LET'S CHAT

Good morning, guys & dolls,

   I hope you woke to as much sunshine as I did but don't want it to get too hot for you. Our temps are supposed to be in the high 90's today- triple digits tomorrow. I am not looking forward to that.

    I meant to post this entry sooner but the arthritis in my hands is worsening and typing is getting more painful. I waited two days to see if they'd get better. They're not but I am posting any way, while I can. I wanted to share last months "Shiny" moment with you.

     Our oldest son came to visit us from Arizona, stayed two days. Oh, I wish you could have seen what that visit did for Johnny. It has been a long time since I heard him laugh- I mean really laugh, and he did, a lot. He and our oldest son  have always been close. They used to fish several times a week, worked on cars together, went to swap meets together, worked on odd jobs together, when things got tight. Before Johnny was forced to retire he worked in a barber shop, chose doing that because his health was failing and it was something he could handle. Our son owned his own barber shop, a beautiful one that he filled with things used in old barber shops, some over 100 years old. His shop was so unique it made the papers. People would get their hair cuts there just so they could check out all the antiques.
   
    I didn't realize how badly we all needed to see each other. Our son said taking the two days off was a huge blessing. "I'd forgotten what I gave up when we moved to Arizona." he said." I like living there but it is just so beautiful here. I'd forgotten about all the water, how green Oregon is, about all the trees."  He needed that break, had been making it on a mere four hours sleep a day. He was worn out.Our youngest son, our caretaker, wanted to go rafting with his brother but they were unable to this time.- hope to do it next time.
     Johnny is not doing well, has had a lot of really rough days this week, but he is here; is still with us. I know that one day, probably in the not so distant future, he won't be, but that is okay. It's not as if I am going through something nobody else ever experienced. Death is the part of life nobody likes to talk about, but sometimes we have too, miserable as that might make us feel. Johnny and I talk a lot, more now than before, because we know time is a fleeting thing- a wisp of smoke that is here- then gone. We focus on how good God has been to us, take memory walks together, stopping at all the places that pleasured us so much. He has given me so much of himself, everything I need to make it alone, though as I say so often, I won't really be alone; if I am alone, I am alone with God and there is not a safer, more wonderful place to be.
New beginnings! Every day offers us that; a do-over, as we used to call them when kids. A new day = a new way; opportunity to do better, to be better, to reach our goals, to make a difference in somebody's life.  What could be better than that?

 Take care. Life is short so create a wonderful memory  today.
 Love you much.
                   
Barb