So here it is, December 30, 2011. Wow. How can that be? Where does time go? How can it go so fast?
I remember when I was in the sixth grade, someone asked our teacher, Mr. Green, "Does time really go fast?". To 11 and 12 year old kids, it doesn't seem like it. But, we always heard grown-ups saying things like that, so, who better to ask than our teacher? Mr. Green responded, "It sure does! And the older you get, the faster it seems to go!" Hmmm. There are 24 hours in a day, that never changes, and 7 days in a week, that, too, stays the same. Why do they say that?
I now know the answer to that question 46 years later. We fill our days rushing here and there, doing this and that, rarely slowing down to see the beauty surrounding us, or notice the people by our side. We are always in a hurry to get somewhere, and forget to enjoy the journey to where we're going. I'm very guilty of that.
Why are we in such a hurry? I wish I had the answer to that! I'm one of those people that are usually early everywhere I go, mostly because I'm afraid of being late. So, I rush to get somewhere, then have to sit and wait because I'm way too early. Duh.
In April, my husband, Dennis, finally retired from working. Yay! I quit working over two years ago due to health problems, so it's been so nice having him home with me. Even if we're just sitting in the living room watching television together, we ARE together, and it's very comfortable. It's been a big change, but one we have gotten used to with no problem at all.
The end of May we actually began our retirement journey together. We loaded up our fifth wheel, and headed to Florida for two months. It took us about a minute to decide we really liked it, too! By the end of that two months, I was more than ready to head back to Ohio to be with my kids, grandkids, sisters, my lovely mother, and many nieces and nephews. Not to mention some very dear friends! We had 3 months to get some things done around the house and visit with our family. Nice.
Then, the end of October, as the leaves were beginning to fall, the brilliant colors just about gone, we headed back to Florida and our fifth wheel to begin our first trip as "Snowbirds". That's something we had looked forward to for many years. We spent about 5 weeks there enjoying the warm weather, and meeting new friends. It really seemed strange to put Christmas lights on palm trees on Thanksgiving day, wearing short sleeved shirts and sandals, in 80 degree weather. That was a first for both of us.
On December 5th, we loaded up the truck, and headed back to gray, cold Ohio to spend the Christmas holidays with our family. We had a wonderful Christmas too! Lots of family time, good food, good friends and good memories to carry with us.
Now, it's almost time to go back to sunny Florida to spend the rest of our winter in, hopefully, warmer weather. I have very mixed emotions about it. Those of you who know me well, know how close I am to my family. I need to see them at least every week, some more often than that. And it's really hard for me to be so far away from them for so long. This trip coming up will be my longest away from them ever. I'm still not sure how I'll handle it, only time will tell.
However, as I've learned, time really does go fast, so as long as everyone stays healthy, Lord willing, I'll be back with everyone in the Spring when the blossoms are just peeking out, and the breezes just begin to blow warm again. I love the Springtime. It's a new beginning, a rebirth, Gods way of showing us everything old is new again. Maybe in a small way, showing us what it will be like in Heaven, on a much grander scale, of course.
So, I hope your 2011 has been a good one, and I pray your 2012 will be even better. Slow down when you can and enjoy everything around you. We really never know when will be the last time we see someone, can do something, can go somewhere. Don't take these blessings for granted, ever. I'm going to try to live these words every second of every day. Because, as we know, time really does fly!
Happy New Year!!!!
Here we go again
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Change
"Things do not change, we change". Henry David Thoreau said this, and I believe it's one of the truest things I have ever read.
I don't much care for change, unless it's the money variety, however, it seems that every day I am faced with something changing in my life, and I have to deal with it in one way or another. Some changes are good, some not so much.
Hips and waistlines expanding, gray hairs growing out of my head, skin not as smooth as it was when I was thirtysomething...these changes I believe I have handled with some grace, and with those changes generally come some form of wisdom, which is a good thing. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather still be young and beautiful, if I ever was beautiful, but getting older sure beats the alternative!
Retiring, that's a good change. I never have to get up on a cold, snowy winter morning and drive to work, then do it again at quitting time. I really love this change! On the flipside of that, I don't have a payday to look forward to every two weeks. I have social security, of course, but, trust me, it's nothing like the paycheck you are used to when you're in the working world. Advantages and disadvantantages in most everything.
When you're young, you think about getting older in a romanticized way. "The Golden Years", right? Not always. If you are blessed enough to have children, you will have times of great pride and satisfaction, and then you will, most likely, have times that you worry yourself sick about things that are happening in their lives. And most of the time, you can't do much about those things, just worry, and of course, pray. We lived our own lives, made our own mistakes, and our children have to do the same thing. And all the while, all you want to do is turn the clock back to when they were little, and you could kiss their "boo-boos" and tuck them in at night.
If your children ask for your advice, you can give them your best, but you have to stand back and let them do things their own way. Boy, that's not easy, at all! But, when they "fall down", just be there to help pick them back up, much like you did when they were learning to walk.
I'm very blessed in this, my Golden years. My children are certainly not perfect, and they've had more than their fair share of problems, but they are great "kids", and I am so very proud of them...all of them. And I love them more than there are words to describe.
And the "change"? As my children grow older, and are now raising their own children, they have so much less time to spend with us, and I really don't like this change, no, not at all! I miss them so much, and wish it could be different, but, this is the way it is. Now I have to learn how to accept this change, and find peace with the fact that this is the way it works for almost everyone, and, I suppose, this is the way it's supposed to be.
But, I don't have to like it!
I don't much care for change, unless it's the money variety, however, it seems that every day I am faced with something changing in my life, and I have to deal with it in one way or another. Some changes are good, some not so much.
Hips and waistlines expanding, gray hairs growing out of my head, skin not as smooth as it was when I was thirtysomething...these changes I believe I have handled with some grace, and with those changes generally come some form of wisdom, which is a good thing. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather still be young and beautiful, if I ever was beautiful, but getting older sure beats the alternative!
Retiring, that's a good change. I never have to get up on a cold, snowy winter morning and drive to work, then do it again at quitting time. I really love this change! On the flipside of that, I don't have a payday to look forward to every two weeks. I have social security, of course, but, trust me, it's nothing like the paycheck you are used to when you're in the working world. Advantages and disadvantantages in most everything.
When you're young, you think about getting older in a romanticized way. "The Golden Years", right? Not always. If you are blessed enough to have children, you will have times of great pride and satisfaction, and then you will, most likely, have times that you worry yourself sick about things that are happening in their lives. And most of the time, you can't do much about those things, just worry, and of course, pray. We lived our own lives, made our own mistakes, and our children have to do the same thing. And all the while, all you want to do is turn the clock back to when they were little, and you could kiss their "boo-boos" and tuck them in at night.
If your children ask for your advice, you can give them your best, but you have to stand back and let them do things their own way. Boy, that's not easy, at all! But, when they "fall down", just be there to help pick them back up, much like you did when they were learning to walk.
I'm very blessed in this, my Golden years. My children are certainly not perfect, and they've had more than their fair share of problems, but they are great "kids", and I am so very proud of them...all of them. And I love them more than there are words to describe.
And the "change"? As my children grow older, and are now raising their own children, they have so much less time to spend with us, and I really don't like this change, no, not at all! I miss them so much, and wish it could be different, but, this is the way it is. Now I have to learn how to accept this change, and find peace with the fact that this is the way it works for almost everyone, and, I suppose, this is the way it's supposed to be.
But, I don't have to like it!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
December Already
It doesn't seem possible that today is December 1, 2011. It's been a very eventful year, and it's quickly coming to a close.
I have so much to be thankful for, and I am. My family and loved ones are all healthy, including Dennis and myself. We have the essentials of life, and then some. Some more than others, but we are still so very blessed.
We're getting ready to head back to Ohio for the Christmas holiday in just a few short days. That sure seems strange...it's been in the 80's here in Fort Myers, Florida since we've been here. How can it be December with the sun shining, the warm Gulf breezes blowing, and people Christmas shopping in shorts and tank tops? We've found ourselves laughing out loud more than once at the Santa's in their warm suits with everyone else in bathing suits on the beach. Singing "The weather outside is frightful" seems ridiculous when it most certainly is not!
Many of the people here at Cypress Woods Resort have golf carts they buzz around on, and so many of them are decorated to the nines with garland, Christmas lights, holly, bows and tinsel. Cracks me up. However, I like their spirit!
Last week I bought Christmas lights and hung them on a palm tree on our lot. First time for everything! If we weren't going home in 4 days, I'd get a Christmas tree to put in the fifth wheel, but that seems silly when we will have to do it all over again when we get to Ohio. Friends of ours down here, Art and Marie, have a motor home, and they have the inside all decorated for the holidays, Christmas tree included. It really put me in the Christmas spirit!
I'm anxious to get home to my kids, grandkids, sisters, nieces, nephews, and my Mother. That's what it's all about...FAMILY! Mine is an especially close family, and I really missed being with them for Thanksgiving. And the Saturday after Thanksgiving is our family's traditional Family Christmas Tree Party. We used to have it at my parents house, where I grew up. After Dad passed away, we still did it there for a few years, then Mom's health was such that it was just too much for her, so we moved it to my sister, Kathy's house.
Now this party is something very special to our family, and many friends also. From the time we moved into our house in Green, we went every year as a family and picked out a great big, beautiful, perfect, 10 foot Blue Spruce tree. We made a big deal out of setting it up, making sure the lights were perfect, the garland just so, and the ornaments hung with care. It was a wonderful time, and we made many, many wonderful memories each and every year. We put Christmas music on while we trimmed the tree, and sang at the top of our lungs to each and every song! After Dad got older, and hard of hearing, we would catch him at some point during the festivities turning down his hearing aids.
In December of 1995, my Mom and Dad's house caught fire, right before Christmas. The tree was already up, presents under it, and it was all gone in a moment. It was a tragic Christmas for us. Earlier that same year, we lost my nephew, Joey, so Christmas already held a dark cloud over us, being our first without our beloved Joey. Then the fire. I believe it was the beginning of the end for my Dad. He was never the same after that. But, life goes on, and we tried very hard to keep the memories coming for the next generation of our family.
So, now we have the party at Kathy and Mark's house, and they are so generous and hospitable to put up with the whole thing! And I missed it this year. I don't like that, and I don't think I'll let that happen anymore, if I can arrange it. Dennis wants to spend winters here where it's warm, but some things are way more important than others. Now my grandchildren are included in the Family Tree Party, and they love it as much as I did as a child, and still do as an adult. Four generations of family tradition. There's a lot to be said for traditions! Just watch Fiddler On The Roof if you don't believe me! They even wrote a song about it!
I guess a new tradition for me will be going home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can't wait!
I have so much to be thankful for, and I am. My family and loved ones are all healthy, including Dennis and myself. We have the essentials of life, and then some. Some more than others, but we are still so very blessed.
We're getting ready to head back to Ohio for the Christmas holiday in just a few short days. That sure seems strange...it's been in the 80's here in Fort Myers, Florida since we've been here. How can it be December with the sun shining, the warm Gulf breezes blowing, and people Christmas shopping in shorts and tank tops? We've found ourselves laughing out loud more than once at the Santa's in their warm suits with everyone else in bathing suits on the beach. Singing "The weather outside is frightful" seems ridiculous when it most certainly is not!
Many of the people here at Cypress Woods Resort have golf carts they buzz around on, and so many of them are decorated to the nines with garland, Christmas lights, holly, bows and tinsel. Cracks me up. However, I like their spirit!
Last week I bought Christmas lights and hung them on a palm tree on our lot. First time for everything! If we weren't going home in 4 days, I'd get a Christmas tree to put in the fifth wheel, but that seems silly when we will have to do it all over again when we get to Ohio. Friends of ours down here, Art and Marie, have a motor home, and they have the inside all decorated for the holidays, Christmas tree included. It really put me in the Christmas spirit!
I'm anxious to get home to my kids, grandkids, sisters, nieces, nephews, and my Mother. That's what it's all about...FAMILY! Mine is an especially close family, and I really missed being with them for Thanksgiving. And the Saturday after Thanksgiving is our family's traditional Family Christmas Tree Party. We used to have it at my parents house, where I grew up. After Dad passed away, we still did it there for a few years, then Mom's health was such that it was just too much for her, so we moved it to my sister, Kathy's house.
Now this party is something very special to our family, and many friends also. From the time we moved into our house in Green, we went every year as a family and picked out a great big, beautiful, perfect, 10 foot Blue Spruce tree. We made a big deal out of setting it up, making sure the lights were perfect, the garland just so, and the ornaments hung with care. It was a wonderful time, and we made many, many wonderful memories each and every year. We put Christmas music on while we trimmed the tree, and sang at the top of our lungs to each and every song! After Dad got older, and hard of hearing, we would catch him at some point during the festivities turning down his hearing aids.
In December of 1995, my Mom and Dad's house caught fire, right before Christmas. The tree was already up, presents under it, and it was all gone in a moment. It was a tragic Christmas for us. Earlier that same year, we lost my nephew, Joey, so Christmas already held a dark cloud over us, being our first without our beloved Joey. Then the fire. I believe it was the beginning of the end for my Dad. He was never the same after that. But, life goes on, and we tried very hard to keep the memories coming for the next generation of our family.
So, now we have the party at Kathy and Mark's house, and they are so generous and hospitable to put up with the whole thing! And I missed it this year. I don't like that, and I don't think I'll let that happen anymore, if I can arrange it. Dennis wants to spend winters here where it's warm, but some things are way more important than others. Now my grandchildren are included in the Family Tree Party, and they love it as much as I did as a child, and still do as an adult. Four generations of family tradition. There's a lot to be said for traditions! Just watch Fiddler On The Roof if you don't believe me! They even wrote a song about it!
I guess a new tradition for me will be going home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can't wait!
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