I answered, "Maryann!"

#LightTheWorld Day 5

Matthew 15:4 ".....Honour thy father and mother.....". 

I have learned, through the years, that to honor our parents really means that we are kind and loving to others, good citizens in our community, willing to help others be successful, and striving to give our very best each day to our work and other obligations.

I think it is essential for us to understand that our parents did their very best and provided the best life for us that they knew how to give. At some point, honoring them means that we must forgive them for those instances in life where we felt that their parenting was unfair. 

Now that I am older, I choose to remember those little things that are sweet and tender about my parents. 

My mother helped me memorize little readings and monologues that I would present at Farm Bureau Talent Shows. I distinctly remember being very young, standing on stage with the heavy, deep-red, velvet curtains behind me and resighting the family-favorite poem entitled "Maryann". I was holding my favorite doll, Betsy, in my arms looking at my mother sitting on the front row of chairs smiling and encouraging and oh......so proud!    

Maryann

I studied my times tables over and over

And forward and backward too

And I couldn’t remember six times nine

And I didn’t know what to do.

My sister told me to play with my dolls

And not to bother my head.

If I called one fifty-four for a while

I’d learn it by heart she said.

So I took my favorite Maryann

And thought it a terrible shame

To call such a perfectly lovely child

Such a dreadful, horrid name.

I called her my dear little fifty-four

For a hundred times or more

‘Till I knew the answer to six times nine

As well as two times four.

One day at school Elizabeth Wiggleworth

Who always acts so proud

Said six times nine was sixty-four

And I nearly laughed out loud.

But I wished I hadn’t when teacher said,

“Now Dorothy (Michelle), tell if you can,”

I thought of my doll and sakes alive,

I answered, “Maryann!”

Another Glimpse

It is kind of funny, really;

We think we can remember things in our past

but those memories are just a little glimpse of time....

one brief moment.

In the home I grew up in we had this enclosed back porch 

that housed the washer and sugar barrel. 

The back porch was the way to get outside, 

the way to the half bath,

 to the cellar, 

the basement, 

the attic and the back bedroom.

Each area and object is a separate memory all on it's own. 

From the washer, 

the clothes were taken outside and hung on the clothesline.

The wooden clothespins kept the tablecloths, sheets, and all of our clothes 

billowing away until dry.

The denim pants were hung on pant stretchers kept in the half bath. 

The sugar barrel was a 50 gallon size. 

That much sugar is almost a ridiculous amount to store in today's world 

but it was mostly used to preserve fruit and 

make delicious deserts and breads for our family. 

I loved to go out and scoop and break up the dried lumps of sugar.    

Because of the high water table,

the fruit cellar filled with water each spring. 

We had to stand on cinder blocks 

and use rubber boots to get to the fruit on the shelves. 

The narrow cement stairs always had to be swept for spiders. 

Even though the basement was only a few steps down 

we still called it the basement. 

It led to the outside 

and provided a place for Dad and the boys 

to take off their dirty boots, coats and gloves from the farm. 

It also housed the coal bin and coal furnace. 

There was a desk for keeping records 

and a roll-up mattress to use when we had company. 

That mattress was a soft perch for the cats 

when I was relegated the task of sweeping and cleaning the basement. 

However, the cats really weren't allowed in the house, ever!

The attic had treasures 

but not a good floor. 

We had to be very careful when we played there 

so that we wouldn't accidentally step through the cardboard ceiling. 

We could crawl across the boards from the attic entry

and come out in a wardrobe closet in another part of the basement.

The back bedroom belonged to the boys 

and the door had a creak in it. 

Seriously, the door would creak about every 90 seconds.

But today's glimpse is really about the hole, 

in the corner, 

out on the porch.

It was just the size for a marble to sit in.

I can see it in my mind.

It seems so funny that a tiny marble,

pushed in tightly, 

could keep out such a critter as a little mouse. 

But it seemed to work.

By the way....

mice were, 

also, 

not allowed in our house. 

But that doesn't mean it didn't happen....

on occasion.

Girls Girls Girls

Back in the days when ultra-sound was only used for life-saving procedures during a pregnancy, 

it was a big guessing game when it came time to give birth.

My first little baby was a boy.

His grandmother had made the perfect little quilt that could be used for a boy or a girl.

That quilt was loved for years and over-time mended on every seam.

When I was expecting my next little one 

I was undaunted and purchased pink material to go around the 

little nursery rhyme squares that I had embroidered.

I was positive that I was going to have a little girl.

My mother quilted around the Humpty Dumpty, Little Miss Muffit and other nursery rhymes and made darling quilting designs on all of the edges and borders.

I packed the totally girly, pink quilt in my going-to-the-hospital-bag

By-and-By

The nurses were all a twitter 

and kept coming in to see the little pink quilt 

and the new little 7 pound baby girl who would be its recipient. 

They considered it a lucky guess on my part.

But I knew.

Boy-Girl-Boy

That was it!

My chance for another girl was over.....I thought......But

My oldest son grew up and found the perfect girl

Then there were two (2)

They welcomed a little baby girl

Then there were three (3)

My little girl grew up and delivered a girl of her very own

Then there was four (4)

Son number two grew up and found the perfect girl

That made five (5)

My oldest son added

 six (6)

and 

seven (7)

My youngest son

Eight (8)

and

Nine (9)

Nine Darling Girls.

Each one my favorite.

Each one very special to me.

All mine!

My cup runneth over with love.

Mother, Daughter And.....Daughter

It started years ago

Too many to count.

It was my daughter's idea;

She wanted to do something special with me

For our birthdays.

So we went shopping

To the big city.

We stayed overnight and ate out and shopped and shopped.

We had such a grand time that the next year

We did it again.

And the next... 

And the next.

Then she came up with the idea to do something bigger;

Disneyland perhaps.

So we decided to fly to get there faster.

And that was such great fun

That we started saving to do it again the next year.....

and the next...

and the next.

Then she came up with the idea to do something bigger.....

A Disney Cruise perhaps.....

So we flew to Florida

And cruised to the Bahamas.

And that was such great fun

That we started saving to do it again....

And daughter of the daughter said,

"I want to go!"

So this time it was three years in the making.....

The cost -- a tad-bit more,

And it took quite a bit of planning,

And turned into the trip entitled

G.R.E.A.T.

Graduation - Retirement - Escape - Adventure - Together

Graduation for Sissy (daughter of the daughter)

Retirement for Me (the mom)

Escape for Soni Bonnie (daughter with all the big ideas)

Adventure For Sure

TOGETHER

TO ALASKA

Dreams Can Come True

I remember 
wanting to be a mommy when I grew up
to have a house full of children
a horse of my very own
a friend to play with
a kiss from Prince Charming

Later
it was to get a driver's license
be asked out on a date
compete and win
play the piano like Liberace
have a best friend

Then
more than one bathroom
an uninterrupted night's rest
a grand piano
a car without problems
more money

Of course
grandchildren to be born healthy
courage and strength for my children to meet life's challenges
a garden outside my bedroom

Now
happiness and blessings for all of my family
safety when they are far away
protection from all that can harm

I have everything I never knew I always wanted
Dreams Can Come True!

ON A TUESDAY

It is a transition of sorts....

to be home 

"On a Tuesday". 

I thought that it would be easier than this.

I never expected to have a bit of "grieving" for things that are gone.

But I do.

The first reality check was.....

Have I ever nourished friendships beyond 
my office friends and co-workers?

It has taken a while but I am identifying and finding them again.

I never expected to not want to begin all of the projects 

that I have always wanted to do but never had the time.

I am feeling this panic and anxiety that time is passing and 

I will lose the opportunity to to do them...but not wanting to do them. 

So I am just wandering around and not really accomplishing anything.

I never expected that my time-clock would be thrown off!

I wake early to have that precious morning time without interruption

checking my office e-mail that isn't there

making lists and planning my day.

By 5:00 pm my body thinks it is exhausted and my work day is done

And I didn't really have a work-day at all.

I am learning that this opportunity to be home 
"On a Tuesday"

is going to take while. 

So this week....I made a plan

Number #1

Make a Plan

*

Do a service for someone everyday
to lift them and help them be successful 

*

Play the piano

*

Exercise

*

Plan and eat nutritious and healthy meals and snacks

*

Create a new Blog Post "On a Tuesday"

I'VE BEEN THINKING.....

In Idaho, we don't pick peas until July 4th. 

But in the Southern Utah desert, peas can be planted in January 

and they are long gone by the time July 4th rolls around. 

Because I just finished picking the last batch of peas from our garden, 

I've been thinking about other things that I used to do when I was younger. 

And today being Memorial Day 

I've been thinking about those lilacs and tulips and iris and remembering their fragrance.

Mother and I would collect the lilacs, tulips and iris from her garden. She had an array of old buckets and tin containers in which we would fill with water make fragrant flower arrangements to put on the graves of our grandparents and other loved ones. We would travel to the Fairview, Richmond and Logan Cemeteries. No matter the cemetery we visited, we would meet up with cousins, aunts, uncles, neighbors and many friends. My.....how my life has changed from those bygone days. However, when I smell the hard-to-find lilacs and iris here in the desert it "takes me home" again. The effort we put forth in honoring the grave sites of our loved ones helps us to feel close to them, to think about them and remember. I've been thinking that a trip north is in order.

NEVER BEEN BEFORE

A wise and successful women whom I greatly admire
shared this bit of wisdom:

"Make certain you are retiring "TO" something

not retiring "FROM" something."

At this posting,
I am still rolling up my sleeves,
going to work and getting the job done.

 However, each day I face friends and colleagues
interested in what I plan to do in a few months.

Actually, my answers seem a little superficial and silly.

I am finding it very difficult
to look ahead to a future where I have never been before.

Is it wrong to just want to be home for a while?

I haven't been home......really home for so long.

I yearn to putter and plan a day just for me

and then do it again tomorrow.

What a novel idea to do laundry in the morning
on a day other than Saturday.

I wonder if I can remember how to make bread?

I know that I will play my piano anytime I want....

set up my watercolor room and
paint to my heart's content and
create something wonderful.....

perhaps sign up for a geology class....

maybe learn how to speak Spanish!

I have this amazing sewing room and I know how to sew.

I wonder how much it costs to take a flower arranging class?

I do know 
that harvest season will require the canning of
peaches and pears and apples

It is a sure thing 
that opportunities will come and
that I will make commitments again.
And

my family and church responsibilities
will continue to bless my life.

But just for a little while

I would like to discover those
places in me that I haven't gone yet.