Wednesday, November 11, 2009

ARE THERE REALLY NO RULES?


The rules of dress have gone out the window. When I was a teenager my Grandmother taught me when to wear white shoes and when you put them away for next year. Gloves short, long, where and when were another rule.
Today telling you grandchildren to dress modestly is about as far as it goes. There are every day jeans, and dress up jeans ........ end of rules.
It may be an easier life, I can't decide if it is a better life. Child psychologist tell us that children need guidelines and rules to go by; our society today tells us to let everyone just be who they are.
My question is this. If you have to have jeans to be who you are, are you any different then anyone else? This is a question my Grandmother would have asked me!

Monday, November 2, 2009

KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS HONEY!

Every child has times when someone is picking on them or just plain treating them wrong. When I was a teenager, a girlfriend went out with the boy that I thought at the time belonged to me. I was heartbroken and ran to tell my grandmother who always heard all of my secrets back then. I said, "Oh, Mom," (that's what I called my grandmother) "she was suppose to be my friend! Now, she and the other girls are snubbing me!"
After I had gotten my cry out, she looked at me and said, "I will give you the same advise I got when I was your age, and that is ....Kill them with kindness honey!" I nodded even though I did not for one minute think it would work.
The next day and for two days after that, each time I saw any of those girls including the one that deceived me, I went out of my way to speak, be friendly and try to help them if needed. By the end of the third day they were all my dear friends and the girl dumped the two timing boy saying that she couldn't stand anyone that would treat a sweet girl like me that way.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

MEMORIES

Playing the piano is not my forte, but it was certainly my grandmother's. She played by ear and had somewhat of a ragtime thing going on even when she played hymns(probably the reason back then they didn't ask her to play at the church). She took piano lessons once as a child but didn't continue because the teacher figured out she wasn't reading the music, even though she could; she would hear it played one time and her own rendition would arise.
One of the favorite things we liked to do as children was sing and dance around the living room while she played Turkey In The Straw, The White Cliffs of Dover, When Johnnie Comes Marching Home, When The Saints Go Marching In, or anything we heard on the radio and were able to sing to her.
There was one song she especially liked that she would run the entire keyboard at one point. It was called Memories. I remember this one line that said, "You left me alone, but still I come home, to those beautiful memories."
I love coming home to those memories, she taught me that music was to be cherished and was fun!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Propellant CAN Be Worse Than Bugs!

Growing up I was highly allergic to bug bites (come to think of it I still am). One day I was standing in front of my grandmother's house playing with my siblings and my cousins, when suddenly I started to pass out. My brother ran and got my grandmother who grabbed me up and rushed me inside. Her first thought was that I had gotten too hot so while dialing the doctor held me in front of the window air unit. I came to, but when she moved away from the window I became weak again and again began to sink. She rushed back to the window and then with the all knowing look of a grandmother rushed me to the bathroom, ran water in the tub and before you could blink twice was scrubbing me all over like crazy.
It worked, before the doctor even arrived (they made house calls in those days). As it turned out I was allergic to the propellant in some bug spray we had put on earlier to keep the mosquitoes away. At that time it was ether, they don't use it any more, but I still have adverse reactions to sprays.
My grandmothers quick response could have actually saved my life.