2020 February FROM MY PERSPECTIVE
February-----the month of love celebration and two of our
presidents. The
ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of
love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine — on
Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom was honored
by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine's Day. Hmmm, that surely wasn’t an act of love, and
I bet there was no chocolate, flowers, or cards, either. George Washington was an American
political leader, military general, statesman, and Founding Father who served
as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Previously, he
led Patriot forces to victory in the nation's War for Independence. He owned a plantation, had 30+ hunting dogs,
crossed the Delaware River standing up in a boat (silly man) during the winter,
endured a severe winter at Valley forge in 1777, and was very honest (you could
take his word to the bank. But, banks
weren’t really organized until around 1791 by Congress and signed by George
himself.) He really didn’t want to be
president; he was getting ready to retire to his home in Mount Vernon. The public persuaded him, and there you are--------our
first President. Abraham Lincoln was
considered the tallest president (6’4”).
He was known as a gifted storyteller and liked to tell jokes. He educated himself and became a formidable
opponent as an attorney. He was the
first president to have a full-beard. He
grew it upon the suggestion of a little girl.
He often stored things like letters and documents in his tall
stove-piped hat (it wasn’t just to cover his head). On the day he was shot, he told his bodyguard
he’d had a dream he would be assassinated.
It was a very sad day in American history.
I have a friend who is a nurse. She was very tired, but knew she needed to
get groceries. She asked her hubby to go
get them because she wasn’t dressed. He
started taking off his clothes.
I recently saw this announcement: “Welcome to being a parent of a
teenager. Prepare for a large amount of
eye rolling, emotional outbursts, and thoughts of running away. That’s just for the parents.” To this I added, “What has been left out, but
is truly in the "disorder" is: frequent hiding by the parent, buying
a lot of CALGON hoping the commercial is true and it will take you away,
stocking up on all the comfort foods you can hide from the teens, frequently
referring to them as "teen terrorists-in-training", and many times of
changing your mind about them in your will.”
Those of you who have had teens, have teens, or are merging into the
parent of teens, totally know what I’m talking about. Those of you who do not have teens….quit
laughin!!!
“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying,
'Good-bye' so hard.” A.A. Milne
Those of you who have dealt with questionable excuses from
people might consider this “fact”:
“Excuses are actually veiled untruths wrapped in a pretty cloak.” As a retired high school teacher, I've heard
a lot of excuses and a lot of them were quite questionable.
Guy and I did a lot of talking together when we were in our
chairs. This particular day we were
talking about the old TV programs with western heroes we used to watch as kids: Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Lash LaRoue, Sky
King, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, and
others. “It’s so great to reminisce,” I
sighed. Guy got very enthused and said,
“Don’t leave out this one; you can’t forget…….” (long pause) “What one are you talking about?” I
asked. “Just a minute, I haven’t
forgotten it. It’s…………… (longer pause).” “You’ve forgotten, haven’t you?” I
chided. I guess he was feeling a bit
huffy and growled, “NO, Damn it, I haven’t forgotten. I just want to keep YOU guessing.” I told
him, “My name is not Damn It or have you forgotten that, too?” “Oh, go away!” he growled. “But, m'love, you'll miss me,” I
chirped. “How can I miss you if you
don't go away,” he continued to snip.
Aint Daisy was watching her two grandchildren play
dolls/house. One child seemed to be the socialite dressing herself all
pretty with the clothes in the old trunk, the old jewelry and shoes, and big,
old hats. "I'm going to a party in a great big house with lots of
people. They will think how grand I look and tell others to look at
me," spouted the child. The other dressed in pretty things, but not
as fancy. "I'm going to a party and I'll make all the cupcakes,
cookies, punch, and tea sandwiches. I'll serve them to everyone using a really
pretty plate with flowers on it, too," she said with pride. I
looked at Aint Daisy who had a wry smile on her face. "What are you
thinking?" I asked her knowing some gem of wisdom would spill from her lips.
"Oh, I'm just thinking about something I read once and have seen it be so
true. Seems this feller, Kalu Ndukwe Kalu told, 'The things you do for
yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as
your legacy.' Can you guess which child will be remembered for a long
time?"
Whether you consider yourself a good
father or a mediocre one, you are a father if you helped create another
human. You can’t buy that position, nor
sell it. Most any man can be a father,
but it takes a real special one to be a daddy.
That is what I called mine, “Daddy”.
He was real special, very intelligent, taught me a lot, disciplined,
funny, and loved my mother. Good men do
that.
If you can't be kind, be vague and
quiet.
I don't sit around thinking about me
dying; I just happened to think about it one day and my sense of humor
kicked-in. At 74, almost 75, I sometimes
think about my funeral. No, I’m not being morose; I’m being practical because I
know I probably don’t have 25 years more like I did when I was 50. I want a closed
casket funeral. Towards the end of the service, I want the organist to play
“Pop Goes the Weasel” over and over until everyone in attendance is staring at
my coffin with silent, horrified anticipation. Then, I want “The Hokey Pokey”
played a few times to see who will follow the directions. Teachers never die;
they just wait for directions to be followed.
My cousin thought it would be great; others agreed with comments of,
“That's you for sure; I'm laughing so hard tears are running down my cheeks; oh
the mental visual is a riot.” My
daughter, who knows me so well, added, “I know you'll have the funeral on April
1, fling open the casket and yell, “April Fool's!!”
Daddy taught me, “Truth doesn't
change, lies do,” and in all my years I've seen it to be correct. I've, also, seen, “Truth is hate to those who
hate the truth.”
99.9% of you know there are
self-check out lanes. Those of you who
don't probably use INSTACART and don't leave your house. I had a friend ask me when the W-2 for the
stores' self-check will be sent out. My
response was, “The 5th Tuesday in February.” My friend asked, “Is
that the 30th or 31st?”
I responded with, “Either, it all depends on your skills at counting.”
Brenduhh came over wanting me to
explain land form formations of our area.
I told her, “Just because I was married to a geographer does not mean I
truly will be able to explain it to you.
Besides, I don't think I have enough time or crayons to explain it to
you.” So, I invited her to help me make
lasagna, which is a delicious way to explain some land formations. I know, you'll never look at lasagna the same
way. During her visit, I casually
inquired, “What rhymes with orange?” She
thought for a moment and said, “No, it doesn't.” My eyeballs got some exercise.
I close this month's edition with something I saw which is
profound.
“Never regret a day in your life. Good days give you happiness, bad days give
you experience, worst days give you lessons, and best days give you
memories.” I add, “Experience gives you wisdom
learned from the bad days and lessons to use to enhance your memories.”
Peace and kindness to you,
Trudy
