Saturday, April 30, 2016

Remember.... A Difficult Task


I'm cleaning out a spare bedroom today that has been the "Open the door and toss whatever you're not using and quickly shut the door room". When I went to open the door I could barely squeeze through. The first thing I came across were clothes so small that the only way I will ever fit into them is if I develope some type of deadly disease that causes me to shrink into a small child.... Depressing. But I'm happy I can pass them on to some person, or child. Then came the remnants  of my oldest son's eclectic decor including a large wooden fork that hung on his wall and an orange construction cone that I could probably be arrested for having. Anyone in need of a large wooden fork for their kitchen?  Actually I kind of hate to get rid of it because it reminds me of those fun days when I never knew what shennanigans he and his friends would be up to next.... All harmless in the great scheme of things, but boy it sure made things interesting. Then I came across the sad box. Pictures of places, times, and people who used to be an intricate part of our lives and for one reason or another are no longer present. Precious memories made, but relationships lost. Time you can never get back leave the biggest void. Finally, I came across the boxes I used when I changed jobs. My office walls were decorated with a lot of memories, things that have no meaning to anyone but myself and my co-workers.... Seven memory making years. Suddenly, my cheery, get up and get something done attitude has turned into a darkened heart with a giant void that is sorely missing the good ole days..... "When the winters were warmer, the grass was greener, the skies were bluer, and the smiles.... Were bright" Well, perhaps nothing says it better, or more beautifully than this lady. She wraps my morning in exactly the right words........

Friday, April 1, 2016

Against the Rules

When we were preparing for my mom's funeral, the pastor asked each of the kids about their favorite Nana story. I was at a wedding the other day when a friend told she has re-told one particularly funny stories from my daughter. She said she laughs every time she tells it. The story perfectly describes how my mom detested rules.  The best way to get her to do something was to tell her NOT to do it.

When my daughter was a preschooler, she went with my mom to visit her sisters in Ada. Aja and mom were driving from Ada to Allen when my mom got stopped by a highway patrol. Mom had a very heavy foot. She saw no reason to poke around when you could go warp speed instead. As she pulled over she told Aja to get in the back seat. She said.... "Get back there and pray, and pretend you are really, really sick." When the officer asked for her drivers license, he that mom had taped her "glamour" photo over her official state issued drivers license photo. He peeled the glamour shot off and told mom.... "Ma'am, you can't do this. You can't tape a different picture over the photo they took at the driver's license office." Mom explained to him that she didn't like the picture from the license office and she thought the glamour shot was more flattering. He handed the license back (I can't actually remember if he issued a ticket or not), and sent her on her way with instructions not to put the photo back on the license. When mom got home, she had her glamour shot permanently laminated to her license. Like I said, you simply didn't tell her not to do something, because she would go against "The Rules" every time.

A couple of months ago, I visited her grave to see the headstone that had been placed. When I was there, I saw the temporary marker the funeral home had placed at her grave. I brought it home with me. There is a beautiful rose bush I gave mom for mother's day several years ago. Dad planted it by the front door. I put her temporary marker beneath the rose bush. Dad was cleaning out drawers the other day and came across her photo shopped drivers license. He works for the funeral home and they told him to bring the marker to work and they would put her picture on it and re-do the information that had faded. The other morning when I went by for morning coffee, he showed me her renewed marker beneath the rose bush..... Mom would be so proud.