April 10 2002 - April 10 2022  20 years since he moved!

The night my father died was a long night.  When we got home from the hospital it was after midnight.  I was completely worn out.  I was in shock because dad had died, I was mentally tired thinking of my mom without my dad, and I was physically tired because it was so late. 

I climbed into bed thinking I would go to sleep immediately like I always do.  Instead, I laid in bed thinking of my mom and dad.  I turned the TV on and watched a couple of episodes of the Andy Griffith show.  Finally, I began to relax a little and turned the TV off to try to sleep.

During my life God has seen fit to comfort me many times.  Sometimes He comforts me mentally thru difficult times and sometimes physically with good rest.  It was this night God gave me one of the greatest gifts of my life.  I drifted off to sleep knowing our lives had just changed and a person who had meant so very much to me would no longer be in my life. 

Suddenly I was looking down on a huge coliseum.  When I say huge, I mean massive!  The coliseum was packed full of people.  The people were dressed in very different styles of clothing ranging from very casual modern-day clothes to familiar looking robes from Bible stories. Far to one end of the coliseum there seems to be a bit of movement.  It is on the floor of the coliseum.  After a few seconds I can see someone has entered the arena and is moving toward the middle.  The people in the stands begin to cheer, first softly, then it grows and grows.  Now a familiar stomping of the stands by thousands of feet begins to grow.  I notice there are beings (I suppose angels) in the sky around the edges of the coliseum.  They seem to be excited and happy.  As the sounds continue to get louder and louder the person who had entered now is nearly to the middle of the arena.

I notice many people in the crowd are making their way to the person who has entered.  They reach out and touch the person.  They hug the person as they greet one another.  The sounds now are almost deafening.  I know any minute I’m going to see who has entered and then I see his face.  It is my father.  He is now fully engulfed by people greeting him.  I assume the ones greeting him were people he had known in life.  My dad looks so peaceful and happy.  I don’t recognize anyone else.  As the crowd gathers around dad he disappears into the group and I lose sight of him.  The noise dies down and things become almost silent again.

As I watch I can see the main group where my dad was gathering together  kind of move off to the opposite end of the arena.  At this point, after a few moments of quiet, the clapping and the cheering begins again.  At first, very quietly, then it begins to grow again.  I notice where my dad had entered there is a commotion again.  Someone new has entered.  Someone new is being greeted.  Someone new is being welcomed and loved.

By seeing this I had been comforted beyond belief.  In my heart I believe it was God’s way of letting me see beyond this world for just a moment.  He let me see a story I could understand of people entering heaven.  He had let me see and feel peace.  

            God has gifted me twice in my life by allowing me to “see” something.  He has shown me things in a way I can understand, I don’t take it lightly.  I know both times it was a huge gift.  I rarely share either time but today, April 10, 2022, is twenty years to the day that my dad went to heaven.  I felt it was time to share it.

JUST SPEAK

 

Because of the Covid Virus I have been shopping at 6 A.M. when I actually go to the store to shop for groceries.  It is still dark when I leave my house.  I have a handicap placard so I am able to park just a few feet from the door of the store.  I shut the car off and put my mask on.  I have been vaccinated so I guess I’m wearing it to make others comfortable.  When I entered the store, to my relief no one, not one single person was wearing a mask.  I had mine off within a second.  I decided to make my shopping trip a game.  I challenged myself to say good morning to every single person that came within a reasonable distance.

First in the door was a man about my age.  When I said good morning he almost looked shocked but he returned a rather dismal good morning back as a reply.  While the lady in the Deli was slicing my pastrami I stuck up a whole conversation!  She is a lovely woman and had the biggest smile!  I spoke with three young men while they were stocking the cereal aisle.  They also seemed shocked someone was talking to them.  One of them, with his eyes turned downward, actually seemed to be looking to see if anyone was watching him smile at me. 

When I was looking for a pair of “cheater” glasses another woman was also looking for a pair.  Behind her about ten feet was another customer, who when she noticed me saying hello to the woman close to me, turned and went down the next isle instead of walking by us.  In the vegetable section I struck up a conversation with one of the fellows arranging the potatoes.  I said I was sad to see the season for the “Holiday Grapes” had already ended.  They are my favorite grape of all time.  It was interesting there were probably six or seven people in the vegetable section.  All were listening and all were smiling as we spoke.  I nodded at two of them as I left the isle. 

Waiting to pay there was one lady about my age in front of me.  When I said good morning to her, she thanked me by saying.  “Good morning to you too!  Thank you so much for speaking to me.  I feel so invisible now!”  I wanted to reach out and hug her but I didn’t.

The checker and the bagger were my last two contacts.  Both were happy to return my good day wishes.  I had on a mask for the comfort of others.  I will wear my mask again but remove it at every opportunity! When I went into the store I was determined to be a blessing to someone.  In fact, what I did allowed so many others to bless me.  I’m doing what I’m suppose to do to be safe but I see no end to the fear I see in so many others around me. I want to do what I can to change that.  I want to live in joy!  It costs noting to be kind.  It costs nothing to be interested in others.  It costs nothing to say “good morning.”  It costs nothing to simply speak.

 

February 28, 2017...Shadows

     After finishing most of my "run around" errands this morning I started for the grocery store.  I noticed a woman and a little boy walking on my side of the road about half a block in front of me.  I watched the little boy grab his sides and sway back and forth.  I thought he was in distress.  Then I saw the mother make the same gestures.  I thought it weird they were both acting the same way.  As I got closer they both began to jump on one foot then the other.  My curiosity grew as I slowly caught up to them. 
     We've had quite a bit of rain lately.  The sun was out.  There was not a cloud in the sky.  It was about 10 o'clock in the morning.  I pulled right up behind them as I was going to turn into the grocery store.  I parked the car where I could continue to see them and the sidewalk.  I rolled down my window continuing to watch as I'm sure a huge smile flashed onto my face.
     The mother and son both put their hands under their arms and jumped onto their shadows.  then the mother waved her arms in the air and jumped forward.  The little boy did the same.  Next I heard the song from Jungle Book and realized they were singing and pretending to be monkeys.  Flashbacks of my kids playing with their shadows came to mind.
     I love it when something like this catches me unaware and takes me back to times long gone.  I sat and watched the boy and his mother continue down the street until they were out of sight.  I must have still had a silly grin on my face when I went into the grocery store because everyone I saw smiled when they saw me.    It was a wonderful morning!

A Lesson in Listening

The photo is probably about 1979

I have thought of this many times over the years since it happened.  Remembering this always reminds me to "LISTEN" when a child speaks.  At the time of this incident we had three children, we were farming, I was taking kids to and from school (a 16 mile round trip) everyday, fixing meals, running errands, taking care of animals...etc.  Our plan every night was as soon as the kids were in bed-we went to bed.  Our plan usually worked.  On this particular night Adam and I had an "I don't want to go to bed war."

I was in his room for the third time time that night.  The first trip was to close the curtain, the second trip was to close the closet.  This trip was for a drink of water.  I was exhausted.  I grabbed a Dixie cup in the bathroom and quickly filled it.  I turned the light on in Adam's room and handed him the cup.

I remember clearly Adam looking at his cup then looking at me saying, "It has a bug."  I laughed and told him to drink the water because I was sleepy.  Again, he insisted, "It has a bug!"  I didn't laugh this time...I was tired and his game to delay "lights out" was starting to make me mad.  I told him to drink or I'd empty the cup and go back to my bed.    For the third time he insisted, "I can't drink it mommy, it has a bug in it!"  His face was red with frustration and this time there was a sound of urgency in his voice.

I'm ashamed to say it took Adam telling me three times there was a bug in his cup of water to get me to look into the cup. When I looked.... there was an earwig in the cup.  I had a sick feeling in my stomach for not believing him.  I think the look of disappointment in his eyes will haunt me forever.

 Needless to say I was in a flash to get him a fresh cup and water.  I sat with him a few extra minutes talking about his Hot Wheel cars before I went back to bed.  I usually fall to sleep in a minute or two but that night it took me a long time.  I was so disappointed in myself.  I learned many times over the years being a mom is a "Learn as you go" thing.  That night I learned a lesson in listening.

We are expecting our 11th grandchild in September.  Justin and Netti are having a baby girl.  It's been more than eight years since we've had a baby in our family.  I am looking forward to snuggling a little one again.  This morning I went through my cedar chest searching for an item of clothing I'd saved from Justin when he was a baby.  

We are having lunch today with Justin and Netti.  I was hoping for something I could give Netti for the little one.  Too bad...I found a few things that had been worn by Justin but they were all very boyish.  I was sad about that but I was thrilled to find a dress from my past.  

I must have worn this dress when I was about 5.  I sat on the edge of my bed clutching it next to my heart.  I bit my lip.  My eyes smarted.  The dress had opened a floodgate of thoughts of mom. 

When Larry and I got married one of the first "big" things he bought me was a sewing machine.  It came with an instruction book and a simple pattern.  I taught myself to sew.  I admit I made a few lopsided aprons on my way to success but after my mistakes came victory and I did a lot of sewing for our family over the years as it grew.

I felt myself relax and begin to smile when I started inspecting the treasure in my hands.  I realized in my hands I might just be holding one of my mom's first successes in her sewing career.  The hem was stitched by hand and very even.  Where the skirt was sewn to the bodice she had sewn it several times so I wouldn't pull it loose.  The little puffy arms were perfect.  I could see the collar had been set and reset so the back would match up with the dress edge.  The pockets had been sewn into place so many times mom had to add patches of fabric to the inside of the dress to have something to sew the pocket to.  (I must have caught them on stuff and torn them many times)

The fabric was so thin on the lap portion of the skirt it had a few holes in it.  One of the holes had been patched with a button hole type of stitch.  Those were the days of homemade cloths.  My best dresses would always be my Sunday clothes and would only be worn to church or birthday parties or special occasions.  When Sunday clothes began to look worn they turned into school clothes.  When mom thought my dresses had too many holes and repairs for school they became play clothes.  

Girls were only allowed to wear dresses to school when I was growing up.  In second grade we had one day, cowboy day, when we were allowed to wear pants and dress like cowboys.  All the kids showed up with cowboy hats and cap guns.  Part of the day included a "cowboy bean feed" at Miss Storer's house.  We looked forward to that day for months.

It's funny how memories come.  Sometimes they come with the fragrance of burning leaves or the sound of a strangers voice.  This morning memories came to me by seeing the stitches of a well-worn dress. 

What a thrilling time we had on our trip...to sum it up:
I nearly blew off Hoover Dam...

 We saw an inspiring display of over 20 statues in Groom, Texas showing the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ...

The statues were life size and it really felt odd getting up close enough to get some good photos...

Also while in Texas we met Kim, Charlie and Justin's sister.  We have been in touch with her since the boys joined our family.  I was a thrill to meet this lovely young woman in person.

Had lunch with one of our favorite families, the Villapudua family.  They have a restaurant in Tyler Texas as well as our favorite - Mundos - in Turlock...

 We also stopped to have a delicious meal with my Uncle Raymond and Aunt Nancy.  Raymond is the last surviving sibling of my moms.

We spent a couple days with Justin and Netti in Florida...celebrated the anticipation of their daughter coming in September...and...celebrating them moving home in July...

We stopped in North Carolina to visit with Aunt Eunice and Uncle Bill.  Eunice is Larry's dad's sister.

We saw Niagra Falls...what a glorious site...

Went to Hell one day...discovered it has a post office...who knew?

We explored beautiful Amish country in Indiana...

Saw lots of things I've not seen before including these...

 Carson liked the gift we got Charlie for house-sitting...

It was a trip I'll never forget...especially one part of me which is now parked on the sofa!

And yes...I can't wait to go again!

June 6, 2012: Our Big Adventure...

June 6
Larry and I have begun a great adventure across the United States.  I thought I would be able to keep up with a blog a day as to what we've done and seen but I just can't.  I can't take my eyes from the scenery as it changes from our pick up window.  We have been in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and are currently in Texas.  While each state has spaces of scenery which stays the same so long it can get monotonous they each also have their own depth of beauty.  I just can't look to my laptop long enough to type.

I teased our kids when we left California saying I hoped we would encounter some rough and different weather.  Being a Central California girl all my life I'm not used to change in the weather.  I was pleasantly surprised yesterday afternoon when some big white clouds began drifting across the sky.  An hour later we were in a rainstorm.  I didn't take the picture above but it is much like the sky was yesterday.  When another hour passed it was getting dark and God blessed us with a magnificent display of lightening.  In the pick up we could only hear faint rumblings of thunder.

When we pulled into our motel last night the storm continued.  I was standing under the shelter at the front door with our suitcases as Larry found a place to park the pick up.  God put the finishing touch on my perfect day with a lightening strike that lit up the whole sky and a clap of thunder so loud it took my breathe away.  Out from one of the trees flew a huge flock of birds.  I'd noticed their beautiful singing before the thunder.  Now they were silent.  There were so many of them, I'm guessing at least two hundred, that I could hear their wings beating as they swooped by me and into another tree landing in unison in what was nearly darkness.  Immediately they began chirping and singing again.

The birds sang all night.  They sounded very familiar; like the Mocking Birds of home.   This morning I was watching them through the window.  I googled Texas Mocking Bird and found my guess to be correct.  At home I have only seen one and maybe two Mocking Birds at a time.  Here instead of hearing a solo I heard a choir singing  last night.  First the room would light up, then a clap of thunder, then song.  What a glorious night,  My bed wasn't too comfy but I caught myself smiling all through the night.