First, a big HAPPY 35th to my good friend, Becky, up in northern Michigan. I hope you have a great day and remember......35 is still a very long, long, LONG way from 40! I hope you got lots of pampering, surprises and love today. Your gift is still sitting on my table waiting to be taken to the post office; hopefully tomorrow!! You know what it is, anyway, so get those new photos ready! Consequently, I just realized that this is also my 35th posting on this blog......if I was a gambling woman, which I'm not, I might have to go and play those numbers! Here's to another 35 years and another 35 posts!
I like a nice, mild-weather day as much as the next woman, but there is something that is just WRONG, WRONG, WRONG about hanging wreaths and pine garland when it is 70 degrees outside. In fact, we no more than finished decorating our front porch before it starting thundering and ended up developing into a huge, loud thunderstorm. Nevertheless, despite the unseasonably warm temperatures, the kids and I enjoyed getting the outside of our home ready for the season. Last year, given that we had only been in our house for two months, we didn't even hang our outdoor decorations. I really, really missed coming home to a house that reflected the holiday cheer. So this year, I look forward to snow flying and coming home to a "Burl and Ives" scene. After dinner tonight, we went for a walk and had to dodge the HUGE earthworms that came out on the sidewalks after the rain.....I would think it was May if I didn't know better!
Two more days of letters of thanks. I have really enjoyed the reflection and soul-inventorying that has gone into these letters. Even though I have not been very good at sending them daily as I had originally planned, I am still glad that these feelings are documented. I still plan to get them written and sent in early December, as I again think it very important not just to think those thank-yous but to say the words to those who have meant so much. Today's letter goes out to my parents who have shaped me and influenced me in so many ways. I know that I was a very strong personality to raise, and I know that we didn't always see eye to eye, but I appreciate so much about how you raised me. How you allowed me to pursue my interests, even though they may not have been your own. How you allowed me to make mistakes and to feel the consequences of those mistakes. For all the umpteen-hundreds of ball games you sat through, cheered me on in, and brought picnics for. For encouraging me in my educational pursuits. For all the cards and care packages as I was away at college and throughout graduate school.....they may have not seemed significant when you sent them, but they meant the world to me as they kept me connected to my roots. For moving me and my belonging to Grand Rapids and to Ann Arbor and to McBain and to Lansing and to Mason and back to McBain and back to Grand Rapids and to Cadillac and to Spring Lake and to........WHEW! Now that I have two beautiful children of my own, I am gaining a better understanding of what it means to nurture, and grow, and blossom a unique human being.....holding tight, but not too tight.......helping them to discover their own unique interests and talents........feeling their pain and triumphs possibly even deeper than they do.......pouring yourself into them. Most importantly, I am so thankful for the faith heritage that you instilled in me. For emphasizing a life lived for Jesus. And now I am passing that legacy down to my own children and am so proud to see them embracing Jesus. Thank you for just being you and for loving each other and for all those times where you hugged and kissed each other in front of us kids, while we all groaned and begged for you to stop. In reality, we loved it. We loved seeing you have affection for each other. And that is so important to a child as they develop an understanding of love, relationship, marriage and commitment. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for believing in me, loving me, and giving me such a critical foundation to pursue God's calling in my own life as a woman, mother, professional, and artist. I love you both very much. I just wanted you to know.
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