July 2017 FROM MY PERSPECTIVE
My friend had to go to the doctor to discuss some issues she
was having with her diet. I told her, "You might take me along to talk
with him, too. You know I will tell him what you usually eat.” And with a
twinkle in my eye I said, “Besides, you're afraid of me." She glared at me and took her bag of M &
Ms away which we were sharing. I guess she's not as afraid of me as I thought.
800 different languages are spoken in New York City,
making it the most linguistically diverse city on Earth.
My friend, Kelli, posted her dismay with her 4 boys: “It’s not just toys they fight over. Now they’re fighting over a stick. Next, they’ll be arguing over who gets to
breathe more air. It’s gonna be a long
summer break.”
Connor, age 6, helped her when she fell and hurt her knee
due to some water on the floor. “He
wiped up the water, made me some hot chocolate, then, patted and kissed my
knee.” I remember those days of when I
got a “boo-boo” from something. There
seems to be magical, profound healing power in a pat and kiss on the hurt area
when it’s administered by a child.
On May 28 my daughter turned 21. She came to me all excited saying, “Mom, I’m
21 today. It feels so good to be
21!!” I smiled, hugged her and wished
her a happy birthday. Then I said, “It
seems like just yesterday you were 20.”
A friend of mine called and said, “My day has gone to sh**,
already.” I told her, “That particular matter improves the growth of plants and
makes the flowers and fruit more abundant. So if your day has gone to
"fertilizer" just think how much more fruit or flowers (or both)
you're going to get. I'd prefer to say, "My day has gone to ice cream
because there is always something good about ice cream.” You're welcome.
Think about this: “And sometimes when you fall, you fly.” Neil Gaiman.
It’s something to think about.
I was having difficulty
pronouncing a word. My friend, Marva,
said with a twinkling eye, “I didn’t think you ever had trouble pronouncing any
word.” I looked at her and said,
“Sometimes I do. Would you like to hear
all the ones I CAN
pronounce?” She declined.
There are 2 letters in our
alphabet which do not look any different when you turn them upside down or flip
them left or right upside down or right side up. What are they?? The answer’s at the bottom of the column.
Remember when this symbol, #, meant “pound”, “number”,
tic-tac-toe game? Now it means HASHTAG…whatever that is. I came across a list
of internet acronyms, text message jargon, abbreviations, initialisms,
cyberslang, leetspeak, SMS code, textese. HCB (Holy Cow Batman), it’s a whole
different language out there. Not only are there letters and some symbols used,
but there are numbers, too, which replace letters. A group of letters can
replace an entire sentence.UR2G2B4G---You are too
good to be forgotten. @TEOTD----At the end of the day. Bette Davis’ famous line
can now be reduced to FYSBIGTBABR---“Fasten your seat belts; it’s going to be a
bumpy ride.” As an English teacher who taught composition, I can only imagine
what essays would look like if all these symbols, abbreviations, initials, etc.
would be used. TTFN….Tah Tah For Now.
I saw a funny post on Facebook. It said, “Yes, Mrs. Smith, it IS my fault and I should lose my job because YOUR child has never read a book at home and plays video games until 3 a.m. on school nights….said NO teacher EVER!!” My reply to that was, “Oh, I don't know about that. There were a few parents I made a wedgie of their unders with my words. One I even told them their child needed to transfer to another class because they couldn't handle my expectations......their future job would probably be folding napkins. This was academic English, too. The parent told me I should give their child the letter grade they deserve. I told the parent, ‘Our alphabet only has 26 letters.’”
A situation in which every choice you can make will be bad is called a "zugzwang." I think I’ve had that from time to time in my life. What a nice way to say, “It’s all going to hell.” Just one word took care of that!!
Brenduhh came over all excited. “Trudy, I’ve found wonderful pool exercises using one of those Styrofoam pool noodles. You only have to do them for 15 minutes a day. You jog in place for a bit; then, jump side to side with your feet together; next, keeping your head/chin high, squat down real low then shoot up real high. The next one is a flutter kick moving your legs as fast as you can; then go to the deep end and ride an imaginary bicycle, and last hold on to the side of the pool and pull your knees up to your chest and shoot them out. When you’re all through, just float around slowly moving to cool down your muscles. Great, huh?” After listening to her and watching her try to demonstrate all the moves on dry land, I told her, “I think by the time I finish with all that, the water will have become a tidal wave, and I’ll be slapped around like a dopey, small whale. The waves will beat the fat off me.”
My Beloved and I were teachers at the same high school. Many times we had the same students. Recently I had a call from a former student of ours. He asked me, knowing my Beloved had passed away almost 6 years ago and how much I loved him, “I don’t know how you do it Mz. R. You keep on, and I know how much you loved Mr. R and miss him.” I replied, “I take one moment at a time. Some days are not as easy as others, but his memory and our wonderful time together helps ease the emptiness. Grief robs one of so much, and I won’t be robbed of what I still have of him….his memory and influence. I was so blessed to have him as long as I did. The time we had together was more than some have, but it was, also, not as much as others have had. Only you can pull yourself out of the quagmire of grief, and each person has a different time frame.” He was silent for a moment, and then said, “You always seem to find the silver lining in the darkest places.” I wanted to tell him it was the light reflecting off the tears in my eyes, but I just said, “Thank you.”
I’ve hyphened my last name. I like it that way because it gives honor to my Daddy’s name and my Beloved’s name, but there are some last names upon marriage which need to be thought carefully about when contemplating hyphening. Here are a few: Ho – D’Dohe; Moore – Bacon; Hunt – Kapture; Brock – O’leigh; Letter – Ripp; Beenzen – Franks; Looney – Ward; Walkin – Woods; Love – Lee (I like this one, though.)
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. You’ll hang on; you’ll let go. You’ll praise; you’ll damn. You’ll scream; you’ll whisper. You’ll stay; you’ll go. You’ll sing; you’ll hum. You’ll ache; you’ll be at peace. It’s called LIFE. It’s worth all this.
My cousin passed away in June; it was a shock. Our parents were siblings, and he was the same age as me and our other cousin, Sharon. I knew him as “Butch” (most of the family called him that), but others called him, “Charlie”, “Chuck”, or “Sarge”. He told me he didn’t mind all the names because he could go to the archives of his memory and remember how and where he knew the people. I think that’s a good indicator of the people who pass through your life and how you remember them when you don’t see them for a long time. I have just 2 names I’m usually called----Trudy or Mrs. Ripka/Mz. R. With over 5,000 students who have passed through my life during my teaching career, the archives of my memory can be very dusty for sure.
I was told to stop trying to change things I couldn't change. Well, I'm trying. I did change the date on my flip calendar. Whoot, whoot accomplishment made.
One can never pay in gratitude; one can only pay "in kind" somewhere else in life. -Anne Morrow Lindbergh, writer (22 Jun 1906-2001)
Until next month……smiles and blessings to you, Trudy. The capitals I and X
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