When I was 10-11 years old, I was a VORACIOUS reader. I read To Kill a Mockingbird the year it was first published (which TOTALLY let my kids know how old I was when I taught the book to freshmen!) It was my favorite book UNTIL I read an excerpt in "Readers' Digest" of Patrick Dennis' Auntie Mame. I HAD to get to the library and get the book. Suddenly, I KNEW what kind of aunt I would want to be some day!
As a child, Bryan never really called me "Auntie Shirley"; Cyndi's kids all did. When Bryan (and Sharon) moved to Hobart, he started to introduce me as "my aunt, Shirley," which worked for me!
I never really got to be the "Auntie Mame" for Bryan (just too close to his mom), but there were a couple of times.
The one I remember the most was when he and his mom were "discussing" his wanting to get his ear pierced. Sharon was ADAMANT that she would NOT take him. (She knew that he'd be a little freaked by the process.) The two of them were going back and forth about it and I felt it necessary to spout out, "If you get it pierced, I'll get the diamond for it." THAT sealed the deal for him!!! (My Bryan likes "bling" almost as much as I do! Yes, I "followed through" with the offer!)
Jackie was always the "conservative" sister. HER girls did get "Auntie Shirley's" gene for "flash and trash" - BOTH have liked pink, purple, and glitz! My jewelry box is their favorite "toy" in Hobart!
So, how have times changed? When I was THINKING about getting a tattoo a couple of years ago, Jackie wanted to go with me (still does.) Bryan and Amy have become the "sensible" ones (thank goodness!) and ALL of them have made me so proud as parents!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
EAT ICE CREAM
Received this in email -- its message hit me!
MOST OF US CAN SEE OURSELVES IN A COUPLE OF THESE SITUATIONS! YOU ALL MEAN THE WORLD TO ME!
"Real Integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not."
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming, or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible. How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you? How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched "Jeopardy" on television? I cannot count the times I called my sister and said , "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together. Because People cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect! We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college. Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit." When anyone calls my "seize the moment" friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord. My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. Now go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to do -- not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow," and in your haste, not see her sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"? When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift -- thrown away. Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over. I cherish our friendship and appreciate all you do. Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here. we might as well dance!
MOST OF US CAN SEE OURSELVES IN A COUPLE OF THESE SITUATIONS! YOU ALL MEAN THE WORLD TO ME!
"Real Integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not."
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming, or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible. How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you? How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched "Jeopardy" on television? I cannot count the times I called my sister and said , "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together. Because People cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect! We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college. Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit." When anyone calls my "seize the moment" friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord. My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. Now go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to do -- not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow," and in your haste, not see her sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"? When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift -- thrown away. Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over. I cherish our friendship and appreciate all you do. Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here. we might as well dance!
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