Love and Kindness

Can Girls Win?

I grew up in a time when women had a different place in life. We were expected to be the wife, home maker and mother. And when it came to competitions with boys, it was not wise to win if you were a girl. The boys . . . and later, the men . . . didn’t like the girls who won.

But there were women who disagreed. They said we should have the same options as men. We should be able to work if we want and also be a home body. We should be allowed to use our gifts and our talents.

Even as we were liberated to join in games and sports, it was somehow expected that when you played with other girls, you could do your best. But when you played with boys, it was so much wiser to let them win, with eyelash batting innocence when they topped us – yet again.

Today the very idea makes me laugh. Somewhere along the way, we figured out that it was OK to win.

With that allowance, we learned the thrill of victory, and never looked back. We can be the top analyst, the team leader as well as the soccer mom – or the soccer player.

I hope we show enough appreciation to those who led the way to this delicious freedom. It was not easy to buck the tide. But they did and they won for us, this freedom – The freedom to WIN, even when you are a girl.

Show #300

Photo credit: Co-ed Soccer by Michael Ireland via DollarPhotoClub

Because She Loves Him

They were leaving that day for a few weeks in Florida. The wife had made her lists, put her stuff together, had check marks on just about everything on the list and was ready to go.

The husband – well, he was still deciding which fishing poles to take. The car had not gotten washed as he planned and not everyone was informed of what was expected of them while the couple was away.

She could find it maddening. Why hadn’t he spent his time doing his share? She could yell, bang around, scold him, and put him down. Instead, she went and read a book, ignoring the sounds of his hustling.

You see, she loves him. And she found out years ago that he is who he is. And not being ready on time is one of his traits. She could hate it and fight it, or she could find a way to cope.

So she stretches the truth a bit, telling him they have to leave at noon, when the actual ETD is 2 p.m. She knows that with a few extra hours, he’ll almost be ready. She’ll then gently remind him of those things he was most likely to forget, and they’ll be on their way – perhaps a little late, but happy.

Sounds like a 1950s sitcom strategy. But it works, because she loves him enough to accept him as he is and to be a managing partner, when necessary. What a wise woman. A master at turning lemons into lemonade. This is the essence of love.

[Show #265]

Comfort Food

Fried green tomatoes – What an odd treat. Have you had them? They are the specialty featured at some southern restaurants. Green tomatoes, sliced thick, dipped in batter and fried to a golden brown. Wonderful ethnic comfort food, so cherished today, was actually based on what was grown and cultivated in a geographic area – usually in back yards.

Rice in China . . . tomatoes in Italy . . . cabbage, potatoes and pigs in Poland. I think of the mouth-watering stuffed cabbage my grandmother made. And the sauerkraut aged in crocks in the basement. And the potatoes stored in the coal bin all winter.

When we grew up on those foods, we really look forward to enjoying them today. Sometimes they’re just not available – or are far too difficult to fix. Some ethnic comfort food is found commercially, but it’s never quite the same.

I appreciate restaurants and chains that are returning comfort food to their menus. Have you seen KFC and its liver and gizzard Tuesday? Revolting to some; manna to others.

Watch for ethnic comfort foods on menus. You may be pleasantly surprised. And be sure to give fried green tomatoes a turn too. Just delicious, y’all!

[Show #382]

Gifts From The Heart

It was the early 1800s and a young couple newly married had lots of love, but very little money. As they face their first Christmas together, he strokes her beautiful, waist length auburn hair and wonders how he can possibly afford a Christmas gift for her that is worthy of all the happiness she has brought him.

As she watches him dress for work, opening his pocket watch to check the time, she is filled with love and wants desperately to show it by getting him a gift for Christmas that he will treasure.

On Christmas eve, he arrives home and she is still hurrying about preparing a special dinner, a scarf covering her head and an apron protecting her dress.

He pulls her to the couch and hands her the gift he chose for her – a beautiful sterling silver hair ornament that he envisioned holding her lovely hair high on her head. She presents her gift to him – a gold watch fob for the pocket watch that he treasures so.

He sheepishly admits he no longer has the watch. He sold it to buy her hair clip. She slowly removes the scarf from her head, revealing short cropped hair. She cut and sold her flowing locks to buy the watch fob.

The physical gifts were now useless to each of them. But the love with which they were acquired will see them through, whatever lies ahead.

May your Christmas be merry and full of love.

[Based on the short story by O. Henry called “The Gift of the Magi.”]

Photo credit: Dusty Cline via Dollar Photo Club

[Show #466]

The Difference Love Makes

I’ve been trying to grab the feeling of being loved and in love. It’s something so ethereal as to defy description. It makes the very air I breathe sweeter, safer, more nourishing.

Look at it from a practical standpoint. If I did not love someone so much and he did not love me, I would still have my same body, my same mind. I would still have the same values to build on and the same education and age and looks.

But somehow, they are all BETTER because I love and am loved.

You know what amazes me the most? All I have to do to deserve all this love is to BE. To exist. To live one day after the other. Just by doing so, I seem to earn his love and devotion.

Am I being silly? Is this something unique to me?

Or—what a wonderful thought—are there hundreds…thousands…millions of people out there who are as loved as you are, and I am. Well, my goodness, I think that is the case! Millions of people are loved and in love. We all experience this wonderment of the soul.

I want to meet them all. I want to shake their hands and congratulate them and share their joy.

And if you are one of them, oh my, but we are the lucky ones.

[Show #381]

I Had To Sell My House

I had to sell my house! I loved that house. It’s on the river, with views of the mountains, in a wonderful community where people care about each other and help each other.

I lived there for more than a decade and had set down roots. But things changed, and it was time to live elsewhere.

I moved everything out and looked at the bare walls. They looked good and had fared well.

One year, I decided to turn the rest room into a stunning oasis. I built in lighted glass shelves to spotlight treasures that I could change every month or so. Wallpaper set the theme, enhanced by crown molding and pewter side lamps. I added a beautiful antique mirror. The floor was laid with marble tiles and a furniture quality vanity was installed, with granite top. It all blended beautifully. I so enjoyed the feeling of that small, lovely space.

Sliding doors to the deck were replaced with romantic French doors. Shelves were added for displaying my teapot collection. I could see myself in every nook and cranny of the house. I had made it my own. And now, it was passing into new hands. How would it be treated?

Would the next family know joy and happiness here? Would they replace my version of beauty with themes of their own? Of course they will. And I am so happy for them.

[Show #530]

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