired a chronic cough. It kept me up all night and I grew extremely tired. It was getting progressively worse and I was getting sicker. I was frequently too sick to work. The doctors didn't seem to have any clue about what was causing it or how to stop it. Mike marched over to me one morning and loudly proclaimed that if I wanted him to pray over me to just let him know and he would certainly do it. He didn't care if it WAS a government office, he said. "You just let me know".

I was not the only one who was agitated by Mike, and as the months past, the other girls in the office grew more and more irritated with him. "Did you see what he did with this file? I've told him a dozen times how to complete this procedure and he STILL doesn't know how to do it!" "Where is Mike? He left for lunch nearly 2 hours ago! I guess he just thinks he can come and go whenever he feels like it!" "Man!! Just because he was the manager of an office in Oregon, he thinks he's the boss around here, too! Well, he's not going to tell ME what to do!" The comments finally worked their way up to the ears of management, and Mike was relegated to receptionist duties only. What a come-down for such a worldly man!

Time passed, and one day I realized that Mike was becoming more subdued than he'd ever been in the past. Oh, he still held his "one-on-ones" with the customers and spent huge amounts of time on the phone, but he seemed to distance himself a bit from the rest of us in the office for whatever reason. He was the only guy in the office...Was it possible that he'd finally gotten his fill of listening to female office banter? Often times I would glance over and see him sitting at his desk with his head in his hands. "NOW what is he doing?" I thought. "Sleeping on the job??"

My cough finally got so bad that I was forced to take an extended leave of absence. During this time, I finally found a doctor who helped relieve my cough (along with a host of other things), and I was able to return to work on October 6th. On my first morning back, I noticed that Mike was not in the office. "Where is Mike? On another vacation?" I quipped. My other two co-workers rushed to my desk with concerned looks on their faces. "Oh, didn't you hear what happened? Mike is sick! Last Friday, he couldn't do a thing! He was trying to sign people up for the workshop and just look at what he did!" They thrust a clip board toward me and I looked down upon it. There, written on the sheet were lines of unintelligible marks and scratches. My heart fell to the pit of my stomach. "My God", I said, "Did he have a stroke?" "We don't know what happened. It was really awful! He came to me 3 times, asking for the name of the copier."
"He came to my desk and told me that he wanted to send me an email...But he just couldn't figure out how to do it!" "He told me that he couldn't see. I think he's having a reaction to the new medicine his doctor gave him." "I think he's going to the doctor to have some tests". That day was a solemn one for all of us in the office. What had happened to Mike? Was that why he had acted the way he did? What's going to happen? How about his poor wife?

A few days later, Mike and his wife came into the office. Mike was silent as he went to his cubicle, appearing busy with this, that and the other. Linda cornered his wife Janet to see what they'd found out. The answer was devastating. Mike had been diagnosed with tumors in his brain. They didn't know yet whether it was cancer. The doctors were going to do a biopsy the next day. As Mike aimlessly wandered the office, he happened to look up and see me. "HI!", he said with a big grin. "I am so glad to see you again! Were you able to get the help you needed?" "Yes Mike," I said, "I'm feeling very much better. How are you?" "Well," he said, "I'm having a few problems at the moment, but I'll be fine. I'm just glad you're feeling better!" With that, he found his wife again and prepared to leave. We all told him goodbye, not to worry about things here, and to hurry up and get better. "Oh, I'm just having a little procedure. I'll be back in a week".

Mike never returned to the office. He was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer in his brain. The doctor gave him 3 to 6 months to live. All of us bore a load of guilt and remorse for the way we had treated him and for things we had said. "If I had only known.....I wouldn't have been so hard on him!"

The biopsy disabled him considerably, and Mike was moved to a nursing home for care. One day after work, the girls and I got into our cars and convoyed together to the nursing home to see him. Two at a time, we stoically marched into his room for a visit. It was awkward for all of us, I think, but particularly awkward for me. I knew Mike instinctively knew what I thought of him. I carried the office card and gift, and, acting like it was a birthday present, placed it on the bed beside him. "Put it on the....with....." he stammered with a smile, and I asked him if I could open it for him. He grinned and nodded, and I pulled out a picture he'd had at work that he was particularly fond of. It was a picture of his family, and we'd had it framed so he could enjoy it there in his new place of residence. He nodded and smiled his appreciation to us. It was obviously a struggle for him to talk, so we yammered on about how we missed him in the office, about how many people had come in to ask about him, and so on. Mike grinned and nodded some more. I noticed a definite calm about him, and I knew that he was at peace with his situation. He spoke volumes through his eyes as he looked at us, as if to say, "It's all right, don't feel bad. I understand. Thank you for coming to see me." My visiting partner and I didn't stay long. We used the excuse that others were waiting to visit. But I distinctly felt God's presence in his room that day, and I left feeling very sorry and ashamed, yet forgiven. I couldn't bring myself to visit him again, though I told him that I would. He lived 2 more months after our visit.

At his memorial service today, all the questions I'd had about Mike were answered. Indeed, he was quite an accomplished man. A college graduate, he was a teacher at the local schools in our valley. He was truly a Bible scholar, and pastored 3 churches prior to coming here to lead our local Assembly of God. He loved working with children, helping people, teaching Sunday schools, leading Bible studies and loving the Lord. In addition to this and many other things, he was an accomplished poet, having written over 100 poems. His son read one of them during the service. It was an absolutely beautiful piece.

I realized that, in spite of my attitude, Mike managed to teach me an incredible number of things in our short time together. I didn't realize this until today, and I regret that I will never be able to thank him for it. I know that as we speak, he is rejoicing in the presence of the Lord, and that the Lord is responding, saying "Welcome, my good and faithful servant".

Mike, for what it's worth, I'm sorry I WAS such an idiot. I'm sorry I refused to accept your unique offer of friendship and fellowship. Most of all, I'm sorry for myself - for the missed opportunity to get to know you better. I promise you though that I won't forget your valuable lessons. I promise I will try to offer my hand in friendship and love to everyone I meet from this day forward. I'll remember that we are ALL God's children, and we should love one another as brothers and sisters, regardless of their little idiocyncracies. Finally Mike,I promise to do as you asked me - I'll try to walk with Jesus.

Thank you Mike. Goodbye for now, my friend.....

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Time was growing near for me to head back to Idaho and start applying my newly acquired techniques. I was pretty excited. For the first time in my life, I wasn't totally dreading leaving my kids. Of course I was sad to be saying goodbye, but I was anxious to get back home and get my new life started! And things just seemed to get better and better every day. I was scheduled to fly out of Myrtle on Friday, but it just so happened that Carly was scheduled to come to Myrtle that weekend for a get together with her dad. Josh called and asked her (unbeknownst to me) if I could ride with them back to North Carolina so I could see her, Carson and my oldest son Rick, his wife Jen, and my granddaughter Maris. Carly readily agreed. So, Josh called the airlines (or maybe he went online), got my flight changed to the following Monday, flying out of Charlotte, then broke the news to me. I was absolutely ecstatic!! The one flaw in this otherwise perfect trip was going to be mended! I WAS going to be able to see my daughter, my oldest son, and their families!! It was just too good to be true!

Carly and Carson arrived and we had a great visit. Although they had just come to Idaho in March for a visit, I was amazed at how much Carson had grown and changed! Here are a few pictures of the fun:
Top: Carson, Aunt Tia, me and Carly, chillin'..... Bottom: Carson, "Gamma", and mama Carly......

Here's a shot of the whole happy crew!
Sunday arrived too soon, and it was time for us to say goodbye to Josh and Tia. They will never realize how much they've given me in those few short days. I will never be able to adequately thank or re-pay them, and I'll never know what I did to have been blessed with such incredibly thoughtful, loving and amazing kids!

Telling my Joshie goodbye..

Our trip north was lots of fun. I always enjoy the conversations I have with my Carly, and of course, it's not a car trip without Carly and mom singing their hearts out. Of course, our duet has become a trio with Carson now chiming in perfectly. Carson's and my favorite song this trip was the Banana Boat Song, and he and I continued to sing "DAY-O!" long after mom wanted to hear it. We sang it until ...

"Daylight come and I want to go HOMMMME...."

Our trip ended too soon. However, we had arrived at Rick and Jen's house, and it was time for me to see my sweet granddaughter Maris and her daddy and mama. It was with a huge lump in my throat that I watched my sweet babies Carly and Carson drive away.....

Saturday, January 3, 2009

More Excitement!

Here are a few more pictures of Sophie and her family:

Here is Daddy Rick, Mama Jen with Sophie, and sister Maris



This is Aunt Carly, cousin Carson, Mommy, Sophie and sister Maris


Big sis Maris & li'l sis Sophie with daddy looking on



Cousin Carson takes a turn

Aunt Carly loves her new little niece!

LOOK WHO THE NEW YEAR BROUGHT IN!!!

Presenting Sophie Allen Wainright! Born January 3, 2009 - Weighing in at 5 lbs, 12 oz. She joins her sister Maris and mom and dad, Rick and Jennifer. Promises to enrich our lives tremendously! I am a very proud and excited GrandMuddah for the third time!!
God Love You, sweet baby girl!!