sol25 March 30 Stayin' Alive

 

On this next to last day

2025 SOL Challenge,

This is a reminder:

Whether you're a brother or 

Whether you're a mother

You're staying alive, stayin' alive

Ah, ha ha ha stayin' alive.....

It had been a while

Decades, in fact.

I have never used it,

Not the newer "community"

Nor the older "breathing"

Models of doing it.

Nor do I plan to ever.

The protocol did not change.

The video was still blurry

The presenters still trying

The topic very serious

The practice "dummy"

Still legless and unreactive,

Still clad in a warm-up.

Yet, I am confident

If I had to do it

If there was no one else

I could do CPR

If I absolutely had to
I could use an AED

To help someone

Stay Alive

So could you

In an hour.

sol25 March 29 Something Was Wrong

 

I was feeling pretty proud of myself navigating NJT (New Jersey Transit) without a delay. The ticket machine was working and the cars half empty. I made it through the labyrinth of Penn Station and waved my credit card for the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority). Then, I boarded the waiting train uptown. I was actually, at that moment, ahead of schedule and feeling proud.

There were diverse people from all walks of life crowded onto that train. There were many languages, every possible skin tone, and every hair color imaginable. I took notice of the bell bottom jeans and hoped this trend would stay out of the burbs. I watched in awe as determined parents held onto strollers, scooters, toddlers and infants as if they did it every day.

I was finishing my coffee when I realized something was wrong. The train was flying, very, very fast. I could see the blur of stations but could not recognize streets and the conductor made no effort to slow down. For a second, images of the old movie, Speed, flashed in my head.

No one else seemed to be bothered as we flew uptown, slowing finally, at 96th Street. I got off and began to search for option for heading back downtown.  Perhaps, my sigh was audible. "I love the Express," a woman with a heavy accent said slowly, "but I bet you wanted the local?  You have to go outside due to the construction, follow me?"  Moments later, she was gone and I was on the LOCAL. 

Someday, it is possible the underground transit network may be the recipient of massive funds to renovate and improve its aging trains and update their signs. I do hope the cross section of humanity and the kindness of strangers is maintained. 

sol25 March 28 Have You?

 

Have you?

Found yourself,

Teeth brushed, face moistened,

Lying in bed

Wedged between crispy sheets,

Thinking,

Wondering

Worried

Concerned

Fearful

Apprehensive

About someone you care about?

Have you?

Shared a card,

Sent flowers,

Joined a food train,

Made a donation.

Knowing in your heart

There is nothing you can do

There is no physical gift

To make the situation better.

Knowing, in your heart

That nothing will lessen

The hurt, the loss, the pain.

You can only offer a prayer?

Me too. 

sol25 March 27 Are You the Parent?

I am grateful to TWT 

For supporting this writing challenge

My phone said the caller was a nearby children's hospital, and so I swiped right expecting a fund drive of some sort. But, I am also a parent and a grandparent and an aunt and I was a bit scared at the same time. My mind went to warp speed as I had donated to the December drive, even if it was a bit less than the year before, and maybe  I forgot to sign my check, or did I Venmo, but it was March? 

"Are you the parent or guardian of XXXX?" he asked directly without the typical telemarketer wait time?  I held my breath and my heart skipped a beat or two or perhaps even three. The name was not familiar, but I asked him to repeat because I wasn't sure I was able to hear without breathing.   

"Are you the parent or guardian of XXXX?" he repeated, a bit annoyed because he was trying to reach someone probably with important, perhaps even life changing information, and perhaps he was a busy doctor or nurse anesthesiologist or maybe the critical discharge planner or........

"I think you have the wrong number," I replied taking a deep breath while saying a prayer for the parent or guardian as well as the child who were supposed to get the call. Hoping from the bottom of my heart that the news they would eventually receive would be good news, but knowing it might not be.

sol25 March 26 Tessa

 

I have been thinking about getting

an electric car for a while.

"Don't look at me that way, pllleeeasse!" I said to the Marie, the kindly Mazda SUV parked next to me as we settled for the day. "I really did not plan to be the laughing stock of the parking lot!  I've been the queen of saving the planet for all of my existence."

Marie turned hers eyes away as if my puffy sides were the sign of an illness. I added for a bit of sympathy, "On the way in this morning, I had a Toyota Hybrid mocking me and a gas guzzling Escalade giving me the side-eye.  What is this world coming to?"

Marie looked over and nodded in a way only a gas-eating SUV resting up for soccer tournaments and hoping spills will evaporate can do. "Tessa, I really used to be SO jealous of you. You represent the future with your distain for those smelly petrol stations. You are stealth and sometimes I didn't even hear you come into your spot! With your buff, sleek lines and spotless interior, you represent everything I want to be. You have never known the likes of Goldfish or Slushies. You always look as if you were just in the spa for detailing. But now, with all the craziness going on, I am feeling so very sorry for you!"

"We cannot control what the humans do, but if I had a choice, I would ask to be put in a garage until all this craziness blows over," I said sadly, hoping I would not go the way of my Great, Great Uncle Eddie Edsel or my Great Aunt Dora Dodge Dart.

Tessa Tesla (2025)

sol25 March25 Looking a Bit Old

 

Yesterday, I wrote about a long, lost trombone.

Today, I share the trombone's perspective. 

I have hazy memories of the early days, don't we all?  But, things are clearer after my travel case was opened on a really hot August day. I was placed on a shelf with brass and woodwinds. People came with children, deciding. I noticed a propensity towards the cute little boxes, homes to clarinets and flutes. 

Finally, HE arrived and headed straight towards ME! Although shocked by my price, his mom agreed and MY life began.  It was squeaky at first, but we worked together to make beautiful music, For years, the boy and I were part of an marching band where I proudly swayed in the sunshine and looked forward to the notes. He had other interests and there were days he never looked my way; still, it was a good life, while it lasted.

For a long time, I sat in the back of a closet with discarded shoes and lost socks. Eventually, I went into hibernation, time stood still, and I no longer yearned for the boy or our marching days.

One day, I was awakened from my slumber by the boy who rubbed me down and gave me away, but it happened so fast I really didn't have a chance to figure out what was happening! There was no marching band in my new home, but we did make some good music until she shut my case and set me next to a bin of old clothes. 

I thought that was the end of the road for me and headed back into hibernation for what I guess was a long, long while until yesterday, when I was dragged from between these rafters where I had settled.  

It was very bright when HE opened my rusty latch and mused, "You're looking a bit old."  

"You too," I smiled as he rubbed by rusty belly and another chapter began. 

sol25 March 25 A Lost Trombone

 

About three score years ago,

My cousin proudly played

Trombone in a high school band.

It was a big instrument

You could always find him,

Perhaps that's why?

About two score and 10 years ago,

My sister borrowed 

Said trombone in spite of playing

The violin, piano, and clarinet.

It was a big instrument

You would certainly notice her,

Perhaps that's why?

About one score and 10 years ago,

Time had passed, families grew,

Attics filled, life ensued.

One day, he asked

If she still had said trombone.

"Not a chance," she replied.

It was a big instrument

You would certainly notice it.

Said trombone was missing

Until today

When said trombone,

Tarnished, twisted, warped, worn,

Was rescued from

Between the rafters

Amidst boxes of ornaments

Decades of family memories,

Resting.

It took time,

Yet, it was a big instrument

Eventually, you would notice it

To make new

Family memories.

sol25 March 23 Multigenerational Encampment

 

Yesterday, Trish, who blogs at Jump Off and Find Wings wrote about the Jersey shore devastation from Superstorm Sandy twelve years ago. Her story spurred my memory. 

As the hurricane slowed on its journey up the East Coast, it was downgraded and we sighed in relief.  I lived on top of a mountain, at the time, and frequent, days long, power outages were normal! 

The rains and winds, for us, were minimal, but for others, the stalled storm pulled up trees, took down power, washed away homes, and disrupted lives in ways that no one could have imagined.

Here's where the story gets interesting. My power was fine and damage was nil. However, my school, closer to new York City, was out of power for over a week. My elderly Mother and my Aunt, who lived closer to New York City were also out for over a week!

Somehow, I moved them into my house filling the living room with mattresses and finding ways to make my home a bit more accessible. We watched CSI and endless movies.  We tracked power outage maps and called phone numbers hoping the answering machines would indicate power. There was lots of complaining about the "accommodations" and some tears.

Yet, the day I remember was when my niece, also out of power, came to "work" at the multigeneration encampment bringing their own (at the time) little ones, also out of school for the week. That was a once in a lifetime chance for crafting.  We made a "book fairy" costume (for me) for a holiday that would be cancelled because the power was still not back!  That day, there was some pizza (thank goodness for freezers), some smiles, and even a few laughs from each of us thrust into circumstances that would never happen again. No one could have ever predicted a non-hurricane storm that upended so many lives, nor could they have envisioned my mother and these two amazing girls spending the day gluing pictures and baubles for many hours! 

sol25 March22 Coincidence?

 

This month, I have been writing every day and sharing

 through the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge

Today, my slice is about my Grandmother, my Mother and My Granddaughter

"Can you tell me the story of how these were made?" she asked donning the old wooden beads as if they were Cartier accessories? 

I am sure she noticed the questioning look on my face and then began, "You know the story of how your grandmother carved each bead out of wood and then sanded and painted them as part of her Campfire Girls program. She did not have power tools like Mommy does. She did it all by hand and it took a whole year. After she put them on a real leather string made out of a real skin of a real animal long ago. She wore them for ceremonies and saved them as a treasure.  I just love that story." 

I smiled.  In reality, all I know is that these beads were treasured by my mother and while I saw them once or twice, I never touched them. I made up that story based on a bits and pieces of family lore and a picture.  The beads, well worn from time if not from use, came from a box of treasures with my mother's wedding dress, never touched until that Pandemic day when MY granddaughter descended on my house so her parents could work. I was pretty desperate for dressing up clothes as the pandemic was not in my plan. 

Clearly, I did not need to retell the story, but it did get me thinking and I dug until I found pictures of MY mother and MY grandmother in those Campfire Girl beads.

Here comes the really crazy coincidence.  In the first picture, wearing the beads, my Mother was 9 years old.  In the second picture, my Grandmother was nine years old. I am pretty sure you can guess how old my Granddaughter is?  

I am pretty sure nine seems to be a sweet spot for those beads.  I am pretty sure this is not just coincidence. 

sol25 March 21 So Many Questions

 

Normally, as March Madness kicks off, my students ask about my picks.  But, this year was different.

"What do you think about eliminating the Department of Education?" he asked in the moments before class began. 

"Do you think this will changes the Title I funding?"  she asked as we discussed Achievement Tests.

"My uncle says teachers won't need Master's Degrees anymore?" someone said and we discussed possibilities long after class. 

My students, the future of teaching, show up because my class is mandated for Special Education certification. Sometimes, in the moments before class or during breaks, there is discussion about local sports teams or the weather, but current events is really outside the scope of our syllabus. 

Lately, that has changed. They are worried about their careers and their students. They understand the profound changes in the education of our most at risk citizens in the past 50 years based, primarily, on federal legislation.  While our special education and 504 services are still far from universal, nor are they perfect, students with learning struggles no longer find themselves relegated to basement classrooms or told they do not fit into the local model.  Some  of my current teachers were not so long ago students who benefitted from English as as Second Language support. Some of their students benefit from Medicaid supported therapies,

So, last night, I veered away from my "lesson plans" into current events in education, an area where I not only have no answers, I actually have many more questions than my students. We are in unchartered waters. 

sol25 March 20 Water Babes

 

Somedays, there are 30, 

Other days more,

Clad in faded swimsuits,

No intention to swim,

Whitney begins to scream,

"I want to dance with somebody,"

The Weather Girls claim

"It's Raining Men,"

Bodies sway, kick, jump.

Aches, pains dissolve.

Aqua-cize, intervals, kickboxing,

Aqua-aerobics, bootcamp, zumba.

Semi-retired, yet working hard,

Replacement parts, learning the moves.

Stemming the tide of aging,

Water Babes AND

Water Dudes, too

sol25 March 19 More Than Tea

We did not come for the tea,

Although the Harney's Paris was delightful.

We did not come for the food,

But, the cucumber sandwiches,

Fit for a queen.

We did not come for the ambiance,

Yet it was decorated in lovely,

Salvaged tea elegance.

 Most drove for hours, 

All left laundry and dust balls, behind,

Some came between exams,

Others between lesson plans,

Still others, amidst wedding plans. 

We came to see, to share, and to remember,

While life is complex,

Distance grows as family expand,

While busy lives make it hard

In the garden of life,

Friends and family are

The most beautiful flowers.

sol25 March 18 Secret Lives

 

Recently, I found out a friend was a survivor of both World Trade Center bombings. It really got me thinking of how little we know of the people we interact with in our lives. As I lay in bed that night, I was thinking about my secrets: 

1) I love to wake up at the beach and head for a walk with the orange sun on the horizon; yet, my first trip to the beach (ever) involved camping in an old, hot Army tent (sleeping on the ground on top of disgusting sleeping bags that had seen better days) when I was in my 20's. 

2) I collect old basal readers. I started with a few from my grandmother, but my collection is much larger now! Amazingly, the trends in reading instruction have stood the same over the last 150 years. We have moved from whole word to phonics to mean-based approaches again and again and again.  The old basal readers even bashed the "old" to them approaches. 

3) I have 2 children(who are not really secrets but who have grown up to be amazing adults). I have 3 college degrees (including a PhD spread over 30 years). I have 4 dental implants (and my dentist has had several Mercedes).  

4) There are 19 people who call me "Aunt" or "Auntie" and 19 people who call me a "Great-Auntie."  I adore them all and am grateful for the opportunities to watch them learn and grow. 

5) I moved from New York to Selma, Alabama shortly before the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. I was a tween at the time and was not a "happy camper." Yet, I learned about families living in abject poverty as well as overt discrimination.  These lessons about diverse viewpoints have shaped my own life's work and thinking.  I am grateful, now, for that move.  

6) I had many students who came from the estate of Sun Myung Moon. At the request of a student and his parents, I attended a "Moonie" equivalent of a christening for a child.  It was a strange-to-me experience but gave me great insight into a very different lifestyle. 

sol25 March 17 Celebrating Immigrants

 

                                                      

                                                      

I will wear something green,

I will think about leprechauns,

This year, in particular,

I will reflect on Irish ancestors.

I will think of those who came

With perhaps an accusation of horse theft,

With perhaps a spouse left behind,

With only money for steerage,

With broken hearts,

With only dreams,

Without plans, destinations, or degrees.

I will think of those who

Faced hunger, hardships and discrimination,

Took jobs from real-at-the-time Americans,

(who btw took land and livelihoods from Native Americans)

Practiced a strange-to-America religion

Saw signs everywhere telling Irish not to apply.

I will feel blue-gray

The color of sadness

Reflecting on history repeating

Thinking of language and cultural differences

A now fast-past, highly-documented world 

Where it is hard, perhaps impossible, to hide

As you try to create a new life, in a new world

On this holiday.

I will think of Abraham Lincoln 

Who in 1855 wrote,

"When the Know-Nothings get in control,............"

On this holiday celebrating immigrants.

sol25 March 16 Hearts and Rainbows

 

I have missed way more birthdays than I have acknowledged with cards.
I only once got it together to send out holiday photos when my adorable kids were very little.

I think about sending cards often, but my track record stinks.

I'm sorry.  I try.  

However, I have a cousin who ALWAYS send EVERYONE birthday, holiday, celebration, and thinking of you cards (and more often than not the most thoughtful and purposeful gifts you could think of).

She has never missed a special occasion even while completing Herculean tasks, such as dressing a hundred or so Rockettes for the Christmas Spectacular and fighting a dragon during a Pandemic!

Her energy and dedication are commendable; they are particularly heroic given:

1) the exponential growth of family and friend's trees over time.  When it was just MY two children, it was one thing, but now I have six grandchildren!

2) the scarcity of cards anywhere!  (My local CVS has reduced cards to less than an aisle!)

3) the cost of a stamp is 73 cents!

I hope she knows that the seeds of kindness and love she has sown have been noticed and perhaps, they have taken root in the fledging card creation business of a hard working artist and beginning writer whose hearts, rainbows, and smile depict a love that transcends Hallmark, CVS, and even the UPS!

sol25 March 15 Empty Chair

 

Yesterday, I wrote about the empty boxes awaiting recycling.
Today, I share about an empty chair.

I noticed it as I drove by,

Sitting empty, by the curb, 

As if it was waiting for someone.
It's tarnished chrome frame 

Reflected the late afternoon sun,

It sat there, lonely.

I thought about it,

Providing transport, for someone,

Sitting at the table, countless meals,

Perhaps attending a Yankees game,

With someone,

Perhaps visiting a friend, 

Now, relegated to the dump.

Perhaps,

It was replaced with a snazzy new model,

More likely,

It belonged to a kind mom and grandmother, or

It helped a man whose legs no longer worked, or

It allowed a cancer patient to continue working.

Certainly,

That empty chair,

Has a story to tell.

sol25 March 14 Empty Boxes

 

This morning's walk,

Got me thinking about

So many empty boxes

So many stories

Past approximately fifty

Empty packing boxes,

Finished, flattened, stacked, 

Indicating a new-to-them-home,

Perhaps a long-awaited dream.

Past approximately fifty

Empty (I assume) pizza boxes.

Overflowing their recycling bins

Suggesting many fast-food dinners,

Perhaps a long week.

Past approximately fifty

Empty Amazon boxes

Haphazardly placed at the curb,

In just hours,

Orders, delivery, trash.

sol25 March 13 Change

 

Change appears to be my OLW for the week.

Sunday, I changed the clocks in my car and my stove knowing it would take time for my body to catch up to the lost hour.

Monday, I changed my heavy winter coat for a vest and hoped I would not need to go back but I have.

Tuesday, I finished Elizabeth Warren's book, Persist where she proposes that profound change is possible only if we fight for it.

Yesterday, I left all the change at the car wish in the tips jar, worrying about the immigration status of those drying my windows.

Today, I pray for changes in the way this once mighty nation interacts with others both at home and on the world stage.  

sol25 March 12 The Geese Stir a Memory

I was outside, the weather enticing, the promises of spring emerging, in spite of the recent onslaught of sad news. I heard them, before I saw them and my mind parachuted back to that classroom where the dreaded monthly recitation day brought so many of my classmates to tears.

Mrs. Peters, who never left her desk, believed memorizing poems would improve our memories and thus our lives. It was hard, impossible, for many of my peers and my heart still breaks for their embarrassment during their attempts,

Mrs. Peters loved high top shoes and Mary Oliver's poems.  Thus, we tried to memorize many. I am confident, in spite of making students feel inferior, she believed those lines might offer us comfort and hope at times in our lives  (she was right)

It has been decades and I only remember bits and pieces of a few poems which return as I face the inevitable losses of family and friends.  "Meanwhile, the world goes on, The wild geese are heading home again." This line transports me back to the simpler problems of 5th grade and reminds me to the reflect on the most important part of the poem, "Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine."

 

Like geese, we can not travel this journey alone.

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

over and over announcing your place Mary Oliver

I

sol25 March 11 It Mattered

 u

Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Community
I am writing every day in March.
Today is a reflective slice.  One that reverberates.

"I'll go with you if you want," she offered even though she did not need to do so and it certainly would not be a fun day.

"How'd it go?" she texted later that day after I faced the nemesis by myself in spite of her offer.

"I was thinking about you," she offered when I declared myself home and ok. "Let me know if you need anything," she offered in a way that offered comfort and support during a challenging time.

There really was nothing anyone could do to help me that day, but I really I hope she knows how much her words and her actions supported me during that hard time. 

sol25 March 10 The Golden Rule

 

"You get what your get and you don't get upset," she offered with the confidence of a kindergartener who knows the line well even if she does not always like it.  "Not if I am bigger," he responded in the way bigger siblings often do. 

"Have you ever heard of the Golden Rule?" I asked them both expecting them to give me the look saved for grandparents.  

"Sure, golden coins are worth more than silver ones," the older, wiser one volunteered.

"The Golden Rule says you should treat others in a way that you want them to treat you," I said.

But, my mind wandered to those much older and presumedly much wiser who certainly should have heard about the Golden Rule.  

sol25 March 9 What Scares You?

  I have a magnet that says, "Do one thing every day that scares you," a quote of Eleanor Roosevelt. I bought it because it was a challenge to look beyond laundry and dust balls. 

These days I look at it and remember that growing older is scary! Yet, I have (in no special order of significance):

• climbed into and out of the magnificent Grand Canyon
• watched with awe as my own once needy children became empowered parents
• loved with all my heart and healed my broken heart 
• taken wild and crazy young children to a vast Legoland all by myself
• bought and renovated an aging and leaky home all alone
• promised scared parents their struggling learners would be readers
• defended my research and ideas to a demanding and critical committee 
• put my thoughts into words, baring my soul, and sharing them with the world
• said good-bye to loved ones when it I wanted to say please hang on
• planned not-always-thrilling PD for teachers who wanted to be anywhere else

sol25 March 8 Celebrating Cousins

 At that moment, little miracles were far from my radar.  

We were hours away from the celebration of love that would integrate satin and lace with pinecones and slabs of wood. We were just hours away from gathering family and friends from near and far. We were as close as you can get to gaining a family member. We needed a bit of breakfast in order to get through a long and emotion-filled day.

As luck would have it, he was also at breakfast preparing for the long day ahead so we shared a table and caught up on life. Cousins have a special bond as both family and friends. Even if it has been years, they have stories to add to their collective memory. Then, he whipped out his I Pad  and excitedly shared images of his little miracles declaring them to be the absolute best part of getting older. They were learning to talk, walk and play catch. His images were memorable even though at that moment, I could not yet imagine having my own album of little miracles. 

I thought about that prophetic moment in the months ahead as I reflected on the grand celebration of love, hoarded tiny footed outfits, and mastered the challenging seed stitch. I thought about that moment as I celebrated that my own little miracles would be blessed with cousins. I have thought about that moment many times as I celebrate the special bond of cousins. 

SOL25 March 7 A Million Dollars

"If you won a million dollars, what would you do?" he asked as we shuffled the deck.

"I'm not sure," I responded sincerely. "I think I would give some to people who are hurting and hungry and then take my grandchildren on a big vacation."

He smiled acknowledging that in this hypothetical situation he would be the lucky recipient of that trip and then responded, "I would buy all the video games, and an Amphicar that could go over the water and on the road, and a mansion with a swimming pool and video room.  I would also go on that big trip with you if you win," he grinned as he leaned in for an indirect hug the way little boys who are becoming bigger boys sometimes do.

I'm sure I would give a million dollars to keep him safe from harm as he traverses that stormy road from little boy to kind adult. 

sol25 March6 10 Minutes

Many fellow slices are sharing 20 minute sections of their day.  
I'm sharing just 10 minutes!

The wind was raging even though the rain had not yet started, as I landed in the parking lot with just 20 minutes before my appointment.  My fridge was a barren wasteland after a pre-garbage day purge. While I planned to abstain from meat that day, there were no eggs, no cottage cheese, and not even any peanut butter as sources of protein to be found in my house!

One of those mini-carts designed for those of us who live alone scooted across the parking lot towards me and I grabbed it before it caused physical damage to my car.

I grabbed a box of greens, on sale, and a couple of oranges, on sale. I snagged a box of tea and a bag of coffee, on sale, along with some oatmeal. I debated the extra cost of cottage cheese with pineapple, and decided on plain, on sale. I grabbed a bag of baked Lays in spite of the cost, and splurged on a can of on sale crab claws from Canada before heading to the self-check out line.

As I loaded my goods, I realized that in just 10 minutes, I had:

• saved my car from cart-inflicted-damage
• filled an almost entirely healthy cart
• prepared for Lent
• reflected on the economic challenge of grocery shopping today
• splurged on crab claws for the last time, for at least a while
• worried about how those with families, like my children, are coping
• spent a lot of money!

sol25 March 5 Her Story

 

On day 4 of the March SOL Challenge, Sally at wrote to a love note 

to her infant granddaughter about her own Writing Hobby!

 I am borrowing her format to write a note to one of my own.

Dearest,

     You are no longer a little girl and not yet a big one, but you have been around long enough to understand what make people tick. You know who needs to run to stay sane and who needs to eat dessert in order to smile. You have been watching and observing your Meme for long enough to notice that your Meme has way too many books and spends way too much time reading and writing. Back in the day when I was juggling my own kids, jobs, commutes, sports teams, laundry, and caregiving, you would still have found a book and a notebook on my nightstand. 

    You are at the beginning of your own story, but I smile proudly as I see you immersed in the Babysitter Club or filling blank journals with your own stories of families and lives so different from your own. When you sent me your first graphic novel, I stopped what I was doing and savored every word. When you admitted you were writing on your Mom's I Pad, I acknowledged that karma is real.

    Your own story may take you to places and experiences I cannot even imagine. You will not likely hold tight to your grandmother's "dish" or "quilt" like I did. Yet, you might just someday find this blog and smile as your read your Meme's mutterings. I suspect you will smile when you walk past a garage sale and see a worn copy of the The Boy Who Wouldn't Swim or Charlotte's Web. I suspect those seeds planted as we shared stories may fester into those of a lifelong reader and writer. It is exciting to watch you writing your story. 

With Love,
Your Meme

sol25 March 4 Does You Tube Know?

 

I woke up in a sweat, kicked off the covers, and headed to the shower. "I must have misread the forecast," I thought as I abandoned my usual fleece for a tee.

As I reached the stairs, the steam pipes were clearly humming and my heart increased in response. I hurried to the thermostat where the 78 degree indication justified my sweat. I instantly decided to turn the heat off remembering the scene a few years ago when that 100 year old steam pipe in the basement blew spewing a century of waste everywhere. 

"I'll have to figure this one out after class," I thought as I sighed deeply and grabbed my fleece.                              

Wondering, worrying if the problem was the pipes, furnace, or the thermostat?                        Wondering, worrying if I could really fix it or if I would need to get a service call.                        Wondering how long if would take to get a service person to come?
Worrying how much it would cost.                                                                                                Wondering if I could fix this mess?                                                                                                Worrying if my pipes might freeze before I fixed the problem? 
Wondering if I should skip my favorite early morning Aquacize class given this mess?

Worrying, wondering about the problem during every single step, every stroke, every move.

Wondering as I showered, dressed and drove home.

Worrying as the temperature had already dropped 15 degrees in my old house.

Hoping You Tube holds the answer?

sol25 March 3 They Come in Threes

 

"I am heartbroken to share," the note began.  I knew the next words without reading them. 

I sighed, deeply, and apologized to my mother who claimed these events came in threes even though even she knew there was no scientific evidence! 

I spent many years quietly disproving her personal "life-theorems" based on lore!

I went outside day after day with long wet hair on bitter cold winter days and did not catch a cold!

I've dropped spoons again and again without a visitor to my home!

I've walked under ladders and cuddled with black cats, more than once!

I've broken the 5 second rule with peanut butter sandwiches, shrimp cocktails, and steaks!

Yet, her message, once again, was loud, clear, and sadly accurate. I put the times for the wake and funeral into my calendar for the third time in as many weeks. 

Looking up to the heavens, I suspect, by now, my mom would be on the Welcome Wagon and they would soon be commiserating about their daughters. She will  be missed.

sol25 March 2 I Am Concerned

 

On day w of the March SOL Challenge, 

I am reflecting on who I am:

I am 

Proud: Mom, Meme, Sister, Auntie, Cousin, 

Appreciative: Friend, Professor, Teacher, 

Wanna-Be: Beach-Bum, Writer,

Grateful for: Great Literature, 

Modern Medicine, Strong Faith. 

Year 14, SOL March Participant,

Hoping to write and remember

The magical small moments.

I am

Passionate about:

 Using my gifts to serve others,

Thinking critically about all things,

Remembering that history should

Guide us to not repeat mistakes.

Concerned about:

Socio-political decisions

Impacting those with the least authority,

Challenging beliefs about our fragile planet,

My generations legacy.