The Life I Want
I know I just instituted "His Word Sundays," but I don't think He'll mind if I write something today, because, well, I HAVE to. My mind and heart are swimming with images and sentiments from yesterday's funeral. There are some funerals which are sad, heartbreaking, and void of any hope. Death has come, in those situations, and left pain and despair in its wake. But then there are some funerals that are joyous. A true celebration of life and love, and this funeral fell into the latter category. I knew it would, because I knew this woman, this family, but what I was so moved by were her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the legacy she and her husband had built together. One...
On Running Home
Remember yesterday, when I talked about seeing all the family and feeling all the love? Well, that didn't happen. Instead, I woke up with a head-to-toe itchy rash (started - and stopped - a new medication). It's the worst reaction I've ever had. I couldn't even get clothes on, much less go anywhere. After Kevin got me set up with Benadryl in pill and spray form, he headed out, and I was holed up in the hotel room, never seeing a single person. When I wasn't passed out cold (Benadryl = zzzzzzz), I was left to read and itch and watch Netflix and scratch. Fun times. It's awful to be away from home and not be well. You just want the comforts of your own bed, your own surroundings, and...
The Greatest of These
Last Valentine's Day, I received news of a trip to Europe, over a candlelit meal. This year, I'll be at a funeral home viewing. Not exactly the Valentine's celebration of my dreams. But you know what? Valentine's Day is a celebration of love, and I don't just take that as romantic love. Of course, it's wonderful to celebrate, but love is so much broader than that. Maybe that's "old love" talking (go read Melanie Shankle's book, The Antelope in the Living Room), but consider my day. I'm going to be surrounded by, not only my lifetime love, but his family, who became mine 30 years ago. It'll be a precious reunion of faces and hearts, in itself a celebration of the romantic loves of...
Queen of the Ruby’s
This morning finds me writing on the fly. We're heading to a family funeral, today, to celebrate a life well-lived. Kevin's (our) Aunt Alta Ruby, was quite a woman, very fond of family gatherings and reunions of all kinds. I smile, thinking of how pleased she must be that she has managed to facilitate one more, even from beyond the grave. I've always loved Aunt Alta. She represented everything good about home and family, loved to cook (and was a kitchen rock star), relished music and singing, and her faith was centric to her existence. The undisputed "Queen of the Ruby's," she ruled with a big heart and soft shoulder. When I first met her, at the ripe old age of 18, she pulled me...
From Both Sides Now
I woke up late this morning (which you know, if you follow me on Facebook), and, instead of my usual routine, I had to throw myself together quickly and head out to a doctor's appointment. While I was hurriedly applying makeup, I realized that I was humming a tune. I've looked at life from both sides now From up and down and still somehow It's life's illusions I recall I really don't know life at all. Yes, Joni Mitchell hung out in my brain between foundation and mascara. Life's illusions. I think that's the way we all want to look at life. We want the fairy tale, we want to see the castles in the clouds and the happily-ever-after endings, and sometimes they actually happen, and the...