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
Sweet Memories
The Lesson of the Poinsettia
Christmas 2018 I received a poinsettia as a gift. It was part of my Christmas Secret Elf gift giving I was the recipient of. You can read about that experience here. One of the first gifts I received was a beautiful poinsettia in full bloom. It was delivered while I was at work so my co-workers suggested I keep it there to help give our office space some beauty. Easily persuaded I obliged. It was fine until Friday. I gave the plant a large dose of water to see it through the weekend and left. When I returned Monday morning it looked like someone had swapped out my beautiful, full-bloomed plant for a Charlie Brown Christmas tree variety. It looked like a massacre had taken place with red dry leaves lying on my desk and the stems bare. Continue reading
Little Me in Italy: Part Four
Lugano-flight home-flight home for reals
For our last full day in Italy we went to Switzerland. Specifically, Lugano, an Italian community just across the border. Continue reading
Little Me in Italy: Part Three
Milan-Como-Bellagio
We left Venice on Saturday and stopped in Milan on our way to Como. Milan is a busy city with 2.2 million people. Since spring had winked at us that weekend I believe all 2.2 million were out in the city square. Okay, maybe only 2.1 million. Continue reading
Little Me in Italy: Part Two
Verona-Venice
On our first full day we climbed aboard a bus and took a little road trip. We went to Verona. The only thing I could remember about Verona was Shakespeare’s “Two Gentlemen from Verona.” After our arrival I realized “Letters to Juliette” would have been a good resource to prepare. I tried to remember the movie. Continue reading
Little Me in Italy: Part One
Arrival
I was born with a bit of a wanderlust heart. However, I was also born with a fearful mind. In case you’re wondering, these two things are contradictory and one cancels the other out. Usually fear wins because fear, as you know, is a big bully. But I still had dreams. Dreams of all the places I’d like to have adventures à la Indiana Jones. So when an opportunity to venture outside my daily living zone presents itself I jump on it. In a cautious yet impulsive manner.
Let me explain. For work, my brother, RH, was in charge of an annual community trip abroad. He and his wife, CC, were required to go. Two people I know traveling abroad? Cautious. Deplete my savings to travel somewhere that is not on my bucket list? Impulsive. However you want to describe it, at the end of March I found myself on an airplane heading to Italy for one week. Continue reading
Four Angels Divided
My mom was an artist. As an artist, she found many outlets for her creativity. One outlet was painting ceramics. Her dad and stepmother owned a ceramic shop and she helped out. Along the way, her family were beneficiaries of ceramic projects big and small. I remember her painting four angel ornaments for the tree. One boy and three girls, or in other words, one for my brother and one for my sisters and me.
For years the angels hung on her Christmas tree every year. Her little angels painted with love by our guardian angel.
Every year for thirty some years her angels hung on momma’s tree.
But all things come to an end. This Christmas, the angels were divided and each hung on different trees in two states and three towns. Mom’s angels are separated by distance but still connected by memory and love.
Lead, Kindly Light
Twenty some years ago I left home for the first time. No practice runs or degrees of separation I jumped right into leaving my hometown when I served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Continue reading
That time I was a Red Sox fan
The title is misleading a bit. I have always considered myself a Red Sox fan by inheritance. My fan status for all my sports teams comes from my dad. He likes the Denver Broncos. I like the Broncos. He likes the Boston Red Sox. I like the Red Sox. He is a Wyoming Cowboy through and through. I’m a Cowboy. I don’t have to invest time watching the games, I’m just a fan. It’s in my blood. I just keep track of the final score. It’s not all that difficult to do since I usually hear about the game from my dad. Continue reading
Suffer the Children…
I recently had the opportunity to babysit Bubba’s two children, Lil B and Lil K. As mentioned in a previous post, at the time they were two months shy of four and one week shy of two. In other words, they were full of energy. We were staying at my sister’s at the time and they were doing what children do best – keeping themselves occupied and busy. My sister has a small replica of the Christus that proved to be a temptation for little fingers and busy hands. They wanted to touch it. Of course, since it wasn’t their home or statue their dad had warned them not to touch it. They heard the admonition, they understood the meaning, their desire to touch increased. Continue reading
ck's days 