We're Still Here

The world was supposed to begin to end on Saturday. I've been hearing little bits and pieces of this rumor for a few weeks and didn't really pay much attention to it. I received a call on Thursday night from one of my sister-in-law reminding me that she loved me and cared about me and she would see me in heaven. She was dead serious. After talking to her for a while I got the feeling she was hoping this would happen. There have been some medical issues with her husband which have caused some financial hardships, but something always works out for them in the end.

I've never wished death. I'll admit I'm a little afraid of it. I also know I shouldn't be. My fear is leaving the family and friends that I love. I've had some hurdles in my life that I've overcome and am now able to be proud. There were some times when I thought I'd never get through them but I was told by my father that you can either stand up tall and fight through it or wallow in self pity and be a quitter. These are the words of wisdom a parent should pass on to their children.

My daughter went through some similar hurdles and is now on the road to bettering her life. I'm proud of her. She found the inner strength and little by little began to regain control of her life. We were at my grandson's baseball game the other night and one of her daughters was having 13 year old drama. She was upset over one of her best friends talking behind her back. My daughter doesn't much care for this so called friend and made the comment "Well then I guess she's not your best friend ,is she". Those words were used before. By me, by my mother and I'm sure by my grandmother. She went on to tell her to keep her chin up and give it time. (another bit of advice passed down).

As a parent you often think that what you try to teach your children goes in one ear and out the other (with nothing in between to stop it). You find yourself stealing quotes from your own parents and then hear your children using them. So as we all know, there is something in there that stops it. And stores it for a later date.

For sure I know it's getting passed on as my daughters 4 year old soon to be step-son stuck his tongue out at his sister and a mix of voices sitting in our area said "Don't stick your tongue out or it'll turn black".

A Peek at Summer

We had a little get together and P & K's home Saturday evening. As I sat outside with the rest of my friends the smell of the firewood burning began to remind me that summer and camping are right around the corner. We spoke about camping for a few minutes but as I looked around I could see my fellow campers in deep thought.
I myself was thinking about where the heck the boys put all the stuff when they cleaned out the camper in the fall. Then I thought about how much I love sleeping in the fresh air. I sleep well when camping. Not for long lenghts of time, but for what I do get it's good sleep. J brought up the best thing of all-there is nothing better than waking up early in the morning and giving the fire a good stoke before heading for the bathroom. Upon returning there may be another person or two up and you sit down in the lawn chair and enjoy the early morning. No words have to be spoken. It's just a great feeling to sit, watch and listen to the morning.
I know running through my husbands head was-where the hell did I put all the camping stuff that she told me to organize. I'm pretty sure Ken was going to go home and pack the canopy so as not to forget it at all. E was probably wondering just how much spam is acceptable to bring for one weekend. Richard was deep in thought about the damn racoons that stole his fancy pork rinds. Connie was thinking about which romance novels she could read out loud to us. J was wondering what new games we could play around the fire as well as finding the latest camping gadget. And Stb..well he was going through recipes for Snickerdoodles.