Memories and Aging Well

Sending Cards

You can tweet up to 140 words on Twitter. You can share your latest hairstyle with the world on Facebook or send your message the old fashioned way – by email. But I still enjoy using the totally antiquated form – a personal note through the US mail. Emotions conveyed through your own handwriting seem to have such a special effect.

Have you ever FOUND an ancient hand-written note; something tucked away in a trunk or a drawer because it was too precious to be discarded? Maybe a love letter sent from granddad to grandma while they were courting . . . a letter sent from a battlefield to a loved one at home or a picture drawn with love and crayons by a child for a parent.

The note you send to a friend or loved one today may be kept with the same kind of loyalty and become a treasure to be shared, years from now. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know who kept a hand written note that you sent?

You might be surprised to hear how many of your notes and letters are carefully stashed in someone’s special place. It’s a place where spelling and grammar don’t count and sentiment does. It’s like a peek into a person’s soul.

Love seems to come through so much better, when it’s hand written.

[Show #325]

Surviving Our Parents

Hey you kids out there, born and raised in the 40’s, 50’s or 60’s! Have you ever wondered how we managed to survive this far?

We were born to mothers who smoked or drank while they carried us. Our baby cribs were covered with bright-colored lead based paint. We had no child proof lids on medicine bottles or cabinets. We shared one soft drink among many friends and ate white bread and real butter. We spent pennies on candy and drinks that were pure sugar. But we stayed slim because we were always outside playing.

Boys got a BB gun for their 10^th birthday and nobody got their eye knocked out regardless of what your mom predicted. We rode our bikes without helmets, and hung our heads out car windows, untethered by seat belts. We even rode by the dozens in the open backs of pickup trucks whoopin’ and hollerin’ all the way to the swimming hole. And once there we swung by ropes from trees and dropped into the water wearing no water shoes.

Now, I’m not advocating this kind of fearless shenanigans. Just marveling at how we all survived them to tell about it. Things sure have changed.

But one thing is sure; kids, one day you will find that you survived your parents too!

[Show #214]

Fantasy Decorating

Some years ago, we bought an old, tumble-down farmhouse out here in the country as a week-end home. We could not afford to furnish it and my mom pitched in with extra pieces of furniture stored for years in her basement.

We bargain hunted at yard sales, estate sales and auctions and in a few months, the place was habitable. Some might call it shabby chic. Others might not be as kind. In any case, it was fun.

But perhaps the most fun was my mother’s nightly fantasy decorating for the house. She said she went to sleep many a night, mentally moving this painting to that wall . . . then this wall . . . then moving the couch in front of the window . . . trying it next to the fireplace. What pleasure she took in her decorating dreams.

I invited her to come out and help us turn it into reality. For all the years she was my mom, I think those first few years in the old farmhouse were our happiest together.

We laughed and shared and put up with the inconveniences that seemed endemic to country living. We got up early to hear the birds and stayed up late to see the stars and marvel at the quiet. We watched the deer at twilight.

Such happy times to remember doing not much of anything exciting or expensive – just joyful and memorable creating a country nest full of love.

[Show #302]

The Christmas Pageant

It was our first Christmas in our first real house. The children were 7, 4 and 3—quite a handful, and so full of the Christmas spirit.

The oldest had learned in school about giving gifts from the heart. She wisely brought home the message that gifts need not be the biggest or the most expensive, to show love. She wanted to give her mom and dad a Christmas gift from the heart. She convinced her little sister and brother to put on a Christmas pageant for us, as our gift.

As the oldest, she played the key role of the Virgin Mary, dressed in one of my frilly white nightgowns. Her sister, complete with aluminum foil halo, was an angel holding a wooden spoon no doubt representing something angelic. Their toddler brother was a shepherd dressed in brown towel tied at the waist with a jump rope. A doll wrapped in white towels represented the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes.

They were so little; and yet they understood the true significance of the day and played it out so lovingly for their dad and me.

All grown up now, they have taught the true meaning of Christmas to their children as well. We all still sing “Happy Birthday Jesus” on Christmas Day, celebrating Him as the reason for the season.

What a joy are memories of significant Christmases past that still bring smiles to our lips and tears to our eyes.

Show #467

Bring Back Yesterday

Henry Herman is quoted as saying, back in the 1800s – “Oh God, put back the universe and give me yesterday.” Those who have traveled half a dozen decades or more do seem to value their yesterdays more than their tomorrows.

Their yesterdays, it would seem, were better, sweeter, simpler, less demanding. It was a time of sitting on the dock, watching the clouds go by.

Of walking down the lane hand-in-hand. A time without troubles or concerns.

Or perhaps those yesterdays are just the result of selective memory.

They also have tales of having to walk five miles to school, uphill both ways!

Of course TODAY is the yesterday that our kids will remember. How will this time be reflected in their memory? Will they remember too many toys, too many demands, time disappearing into a texting telephone?

What can we do to make today a joyful memory for them? They probably won’t remember who had the biggest toy or the designer book bag. My guess is that they’ll remember who made them feel good, and why.

Make sure you are part of those happy memories for the youngsters in your life.

Show #321

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]

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