The Magnificent Six

There were seven of us - spanning twenty-four years and four decades.  Now there are six.  The second born, Ken, went to heaven ten years ago.  We are all getting older, now in our fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties.  The youngest are barely hanging on to a rapidly passing decade; the oldest just past another landmark birthday.  In either case, we had the privilege of all being together for an evening two nights ago. It used to be that we were the picture of youth, the vitality of middle age or enjoying the senior discounts, howbeit barely.  Now it seems we are morphing into the same bracket - greyer, slower, portlier, more content with sedentary activities rather than rousing games of anything.  But some things never change.  We still love going down memory lane, laughing loudly, retelling jokes and stories and especially loving each other.  I am blessed beyond belief to have a family like I have.  I thank God for each day we do have each other and look forward to many more happy times together.  I want to put a picture here and I will when someone shows me how - again!  The Magnificent Six - LeRoy, Norma, Dick, Pat, Diane and Terry.  

This Apple Is Rotten!

Today was frustrating - actually the last few days have - no, make that a few weeks...no months. We bought an Apple Mini several months ago with the intention of making the switch from our aging PC imminently. Well, sickness got in the way....procrastination got the best of us....shortage of time was a factor....fear was another. I don't like change - I'm used to things as they are. I use certain features in my work that I was unsure the new computer could duplicate. Macros for one. In my work for Facial Pain I use it for letters, signatures, addresses, etc. and in a couple of quick clicks - walla! Done! Auto text is another irreplaceable feature. I have hundreds of words, phrases and sentences all ready to go with a click on the Enter key. I would have to start completely over on the new Apple and I just didn't want to do it. And my email needed to be set up again and the addresses transferred over. So today we got serious. Steve spent many, many hours on the phone with the experts and made a quick trip to the Apple Store. Result? My email still doesn't work; we found out that the new Word program dropped their Macro feature and that all the stuff I laboriously entered in auto text yesterday hadn't been saved for some dumb reason and was gone! Oh, how I love computers. Can't live with them and can't live without them. At this moment, I think I'd refer to live without one rotten Apple!

The Chapmans on Larry King

I just watched Steven Curtis Chapman and family do an hour-long interview with Larry King regarding the tragic death of their 5-year-old daughter.  They were very real, very honest and I think of tremendous comfort to the vast numbers of people and families who are currently suffering from some inexplicable tragedy.  Their testimony was clear - that even though they have no answers as to "why" and even though they have struggled with anger at God - and even though they are still coping one day at a time with each other's help and the help of counsellors, they still rest in the hope of eternal life and in the love of their heavenly Father.  

The Chapmans now have a brand new dimension to their ministry - one that can only come through suffering.

A Thirty-ninth Anniversary

Yesterday was the thirty-ninth anniversary of an event that forever changed my life and the lives of my entire family. A tornado ravaged our vacation site near Outing, Minnesota taking the lives of my mother and two of my nieces. My best friend's mother and grandparents were also swept into eternity by the violent winds. In all, seven in our group lost their lives that day. The rest of us involved were saved by the water. Our cabins were thrown into the lake, broke apart and scattered, but the water provided a safety cushion for most of us.

Having survived such a tragedy, one would hope that the new perspective on the fragility of life would remain - that one would cherish life and loved ones and friends so much more keenly; that the idea of taking people for granted would be a foreign one. However, life moves on...no, it charges on, memories fade, feelings change. I'm wondering today that perhaps I need to revisit those perspectives once again and begin to cherish afresh. And so I will.

Fall Down Go Boom

It has been probably close to fifty years since I fell and scraped up my knee like I did yesterday. Ouch. One does not forget that feeling over a lifetime I guess. I was hauling two bags of groceries into my house from the car...my foot caught on a beam of wood that borders the sidewalk and down I went. Fortunately for me, in my left hand was a bag containing two boxes of cereal and one carton of eggs and my purse. They definitely cushioned my fall somewhat, but still my right knee and hand scraped against the pavement. I lay there for a moment taking inventory of my injuries and of course, checking around to see if anyone saw me! No one was around so I cautiously got to my feet, picked up my smashed box of cereal and slimey bag of eggs and made my way to the house. Would you believe, only four eggs were broken? Either they were hardboiled or I fell more gracefully than I thought!

Anyway, there are some experiences that maybe repeated occasionally throughout life and even though it may have been fifty years since the last round, it feels like just yesterday.