Monday, November 18, 2013

35 years ago

On November 24, 1978, I became Mrs. Garland Westmoreland. It was the day after Thanksgiving. He thought it was a great idea to get married the day after Thanksgiving, so that he would never forget our anniversary. What he didn't know, at the tender age of 25, was that Thanksgiving was NOT like The 4th of July, Christmas and New Years' Day. Thanksgiving doesn't fall on the same date each year. So when our very first anniversary rolled around, he nearly missed it because he was waiting until the day after Thanksgiving.
I wanted to get married in the fall of the year. Truth be told, he didn't much care about the wedding, date or any of that. It was a blustery day and perfect. As I think back, it doesn't seem like 35 years have gone by. We have had 2 beautiful daughters, added one terrific son-in-law and have 1 absolutely amazing grandson! We are both enjoying this "fall" season of our marriage. Now, Mr. W. might call it the "winter" season of marriage as his side of the family tends to die off or reach their expiration date, as he says, in their 60's. My side, on the other hand, are still going strong in their 80's and 90's.
To celebrate these 35 years, we will go out to dinner and then see Romeo and Juliet in our Nation's Capital on our actual anniversary. That seems appropriate, huh.
I am so very thankful that God brought this soldier boy into my life. If you ask anyone who knows him, he is one of a kind, but don't have them elaborate. Love you, Garland Deen!!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

It's Fall!







Even thought the temperature is in the 80's today, fall has officially begun. In just a few weeks, the trees will become glorious shades of red, orange, purple and yellow. The air WILL get cooler. For now, I am enjoying the transition of warm days and pleasant evenings. It's still great tennis weather or for that matter most any outdoor activity you like. I just returned from a few days with my daughter and family. My grandson loves to be outside. I took him to the playground twice while there. After being on the slides, in the tunnels, on the dirt pile and in general playing, he heard the sound of a train in the distance. He will cup his ear, listen to the sound and say, "Choo-choo wake up!!" Then he runs to a steering wheel on the platform of the equipment and turns the wheel in all seriousness. You see, it is HIS job to manage that unseen train. He can hear it on the tracks, but it isn't visible. Then he will say, "Choo-choo coming through!" When the sound of the choo-choo chugs away, his job is done, that is until the next train is heard. I do have fun playing with this boy. He is alert and so smart. His mommy told me that he made a new friend the other day on the playground. My daughter said it was so fun to watch them play well together and to enjoy each other's company. So like my little grandson and this Nana, get out there and have fun in the fall! Thanks God, for this, my favorite season of all!!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

A Busy July

Welcome to August. July was super busy and fun. It started off spending a few days with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson as the wonderful little one turned 2! I made us matching shirts. His said, "I'm 2, Woo-Hoo". Mine said, "I'm 62, Boo-Hoo". We were suppose to all run a 5K for the 4th of July, but 5:45 AM seemed like a terrible time to wake up.
I  traveled quite a bit in July. After the trip to be with the birthday boy, I traveled back to my roots. Almost heaven, West Virginia. I visited my cousin near Charleston. There, she gave me my first ever 4 wheeler ride. We rode over part of their 150 acre fish farm!! Now that's a little taste of West Virginia. Needless to say, I held on tight. The next day, we went to the town where my father was from. My cousin and I were given a tour of the home my dad grew up in. It is now owned by people who knew my dad as well as my grandparents. The gentleman was kind to show us a table in the Sitting Room that my grandfather, whom I never met, made by hand. My grandfather also built the home my father lived in.
My cousin and I went on to The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs and strolled through the shops. We were surprised to see many Boy Scout Troop Leaders staying there. Aren't Boy Scouts suppose to rough it???
Later, that week, we went to Lost Creek , West Virginia to have a family reunion with my mother's side of the family. My mother graduated from Lost Creek High School in 1943. It was wonderful to see my cousins again and meet some new ones too!!
When I returned from WV, my husband and I took some friends who will be moving away soon,  to see obscure monuments in Washington, DC. The Einstein one and the "Full Count" Baseball one are my 2 favorites of the 11 or 12 we saw that day. Then, on Saturday, July 27, my husband and I and 2 other couples took in the Nats-Mets game at Nationals' Stadium. We had super seats!!! To top it off, the Nats won 4-1!! Whoopie!!
This past Monday, I took a trip to Newport, NC to visit my only living uncle and aunt and more cousins:) My Uncle Noah recently had quadruple bypass surgery and is doing very well. They have lived in Newport for 13 years and this was my first trip to see them. About time!
Let's wait and see what August holds. Thank you, God, for safety in my travels and for the memories.










Saturday, June 22, 2013

Quiet Days

I don't know about you, but for me, I enjoy quiet days. Today has been one of them. My husband has been on a day trip today in Maryland. So what did I do with my day? Well, I fixed eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast. I called a sweet 5 year old  and wished her a happy 5th birthday! Then I pulled a few weeds from my very small vegetable garden and inspected some not-yet-ripe tomatoes. I vacuumed, dusted and cleaned countertops. I tend to be a clutterer and more often than I like to say, I need to wipe the counters and tabletops free of clutter- at least for a day:)  Next on my list of things to do was to call a friend. She is unable to drive until she gets some relief from her back pain, so I went to a super grocery store called Wegmans and bought her a salad, vegetable soup, watermelon slices and some sugar-free cookies and took them to her. I then came home, put away my groceries, ate lunch and folded laundry. After that, I put away some winter clothes and laid out my clothes for church tomorrow. I read over the section of Scripture that I need to read at church tomorrow. I fixed myself an afternoon cup of coffee, looked through the mail, and checked Facebook and emails. I set the coffeepot for tomorrow morning's brew and now it's almost dinnertime. Such a lovely, quiet day. Thank you, Lord, for days like this one.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Who Knows, God Does!

As I visited my mom today, her eyes were closed. The past couple of weeks, my mom seems to be coming to the close of her life here with me. She is still eating, so her mouth is at least open. Her food is now pureed for easier swallowing. I go to spend time with my mom, not that she is aware of my presence, but simply to be with her. I speak into her ear, "Mom, it is OK for you to go. You made me strong. I will be alright. Hug Daddy, David and Grandma for me when you see them". The truth is,  I don't know if this is her time or nearly her time to depart a life of unawareness and related inabilities that come with the latter stages of dementia. I do know, that this is not the life I would choose for mom, nor is it the life she would desire to have.  However, for reasons I cannot see, it is a slice of the life God has planned for her now.
Her caregivers meet her daily needs, just as she did for her own mother and many other women whom she cared for in her home after her retirement from the government. Her friend, Wilma, is her constant companion, watching over her, worrying about her and being there with her. Wilma also has a type of dementia but can still walk, feed herself and hear.
As I am praying for God's peace for my mom as she slips further from earth and closer to heaven and into her new life free from confusion, I have to admit a yearning to hold her close.
Mother's Day just past. I was born a few days before Mother's Day 60+ years ago! The bond with my mother has been and continues to be a strong one. So God, hold my mom close as she draws near to You. I am thankful for Your love for her, for choosing her to be my mom and for the confidence of knowing that I will see her again fully whole and happy in Your Presence. Amen.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

My Brother

As I was just beginning to talk, my parents told me that I was going to have a baby brother or sister. Not that I remember, but my mother said she asked me if I wanted a brother or a sister. I was told I said, in my toddler speech, "brother". God honored my request and on January 23, 1953, I was given a baby brother. Thank you, God, for giving to me the most amazing brother I could have ever imagined.
In many ways, if you looked at us, you would think, how could these two children be related? We didn't look alike, well maybe our noses were similar. David had my mom's features, where I favored my dad. David and I differed in personality too. He was out-going, I was shy. In many ways, even though he was 19 months younger than me, he was my big brother. I didn't want to talk to people, he thrived in interacting with anyone.
There are siblings who don't get along with each other, not so with David and me. I loved him and I know he returned this "brotherly/sisterly" love everyday.
When David was 40 years old, he became my double-brother when he trusted Christ as the Savior and Lord of his life. I had become a Christian at 18 years of age as a freshman in college and began the adventure of what it means to be a Christian. I shared Christ with my brother shortly afterwards, but God's timing for him to come to this saving knowledge came many years later in another country. David grew as a Christian faster than anyone I have ever seen!
Then without warning, God took David to be with Him on April 3, 1996. This too, happened in another country away from David's homeland of the United States and his home in Luxembourg. David died instantly on a mountainside in Croatia when the plane he was in hit the mountain. I miss him to this day. More importantly, I will see him again. Although I don't understand how I will recognize him, I know that I will~instantly.
Thank you, God, for David. Heavenly Father, please hug my brother for me. Thanks!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Wanting to read The Bible

 
What a joy it is to see Gordon Lee reach for his Bible. Granted, he can't read yet, but it is neat to see his excitement when his mommy hands him his Bible. Love hearing him say, "my Bible."

Monday, March 18, 2013

Bus and Bus

My Grandson is becoming such a vocal observer. Yesterday while stopped at a light, he looked over to see a long line of  school buses. He said, "bus". Noticing another bus in the line, he said "bus" again. Then he said bus and bus to let his mommy know there was more than just 2 buses.  His mommy said, "There's a bunch of buses." After a brief moment of processing what she said, he giggled in response.
This reminds me of a time when I was his age. My mom told me we were driving by a field of cows. She has told me that when I saw 1 cow and I said, "cow". Then I saw another cow and said, " a nutty cow". Again after seeing another cow, I said "a nutty cow." Apparently I said this upon seeing each cow in the field. I don't know if my mother said,"Yes, a bunch of cows" however,  knowing my mom, she probably listened to me say "a nutty cow" until we were past the field. Since I lived in West Virginia as a young child, I would imagine there were many "nutty cows" to see!
It's interesting to see the above video of this sweet boy observing buses and more buses and  "the nutty cow" story. Thanks, God, that I am this child's grandma!!!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Nineteen Months and Making Connections

I just got home from being with my daughter, son-in-law and the sweetest grandson EVER in their lovely home. I helped a little with the laundry, which does pile up with an active nineteen month old!! With my daughter working fulltime, the laundry does get washed but the folding and putting away part is hard to manage on a day-to-day basis. Little Gordon Lee is a big helper though with the household chores of sorting and putting his own books and toys away. YAY!!! Which leads me to the topic of this post. While visiting, I noticed that this little bundle of energy is quick to make connections between his books, stuffed animals, pictures, and objects in general. I was amazed when he was just over a year old when my daughter showed me how he grouped a yellow star, a yellow drum stick, a yellow block and a yellow ball in a separate group. Now that he is nineteen months, he will grab his "duck duck", his duck blanket, his book about ducks and his rubber duckie and bring them for us to see. He also likes ALL of his books in one drawer. Even if that means stuffing them in there until the drawer can't shut. I observed this first hand when I tried to get him to put some of the books in another drawer so there would be more room. He is determined to make it work because this drawer MUST be the BOOK drawer. He even knows whose shoes are whose. When he wants to go outside, he will bring his mommy her shoes or his daddy's shoes to him or my shoes to me and help us put them on.  In the above picture, he had fun wearing his daddy's boots;)
He is in the beginning stages of the "potty connection". He is a quick learner but wants his privacy in there. My son-in-law figured out he likes his privacy, so he closed the door enough to keep an eye on him and then when he heard the "potty chair" tune, he opened the door wide and really celebrated the moment with a star on the calendar. He, (my grandson that is, not my son-in-law) would run to the calendar to watch us draw the star. It is an amazement to me to see how one so young can organize, catagorize, and internalize so many skills. Thank you God for blessing Gordon Lee with these skills and talents to be organized and to learn so quickly!!!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A Brand New Year

2013 is only 2 days old. Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours helping my mom move to a bigger room at the Assisted Living Home. This was good because I was able to weed through some of her clothes and bid them farewell as they had served her well for many years. I bought her a new comforter set in her favorite color of green. She says she likes green because it's the color of money. Next, I came home and took down all the Christmas decorations and my husband took the rapidly-dropping needles-fir-tree outside! Tomorrow will be my husband's 60th birthday. So I am having a small birthday celebration so that his friends can crack jokes about him and eat cake. I am 18 months older than my husband. He has razzed me about "robbing the cradle" for many years. On the 3rd day of this New Year, I will spiffy up the house, set the table cafeteria-style and celebrate with my "birthday boy" husband and friends. Life is about celebrating!! Our church is called Celebration Church because everything God teaches us is something to celebrate as our Pastor tells us. Even when one is turning 6-0.
Although I don't make New Year's resolutions, I do want to listen more carefully. Several times just last week, I anticipated what someone was going to say and consequently didn't "hear" what was said. I know my hearing ain't what it should be, but I do believe listening is my main problem. Happy New Year and may you see and hear in each day all that God has already laid out for you. Listen to Him.