Just a tiny little post from a few years ago, when our little dog walked the earth. Memories of him still teach. ❤️ "No, it is too late;” I groaned. Yet little dog appeared to be nagging at the door with some urgent physical need. Ugh. I took him out. And then I realized that was not it at all. Because he was not at all urgent. He made me look up. Maybe he knew the moon was beautiful. Maybe some distant wolf I could not hear had howled the message to come and see the clouds just so. Maybe he knew that Mars was close to the moon last night and that the clouds had just shifted enough to see. Maybe he heard the neighbors click their lamps on so late and was concerned they might need a blessing beamed upon their windows. Maybe it was the illuminated patch of grass he wanted to admire, a tiny circle of the earth, that he had never even noticed in daylight. I was reminded to always pay attention to dogs and children when they want to venture outside. Look for what they know.
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When I was a preteen, certain stores would have baby sections where you could pick up a free magazine about babies. From age ten to thirteen I would make sure to pick one up to bring home, because I always wanted to be a mother. I would read the articles and study the ads and admire the angelic baby pictures. I think I stopped when I sensed disapproval from my own mother, who of course had a more detailed picture of motherhood and how it began and all that it entailed, and she did not want me wishing too strongly for all that so soon. Thankfully it was many many years before I indulged my childhood fantasy of motherhood, and birthed three adorable rascals that were my darling companions and my focus of attention for many years. People would ask me if I was disappointed that I did not have a girl; and I would answer that I would not trade any of them for any dumb old girl. And how wise I was! Because now I get the best of both worlds, now they bring darling women into my life, which is another true delight. Blessings on women everywhere with child and without for we all have a mothering spirit and nurture things in our world. Blessings on those who are sad today, may they let the tears flow and feel better. Blessings on those who shake their heads and think the holiday is silly and blessings on those who work hard writing poems for greeting cards to help us express what we cannot find the words for. Blessings on the mothers who are tired and overwhelmed, may we reach toward them with assurance. Blessings on those who want to be mothers and will never find a way. Blessings on those who had distracted mothers and mean mothers, may they be better mothers themselves from their experience, and may their wounds be healed by insight and other relationships. Blessings to those who feel like mean and distracted mothers, may you find a little space for yourself to grow in so that you can mother better. Blessings on those who did the worst mothering, for what a horrible life they must have been living, to harm this greatest gift. And blessings on those who cried for mothering kindness, may you feel that love from somewhere unexpected, my heart reaches out to you. The original idea for Mother's Day was post Civil War, calling on the wisdom of mothers to prevent further bloodshed and senseless killing of our precious sons. So blessings on the mothers of our enemies; may we all raise our children to love all colors and respect all beliefs and appreciate all differences. Blessings on the mothering instincts that reside in our men. Happy Mother's Day 🌷❤️🌷 When I call my out of state parents we always talk more than an hour, which is lovely. I feel like I owe them a call sometimes though, days will go by and an hour to chat seems to evade me. I am lucky enough to need more than one hour, one for my mother (my stepdad Budsie died last November) and one for my Dad and stepmother, Jean. My own Facebook post from 2015 was available in my feed today and reminds me how fun and precious the calls can be; worth sharing here, I think: “This morning I talked to both of my parents and their spouses. I got all the news from Jean including her investigating local real estate deals while at the local pizzeria .....and then my dad got on and he had me in tears of laughter with a story about Comcast service in the home. He presented sort of an outrageous situation, imagine having an outrageous issue with Comcast- but he handled the conversation as if he was Christopher Walken. He was telling me what he said with a Christopher Walken voice and phrasing. My dad is the funniest storyteller! I could not speak I was laughing so hard and then he got to laughing.... Does anything feel better? Then I made my second call. I shared a fast little joke with Budsie before he put my mom on, and we caught up for 20 mins before I heard they were in a bit of a hurry...they are off to the Boy Scout Sale in Chelmsford at the Congregational Church in the center. They are not going to buy anything though, they do not need anything. They are going for the burgers, not just any burgers, “they are grilling them up right now, they are really yummy and only two dollars.” She takes a breath. “So I've got to go dry my hair, Lucy-Lou," she says. I thought as I hung up: it is so sweet to sometimes be called Lucy-Lou. It made me remember something my dad says about car shopping, "You could not pay to have this much fun." ( He actually loves car shopping, he is not being sarcastic.) Do not forget to call your people. Remind me when you see me. I am very lucky to have them all in my life this long into my life. If you are missing yours maybe take a moment and remember one of the silly happy simple moments you had with them. Bless yourself as a memory washes over you. Relive it. If you are feeling sad about anyone you had that you don't have now, sit with the special memories of them. We can honor ourselves being full of missing, and then. Then get excited about whoever is in your life right now that you CAN call, love, and laugh with. Because I think everyone finds when they test the theory: Life is filled with love when you try to give it out as much as you can. I promise I will take my own advice. Dad the storyteller, Mum that calls me Lucy-Lou sometimes, and me. ❤️ At my brother’s wedding almost 10 years ago. One weekend Johnny K and I went to hear this cool new band in New Hope. We had to buy a parking ticket to place on our dashboard at one of those kiosk's. We had just reached the kiosk when a younger couple approached. It was 8:15, and you only had to pay to park until 9PM, after that it was free. As they walked toward us the woman was saying "I hate to pay $3 for 45 minutes. If we had $1 cash we could just insert that, but minimum for a credit card is $3." The man answered, "I would pay $3 not to get a parking ticket." Meanwhile I still had not figured out how it worked so I asked her if she knew what to do; suggested she go first and I would watch her rather than her watch me read the directions; especially as I was needing to get my glasses out. She stepped up. Just then another couple approached. "We misunderstood how to do this so we bought two parking tickets. Anyone want the other one?" I nodded to first couple and they took it. All four of us said thank you. Second couple left smiling because it is so fun to be generous! And then rather than deserting us, our new friends who were now parking for free, stayed to help. She asked if I had $1, and you know, just before I left the house I saw $3 on my bedside table and tucked it in my pocket, thinking single dollars come in handy sometimes. So I handed her my dollar bill and she slid it into the proper slot that was hidden amongst a jumble of options and arrows that were muddled because I lacked reading glasses.... and handed us our own ticket. "We all just saved $5!" I said. The woman held open her arms and we had this spontaneous hug, believe it or not. "She hugged me!" I said to Johnny K, as we walked to see our show. "That was so, so nice!" Now moments like that will never be on TV and never make the news but it is moments like that that make this life sweet. We tend to get lost in the news sometimes, and fret over how the world is declining, and rant about how there is no more respect for anyone. And yet good moments and lovely people are everywhere. News must find the very worst things to try to grab our attention. They do not film all the wonderful things going on all around the very worst things. And even the very worst things serve such a purpose. They help us realize how we DO want the world to be, help us clearly see how we need to do better. Now I take credit for starting that, a little. I did not tell the couple behind us that they could ~%}}€ wait a few minutes while we figured out the %#^}* machine.... It is very fun sometimes to try to start some good in tiny ways. |
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