Something to Smile About

Yesterday, a kind soul arrived at my door bearing treasures from the home state.  Our cousin and her husband were traveling south and had some extra room so she thoughtfully asked my mom if there was anything she wanted to send down to me.  My mom extended the offer to my dad and two boxes and three Christmas wreaths made the trek down. 

My Christmas wreath has been hung on the inside of my door with care in hopes that by Christmas the needles will still be there.  The first year that I was here, my aunt nicely gave me a wreath made with real greens that I hung on the outside of my door which promptly turned brown and had to be taken down before Christmas.  The box from my dad came with instructions to wait until Christmas to open.  The labeling on the box says its a metal cutting chop saw so I'm pretty excited about opening that! 

The box from my mom came with instructions that it could be opened because it contained both wrapped Christmas presents and stuff I could have now.  I wasn't sure what I would find inside as my mom had threatened to pack up everything that I left at her house when I moved.  What I found was a pleasant surprise. 

This cookie jar was given to my mom and I 20 years ago when we moved into our new house by one of my good friends and her sister.  Since my mom is not a baker, it was very thoughtful of her to send this to me.  You see, not only does it have sentimental value, I do like to bake.  And since moving here I have actually been putting the $200 potato masher to use. 

One Christmas, years ago, I begged and pleaded for a Kitchen Aid stand mixer which my mom generously got for me.  The problem was no matter where I lived, there just wasn't a home on the counter for it and so it got put in cupboard.  And used rarely.  Mostly just for making a big batch of mashed potatoes.  So the joke became that it was a rather expensive potato masher, the $200 kind to be exact.  When I made the move here, it came with me and has always had a home on the counter.  That means it actually gets used and not just for making potatoes.  I like to bake and do so far more regularly than I have in the past.  And now I have a treasured cookie jar to put those baked goods in.  That's something to smile about.

Big thanks to my mom and Verna for the gift of this little moment.  Much love!

Me Too

After a strong start to keeping up with my blog entries, I have obviously been off the grid for a while.  The truth is, the last month has taken a lot out of me.  Previously, I wrote about grief as a personal journey.  What I hadn't fully comprehended then is how that journey can effect others or maybe even more so how emotionally charged (or draining) it can be when it crosses paths with another person's grief.

Something that has been helping me process the last few weeks and even the past two years, is a blog I found.  Interestingly I happened upon it a week or two before my stepmom passed.  It is written by the male half of country music duo, Joey & Rory.  I watched them years ago as they came on the music scene trying to win a recording contract on a show called Can You Duet?  (At least I think that was the name.)  They are a married couple, who I don't think won the show, but went on to do good things musically anyway.  Though I hadn't followed what they were up to for years, the article that caught my eye and lead me to Rory's blog was about Joey deciding not to have anymore treatment for cancer.  And while I didn't even know she had been battling cancer, I did know what it was like to get a phone call with the same news.  No more treatment.  The blog gives honest accounts of what it has been like for both of them, holding on to hope under the reality of a terminal diagnosis.  Joey has a bright spirit and though the cancer is taking so much, it hasn't taken her shine.  That is how my stepmom was too.  I call it grace.

Though we'd all like to think that bad stuff doesn't happen to us or our families, the reality is it does.  And when those things do happen, if we are brave enough to honestly share our experiences - like Joey & Rory are doing - it creates a connection.  It allows people sharing in a similar struggle to say, me too.  I know how you feel.  I've been there too.  And in that little moment, when the me too connection is made, it lightens the burden just a little a bit.

Here is the link to Rory's blog:
thislifeilive.com