Being kind is sort of who I always try to be. I'm not always successful. Certain people always bring out the worst in me, and give me reason to keep trying to be better - but mostly, kindness is basic to me. Recently I've read a quote (unattributed) about being kind to others because you never know what kind of burden they're carrying. Today I read the blog page of someone I care a lot about. I only knew hints of the problems she had faced in her young life, and still don't know everything. The courage and love she has shown and the good judgment, kindness and common sense she demonstrates on a daily basis are the opposite of what has been given her on so many occasions.
I've had my share of sorrows, some so deep I didn't know if I could get through them, but I have had a relatively easy time, and I count my blessings daily. I've never faced the issues she has had to face, which include dreadful childhood trauma. Congratulations to her and to all the survivors of inhumane and/or criminally ignorant behavior. God bless all who have suffered, and best wishes that they too will survive with happy and grateful hearts. It's not easy to do, but this person shows me that it can be done.
Be kind. Others carry burdens we can't imagine. Our kindness may be the thing that helps them get through another day.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
That DNA
On the second Bob Newhart show - the one with Larry, Darryl and Darryl - Larry admired his two brothers and said, "There's somethin so great about that DNA". I loved that line and thought of it today when I was holding my very sleepy grandson.
He is his daddy's son. No doubt about it. The DNA is strong. He looks like him - and like many in my family for various reasons. He has Mike's and Roger's cowlicks in the front of his hair. I can see Mike sometimes, and Roger at other times. He has his Mommy's eyes and mouth...except his eyes are blue and hers are dark brown like mine. He looks a lot like her. He has his grandfather's blue, blue eyes. He has his Daddy's eyebrows...and mine...and Chris's. Having mine, he has my mother's too. That DNA runs strong. He is a very good mix of his Mommy and Daddy, with a whole lot of his daddy's family DNA thrown in for fun. He is named for his Mommy's uncle and for his own uncle - his daddy's brother Chris. Most people who know the family immediately say, "Oh! He looks like Chris!" And he does. He is Jace the Face, Jace Christopher, and he is a totally beautiful baby boy.
But what made me think of the DNA today and Larry's proclamation about the greatness of it was his daddy (my son.) When Jace is sleepy he thrusts his head back and forth into my shoulders when I'm trying to ease him into sleep. Back and forth, head butting as he turns his head from side to side. It is not a timid baby move. It is a thrust. Forceful. It is exactly what his daddy used to do. It takes me back 30+ years to when I held his daddy in my arms trying to get him to sleep. Exactly. 100% the same. It could be my firstborn I am holding instead of my firstborn grandson. A human time machine. My heart can surely hold no more joy.
Larry had it right. There's somethin great about that DNA.
(The photo is of Jace after his first feeding of cereal with a spoon and is just shy of his three month birthday.)
He is his daddy's son. No doubt about it. The DNA is strong. He looks like him - and like many in my family for various reasons. He has Mike's and Roger's cowlicks in the front of his hair. I can see Mike sometimes, and Roger at other times. He has his Mommy's eyes and mouth...except his eyes are blue and hers are dark brown like mine. He looks a lot like her. He has his grandfather's blue, blue eyes. He has his Daddy's eyebrows...and mine...and Chris's. Having mine, he has my mother's too. That DNA runs strong. He is a very good mix of his Mommy and Daddy, with a whole lot of his daddy's family DNA thrown in for fun. He is named for his Mommy's uncle and for his own uncle - his daddy's brother Chris. Most people who know the family immediately say, "Oh! He looks like Chris!" And he does. He is Jace the Face, Jace Christopher, and he is a totally beautiful baby boy.
But what made me think of the DNA today and Larry's proclamation about the greatness of it was his daddy (my son.) When Jace is sleepy he thrusts his head back and forth into my shoulders when I'm trying to ease him into sleep. Back and forth, head butting as he turns his head from side to side. It is not a timid baby move. It is a thrust. Forceful. It is exactly what his daddy used to do. It takes me back 30+ years to when I held his daddy in my arms trying to get him to sleep. Exactly. 100% the same. It could be my firstborn I am holding instead of my firstborn grandson. A human time machine. My heart can surely hold no more joy.
Larry had it right. There's somethin great about that DNA.
(The photo is of Jace after his first feeding of cereal with a spoon and is just shy of his three month birthday.)
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Something I Remembered Today
I remember hot, sunny summer days handing clothespins to my pretty, dark-haired Mommy. I loved being with her and helping her, and I wanted to be just like her...very sweet, kind to everyone and very pretty.
When I was older, I helped Mama hang the laundry in the summer. (She did it alone when I was in school.) And finally, it became my summertime chore. There must have been three - or maybe four - wires on the backyard clothesline because I still remember that modesty required that our girl underwear be hung out-of-sight on the inner line. Sheets and towels, shirts and pants and socks on the outer wires.
And then we got an automatic clothes dryer, which helped with all the diapers. I was the second of seven kids, and it seemed like Mom was always about to have a baby or had just had one. I remember her teaching me how to change diapers too. We had cloth diapers with big safety pins back then. I stuck my little fingers many times while changing a squirmy younger sibling's diapers. You always had to keep your own fingers between the pin, the diaper and the baby's tender skin. I wonder if Mom noticed the many times there were tiny little drops of my blood to be washed off the sides of the diapers. The pins went through the diapers a little easier if you ran the point of the pin through your hair before trying to insert them into the cloth. Just enough of the natural oil from your hair would transfer to the pin. Funny, the things you remember on a hot summer day.
I remember loving sharing that time on those hot summer days in the backyard with my mother. We didn't have many 'alone times', and I treasured them.
When I was older, I helped Mama hang the laundry in the summer. (She did it alone when I was in school.) And finally, it became my summertime chore. There must have been three - or maybe four - wires on the backyard clothesline because I still remember that modesty required that our girl underwear be hung out-of-sight on the inner line. Sheets and towels, shirts and pants and socks on the outer wires.
And then we got an automatic clothes dryer, which helped with all the diapers. I was the second of seven kids, and it seemed like Mom was always about to have a baby or had just had one. I remember her teaching me how to change diapers too. We had cloth diapers with big safety pins back then. I stuck my little fingers many times while changing a squirmy younger sibling's diapers. You always had to keep your own fingers between the pin, the diaper and the baby's tender skin. I wonder if Mom noticed the many times there were tiny little drops of my blood to be washed off the sides of the diapers. The pins went through the diapers a little easier if you ran the point of the pin through your hair before trying to insert them into the cloth. Just enough of the natural oil from your hair would transfer to the pin. Funny, the things you remember on a hot summer day.
I remember loving sharing that time on those hot summer days in the backyard with my mother. We didn't have many 'alone times', and I treasured them.
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