Kindnesses Remembered

When Mom was in the hospital after a broken hip, Maurine asked a manicurist that worked with her to go see Mom and give her a pedicure at the hospital. Not only did Lin give her a nice pedicure, but she also gave her an amazing foot massage and she would not let us pay her a dime.
When Mike had surgery on his ankle several years ago, my neighbor Tracy came to the hospital waiting room and played double solitaire with me. It sure made the time go by quickly. Before we knew it the doctor was calling me to the conference room with the results of the surgery.
One of my Dad’s friends and an old “room mother” of mine from elementary school, Refford Roberson made me a medallion of Dad’s war medals. Dad would meet with Refford and a group of old WW II vets at Dairy Queen and discuss their experiences. Refford was a patient where I worked and he presented me with this kind and thoughtful gift after Dad’s passing. I cherish it to this day, for the remembrance of my Dad's sacrifice to his country but also for the remembrance of an old friend.
When Dad passed away unexpectedly, there was a group of friends from church that came to the house. They answered the phone, set out the food for meals and cleaned up after us. I don’t know how we could have managed without their kindness.

When Dad died in October, the upcoming Christmas was looking to be an especially tough holiday. My friend Suzanne was a Girl Scout leader and having recently lost her mother, she knew what we faced. Imagine my surprise when I answered the door and her Girl Scout group was there caroling for us!
Most recently, when Mike’s dad was in the hospital, my friend Vickie brought us a rather large basket of goodies, ranging from pretzels, chips, candy, crackers, etc.. food to eat on the go. It all came in so handy. Many times those treat basket snacks were our only meal. And Maurine brought us some of her Cowboy cookies, complete with bottled water and napkins, which also was a nice meal. Now that is thoughtful!

And of course, Sarah, Ryan's girlfriend took the time to find out what Mike's favorite dessert was and made it for him on Father's Day. How sweet!

The best portion of a good man's life.
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love. William Wordsworth

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, but are felt in the heart~Helen Keller

Scarred for Life

Garry's memory for Tim's birthday, printed with Garry's permission:

About a week ago I dreamed I was running through Wal-mart with out any pants (it seemed a lot colder in the frozen food section than normal). It is good to wake up from a dream like this and realize that even though I did not have any pants on I was in bed asleep. They say that dreams of this nature are not uncommon but, I seem to end up a lot of places without my pants, I have been pantless in church, at work, the mall just to name a few. You might say I have a phobia that activates itself in my sleep. Maybe this is called nopantphobia. They also say that most phobias in people were developed at an early age. Possibily the year was around 1963. Fourteen year old Tim (the instigator) and thirteen year old Joel thought it would be funny to hang little Garry's pants on the school flag pole. Little Garry thought it was pretty funny that someones pants were on the flag pole until his big brothers told him they were his. Now he is scarred for life. Terrorism expert Tim got an early start. Graci put me up to this story . Happy Birthday Tim! Little Garry's sisters used to dress him up like a girl when he was little but that is another story for someone elses birthday.

Tacky Christmas Sweater Party

Garry with his prize for winning the best tacky 'guy' sweater.

Maurine and Andy: Andy as the guy from the Christmas Vacation movie complete with moose glass.

Karaoke Time!

Ryan, Jared, Austin

Sarina and Jeanie
Little Sarina was adorable and was content to be passed around to everyone. (Keely and Scottie with baby Sarina.)

James showing off his reindeer sweater.

Garry wearing the tackiest 'guy' sweater complete with Christmas tie!

Maurine and Jim hosted a Tacky Christmas Sweater Party last night. We had lots of fun, great food, and wacky fashion. Garry won the tackiest sweater for the guys complete with his toilet glasses and I won for the girls. Sorry Kim, since I wore your sweater! but it was the combination of the sweater, earrings and my lacy socks worn outside of my boots that did it for the total tacky look.

Sorry for the mismatched captions, I couldn't get them to stay where I put them!

A Real Treat!

Do you remember your first real piece of jewelry or your first bottle of real perfume? I do! In the early 70s, my oldest brother Tim was in Marine boot camp in Quantico, Virginia. He sent each of his three sisters a necklace and (probably the next year) a bottle of perfume. The perfume I got was L'Air du Temps by Nina Ricci. I bought a bottle of this yesterday, just for old time's sake. It smells so good.
The necklace pictured is the one that I received. I don't remember if we got to chose which one we wanted or if they were marked. I may have chosen this because I liked the color, but it is Janice's birthstone.

Thanks Tim for thinking of your little sisters, all those years ago!