It is hard to believe it has been a year since I have posted here. Time to get back to it. It is good to begin with Thanksgiving and a reflection and recollection of blessings.
First I am always grateful for my parents. Although they have not been with me on earth for too long a time, not a day goes by that I do not remember them with love and gratitude.
Second I am grateful for family and friends, especially those friends whom I have known for decades and with whom I am growing old. For the youngest member of my family, who at sixteen months, charms and delights us. For the oldest of my friends, who at ninety and a half (as he himself said two days ago) reminds me of my father. A member of the "greatest generation", he reminds me of Papa and also of how much thanks we owe to those who have served in our nation's armed forces.
For those among my family and friends who served in the military, I am grateful and in this month of November that also includes Veteran's Day, I honor you.
For my 'best friend" from high school, our small Catholic girl's school, herself a Marine, I am so grateful.
For all the neighbors, especially three women who have become like sisters, who help me, befriend me and give me their time, I give thanks.
For the faith that my parents taught me, even when it wanes at times, I am very grateful. It is so much a part of me that I once told one of my professors at the Divinity school, a very famous Catholic theologian, that "Catholicism was in my bones and blood". He looked out the window for such a long time, that I feared I had offended him. When he turned back, he said simply, "mine too".
I am grateful for the gift of a first class education, for the teachers, especially the Sisters of the Holy Cross, who taught me in high school, my advisor and mentor at Stanford and the professors at the Divinity School. Thank you. You were all blessings in my life.
For my garden, especially the rose this year, which bloomed and bloomed. Each one is so beautiful, so unique and they have a kind of patience and humility that only plants have.
Every day, I give thanks for the caring and superb team of medical professionals who cared for me at Stanford Hospital and Valley Medical Center's Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Unit. It has been three years. Hard to believe that it has been so long. I am almost pain free now, as nerves that had been damaged from overuse have healed.
For a diet that came out recently that I have been following for seven months, I am thankful. If I live long enough I may solve my lifelong weight problem (or win my lifelong battle, depending on how best to phrase it.) More, I hope, in later posts. For now I am grateful for the seven inches I've gotten off my waist. Hurray!
For the people who invented computers, the Internet and all the technology I take for granted, I give you thanks. For the people who invented durable medical equipment, especially the power chair I am sitting in even as I type this, I give thanks.
For the gift of still being alive slightly over sixty years after I was paralyzed from the neck down by the poliomyelitis virus, I am grateful. And that that virus, a nasty thing,no longer afflicts so many people I am also grateful
Praise and Thank God this Thanksgiving. Thank you to all of you who are my friends.
I am grateful to Google too, for making my little blog possible. I hope to be better organized to post more often.
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Friday, October 2, 2009
Coming Back from Vacation
I have had company for the last week. A delightful visit from my sister and her husband from Toledo, Ohio via Phoenix, Arizona where they visited their son, daughter-in-law and grandson in time for their grandson's second birthday. My sixty-second birthday was celebrated Wednesday.
It has been lovely to have this time away from routine, to eat with family and friends and to play Scrabble and watch movies. (I laugh that I may have the greatest shrink wrapped collection of video tapes on the planet. One of those tapes, Tea with Mussolini came out of its wrap yesterday and my sister and I enjoyed watching it together.
We watched several other movies and that gave me practice in finally using the DVD/VCR unit that I bought a year and half ago, but hadn't mastered using! Now I must watch more movies so that I don't forget how to do it.
My sister and I cleared a chest of drawers and she moved it to its new spot in the sewing room, aka Master Bedroom, which I hope I will finally have rearranged between now and Christmas. That will be the completion of a two-year project.
I need to get back to work and hope that the last heat wave of 2009 hit us last weekend. The computer and I both seem to like cooler weather better than hot.
The Fall is really here with crisp mornings, sunny afternoons and the pineapple sage in full bloom outside the kitchen window. My sister and I both love looking at the hummingbird as she feeds on that blooming plant.
More to come, I hope now that summer and vacation are behind me.
I am so grateful for my family and for their visit and praying for safety for travelers as they return home.
It has been lovely to have this time away from routine, to eat with family and friends and to play Scrabble and watch movies. (I laugh that I may have the greatest shrink wrapped collection of video tapes on the planet. One of those tapes, Tea with Mussolini came out of its wrap yesterday and my sister and I enjoyed watching it together.
We watched several other movies and that gave me practice in finally using the DVD/VCR unit that I bought a year and half ago, but hadn't mastered using! Now I must watch more movies so that I don't forget how to do it.
My sister and I cleared a chest of drawers and she moved it to its new spot in the sewing room, aka Master Bedroom, which I hope I will finally have rearranged between now and Christmas. That will be the completion of a two-year project.
I need to get back to work and hope that the last heat wave of 2009 hit us last weekend. The computer and I both seem to like cooler weather better than hot.
The Fall is really here with crisp mornings, sunny afternoons and the pineapple sage in full bloom outside the kitchen window. My sister and I both love looking at the hummingbird as she feeds on that blooming plant.
More to come, I hope now that summer and vacation are behind me.
I am so grateful for my family and for their visit and praying for safety for travelers as they return home.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Journeys Taken
Fifty years ago today, on August 17, 1959 my family arrived in the Bay Area in our 1955 Chevy Bel Air, a green and white two-door sedan with a fully loaded car top carrier and an equally loaded trunk. (Ah, the capacity of that trunk! ) We had spent the night in Virginia City, Nevada, an historic silver mining town. I remember a Polar Bear mounted in a glass case--something that was rather shocking then and would be utterly appalling, if not actually illegal, now. The beauty of the creature still haunts me.
Papa knew that we would make it to our destination that day, so he allowed time for
lingering and being on vacation as it were. We had spent the last nine days driving across the country from Toledo, Ohio. Across the Midwest plains states, bypassing Chicago--Papa did not like city traffic, (Much later I realized that he had actually lived in Chicago for a short time when he was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Station to fill out his contracted term with the Navy after the war in the Pacific ended.)
Through Iowa with its, "Iowa has more pigs than people" highway signs, we stayed overnight in Nebraska at a Motor Inn, a wonderful place that had been built in the 1920's. With its two bedrooms, spacious bathroom, front entry hall that would easily have doubled as a sitting room if it had had furniture, and tiny kitchen ("kitchenette") we could have spent a week there--if there had been something to do!
Our journey took us to Wyoming and I remember eating lunch in a town called Laramie and marveling at the splendor of the mountains. "Purple mountains majesties" became real to me that day. Onwards to Utah, with even grander scenery we stayed over on the fourteenth of August. The next day, the fifteenth, was the Feast of the Assumption, a Holy Day of Obligation, so Papa inquired of the cashier at the restaurant where we ate supper and then we found the church we would go to in the morning and checked the schedule for morning Mass.
Very bright and early the next morning we arrived at an empty parking lot and watched sunrise in the Rocky mountains, wondering where the people were who should be attending Mass. Only after we had been sitting there for a bit, did our parents realize that the time zones had changed and we were an hour ahead of everybody! We went back to our motel and gathered our things together so that we would be ready to leave after Mass. We could not eat breakfast, of course, because we wanted to receive Communion and the laws of fasting still held in 1959.
I remember seeing sisters in the congregation with the great white headdresses that would later show up on tv in Sally Field's "the Flying Nun". Daughters of Charity, perhaps? Mass was quick and breakfast eaten and we were on our way again, marveling still at the deep drop and glorious mountains that we drove through. That night was spent in Elko, Nevada, I believe and then two days later we were home, although we did not call it that yet.
It was the essence of the great American Road Trip. I may still have the AAA "Triptik" somewhere in the house. It changed our families lives, of course, for we became Californians and our parents lived out there lives here, as I very well may, in this house that I still live in.
I am grateful for these memories and for my family today. Grateful too for the Bay Areas's natural air conditioning, that I love!
Papa knew that we would make it to our destination that day, so he allowed time for
lingering and being on vacation as it were. We had spent the last nine days driving across the country from Toledo, Ohio. Across the Midwest plains states, bypassing Chicago--Papa did not like city traffic, (Much later I realized that he had actually lived in Chicago for a short time when he was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Station to fill out his contracted term with the Navy after the war in the Pacific ended.)
Through Iowa with its, "Iowa has more pigs than people" highway signs, we stayed overnight in Nebraska at a Motor Inn, a wonderful place that had been built in the 1920's. With its two bedrooms, spacious bathroom, front entry hall that would easily have doubled as a sitting room if it had had furniture, and tiny kitchen ("kitchenette") we could have spent a week there--if there had been something to do!
Our journey took us to Wyoming and I remember eating lunch in a town called Laramie and marveling at the splendor of the mountains. "Purple mountains majesties" became real to me that day. Onwards to Utah, with even grander scenery we stayed over on the fourteenth of August. The next day, the fifteenth, was the Feast of the Assumption, a Holy Day of Obligation, so Papa inquired of the cashier at the restaurant where we ate supper and then we found the church we would go to in the morning and checked the schedule for morning Mass.
Very bright and early the next morning we arrived at an empty parking lot and watched sunrise in the Rocky mountains, wondering where the people were who should be attending Mass. Only after we had been sitting there for a bit, did our parents realize that the time zones had changed and we were an hour ahead of everybody! We went back to our motel and gathered our things together so that we would be ready to leave after Mass. We could not eat breakfast, of course, because we wanted to receive Communion and the laws of fasting still held in 1959.
I remember seeing sisters in the congregation with the great white headdresses that would later show up on tv in Sally Field's "the Flying Nun". Daughters of Charity, perhaps? Mass was quick and breakfast eaten and we were on our way again, marveling still at the deep drop and glorious mountains that we drove through. That night was spent in Elko, Nevada, I believe and then two days later we were home, although we did not call it that yet.
It was the essence of the great American Road Trip. I may still have the AAA "Triptik" somewhere in the house. It changed our families lives, of course, for we became Californians and our parents lived out there lives here, as I very well may, in this house that I still live in.
I am grateful for these memories and for my family today. Grateful too for the Bay Areas's natural air conditioning, that I love!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Garage Again
Yesterday four friends gathered for a massive re-organization of my garage. I think the garage is bigger than any room in the house. All that space! All that stuff! What is it? My dear friend, K, has filled her van twice with recyclable oddments. More to go.
Some of it has just been sitting there for a long, long time. I am finally ready to let go of much of it.
A few treasures emerged. The insignia from my father's Navy uniform cap. The course notes for an Algebra course he taught as a graduate student at Ohio State. (Along with some Ohio State notebooks from the 1940's that are near pristine condition with the unused paper in better shape than some modern tablets inside the house.
My friends worked their way to the far-back upper corner and a voice called out, "Peggy, what on earth is this? It's a table with a hole to put the kid into it". I thought for a second and hollered, "oh my Gosh! You've found it! It's the baby Tenda." Features in pictures of my sister when she was little. Papa said that he had looked for it and never found it. My sister, the same one in the pictures, ditto. It just had been so carefully tucked, so long ago that it had been in hiding. Now I will have to figure out what to do with it! Is it an antique, a treasure or something that no one will want?
Wow! The garage will not yield a whole lot more. There is a stove that needs to go. A cedar chest. A cedar armoire full of what are now very probably antique clothes. And all of Papa's tools.
Now if I could just diminish my library.
I am very tired, since I sat outside in the wind and supervised all day yesterday. I am also deeply grateful to everybody who helped. Thank you.
Some of it has just been sitting there for a long, long time. I am finally ready to let go of much of it.
A few treasures emerged. The insignia from my father's Navy uniform cap. The course notes for an Algebra course he taught as a graduate student at Ohio State. (Along with some Ohio State notebooks from the 1940's that are near pristine condition with the unused paper in better shape than some modern tablets inside the house.
My friends worked their way to the far-back upper corner and a voice called out, "Peggy, what on earth is this? It's a table with a hole to put the kid into it". I thought for a second and hollered, "oh my Gosh! You've found it! It's the baby Tenda." Features in pictures of my sister when she was little. Papa said that he had looked for it and never found it. My sister, the same one in the pictures, ditto. It just had been so carefully tucked, so long ago that it had been in hiding. Now I will have to figure out what to do with it! Is it an antique, a treasure or something that no one will want?
Wow! The garage will not yield a whole lot more. There is a stove that needs to go. A cedar chest. A cedar armoire full of what are now very probably antique clothes. And all of Papa's tools.
Now if I could just diminish my library.
I am very tired, since I sat outside in the wind and supervised all day yesterday. I am also deeply grateful to everybody who helped. Thank you.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Christmas is over
Christmas goes by so quickly each year. Each year it is the same and each year it is different. This year I didn't put the glass ornaments up because of the October earthquake and I do miss them. I also did not put up the creches--saving them for good and for another year. The tree is pretty and the focal point of my Christmas. There were presents there and I am grateful.
Some of the things that remain the same are the beautiful liturgy, the glorious Christmas chant and the carols which I love. After the bombardment of cheap commercial music on tv and the onslaught from the retailers it is a gift to turn to a local classical music station and listen to nothing but Christmas music for 36 hours. (Well, not while I am sleeping, of course.)
The day was so beautiful with a marvelous sunset at the end. Friends brought me a delicious dinner and their company which made it quite different, more peaceful and more celebratory that any of the other Christmas's since Papa died. I do miss him more at this time of the year.
Hopefully, I will have another Christmas or two in this house, but I am ready to go. If a retirement community or religious community would take me, I would welcome the change. More about that, I am sure will come into this blog as 2008 goes by.
Our baby is growing and looks totally darling in his green and red Christmas suit. My family grew by more than double this year, so that is a blessing to reflect upon on Christmas.
Some of the things that remain the same are the beautiful liturgy, the glorious Christmas chant and the carols which I love. After the bombardment of cheap commercial music on tv and the onslaught from the retailers it is a gift to turn to a local classical music station and listen to nothing but Christmas music for 36 hours. (Well, not while I am sleeping, of course.)
The day was so beautiful with a marvelous sunset at the end. Friends brought me a delicious dinner and their company which made it quite different, more peaceful and more celebratory that any of the other Christmas's since Papa died. I do miss him more at this time of the year.
Hopefully, I will have another Christmas or two in this house, but I am ready to go. If a retirement community or religious community would take me, I would welcome the change. More about that, I am sure will come into this blog as 2008 goes by.
Our baby is growing and looks totally darling in his green and red Christmas suit. My family grew by more than double this year, so that is a blessing to reflect upon on Christmas.
Friday, October 5, 2007
It's Been a While
I see that I haven't blogged since Sept 25, over a week and that is not good. I have been having a wonderful time with my sister. Now she is in Phoenix with her son, daughter-in law and first grandchild. A is nearly three weeks old now and very darling. We are in love with "our baby" and I am hoping for more pictures soon.
P was amazed by the change in the old master bedroom, dressing room and just kept saying how pleased she was. She was also pleased and surprised that her bed, the roll away that has lived in the front hall for many years, was made up and waiting for her. Since it was nearly midnight my time and nearly 3 am her time, it was even more welcome.
We cooked and ate; laughed and ate, held a small "almost a yard sale" and almost got the dryer fixed. (Long story short, I am going to buy a new one.) Pat added her own special touch to the new room with the curtains she had made for the dressing room and little bathroom. This, with paint in the main part of the house that a friend did last year with help from P on all of the woodwork, is making my house come into the 21st century and I am gladdened each day by the beauty and the light. Where last year's visit was a work party, this year we played.
We celebrated my 60th birthday, a milestone for me. Friends brought treats and flowers and a balloon and I was and am so delighted to be remembered. It was a fun birthday and included steak for dinner. (May as well, so long as I have the teeth to eat it with.)
One present that I am going to give to myself is the software put out by the American Diabetes Association for cooking and diet tracking. Thirteen or so years ago I succeeded in losing a major amount of weight (probably about 50 lbs) with the Diabetic Exchange System Diet. Problem is I haven't kept it off. The pictures my sister took of me on the last day that she was here show too much person and it is time to take this seriously in hand. I am hoping that by blogging about this intention, I will do better at the attempts I need to make to reduce this person.
Portion control is my biggest issue. I like food. I like to cook. I like to eat. The kitchen is properly equipped with all the usual equipment--measuring spoons, measuring cups, a kitchen scale. I even have a very nice small work table that is the right height for my wheelchair that M kindly painted for me last spring shortly before she began tackling the larger painting jobs. So the problem is that it is rather like backing up the computer--the tools are there, I just have to use them.
I have eliminated the salt shaker from the table--something that I never thought I could do, because I don't want to take blood-pressure medication. Soy followed salt because research on the web showed that it binds with the Levoxyl I take for my thyroid problem. Thus I have broken the five food groups of chocolate habit that had developed through the last six years. (White chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate, baking chocolate and cocoa, in case you were wondering.) My cook book library includes several books devoted to chocolate and the recipe folder that went in my computer crash contained quite a few goodies saved from the web that I am probably better off without. To my chagrin, I discovered that almost all of the chocolate products I was indulging in contained soy lecithin. The next thing to go is going to be sugar and then calories will be monitored through the exchange system.
Diabetes runs in my family and I do not want it.
The computer recovery is going along nicely with most of the hardware reattached and found by windows xp. I have reinstalled most of the software, including the OED and all of the data that I recovered from my external hard drive. Now I need to redo a number of things that did not survive but can be remade--perhaps better. In the recovery process I discovered that I have a version of Corel Painter and was happy to find this. So things will come back to normal soon, I hope.
P was amazed by the change in the old master bedroom, dressing room and just kept saying how pleased she was. She was also pleased and surprised that her bed, the roll away that has lived in the front hall for many years, was made up and waiting for her. Since it was nearly midnight my time and nearly 3 am her time, it was even more welcome.
We cooked and ate; laughed and ate, held a small "almost a yard sale" and almost got the dryer fixed. (Long story short, I am going to buy a new one.) Pat added her own special touch to the new room with the curtains she had made for the dressing room and little bathroom. This, with paint in the main part of the house that a friend did last year with help from P on all of the woodwork, is making my house come into the 21st century and I am gladdened each day by the beauty and the light. Where last year's visit was a work party, this year we played.
We celebrated my 60th birthday, a milestone for me. Friends brought treats and flowers and a balloon and I was and am so delighted to be remembered. It was a fun birthday and included steak for dinner. (May as well, so long as I have the teeth to eat it with.)
One present that I am going to give to myself is the software put out by the American Diabetes Association for cooking and diet tracking. Thirteen or so years ago I succeeded in losing a major amount of weight (probably about 50 lbs) with the Diabetic Exchange System Diet. Problem is I haven't kept it off. The pictures my sister took of me on the last day that she was here show too much person and it is time to take this seriously in hand. I am hoping that by blogging about this intention, I will do better at the attempts I need to make to reduce this person.
Portion control is my biggest issue. I like food. I like to cook. I like to eat. The kitchen is properly equipped with all the usual equipment--measuring spoons, measuring cups, a kitchen scale. I even have a very nice small work table that is the right height for my wheelchair that M kindly painted for me last spring shortly before she began tackling the larger painting jobs. So the problem is that it is rather like backing up the computer--the tools are there, I just have to use them.
I have eliminated the salt shaker from the table--something that I never thought I could do, because I don't want to take blood-pressure medication. Soy followed salt because research on the web showed that it binds with the Levoxyl I take for my thyroid problem. Thus I have broken the five food groups of chocolate habit that had developed through the last six years. (White chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate, baking chocolate and cocoa, in case you were wondering.) My cook book library includes several books devoted to chocolate and the recipe folder that went in my computer crash contained quite a few goodies saved from the web that I am probably better off without. To my chagrin, I discovered that almost all of the chocolate products I was indulging in contained soy lecithin. The next thing to go is going to be sugar and then calories will be monitored through the exchange system.
Diabetes runs in my family and I do not want it.
The computer recovery is going along nicely with most of the hardware reattached and found by windows xp. I have reinstalled most of the software, including the OED and all of the data that I recovered from my external hard drive. Now I need to redo a number of things that did not survive but can be remade--perhaps better. In the recovery process I discovered that I have a version of Corel Painter and was happy to find this. So things will come back to normal soon, I hope.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Awaiting the Best Guest
Cold this morning, quite warm this afternoon. In other words, the weather is seasonal for this time of eyar. A marked change from last week when we had a foretaste of winter or the weeks before that when the weather was hot, we are definitely into fall. The late afternoon sun slants into my dining room, the house is delightfully clean thanks to my dear housekeeper I who does the most wonderful job of keeping my house tidy and clean. The garbage waits for pick-up tomorrow and I wait even more eagerly for my sister's arrival.
New grandmother that she is, I expect that she will be tired when she arrives close to eleven tonight and we will be so grateful to our dear friend J for retrieving her from the big airport. At least she is flying straight thorugh without the usual stops and starts, so that is a blessing. Her bed is made up in the newly painted "big room", which can double as a guest room now and I am so excited and happy--will be even more so when she walks through the door.
In the meantime, I haven't gotten much work done but have tried to fix the prices that that price tool on Cafepress has ruined. It is a real shame that this is not working, for the new keepsake boxes are gorgeous. I just ordered three last week and they really are fine and elegant. I liked the old ones, so wasn't really pleased by the change. These are even better, lined with white silk velvet and backed on the bottom with black felt so that the boxes are non-skid and will not mar furniture. Truly exceptional.
New grandmother that she is, I expect that she will be tired when she arrives close to eleven tonight and we will be so grateful to our dear friend J for retrieving her from the big airport. At least she is flying straight thorugh without the usual stops and starts, so that is a blessing. Her bed is made up in the newly painted "big room", which can double as a guest room now and I am so excited and happy--will be even more so when she walks through the door.
In the meantime, I haven't gotten much work done but have tried to fix the prices that that price tool on Cafepress has ruined. It is a real shame that this is not working, for the new keepsake boxes are gorgeous. I just ordered three last week and they really are fine and elegant. I liked the old ones, so wasn't really pleased by the change. These are even better, lined with white silk velvet and backed on the bottom with black felt so that the boxes are non-skid and will not mar furniture. Truly exceptional.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Computer Recovery
Or reinventing the wheel, 101. I have made almost 30 cds of the beautiful graphics files recovered from the extended hard-drive. Gratitude has been a watchword here. Looking at some of them, I had forgotten how beautiful they were, how delighted I was when I first put them on the computer. Delight is a gift, one we don't give ourselves frequently enough. I am enjoying the recovery process in spite of its inherent tedium.
A DVD burner is definitely on my Wish List!
This morning I recovered a wonderful tool offered by a member of the CafePress community, Instant Cafe Feeder, and reloaded my google base which was about to expire.
The keypad on the laptop doesn't feel quite so foreign and uncomfortable. I can almost type normally now. Of course, Dragon Naturally Speaking would be an even greater improvement! The Wish List is already growing! Not bad for someone who two weeks ago thought she might never touch a computer again.
It is raining today, which is unusual in my part of the country. It seems to be a gentle, steady rain, one that is nurturing trees and plants long dry from summer and that will lessen the fire danger in this part of California. We can definitely hope so and be grateful.
The first pictuires of AP have arrived via email. What a tiny cutie he is! We love him and are all marveling at this gift of a new baby in our lives. I prepare for the visit of my sister, P, who is this baby's grandmother and can hardly wait to see her. Do I have enough of her favorite tea? What would she like for breakfast? How will we manage without a rental car? Can I figure out how to use the vcr with the new remote that came with the cable upgrade (cheaper than the old plan, but different equipment) in time for us to watch movies?
Gratitude is definitely a major theme of my day. Expectation is another.
A DVD burner is definitely on my Wish List!
This morning I recovered a wonderful tool offered by a member of the CafePress community, Instant Cafe Feeder, and reloaded my google base which was about to expire.
The keypad on the laptop doesn't feel quite so foreign and uncomfortable. I can almost type normally now. Of course, Dragon Naturally Speaking would be an even greater improvement! The Wish List is already growing! Not bad for someone who two weeks ago thought she might never touch a computer again.
It is raining today, which is unusual in my part of the country. It seems to be a gentle, steady rain, one that is nurturing trees and plants long dry from summer and that will lessen the fire danger in this part of California. We can definitely hope so and be grateful.
The first pictuires of AP have arrived via email. What a tiny cutie he is! We love him and are all marveling at this gift of a new baby in our lives. I prepare for the visit of my sister, P, who is this baby's grandmother and can hardly wait to see her. Do I have enough of her favorite tea? What would she like for breakfast? How will we manage without a rental car? Can I figure out how to use the vcr with the new remote that came with the cable upgrade (cheaper than the old plan, but different equipment) in time for us to watch movies?
Gratitude is definitely a major theme of my day. Expectation is another.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
New Addition to our Family
Last evening my sister called with the great good news. A has joined our family weighing in at one ounce less than his Papa weighed when he was born. We (P and I) are now officially members of the grand generation. Most of all we are happy to have a healthy baby join our family.
How does it feel to become a generation older in one day? About the same as yesterday, with pretty much the same aches and creaks as I had yesterday. There is a profound mental shift though. Hope is in this little one, as is the future. I ontemplate and recognize that the greater part of my life is behind me now, not ahead as it once was. This is the same sense of bittersweetness that I felt watching M leave for college a month ago.
More time is gone than remains. When I am weary of life, as I sometimes am now, this seems a good thing and a thing to be grateful for. I would not want to live forever in this life, nor do I wish to linger beyond the point where there is something to do each day; laughter to share, love to give, a prayer to be offered, a skill to teach and food to savor with friends. As long as those experiences remain, I am content and I am aware that while my body does not move as easily as it once did, it is still stolidly and solidly attached to my spirit. It is not time for me to go--yet. A's birth reminds me that time is coming for me though, and so I see that I need to ask myself what to do with the time that is left. Writing is a part of it as is the recovery of the graphics files from my computer crash. Savoring life is a part too.
Today I will savor life, drink an extra cup of coffee this morning, await the appearance of a friend from high school and give thanks. Gratitude for life is a big theme for this day. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad!
How does it feel to become a generation older in one day? About the same as yesterday, with pretty much the same aches and creaks as I had yesterday. There is a profound mental shift though. Hope is in this little one, as is the future. I ontemplate and recognize that the greater part of my life is behind me now, not ahead as it once was. This is the same sense of bittersweetness that I felt watching M leave for college a month ago.
More time is gone than remains. When I am weary of life, as I sometimes am now, this seems a good thing and a thing to be grateful for. I would not want to live forever in this life, nor do I wish to linger beyond the point where there is something to do each day; laughter to share, love to give, a prayer to be offered, a skill to teach and food to savor with friends. As long as those experiences remain, I am content and I am aware that while my body does not move as easily as it once did, it is still stolidly and solidly attached to my spirit. It is not time for me to go--yet. A's birth reminds me that time is coming for me though, and so I see that I need to ask myself what to do with the time that is left. Writing is a part of it as is the recovery of the graphics files from my computer crash. Savoring life is a part too.
Today I will savor life, drink an extra cup of coffee this morning, await the appearance of a friend from high school and give thanks. Gratitude for life is a big theme for this day. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
My Peace Design
My Peace design, available at both Cafepress.com/margueritemanor and Zazzle.com/margueritemanor, is comprised of the word Peace in 37 languages. I thought it would be fun today, to feature several of the languages.
Fred, the name of my late father and several of his ancestors, going back to a great great-grand uncle who served on the Union side in the Civil War, means peace in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. We had wondered why Papa's father and grandfather had been named Fred. Family history research yielded the information about my great great great, grand uncle and I am sure that is where the naming tradition comes from.
Der friede, honors my mother's Grandpa, who came from a tiny, tiny town on the Moselle river. I found the information by ordering his death certificate and was thrilled to find and make contact with living relatives. His wife, my great0grandmother, immigrated with her family when she was only six years old from the German speaking part of Switzerland.
Paix, the Alsatian word for peace, honors my mother's people who came from that region. They were farmers who settled in Ohio and Indiana. How different there lives were from mine! Still, I imagine that my love growing things comes from them.
Fois is the French word for peace. Papa's ancestors were French on his father's side, French Canadian actually and they came to Michigan, the Detroit River Raisin area, in the 1700's. They spoke French until the late nineteenth century, when English finally won sway.
Siochain is the Irish gaelic word for peace. My father's ancestor's on his mother's side immigrated from Ireland in Black '47. I am so glad they did, for if they had stayed they might not have survived and I would not be here. Black '47 was the beginning of the Irish Famine. There is also one Irish ancestor on the French Canadian side.
On each side of my family tree, I have one Scots ancestor. So the Scots gaelic word for peace is included in the design. Solh.
May peace in any language be with you today and all the days of your life.
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