Every year, usually around the end of August, my niece Bubba invites me to come and spend a few days with her family. A cute family with two red-headed boys as bookends and one sassy brunette sister in the middle. Inevitably, I return home with an collection of stories to share by recounting the week of antics. The oldest will turn 8 in a few months, the youngest will turn 4 a month later. So, yes, there are plenty of stories to share. This one is about Lil B.
Continue readingSweet Memories
The UK trip I finally got to take
For two years I waited to take a trip. When the time finally approached and people asked if I was excited I answered, “eh.” Not that I wasn’t excited but because of COVID this trip had been postponed twice. So, it was hard to get excited or even believe it was actually happening. But it finally happened. I went on my 2020 trip with my brother and sister in law.
The 2020 Trip
In March 2020, I was supposed to go on a trip to the United Kingdom. Our travel company was scheduled to leave the end of March. If you remember your recent history, that was about a week after the world shut down due to COVID. I did not get to go on that trip in 2020. Instead, I waited. But let me start at the beginning.
Continue readingFalling from the sky with style
I am not a bold person. It’s true. For most of my life I have followed the path of least resistance like water. It’s funny though, it only took one decision to step outside my comfort zone to help me choose something some people call daring or brave or stupid. I’ve heard them all. Whatever you want to call it, this is how one trip outside the country eventually led to me parachuting out of a plane four years later.
Continue readingWhen reality of it all settles in and stinks
In 1985, I went to the movie house with my friends and watched The Goonies. Actually, I’m just assuming I did because I’m from a small town and on Friday nights my friends and I were usually either at the Family Recreation Center or we were at the movies. I don’t actually remember my first time watching The Goonies. It has become one of those I have watched so much that I can’t really remember a time before I knew Mikey and the gang. I will say that from the first watch I felt like an honorary Goonie. Thankfully, it wasn’t until many years later that I discovered otherwise.
Continue readingCall me Rose
Do you remember when The Golden Girls was on television? I do. If I remember correctly, the show aired on Saturday nights. Don’t quote me on that though because my social active life made it difficult for me to watch tv on Saturday nights. By active social life I am referring to watching the Love Boat and probably Golden Girls with my folks. Anyway, I remember it was one of the shows my mom got a kick out of and enjoyed. And so, because I have a chameleon personality and will absorb other people’s interests, I of course enjoyed it. In hindsight, I probably didn’t understand or relate to a group of geriatric women but because mom laughed I laughed. Continue reading
Day after Thanksgiving tradition
Many years ago, when my older nieces were young I decided to create an after holiday treat with them. Perhaps, it was my way of extending the family togetherness of Thanksgiving. Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to see a movie that was geared for children. Whatever the reason, a tradition we unoriginally call the Day After Thanksgiving Movie was born. Continue reading
Lessons learned from mom
Let me tell you a little bit about my mom. She had a strong personality and felt a deep sense of wrong and right. Her joy was her family and was strongly protective of her little clan. If you fell under mom’s umbrella she was your fan. I’m not claiming she was perfect but she did her best to give her best for her family. Here are a just a few of the things I was fortunate to be taught by mom. Continue reading
Lessons learned from Dad
I had the good fortune to be born to good parents. Now, I’m not claiming they were perfect or didn’t make any mistakes. That would be a rose-colored glasses statement and I’m not going there. What I will say is they were good parents in the fact that they loved their kids and tried their best to make a good home. I appreciate both of them and honor them for what they were able to provide and do for their little family. Along the way, they imparted the lessons they learned in life that they thought would help me become a decent human being. Here are a few of my dad’s nuggets of wisdom. Continue reading
By the time she was my age…
Recently, I visited my aunt and looked through some photos. She has pictures I have never seen before of my grandparents and my dad when he was a boy. As I looked at a certain picture of my grandma I realized she was about the same age as I am now. When I was younger, I looked a lot like her but looking at a picture of her the same age as I am now I can see that resemblance has faded. My dad assures me though that I have many of her mannerisms and still carry myself in a similar fashion. That is comforting because I have always enjoyed having that connection with her even though I don’t remember her very well. She died when I was 12 but for the last three years of her life she was in a nursing home and her body became merely a shell of the vibrant woman she once was. But when I saw that picture of her of when she was close to my age I compared our lives and the different roads we have both taken to get to this age. Continue reading
ck's days 