THE DUST WILL WAIT

Molly left me a note yesterday to remind me that her last request as Fun Monday hostess is for bloggers to write about a child hood memory.  She knew that I would be drawn to this topic like a fly to manu… Er… No, I mean a bear to honey. A memory had already been evoked in me earlier this month when suffering with a horrible fever blister that covered the end of my nose and part of my upper lip.  While doing some errands for Auntie Fern,  one of the owners of the retirement village suggested I slather my affliction with Bag Balm.  Immediately two thoughts popped into my head.  One was of that big fat wedding movie –  where the father character pulls out a spray bottle of Windex (window cleaner) every time someone appeared in the script with a skin ailment. * * * The other sentiment was of my dad.  My dad would never have been so bold to suggest his remedies to strangers, but he did share his opinions freely with family. If you had a headache it was because you didn’t have your

It is a good weekend when you get to see all the grandchildren -- except one. Here is grandpa at the head of the table.  He is presiding over lunch in Clackamas Town Center at The Old Spaghetti Factory .  It was a great meal with Karmyn, The Caboose, David, Jammin', Buttercup, Curlymop, and Amanda.  I ate my entire serving of vegetable lasagna. Back home, I got this photo of Mizelle, Red-headed Girl, Jennifer, and Goober Evalina.    These are the sugar and spice girls, of course.  The little sticks and stone boys didn't want to be in grandmas photo plans,  no matter how we tired to shake them down. Missed seeing the absent 15 years old grandson.  Teenagers!

Our eldest daughter is diagnosed with the very rare Hurthle Cell Carcinoma. Karmyn's GP and her surgeon had been so encouraging and had prepared her (and us) for a benign result.  Instead, we are reeling from the pathology report with disbelief and shock.   She now requires additional surgery to remove the remainder of her thyroid.  Then she moves on to chemotherapy and thyroid hormone replacement. *** Our family has been buffeted by the winds of life's storms the past months.  But there have been prayers answered .... My dentist brother Ron (and his wife Kay) returned from an extended trip to a third world country that suffers a high incident of HIV.  During one of the clinics, where my brother donated his skills on the locals teeth, he suffered a needle accident. *Subsequent blood tests have shown negative results for any contracted virus. Upon their return to the states, Kay was feeling ragged and run down.  She was shortly diagnosed with colon cancer.  I cri

This is my second post in the meme called First of the Month .  The goal is to capture one thing repeatedly on the first of each month. It can be a landscape, a person, an animal, a project; whatever your focus is, is fine. It can even be a record of where you are each First of the Month.   My theme is my three grandchildren, Zbub, Mizelle, and Dinkum.  It is called: Watch them grow! This photo meme is hosted by Jan @  Murrieta 365 December Post January's Post

The theme for Fun Monday this week carried me back to the double bed that I shared with my sister Trish.  There was a time that it sat in the unfinished basement where its headboard and the headboards of my other siblings beds were flush against the cold concrete.  It was probably a lot like going to summer camp (and I sure wanted to go to summer camp), except we slept there in formation out of necessity.   Lucky for Trish and me, Mama pestered daddy until he allowed a small addition and some remodeling that added two teeny bedrooms to what had been a one bedroom main floor.  That saved us from the nightly routine of descending those cold basement steps. In that ancient squeaky old bed I remember waking up afraid.  I would cry “Mama” or run through the house in search of her comfort.  She would get out of her ancient squeaky old bed and walk me me back and tuck me in and softly rub my back. That is when she would ask me, “What would you buy if you had a million dollars?” I would