Some Things Never Change

Most of us know someone we think of as ditzy or scatterbrained. These people aren’t unintelligent—they just see things differently.  I’ve been told there’s one in every family.  Mine is no exception.
          

Terri was the third of five children… the first girl, which netted her extra attention for a while… but when our family was complete, she was right in the middle with two older brothers and two younger sisters.  For some reason, that position generated a lot of teasing from both sides – especially when she began to earn the title “airhead.”            

When the children were young, we were driving through South Charleston one evening and had to stop at a red light at the corner of “A” Street.  Studying the sign carefully, Terri piped up, “Why did they put a sign up that says that’s a street?  Everybody knows that’s a street!”  The laughter of her brothers and sisters continued for quite a while… though Terri honestly didn’t know what was so funny. 

           

On another occasion, one of Terri’s brothers came running into the house with news that our neighbor had been the victim of a minor crime.  He said, “Mr. Bailey’s car got broken into last night!”  Looking puzzled, Terri said, “How do you break a car in two?”  Her brothers rolled on the floor laughing. 

           

In the wintertime when it was dark early, the five of them would go to the playroom after dinner, turn out the lights and play hide and seek.  For a while, they couldn’t understand why it was so hard to find Terri.  Then they discovered she had a most unusual hiding place.  She was lying flat on the back of the sofa – hiding in plain sight, you might say.

Terri certainly wasn’t dumb.  She made excellent grades in school; always acing the “A” or “B” Honor Roll… and she had an incredible knack for taking care of money.  She was once bragging to her siblings at dinner that she had some money saved and was thinking about what she might buy with it.  When they all giggled, Terri said, “Don’t laugh; you’ll see.”  Her sister said, “Okay, how much do you have?”  Terri answered, “Three.”  Everyone hooted wildly, but became suddenly quiet when she clarified that she meant three-hundred dollars!  It was difficult for any of us to believe that she’d saved up that much money.  She got only a small weekly allowance and received gifts of money from grandparents and other relatives occasionally, as did the other children.  At any rate, Terri had three hundred dollars to spend and her siblings were green with envy. 

        

These are just pleasant memories now.  The children are married and have blessed us with seven grandchildren.  We gather regularly for special occasions as other large families do and make many wonderful memories—and Terri continues to entertain us now and then with one of her gaffes.  

    

 She delivered her most recent howler a couple of years ago at Christmastime.  One of her children had received a gift of jeans that didn’t fit.  We were telling her and her husband that they could probably exchange them on their way home at a certain Charleston store.  I told her, “They have a large selection.  You probably won’t have any trouble.”  Then, looking at another daughter, I said, “We bought you jeans there last fall, remember?” Hearing this, Terri, looking baffled, asked, “Who’s Eugene?”  

            

We all stood looking at each other for a few moments, mouths agape, before bursting into laughter.  Some things never change—and, in this case, we are so grateful they don’t!

Some Days Are Harder Than Others

Yesterday, I spent the whole afternoon in my Ophthalmologist's office. I go every few months for checkups due to the eye problems that run in my family. It's never been a big deal before, but this time, I felt that more than two hours to get the job done was a little unreasonable, especially since most of the time was spent waiting in one place or another. 

First came the usual visual check - reading the eye chart - then the doctor said it was time for my yearly dilation. This is very uncomfortable for me, but since it's necessary, I grin and bear it. Yesterday was no exception. Drops were put into my eyes and I was taken to a dark room where several other people were sitting, eyes closed, waiting for their eyes to dilate also. I was left there for a full thirty minutes - longer than usual - but was still determined to get through it with a smile. When my name was finally called, I followed the technician to another small office where I was given a test. I was to look into a machine with one eye at a time and follow the little green light around. No problem.

All finished with that, the tech led me to another office and told me the doctor would be with me in a few minutes to discuss the test. Well, that few minutes turned into another thirty and I was starting to get a little irritable! My husband was waiting in the waiting room and I suspected he was, too.

When the doctor finally appeared with one of his assistants by his side, determined not to be nasty, I said in the most pleasant voice I could conjure up, "I see you're having an unusually busy day!"(Smile). To which he replied, "It's not unusual at all."(No smile). I couldn't help but answer, "Well it seems so to me. I've been coming here for fifteen to twenty years, and I've never had to wait this long before!"(Still smiling). The doctor didn't reply, nor did he smile or apologize, but merely explained my test results, then told me he'd see me in five to six months... and walked out. I felt that I and my feelings had been dismissed like a child!

I wonder... as we age and aren't quite as perky as we once were, do younger people just naturally assume that we've lost our intellect and common sense?


  Peggy~

It's a Beautiful Day!

 I get up every morning and say, "What good things are in store for me today?" I wasn't always so positive. I grew up with a very negative mother. When I'd say, "It's a beautiful day!" She'd answer with, "Yeah, but it's gonna rain after while."

As you might guess, living with someone like that all your life sort of rubs off on you, but somewhere along the line, I started to think differently and, to my surprise, my life started to go in a new direction. It seems that we are what we think! If you sit around thinking bad things all the time, then bad things are likely to happen, but change those thoughts to good ones and it's just the opposite.

The change in me didn't happen overnight, but it did happen. I now find myself smiling and expecting good things much more than I do bad. It's so liberating - just to let all your worries go and imagine only good things happening. You smile more, you like people more and life is just so much better all around. I know people who haven't learned that yet. Nothing ever pleases them. They only see the negative in every situation... as my mother did.

My faith plays a big part in my attitude. I'm convinced that the only way to be truly happy is to believe in a Higher Power. Otherwise, you have nothing to live for. Your significant other, just like you, will gradually grow older losing his/her physical beauty and faculties. Eventually, one of you will die leaving the other to carry on alone. Your children will grow up and leave you to make lives of their own. This is as it should be. Even your pets will die. The only thing that never changes is your God. This is where true happiness and contentment begin. Think about it.

Have a wonderful day!

Peggy~

C'est la Vie

Many years ago, my eldest son and I went to Paris, France. We were both taking classes at WV State University and when we heard that credits would be given to those who took the trip with the French teacher and her students, we jumped at the chance. I had always wanted to go to Paris. It had been a lifelong dream. Even though my son, Lee, had been once before with the Foreign Study League when he was only sixteen years old, he was delighted to go again!

From start to finish, it was a wonderful trip - one of the highlights of my life! Aside from the two French teachers, I was the oldest person in the group. That didn't bother me, especially when several people we met in Paris remarked, when seeing me and my son together, that we must be on our honeymoon. I was only thirty-six at the time. The two of us escaped the others a couple of evenings and went to this little restaurant close to the hotel. It was small and quaint, the service impeccable!

The very first time we walked inside and were escorted to a booth, there were knowing smiles on the faces of the staff. We saw them, knew what they were thinking and chuckled a little - behind our hands, of course. We were given special attention and, tho' we didn't understand all that was being said, it was easy to see by their expressions that they thought they were serving newlyweds. It was amazing... and a little embarrassing for my son and me, but we went with it and had fun.

We visited the Louvre, where we saw famous art such as the Mona Lisa, Whistler's Mother and Venus de Milo, ate lunch on the beautiful Eiffel Tower, took a tour of Montmartre and I was drawn by a good looking young artist there (picture above), enjoyed a train ride to Versailles where we spent the afternoon touring the chateau and the spectacular grounds, took a cruise on the Seine, and though I missed it, the others enjoyed the dinner show at the Moulin Rouge.

No wonder my son was delighted to take a second trip. There is so much to see and do in Paris that it would take much more time than we had. Even this time, he left wishing he'd been able to see more, and says he hopes to go back one day.

I'm sure I will never return, but it will always remain one of my favorite memories - one that makes me smile every time I think of it!

Have a wonderful day!

Peggy~

This story also appears in my book, Somewhere in Heaven My Mother is Smiling~

Simon Says

Appeared in the Charleston Gazette, July 15, 2007

When our granddaughter, Danielle, was in the second grade, her Physical Education teacher asked her students to invite a parent or grandparent to come and participate in a PE class with them.  Since her mother couldn’t get away from work, Danielle pestered me until I agreed to go.

I was reluctant because this event was scheduled for 8:30 a.m.—and I don’t do mornings!  I often stay up until the wee hours and then sleep until the “crack of noon.”  So, 8:30 a.m. is the middle of the night for me. However, this was my precious granddaughter, and I would grin and bear it, just this once, for her.

To make matters worse, when I got up on the appointed morning, it was pouring rain and foggy.  I dislike rain almost as much as I dislike mornings.  Together, they are intolerable.

I barely made it to the school on time, but there was no place to park.  After driving around the block a couple of times, I finally found a space, but it was close to a fire hydrant.  Since I was running late, I maneuvered my car into it anyway… mumbling to myself that I’d probably have a parking ticket when I got back.

I got inside just in time to find Danielle and her classmates heading for the gym.  I was invited to join them, along with other parents and grandparents.  We sat down and waited while each student proudly introduced his or her guest.

Then the teacher told us to stand up and form a large circle.  First, we did some stretching exercises, which were easy even for us older folks.  Then she said, “Now we’re going to play a game.  How about Simon Says?”  The kids squealed with delight.

The teacher started:  “Simon says, ‘Clap your hands’.”  Every hand clapped.

Then:  “Simon says, ‘Stomp your feet’.”  All feet stomped.

“Simon says, ‘Stick out your tongue’.” Right on cue, every tongue was out.

“Touch the top of your head.”

Suddenly, everyone was staring at me and more than a dozen small index fingers pointed in my direction.  I felt my face redden as the sound of raucous laughter filled the room!   I had been the only one tricked.

The teacher clapped her hands loudly to calm the children and said, kindly, “Now, children, don’t laugh at her.  She’s new.”

“Let’s continue”, she said, and thankfully, the room became quiet again.

 “I can do this.” I thought, determined to pay closer attention.

“Simon says, ‘stand on your right foot’.”  Good!

“Simon says, ‘stand on your left foot’.”   Check!

“Simon says, ‘touch your nose’.”   Done!

By this time, Danielle was watching me closely and I smiled letting her know that I had things under control.

Still smiling and feeling very confident, I heard….

“Turn around”…and was more than halfway through a 360-degree turn before it occurred to me that Simon didn’t say…and I was the only one turning.

The laughter was even louder than before, and the fingers pointed more accusingly.  Danielle put her hands on her tiny hips, glared at me impatiently and shouted, “Maw-Maw!”  I wanted to crawl under the bleachers and hide.

The teacher halted the confusion by saying, “Alright, children, line up and we’ll get a drink of water.”  The class was over.  I said “good-bye” to Danielle and started toward the door, hoping to slip out unnoticed, but the other parents and grandparents rushed toward me—smiles flashing—offering comments like, “Don’t worry about it.” And, “We all make mistakes.” (Although I could swear some were smirking).

I finally walked through the big front doors into bright sunshine, which lifted my spirits…as it had the fog.  Reaching my car, I was happy to find that there was no parking ticket.  I slid in under the steering wheel, started the car, and burst into laughter.  In spite of everything, I had enjoyed myself.

I sincerely hope that Danielle forgave me for embarrassing her.  She must have—because   she never mentioned it again—but on the other hand, she never invited me to another school activity either.

 

Webcam Fun

One day when Carson, our youngest granddaughter, was visiting, we couldn't think of anything better to do than play around on my Webcam...   We had a good time and a lot of laughs.  

An Hour at Coonskin Park

One beautiful day in May 2007,

Chase and I went to Coonskin Park to take pictures. It was a perfect sunny day!  Although we stayed only an hour, we enjoyed every second!

I got tired and had to rest on a park bench, but Chase walked around the lake.  That's him waving from the other side.

Chase, feeding the fish...

 If you look closely, you’ll see ducks on the other side.

Chase wanted to follow the tracks back into the woods, but I didn't think it looked safe and talked him out of it.

This was a most unforgettable day with my grandson!

A beautiful view of the lake with the WV hills in the background.

Who says you have to get into your car and drive for hours to enjoy yourself?
Carpe Diem!