How I hope to be remembered

I've often thought about how I'd like to be remembered after I leave this world to make my final journey home. It's half-joke, half-serious, although I certainly wouldn't mind if both turned out to be true. It's what I'd like for people to be able to say about me after I'm gone... 

First and foremost, I hope people can say, "she was one of the kindest, most giving people we've ever known," and second, which would certainly make the giving part in the first more memorable, "she won the biggest lottery there ever was."

Hopefully, you smiled a little, although I mean every word about the kind and giving part. That is truly what I hope people will be able to say about me. To me there are no sweeter words in the human language than kind and kindness, and, of course, giving goes right along with kind.

It's been four years since we lost our beautiful daughter-in-law Jennifer to cancer.  She was 44 at the time. She fought a long hard fight for almost exactly one year.  In that year, she never once gave up the desire to live and we never once gave up praying for a miracle. We prayed for Jennifer to be healed and that prayer was finally answered on a Saturday morning when God took her home. I would have loved to have seen that beautiful face and that beautiful smile when God told her she was finally cancer-free.

A week after she died on a Sunday morning, we had a memorial service. The church was packed and several of her friends got up to talk about what Jennifer meant to them. I can't begin to tell you how often the words kind and giving were used to describe her. "There was never a kinder person... she never said anything bad about anybody...she treated everyone with kindness and respect...she would give you anything she had, if you needed it..."

It went on and on, and I couldn't help but smile through my tears. Those two sweet words were being used over and over to describe my beautiful sweet daughter-in-law. I knew she was a kind and loving person but to hear story after story of some of the kind deeds, like paying for former classmates to attend their recent class reunion who otherwise couldn't have come due to cost; like buying and donating toys and clothes every year so that some less fortunate family might have Christmas; like helping friends financially during hard times. She cherished animals of all kinds and not only was a dog rescuer but also volunteered her time at the local Horse Protection Society caring for abused horses. She treated every living creature with kindness. It was only fitting that she was a nurse by profession.

Jennifer touched a lot of lives in her short lifetime. What an inspiration. I'd like to be remembered like that, so that when I'm no longer of this world, my friends might say, "She was one of the kindest, most giving people we've ever known. She was a lot like Jennifer."

The View Around Me

It's fall, my favorite season.  The leaves are dropping, tons at a time, and several of my friends are talking about driving to the mountains to see all the beautiful fall colors.  

This is the view I see from my bedroom window...

and from my deck...

and from my front door...

and from my side door...

and this is what I saw yesterday from my car as I drove through the parking lot of the old Salisbury Mall...

Do I really need to drive to the mountains to see the beautiful fall colors?

The Glory of the Moments

Well, today is a new day – the start of a new week. Bob asked me, just before he left out for work this morning if I had any special plans for the day. My answer was, “No, nothing out of the usual.”

So far today I got up, made my bed, drank two cups of coffee while browsing the newspaper, checked my emails and then Facebook to see what my family and friends were up to, spent an hour in the Psalms, and then read a couple of favorite blog posts.
 
Not much so far, but it’s still early...

I’ll likely do a load of laundry, straighten the house, hopefully, walk a couple of miles on the treadmill while watching an episode of
Once Upon a Time, and then have my usual Monday night dinner out with four of my best friends. I’ll come home, spend a little time with my husband and then go to bed.

Tomorrow…I’ll likely get up, make my bed, drink a cup of coffee or two while browsing the newspaper, check my emails and then Facebook to see what my family and friends are up to, spend some time in the Word, read my favorite blog posts, do a load of laundry, straighten the house, and yada, yada, yada.

I’m retired, so that’s pretty much what the majority of my days look like. Oh, there are a lot of “special” things scattered throughout my days—guitar and fly fishing classes, lunches with friends, family things, church things, etc. but the majority of my days are filled with the usual, mundane activities that I do over and over, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year…

Sounds boring. Might make a person wonder the purpose. But you know, there is a glory in these days that seem to repeat one after another. Each moment that occurs leads to another moment, and then another, and then another, until, finally, we reach the end of the day.

Isn't that the goal when we get up in the morning--to reach the end of the day? 

Well, we needn't worry.  The end of the day will come no matter what we do. God has the end handled.

Our job is simply to handle the moments of one day, one moment at a time, one day at a time--and hey, we can do that well if we just look for the glory in the moments.

A Message to My Church

I am retired now, almost 2 1/2 years. Like many retired people, I started out with a bucket list. Still have it. Hopefully, I will be around long enough to mark most of those items off.  So far, I've tried guitar, piano, volunteer work at the homeless shelter and at the horse sanctuary, fly fishing, and this past week I completed a mission trip.

I've always wanted to be part of a mission trip - to be the hands and feet of Jesus somewhere in this world, but I was always thinking about some far off place like Guatemala, South Africa, or Cambodia, and then a mission trip opportunity came up at my church, Christ United Methodist, to go to WV,  So I thought, well, why not. It's a place to start. And yes, I know, that we have plenty of people in our own country who need our help, and so I anticipated going to WV and building ramps and doing home repairs. And then the floods came, and the place that our mission was to take us became an emergency disaster area with its own death and destruction and devastation:

And so I found out pretty quickly that I didn't need to go to Cambodia or South Africa to see loss and devastation and need.  It was right here, just four hours from my own back door, and so last week we had an opportunity to show the people of WV that we here at Christ United Methodist Church in Salisbury, North Carolina, cared about what was happening to them and would not let them face it alone. And you, Church, sent this wonderful team of seven adults and ten youths to this battlefield in WV to represent you and to represent Christ.  And I will tell you, I have never seen anything like it. We slept in the gym at an elementary school on the floor, on sleeping bags, cots, and on air mattresses, all together, in the dark. The entire week there were no lights in the gym. We crept around in the dark with our little flashlights, and every day of the week at lunchtime, we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  It is my recommendation that if you are ever in WV, find yourself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I don't know what it is, but those West Virginians know something about peanut butter and jelly that we don't know here. I have never had a better peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my life.  I looked forward to lunch every day. 

And that team - that team!  You, Church, have every reason to be proud of your mission team.  I was there, and I'm very proud. Those adults and those kids (no offense kids, anyone under thirty is a kid to me) - they all worked their hearts out.  They worked under terrible conditions, it was hot and dusty and dirty. They pulled up floors and tore down walls and sometimes the stench would make you gag, but they all did it without complaint and with encouragement for one another. I never heard a crossword, there was no pouting, there was no competing with one another, no one trying to outdo the other. It was all simply amazing.  They all worked hard, were respectful of one another, and every evening they provided beautiful and very thoughtful devotions.

I can't say enough about this team.  At the end of the day, every day, this team had left its mark. The difference between morning when we arrive on-site, to evening when we left, was absolutely astonishing. I will never forget it.  For me, this was not a stepping stone to the big mission trip I had always dreamt of, this was THE mission trip.  And so, if I never go on another, which I certainly hope is not the case, but, if I never go on another, I can certainly say that this mission trip, without a doubt, met the criteria that I was thinking about when I added "mission trip" to my bucket list, 

And I'll say one last thing,  If anyone here had any doubts or concerns about this mission trip, that it was not the right time, that it was not necessary, or it was too far away, please know that you can lay those concerns to rest.  You, Church, met a vital need last week. You represented Christ very well in Clendenin, WV.  

A Poem for Christmas 2016 ~ Author Unknown

    

A Poem for Christmas
         2016

        

I have a list of folks I know all written in a book,

And every year when Christmas comes, I go and take a look.

And that is when I realize that these names are a part

Not of the book they are written in, but of my very heart.

For each name stands for someone who has crossed my path sometime

And in that meeting they’ve become the rhythm in each rhyme.

And while it sounds fantastic for me to make this claim,

I really feel that I’m composed of each remembered name.

And while you may not be aware of any special link,

Just meeting you has shaped my life a lot more than you think.

For once I’ve met somebody, the years cannot erase,

The memory of a pleasant word or a friendly face.

So never think my Christmas cards are just a mere routine

Of names upon a Christmas list, forgotten in between.

For when I send a Christmas card that is addressed to you,

It’s because you are on that list of folks whom I’m indebted to.

For I am but the total of many folks I’ve met,

And you happen to be one of those I prefer not to forget.

For if I’ve known you many years, or only just a few,

In some way, be it large or small, I owe myself to you.

And every year when Christmas comes, I realize anew

The best gift life can offer is meeting folks like you!

                                                    
Warmest wishes!

                                       Judy

My "at least one" Entry for 2016

Well hello!

It's June already. Actually almost July.  I've notice that I have made at least one entry per year to my blog since I started blogging back in 2010.  So, as not to break that record, here is my "at least one entry" for 2016!!

Mmmmmm, where to start?  I've really got some catch-up here...

Well, I'm retired a little over 2 years now.  Still loving it. No regrets.  I have to confess though, that many of the things I started once I retired more or less fizzled out.

Volunteering at the Horse Protection Society proved more than I could handle.  Too old, too city, I can't really say the reason.  Bob says I might have made it had I waited until spring to start. Trying to help care for 100 horses out in 30 degree weather might have just done this city girl in. It was a good tired, though, at the end of a long and hard day. Bob would have to meet me at the door just to help me out of my muddy clothes and boots.  I would be frozen to the bone and too tired to get my own boots off!  He most usually had to help me out of bed the following morning as well. It was much harder physical work than I ever dreamed, caring for those neglected and abused beautiful creatures - and to think it is all done by volunteers. They truly must be angels in disguise!

Guitar went on quite a bit longer, but, it too, didn't last.  I do still keep the two guitars and a ukulele sitting out just in case the bug bites again.! I actually love the idea.  Got frustrated though trying to play clear chords with two numb fingers (cubital tunnel, another story).  I may try it again though. Hopefully, I've got plenty of time!

Piano...well, I don't want to say it didn't last. I'm like a child when it comes to a piano. I can't resist sitting down and banging on the keys. I took some lessons for awhile, but apparently I am not a quick study.  I can play Happy Birthday and that does come in pretty handy.  (Oh, I forgot to mention, I can also play the cupcake song on my ukulele!! Believe it or not, that song comes in pretty handy too!!)

Cooking  - I'm getting better. I'm growing quite a list of things that turn out pretty good pretty consecutively. Bob still tends to go overboard with the praise and I can't help but question his motives.  Is it really that good or is he just trying to make me want to cook more often?  I do know that I make a pretty terrific lemoncello cake, if I do say so myself.  I've only made about a hundred or so of them, so they should be getting pretty good by now. Aaaaaaand, I make my own lemoncello!  How impressive is that!

Gardening - Mark that off the list!  No green thumb for me.  There is good news though, Bob's thumb is green!!  He may not know the name of anything, but if he sticks it in the ground, it tends to grow. He took us to the Rowan County Cooperative Extension last year and we learned to propagate. And so, together, he and I must have propagated 50 different plants.  You do all of this there with their help and then they put your plants in their greenhouse for several weeks to help them get a good start. Then in the fall you go back and pick all these little plants up and bring them home - at least 50 of them! Well, Bob babied all these little plants all through the winter.  He had purchased these cute little plastic green houses and they apparently did the trick.  Come spring, there must have been 49 little plants that had survived winter.  The only problem was, the names of the plants which had been penciled in on these little white tags stuck into each little pot had been washed off, so we didn't know what was what.  Oh, we did identify several of them using the internet, but the majority of them, nobody knows.  And Bob had to plant each and every one.  So we may end up with a tree where a shrub was intended, and vise versa, but since he is just getting started, everything is still pretty much the same height and width!  I guess we've got some time to figure it out!

Ahhhh!  Fly fishing!! Now there's a keeper!! I am here to tell you that I am a fly fisher woman!! I catch fish!! I have my own rod and reel and I can tell the difference between a rainbow, a brown and a brook!!! I know I'm making light here, but I really do think I've found my niche. It just feels right when I'm out there standing in a mountain stream. What's more exciting is that Bob seems to enjoy it about as much as I do! 

Oh, what else?

Life is not perfect, although I know it sounds like it is.  I do enjoy it, though, more than not. I think I told you back in my 2014 post that I had two beautiful new daughters-in-law and six new grandchildren, giving me a total of seven grandchildren. Well I am still feeling very blessed.  My two Davids moved their families into new homes in the past year and both have now attended a dance recital or two (since four of those new grandchildren are girls). Our newest granddaughter (Ann-Margret) is now two years old and just keeps getting prettier and prettier, and the other bookend, my first grandson Nick, makes me more proud with each passing year.  He is handsome, smart and has a heart for God that pretty much directs his entire life. Add to that, three more beautiful granddaughters (Faith, Emma and MariClare) and two more handsome grandsons (Maysen and Parker) - it only goes to prove, Jesus loves me!

(Family pictures to come in a later post!)

Bob is still playing the saxophone and not likely to give that up anytime soon - and I don't want him to.  He plays in two bands and so that calls for a lot of practice - nearly every evening. I get to wash supper dishes most evenings to the sound of music - big band, swing, jazz, beach!!! I have, on occasion, even heard him playing Amazing Grace! <smile>

We lost our cat Gracie about a year ago.  I think I told you about her in my 2014 post.  That was a sad day.  She was not a healthy cat when we got her, plus she had some major trust issues.  It was so heartwarming to watch her become more comfortable with us. She was actually curled at my feet when I wrote that last post. We still have Samantha (Sam). She's healthy and strong and tough as nails!  Her days may be numbered though if she keeps bringing me those awful gifts <smile>.  I know she is a great hunter, but I would just as soon not be gifted with her catch!!

Church has become a big part of my life since retirement.  I've always wanted to be involved in church but nursing with its multiple shifts and weekend work was not conducive. I love my new church - Christ United Methodist, and all the people in it!  It has helped grow my faith in more ways than I can say.  I am going on my first mission trip in just a few weeks!!

Oh, and I still have a great bunch of friends!  There is no way I could do a catch-up entry and not mention them.   Most of us have been friends so long we can't remember not being friends.  Bob and I have been best friends for 36 years - married for 33 of them, and yet, my best girl friend Zandy and I go back 40+ years. Of course my closest and dearest girl friend is my sister Dolly, and of course, we go back even further!

My Friday Night group (Sue, Larry, Jo Ann, Scotty, Trudy, Molly, Bob C, and Victor) has been together at least 10-15 years.  Sue and Larry, though, are in the 30+ year group - Trudy, before that. We still get together every Friday night, and then a few of us get together a couple times during the week. I see a couple of them almost more than I see my own family!

My "Dinner Diva" group (Zandy, Marcia, Jean, Bonnie, Nancy, Ruth, Sandy, Karen, Sherry, and Jane) continues to meet for dinner the second Tuesday of every month.  I've been in this group at least 14 years. Others even longer. Sherry and Jane have come since me, so we do add a few here and there.  Sadly, we've started to lose a few here and there as well.  We lost Sandy a few years ago to dementia. While she is still living, she no longer remembers how important she was to our group. Ruth left us just a few months ago - cancer.  She loved hosting our big Christmas gathering every year and always went over and beyond in the menu and the decorations.  While she was sick this past December, she wouldn't hear of us not coming there as usual for Christmas.  I can't imagine what this coming Christmas will look or feel like without Ruth! I am afraid we are getting to that age...

Christmas 2015 at Ruth's

I've added a couple of new groups in the past two years. One I call my VA group (Carol, Gwen, Mary and Susan). We all worked together at the VA hospital years ago.  We have been getting together for a monthly lunch for about a year now and reminiscing about the good ol' days. Old friends are so special and it is truly a blessing to be able to reconnect after years of separation. It's especially nice too, when you all come to the realization together that these are actually the better days!!

And my newest group - the Reel River Girls!!!  I'll give you one guess as to what this group does! Yep, you guessed it.  We fish!!

And that's that for now.  I know I've not covered everything, but maybe I can make at least two entries in 2016!

Until then, Stay Reel!