Happy Father's Day

Who knows why you have to get older to realize how life really works? Who knows why you can’t recognize the genius of it all when it’s happening? And no matter how many times we say we won’t be like them when we grow-up, as we slam our bedroom doors; we seem to do just that anyway.

My daddy has taught me so many things; useful positive things. But you never only use/see the positive; if you’re honest with yourself, you also manage to pick-up some of the negative along the way. But both positive and negative learning's are necessary to be an adult. An adult who can make good decisions and sometimes, an adult who will so make new mistakes.

This is for you Daddy, and I hope it makes you proud, as that was my intention. For I am a huge mixture of mostly you; the good, the bad, and the parts that still need some work.

               

You taught me:
that simply saying you’re sorry, is sometimes just not going to be enough.

temper, but you also taught me that one rarely fairs well when it happens.

love and compassion; and empathy to a fault.

how to worry, which led to learning how to pray.

to be truthful and to understand that I could not pick and choose when.

that I could do anything, and that if I couldn’t, be humble enough to ask for help.

intelligence + financial security = independence.

that family comes first, second and third.

that reason often comes with chaos, and openness sometimes needs a closed mouth.                             

to fight for what I believe in, even if I am the only who does.

to never put in writing, what I was not willing to sign with a signature.

that there is no such thing as “what is fair” in this world. If you work hard and do                                  right, good things will come and that’s about all that “what is fair” is really about and that self-            entitlement does not exist.

there are no silver spoons in our family. That I will always have to work for what I receive and I will be better for it. That being rich never seems to make anyone all that happy anyway.

that just because I love someone with all my heart, does not mean that they will always love me the same.

And, you taught me that I will never be too old to learn something new, almost every single day of my life.

Growing-up with you for a Daddy was pretty tough some days, I will never say that it wasn’t. But you also taught me something else, something that was one of the most important things that I ever learned from you: to recognize when no matter what has happened or will happen, that someone’s heart was/is in the right place. That their intentions were honorable and good, and that they only wanted the best for you.

I won’t say I always knew that, but I’ve known it a pretty good while now, and I wouldn’t trade you as a Daddy, for any other man in the world.

Happy Father’s Day to all.

And the rain it did come.......

For better than a week and a half, I drug our water hose and water sprinkler around our yard trying to revive the grass and keep all the flowers alive. The grass had already started to snap, crackle and pop when you walked on it, and there was no way after all that hard work spent planting all those new flowers, (not to mention the money spent which was a SECRET), that I was just going to not water and let it all die!

Of course, lots of bending and stooping was required in that process, so much so, that a couple of trips to the chiropractor was required. This back of mine is old and has seen it’s better days, and it nor my hips appreciate when I do all that yardwork; in fact sometimes I swear I can hear them screaming for mercy!

Needless to say, once all those days of dragging hoses and sprinklers had passed, getting sprayed in the face when I tried to move the sprinkler half an inch to the side, (either side, it didn’t matter, it’s never right the first time) because even though I have the hose “choked-off” as my husband says, I evidently, am not strong enough to stop all the water flow; so at some point a full-on body spray is going to happen. Not to mention the times I am trying to move it, judging by the two and the fro but somehow, my timing is off, and the fro-motion catches me still bent over, face down into the sprinkler as it comes back my way. I am sure during these times of struggle, I am my neighbor’s sole entertainment.

So of course, once the grass is all green, a tropical storm is announced and as it begins, it is expected to last for at least two weeks or better, with enough rain to water all the lawns and gardens of the world.

The week after all that happens, the rain is almost gone and the yard is beautiful, is when we will get the water bill. The water bill that reflects the 3 weeks prior when I had my own tropical storm flooding through our water pipes and into our ground.

Somehow my husband will not remember how bad the lawn looked before I started, nor will he remember the 10 days that I walked and worked that yard like a professional BEFORE the natural rains started. No sir, he will only remember the two weeks of God-given rain we received, without charge or effort on our part.

Oh the carrying on that will transpire once that bill arrives. He’ll be full of “if you had just been patient, the rain was coming”, or “we’ll have to take out a loan to pay the water bill”. He makes up a new line every year, so once the bill gets here, I’ll let you know what it was.

Until then, if you need me, I’ll be sitting at the curb, waiting on the mailman to come by, so I can snatch that bill first and prepare my “it had to be done” speech!

Vacation Turns Into a Stay-cation

Most every year on Memorial Day weekend, we pack-up our suitcases, gather all the hanging clothes, varied shoes and purses that will match outfits of course, and gather up whatever goodies it is that we’re taking for little eyes and ears to look at and listen to.

We sort out our separate medicine containers, filling the individual compartment days with all the things that help us stay alive, along with a load of vitamins that do their best to undo and counteract all the bad things we may eat or drink. Next to that, a bag of snacks (many are the things that the vitamins are attempting to counteract), and a cooler of assorted sodas and water; because this is the way old folk travel. We are not about to spend $2.00 for a soda or $1.50 for a honey bun. We would almost thirst and starve to death first!

All will be strategically packed into the back of my truck, making sure that nothing gets crushed or left behind. And all will be placed in such a way that when I swivel to my left to get something out of the bag or the cooler, I won’t wrench my back out as we’re riding down I10 driving 70+ miles an hour.

And last, but certainly not least, will be the box fan. The contraption that ensures no matter how well the hotel air conditioner works/or not – whichever the case may be; I will not burn-up and it also drowns out all the snoring that we both swear to sugar goes on whenever either of us is asleep and the other is still wide awake suffering through it.

I made reservations weeks ago. Began preparing weeks ago. Sent out group messages arranging dinners and lunches with folks so that we could make sure we got to see everyone we needed/wanted to see. South Carolina was to be our destination; it’s where my husband’s roots were created and it was where he was raised all of his life and lived into early adulthood. All of his/now our people, still live there and it’s quite the drive, but I love going back home with him to see through his eyes, all the stories I have been told.

But it wasn’t to be. I had no idea when we made all of these plans three weeks ago that the second coming of Noah’s Ark was about to occur. That it was going to rain a deluge of water for seven days and seven nights right smack in the middle of our annual mini-vacay.

I will admit that I was already second-guessing the trip in my mind, worrying a bit about traveling in all that rain; but I’m a worrier, that’s what I do. But when my husband started voicing some of those same concerns and feeling me out about how I felt, I knew it wasn’t just me who was concerned.

We cancelled the reservations at the last minute and we surely hated to miss that trip. But sometimes as you grow older, you really do grow wiser, and listening to your inner voice is something you actually do.