BFD and I have 13 grandchildren and they are all pretty wonderful. (I have outside confirmation on this, lest you think I am baised!) The oldest is nearly twenty-six now, married though not yet a mother; but that could change at any time. The youngest is almost four. There are nine girls and four boys and they're all intelligent and loving. I can hardly stay up late enough to do justice to all of them tonight, or even one of them if I had forever. &...
My daughter tells me that Mothers' Day is her least favorite of all the holidays. She feels inadequate for some reason...apparently she expected her children to be like her - quiet and obedient - but they're just the opposite, that is, hyper-active and rebellious. We have thirteen grandchildren in all, including my daughter's five mentioned above, and they are all gorgeous, intelligent, charming, talented...and a good percentage of them are hyper-active and rebe...
Not too long ago BFD and I stopped by to see our Number Two Son who was anticipating some minor surgery in the near future (he has since had the surgery, and he's fine). His wife was at work but it was a school holiday so their boy, Jacob, was at home with dad. The first word that comes to mind when I think of Jacob is "thoughtful". That seems a strange word even to me because Jacob is also athletic, intelligent, and affectionate. He loves school and "he...
I was a terrible Army wife. I started out that way and I never got any better. One of the worst things about it was that my in-laws made sure I knew it, too. And feeling guilty about it on top of everything else made it even worse. I can't remember when I actually came face-to-face with the frequent separations that are a fact of Army life. All I remember is that I hated it and I never got over it. It always followed the same pattern...
LAZY Twice in my life I have had the same very strange conversation: the person I was talking to had kinder words to say about a murderer in prison than about a woman we knew who was a lousy housekeeper: She used words like "lazy" and "dirty" dripping with revulsion and self-righteousness, accompanied by that scornful "look" describing our friend the slattern, while she pitied the murderer: "there could have been extenuating circumstances...you never know." Well. Maybe I jus...
There is no other way to describe Ginger the Red Setter. She was a Birdbrain. In every sense of the word. One of the most beautiful dogs we ever had, deep red and feathery, the kind of shiny coat that catches the sun and radiates it back. But not a house dog. Our mistake. She was sweet, and she was great with the kids. But she was a chewer. Shoes (some of MamaCharlie's favorite Italian heels !!), wires, and telephones. The Bundespost (the Postal System in Germany runs all the telephones) h...
I've been trying to avoid too much post-election palaver about who shoulda and what they coulda. I am depressed enough already. After the fact, everyone is an expert on what happened. One phrase comes to my mind over and over: Train Wreck. And while I was having that phrase pop through my vacuous mind, two separate stories about trains piqued my interest: 1. In Gabon, a West African country, the unloading of a new, huge, American-made locomotive didn...
Recently I have been hearing some good advice from various sources; TV, the internet, friends, family, sermons, and even kids. (Sometimes their ideas are so profound). Now I am still in favor of the Ten Commandments but life seems very complex lately and we need a little more help. I've included a few hints of my own that I'm convinced that are workable also. I'm not giving the reasons for these little guideposts...mayb...
LOOK UP Been thinking...uh oh, not again! Some people go on the blog site and make tough -- rebel without a cause, grumpy to the very end, etc, etc. Then later when the blogster folks are kind or helpful to them, they show their soft insides. I like that. In many ways we're all the same! Like me, and a lot of my friends, and even Dr. Ruth (the Israeli Sniper sex therapist): nothing is more important or better than the li...
HERE IT COMES Went to the doc (neurologist) in Denver on Monday. Now it's Thursday (late at night). In some ways I wish I had not gone. Oh, why did I? I got a packet of information about Parkinson's Disease and, foolishly, I read it. And had one of "those" questions answered. You know the ones...where did I come from? Why am I here? And, as Harrison Ford in "Blade Runner" says, "How long have I got?" Well, I figure I...
For My Family I've been on edge for several months now- if not years-partly because my oldest son has been away in the desert again for the third time. ( Now he's home and I hope he won't have to go anymore.) And partly because I've also got several other precious kids- and grandkids- who have their own lives and challenges. When my husband retired from the military, I had hoped to put all this waiting and worrying behind me but no-here comes Matt to ...
A few years ago I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. I had been having a few strange but mild symptoms like- I was unable to make my handwriting "flow" and it was getting smaller and smaller. My right leg and arm were q little stiff and unstable. I didn't have a tremor; (I still don't). I went to see two Parkinson's specialists (neurologists) and over the course of the next few years of treatment, my symptoms were annoying at worst. Then suddenly one summer I b...