Silent Night,
Evergreen Tree, Bright and Aglow…
Christmas is here bringing fun…
and good cheer….
May it bring for you, Gifts of love and much joy too!
*special thanks to 123 greetings for the beautiful poem to illustrate my Photography!*
Maybe it’s because I grew up in Georgia -and snow was a rare thing. Maybe it’s because I’m weird. Maybe it’s because I refuse to grow up… I don’t know.
It is, however, snowing.
Not much, not hard – just a dusting outside- enough to make the streets slick, to begin to cover the world in white, to soften the harsh branches against the sky, to make even the trash sitting at the edge of the road look “nicer”…. and yet.. it’s enough to make me feel giddy and gleeful inside.
It’s Snowing!!
Between the dog (who woke me up at 6 AM with a cold nose, a happy bark, a wagging tail, his “outside” whine, and a jump over me to lift up the curtains at the window) and the fact that it is nearing Christmas, I started singing Carols as I got ready for work and haven’t stopped yet.
Taking him out in the snow was a fun thing – because I was happy and smiling, revelling in the beauty of it – the softness of the flakes, the stillness and clarity of the air, and the crisp crunch of the leaves…. Add to it the fact that my beloved husky was making me crack up laughing…. He literally burst forth out of the door, kicked up the snow on his nose, exhaled and practically danced on the leash before dashing down the street – nearly taking my arm with him. Poor thing had to be restrained on a short leash until we could get across the busy street and down by the canal where he can run. Once the dog was down there though, he raced back and forth as fast as he could, as if to say….
LOOK LOOK! IT”S SNOWING!!! OH MY GOD!! I have MISSED YOU SNOW!! LOOK! LOOK! IT’S SNOWING!!! WOO HOO!! YAY!! SNOW! SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!
He then proceeded to roll in the white powder, to become covered in the stuff, before running back and forth several times. It was pure and utter JOY. Yes, I admit that I had to tell him to calm down and “do his business”, and that I really felt bad to have to take him inside where he’ll wait all day for me to return (before going out again). But, for the time we were outside, I got to revel in his actions – reflecting my mood.
Oh sure, there’s bad things about it – but for the moment, I’ve left the curtains open at home so the dog can see outside and watch it accumulate (if it accumulates), I’m sitting at work facing the windows enjoying nature’s cold white mystery coming down, and revelling in the fact that when I go home – the dog will be there at the door, with but a single look of joy on is face – that of “Hi Mom – OUTSIDE” and…
“SNOW!”
In my family, we’re lucky enough to have what we would call the “old age” gene. I can only hope that I get the privilege of continuing the tradition.
You see, my great, great grandma (above circa 1970), Flora Henshue made it to 80 + years old, and so did my great grandfather Stanley (Flora’s son) and his wife, my great-grandma, Hattie Henshue.
So, why this walk down memory lane? Well, because today, my Grandma (Stanley and Hattie’s Daughter) turns the big Eight-Zero (80).
I can’t be there to wish my Grandma a happy birthday in person, so I’m sending a bunch of Roses, and very much love her way.
Humor me, please, and let me tell you a little bit about this amazing woman. Starting in the 1960’s, (and with 3 sons still at home) my grandmother was an assistant librarian at Marshall Jr High school. (Prior Jobs, she’ll proudly tell you, were working “sexing” baby chickens and as a secretary.) She retired from the Jr High in order to take care of my grandfather (who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease) for many years, until he went into a nursing home.
My grandmother is affectionately nick-named the family “social” butterfly. At 80 years old, she is more active than many women half her age. She goes to swim-aerobics twice a week at the YMCA, plays cards with her friends every week (hosted at a different person’s house), and is an avid baker, ceramics painter, and quilter (she even participates in a quilter’s group). She still lives at home (which she continues to aptly clean herself), and still drives her own car (offering to take her friends to the doctor’s in Madison – an hour away from where she lives) among other things. She helps to organize events at her church (visiting shut-ins, helping as an usher, cooking for bake sales, feeding the local needy, etc), and at the nursing home across the street from where she lives. She has a big collie dog to keep her “active” and even still finds time to take bus trips to “get out of town” for anywhere from a day to two weeks. (This month, she’s packing her bags to travel the 1000 miles down to Georgia to visit my dad – and will be there for a week.) In addition, she has traveled and seen a bit of the world (Unfortunately, after my grandfather passed on) including Germany, Austria, France, and Switzerland, as well as Canada and almost all of the 50 states in the USA.
Sometimes just hearing about all she does, and all the people she’s going here and there and everywhere with makes me exhausted – for her and myself. I always said if I could grow up and be half as active and have even a few friends like she does, I would be blessed many times over. I guess – I’m lucky to have such a “modern” woman as my 80 year old grandma to look up to. But then, if genes have anything to do with it, at 80, she could still be around for another 20 years – and not bat an eye. I certainly hope she is – because she is one of the many lights in my life.
A few great things I’ve learned from My Grandmother:
a) Do it while you can, and enjoy it. If you leave it until later, (whatever it is) someday, you may find you’re not able to do it anymore. (Knowing she lost my grandfather to Parkinson’s – in many ways – before they got to do all the things they planned to with their retirement – I think I really have taken this advice to heart.)
b) Sometimes the body has good days, sometimes the body has bad days. Listen to your Body and know when you should push yourself and when you should rest. My grandma goes constantly, but she also knows how to say “no”. I’m sure it’s taken her years to learn this – and it’s something that I still have trouble with, though I think I’m getting better.
c) Old age doesn’t mean you should sit in a rocker and stop living. When you stop moving, you stop using your mind, and stop TRYING to make a difference – then you grow old, you give up, and you die. So, don’t be like some of the older members of our family who decided at retirement that they’d had enough, pulled up their rocker and remote and just quit living. She’s proof that even small differences can make someone’s day. Oh – also, don’t be like those who worked themselves every day with no vacation – until the day they passed – because they didn’t take the time to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
d) Bad times come. It’s inevitable, and it’s Okay. But, it will all work out in the end. So, don’t give up – even when we make mistakes. Ride through them, learn, help others who will wind up in the same “rut” when you can, and rejoice that you have the bad times – because – if it weren’t for bad times, we wouldn’t recognize the good ones.
e) Finally, and most important – You’re NEVER too Old to Travel, to Learn, To Create, To Make New Friends, To Smile, To Laugh, or To Love.
So, Here’s to my Grandma, who turns 80 Years Young today –
Happy Birthday, Grandma – We Love You!
