WillThink4Wine

Today is my brother John’s funeral. The Service should be over in just a few minutes, actually. I did not attend, partly because our parents live with me here in Georgia and the services are in New England. They are just not up to the trip, emotionally or physically. It is too much for them to fathom, too much to face. Truth be told, I have never been one to attend funerals. If they were held months or even seasons past the pain and emotion, perhaps. But not so soon.

This is the last Family Portrait where all of eight children and our parents were all together. It was taken at SisterDear3’s wedding, so I’m estimating it was 22 years ago or so. We were planning a new one for this summer.

MotherDear asked me to sign John’s Online Guestbook on behalf of our youngest brother who cannot attend. I searched for a poem I thought would suit them both. As I reread it, it makes me sweetly sad. I think they would both approve.

Remember

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann’d:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

Love, Billy

By Christina Rossetti with thanks to The Poetry Foundation

Tags: Family, Gatherings, Thought for the Day

It was a lovely Christmas morning. Me, my SisterDears and brothers were joyfully opening our gifts. Later in the day we were having a large family gathering, my favorite kind of Christmas! Nana Gert, Auntie Jeanne and her family were coming to have Christmas dinner with us. I had crocheted a peach-colored scarf and hat for Nana and I couldn’t wait for her to open  it!! It was going to be a most wonderful Christmas Day!

I had just opened a gift. It was a brand new 45 that I’d been wanting so badly, Precious and Few by Climax.

The phone rang and MotherDear answered. I heard the most mournful sound come from her mouth. Nana Gert had died during the night at Auntie Jeanne’s. She had fallen asleep in the rocking chair, knitting a last minute gift for somebody. The doctor said she had likely fallen asleep and had a stroke during the night. She never knew anything.

The rest of that day is just a blur, the only other thing I remember from that day is that I went downstairs to the basement and spent the entire day and long into the night crying my heart out. I played that 45 over and over and over again. I literally wore it out, remembering my Nana and missing her so badly it was physically painful.

It was the first time in my life that I realized that I had to treasure each moment with somebody who I love. From that moment, I am always mindful that it might be my last opportunity to share time with them. Because none of ever knows when the last moment in time may come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit here if you’d like to do your own Message in a Bottle, you do not have to be tagged. I chose to combine mine with a post because Nana Gert was my inspiration for my Message.

Tags: Family, Gatherings, Holidays, Music, Nana Gert, Simple Pleasures, Thought for the Day

I love Gatherings. I love to gather together all the people I love into one place, at the same time. Any excuse that I can get everyone to rally behind will do!

So often we often hear the phrase “Small World”. Well I certainly don’t think so, at least not in the ways that really matter. Just try and plan a Gathering! We’re scattered up and down the east coast. Schedules make it nearly impossible to gather: work, social, school, sports, dance… Busy, Busy, Busy we are!

The SisterDears and I are trying to plan our first annual “Once a Year, Everyone’s Here” Day for next July when my parents and I travel back to New England. The logistics are quite challenging! We want everyone from all 4 generations to gather. I’d also like as many cousins to show up as would like with their families. We want a new Family Photograph. Perhaps a Burgers & Hot Dogs family picnic. It will be magnificent if we can pull it off!

Happy OY, EH Day! I hope the holiday that I insisted upon will become every family’s favorite! So go ahead, start planning yours! Best Wishes for 100% turnout. Please let me know when you post about it! I’ll certainly be posting about ours!

Thank Goodness, my boys’ schedule always permits plenty of time for me!

P.S. - I so want the necklace in the banner that the ImageChef made for me!

If you like my idea of 100% Family Reunion Participation Vote here!

Are you still here? Leave me some Comment Love & get outa here. Go start Planning your first OY EH Day!

Tags: Daily G's, Family, Gatherings, Grayson, Random Thoughts

Creature Comforts - cats have this one nailed down, don’t they?

Well, yesterday the humans in the Yellow House gave the cats a run for their catnip.

MotherDear made a fabulous Roast Chicken dinner, with all the fixings. We had some friends over for supper who brought a 3-layer German Chocolate Cake for dessert. We sat by a magnificent crackling fire, built by Dad. As if more ambiance were needed, we also enjoyed a nice glass of wine with a sax CD softly playing in the background.

It was a day full of Creature Comforts! A perfect way to spend a cold, rainy day.

Tags: Cats, Daily G's, Family, Gatherings, Simple Pleasures

1. I am 5′11″
2. I was born in 1954
3. I am owned by 2 cats, both are gray males
4. I live in yellow house; I don’t especially care for yellow houses, but that’s what color it was when I bought it
5. I have been self-employed since 1987
6. I graduated from High School in 1972
7. I got married in 1973
8. I have been divorced since 1994
9. I love big Red Wines
10. I love Chicken
11. I love Chocolate
12. I have 3 sisters and 4 brothers
13. My parents are still happily married to each other
14. I can’t whistle very well
15. I want to go to Italy someday and spend a great deal of time sipping wine through Tuscany, hopefully with my sisters
16. I used to have Pekingese dogs
17. I almost had 2 Labradors, but a week after I brought them home my cats made me take them back
18. I still drive a big car
19. I love Oldies, especially Falsetto and Harmony
20. I love Tenors
21. Mr X took me to a Luciano Pavarotti concert 2 nights before our divorce was final. It was just marvelous, he could still hit the high C’s back then. Pavarotti could, not Mr X
22. I was 11 when I attended my first Concert. It was The Monkees and I had a huge crush on Mike Nesmith… Huge.
23. I am a procrastinator
24. I am an optimist
25. I am a Republican. I’ll never forget the moment when my dad realized that I was not a Democrat. I was raised in Camelot, the magical fairytale land of the Kennedy’s. My Dad still isn’t over it. (Although I will never again vote for any candidate who cannot properly pronounce the word Nuclear.)
26. My hair is still mostly not gray
27. My current favorite TV show is House
28. I dearly loved my mother-in-law and my father-in-law
29. I spent about 15 years in fertility treatment; it was expensive, heartbreaking and unsuccessful.
30. My favorite TV channel is The Science Channel
31. I really dislike watching the news on TV, especially local news
32. I cannot stand commercials
33. I believe that everybody who can vote, should
34. My very favorite smell is a baby, right after a bath
35. I love carnations
36. My favorite colors are Red and Green
37. I married my high school sweetheart
38. My 3 sisters are my best friends
39. I loved the Dick Van Dyke show, the Andy Griffith Show, The Waltons and pretty much all those hokey, family, feel good shows
40. I send coffee back in a restaurant if it is not good
41. I check my french fries at the drive through before I leave and send those back as well, usually with a remark similar to, “no, I want the ones I see on your TV ads and menu pictures”
42. The last time I went to a movie theater was so long ago I don’t remember what I saw
43. I have hundreds and hundreds of books, CD’s, videos and DVD’s
44. I have a green hammock
45. I’ve never attended a high school reunion
46. I made my own Prom dress
47. My favorite car that I’ve ever owned was a Blue 1965 convertible Mustang
48. I wish I’d gone to college instead of getting married
49. I own 3 computers.
50. I miss the Johnny Carson Show; remember back when late night was witty?
51. I go to bed very early, usually by 8:00
52. I love country crafts
53. My biggest single regret is that I did not adopt
54. I believe in love at first sight
55. I believe in God
56. My favorite holiday is Christmas
57. I miss my friends in Florida
58. I regret selling my business in Florida
59. My eyes are blue
60. I have hundreds of Longaberger baskets and lots of pottery
61. I love mornings
62. I never learned to play the piano, at least not yet
63. When I first got married I was so Obsessive-Compulsive that I would actually fluff the pillows on the couch while my guests were sitting on it. I gave that up, it was exhausting. Oddly, I have no problem with dust.
64. I still can’t leave my house if a bed isn’t made
65. I still can’t stand a dirty dish in the sink
66. I refold my laundry after someone who has helped me fold it leaves
67. I can’t fall asleep if the TV isn’t on
68. I believe that we should have a universal heath plan for all US citizens, not just Medicare for retired people
69. I believe that medicine can go too far
70. I believe that science can go too far
71. I am somewhat claustrophobic. I need to know that I can open a window.
72. I have always hated high bridges
73. I have Panic Disorder. The first time I saw someone hyperventilating, I remember thinking “how can someone forget how to breathe”
74. I am a non-smoker stuck in the body of a person who smokes
75. I have a love/hate relationship with flying; I hate it, but I love that it can transport me so quickly to someone that I wish to spend time with
76. I have been to Colorado twice, despite my fear of bridges and ledges
77. I have been to Key West and watched the sunset at Mallory Square, despite the 44 bridges I had to cross to get there
78. I value my privacy and solitude
79. I love large gatherings
80. I have never had a proper massage
81. I have been on a cruise to the Caribbean
82. I adore old family pictures
83. I miss my grandmothers
84. I still remember how the town I grew up in smelled the first day we moved in
85. I love black licorice & Fire Balls
86. I can’t cook without garlic
87. I have had the pleasure of personally introducing several people to the joy of reading
88. My favorite vacation spot is on the lake in Maine
89. I love the wail of a Loon
90. I really don’t like to wear shoes
91. I wear slippers while I’m at work
92. I have been on a sleigh ride, a hay ride and a horse-drawn carriage
93. I have been kicked by a horse
94. I shook the hands of many pilots, commercial and military and have actually played bingo with a licenced commercial pilot
95. I start praying for my pilot about 2 weeks before my flight
96. I believe that attorneys have changed everything, not necessarily for the better
97. I have a friend who is an attorney
98. I believe that a person is only as good as their word
99. I believe that love is a verb
100. I believe that every day really is a new beginning

Today is SisterDear3’s Half Centennial Birthday. I use to feel a bit like James T. Kirk, boldly going where no one had gone before…. It’s very strange to be the oldest of 8 kids and to see them all getting older, because of course, I am still 24. hehehe. Even my baby brother in 37 and my oldest nephew is 28. Good Lord. Where does the time go?

Last night MotherDear had the girls from Bingo & A & B over for supper and poker. For a change, I won a few hands. I don’t know how that happened. Perhaps Santa bestowed some pre-Christmas magic poker dust on me for the evening.

MotherDear actually played some piano! Then while A & B took the girls down the street to see their house, Dad played a little too. I love it when they play. It brings me back to my childhood. I know, corny. But also very true. Someone playing the piano was like a magic beckoning call… a few notes on the keyboard and everyone in the house just gathered at the piano. Many happy memories are triggered whenever I hear a piano. I’m so glad one of my nephews and my brother-in law also play. Bonus points to my nephew, the teacher. He actually gets to teach kids music every day in school and also teaches private piano and guitar lessons. How cool is that?

SisterDear2 has the best present for our parents this year, and I can’t wait! She’s flying down the day after Christmas and we’re all sooo excited about her visit. But I really am looking forward to them opening her very special gift. My Dad had mentioned last spring that he was hoping to watch the old home movies while up for our July visit last summer. So I had special-ordered the bulb needed for this old projector. As soon as they turned the projector on, the bulb blew. Much disappointment filled the room. So, that’s what gave SisterDear2 the idea for the Christmas gift. She took all of the 8mm videos from our childhood and had them put on DVDs!! I know!!! There will be many teary eyes while watching them! My brother-in-law also made copies for everybody. What an awesome gift!!!

As I lay in bed last night I was reflecting upon my life, especially the past year and a half. Last year I sold my business of 20 years and moved to another state. I invited my parents to live with me and my kitties. It was kind of a big deal, such a major move. Overall, I have to say that I’m quite content with my life. There is really just one thing I plan to work on in 2008, and that is to push my new business into a higher sales volume without spending as much money advertising as last year. God willing, I will make enough to meet my needs, and a little bit extra for some of my wants. I’ve totally forgotten what it was like to have disposable income!

And finally, this is what I awoke to this morning. Can you say “Awwww”

I have always looked for any excuse to have Gatherings. I want to gather together all the people and things that I love into one place at the same time. Small World? I certainly don’t think so. I think it’s much too big. We’re scattered here, there and everywhere. Our schedules make it nearly impossible to gather. Someone always has to work, is studying for a Mid-term, will be out of town, or their child is sick, has a Soccer game, dance class or football practice… You see my point. We’re too busy.

I have 3 sisters who live very close to each other. I live 1,220.2 miles from them. While we do speak to each other almost daily, my sisters rarely get together except when I make my annual trek ”home”. I find this incredibly sad. I long for simple things, such as stopping by for a cup of tea or coffee together on my way home after an errand. Simple things that far too many people take for granted. So, that’s what this Blog is about…. Simple things. Simple pleasures. Family. Friends. Cats. Gatherings. Food. Wine.