Friday Fragments

Thursday was Take Your Child To Work Day and thus Hope spent a few hours in his office with Brandon. She always wants to do this, but I expect she was ready to get back to school after a bit of child labor in the office. I think Take Your Child To Work Day is a good idea, but I have to wonder about how people with with no kids like it when others show up at work with their kids in tow.

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This is a short conversation my daughter heard between 5 year old EJ and a friend who had come over to play.

EJ says to her friend, "Want to play a real game?"

Friend: "What do you mean?"

EJ: "You know, one without a cartridge."

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I think that I am usually a cheerful person and that I see most things with a positive frame of mind. That being said, there are some things that bring out my cranky side. Specifically, I really, really don't like practical jokes. At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old woman, I just don't see the humor in doing something to someone else that scares, embarrasses tricks or shames them. I just don't understand the "gotcha" element of getting a laugh at someone else's expense.

While I'm at it, I also get a little crotchety when the weather reporters feel the need to tell me that I need a jacket or an umbrella or that I need to leave early on a snowy day. If I can't figure those things out from a straight report of weather conditions I have bigger problems than being grumpy.

Okay, I'm back to being cheerful and positive now.....thanks for listening.

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Running to Help

There has been a a lot written about both the horror and the heroism following the bombings at the Boston Marathon. The thanks and praise that have gone out to all levels of the law enforcement community is well deserved. The group that my thoughts keep going back to are the marathon participants....the runners. The reported behavior of those whose day, in an instant, went from a day of celebration to a day of devastation is a credit to the running community. Runners who had completed the race ran back to the finish line to offer aid and comfort to the injured. There are reports that their immediate assistance saved lives.  Runners who were denied the ability to complete the race turned and continued running to the nearest hospital to offer blood donations to help the injured.  The runners, as runners often do in races big and small and in less dreadful situations, put their own circumstances aside to come to the aid of fellow runners.

I am not a runner, but I am admire those of my friends and family who are. Several of my grandchildren are aspiring runners. Three of them belong to running clubs at their schools and have participated in various races in our area. These kids may or may not have marathons in their future, but the behavior of those in the running community immediately following the horror in Boston makes me glad that it is a community that they aspire to be a part of.

Some Things That Made Me Smile

Last week was a good week and a busy week, but not a very exciting week. Even though there were no big events there were things that made me smile and a week with some smiles is a good week.

When you are 2 1/2 years old and you miss or resist your nap for a few days it is bound to catch up with you. . This picture made me smile.

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This happened about 10 miles up the road from us, but apparently it was on the news around the country. The story was not so funny but an article about it in our local paper said that the girl's parents were trying to help her look at it as a positive experience and that made me smile. 

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I was playing a pretend game with 5 yr old EJ and 2 1/2 yr old Beck this week. Some of their stuffed animals  and I had been hurt somehow and EJ and Beck were the ambulance drivers taking us to the hospital. On the way to the hospital we had to stop at Starbucks for a few lattes and some tea. I  wasn't sure whether to be disturbed or pleased that even in an "emergency" EJ and Beck kept my priorities in mind, but it made me smile.

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Our friend, 8 yr old Addison, who was diagnosed with Leukemia three years ago this month is two months away from completing a very rough three years of treatment. The words below were the fortune in a fortune cookie he got at the end of a Chinese meal recently. Seeing Addison's brave smile always makes me smile.

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Has there been something that made you smile lately?

Six Word Saturday

A question answered.....7 years later

In April, 2005, when my fisherman son found out that the baby he and his wife were expecting was a boy his first question was "I wonder how small they make waders."

Now we know.....7 year old Wil will soon be in the water with his dad looking for that big catch.

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Well, Now I Have Been to a School Reunion

The first thing that I want to say about my trip back to my home town, Tulsa, OK, and my attendance at a junior high school reunion is that I am absolutely glad that I went. The highlight of the reunion for me was reconnecting with with Susie, a very good friend from my elementary school years. She is on the left in the picture below.

Susie and Gayle

Susie and I were in the same class from kindergarten through 6th grade, took dance classes together. had many sleepovers and spent our summers at the same golf and swim club (where the Saturday night reunion event was held....a serendipity for us). Sharing memories with her and catching up on her life now as a mother, grandmother and church youth director was the best and most memorable part of the reunion for me.

There were others that it was fun to see and do some catching up with, but the surprising thing for me these many years later was that a lot of people didn't seem too interested in visiting with anyone that wasn't a part of their "group" from their school years. I'm sure that was partly because some of them still lived in Tulsa and had stayed friends or at least had some connection with each other over time. I guess I was naive to expect some of those cliquish attitudes to fall by the wayside with maturity. The good news is that it didn't  bother me like it might have many years ago. One of the things that everyone seemed to agree about was that we were all fortunate to grow up in a great place in a great time.

The other part of my short trip that was really good was staying with my cousin who lives on the street where I grew up and having time to visit with him and his wife and drive around Tulsa to see things that were the same and things that had changed. This connection with family was definitely the best part of my trip.

On Sunday I went to visit my 94 year old aunt, one of two of the eight children from my mother's family who is still living. She is an absolute inspiration and role model for growing old gracefully. She still lives independently, is totally mentally connected and lives with a positive attitude that makes her a joy to spend time with.

Well, this trip is done and dusted and now I am looking forward to trips to New Orleans and Hawaii in May and June. I can now say I have been to a school reunion. Time will tell how I respond to an invitation to the next one.