FOOD FOR THOUGHT FRIDAY

My first "morsel" of thought this morning came in the form of a memory.

Making "Snow Cream" with the kids. Scooping off just the pristine tops of the flakes...

and stirring them in our "melty" ice cream, because I rarely had cream or whole milk on hand.

SNOW DAYS! For both kids and teachers those 2 words are music to their ears.

Why? 

Maybe it's God's way of slowing us all down. 

Snow from Heaven. (Isaiah 55:10)

A way of hemming us in with his "silent" beauty....

away from busyness. (Ecclesiastes 3:11a & Psalm 46:10)

A time for family.

A time to look out the kitchen window.

A shelter of sorts.

A time to focus on Him and His hand in all of creation!(Genesis 8:22)

Yummy "food for thought Friday" as I sprinkle just a tad of snow on top of my Amaretto Cherry Cordial ice cream.

CHOOSE: TO REMEMBER

The preacher in Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a time to be born and a time to die. (3:2)

Certainly it seems easier to celebrate births (neighbor, baby Ford---or impending births (Emily and Nathan’s first child due this month as well as Norman and Linda’s grandbaby, Lilly B, due in May) and years of birthdays (Almeda, 101 & Lilly, 88) than to go into houses of mourning. But funerals have outnumbered births these last 6 weeks.

In the last 5 days, two friends have buried their husbands.

The week prior, I attended visitations for daughter of one friend and mother of another friend, both of whom I had worked with in education at Shelby County. 

A few weeks before that I mourned with a family, from my hometown, who had come to Memphis for their “Debbie’s” funeral. Not only were we all from Hopkinsville, but the Drurys were former neighbors who had lived around the corner from me on Virginia St. first on Moreland Dr. and then Jimmy and Greta lived on Alumni Moreland. 

Just a few days days before, I had attended the funeral for a dad of a former student from Southwind Elementary. 

Plus, two encouragers of mine, Carolyn O. from AR and Carolyn F. from MS both “lost” their sister and sister-in-law, respectively.

But God......in His love and mercy (Ephesians 2:4) reminded me to remember. Remember the good times and be grateful that they had chosen to believe.  A lot of grieving and yet much to remember with thankful hearts. 

For most it was a relief from physical suffering and a hope for a better life in the Presence of the Lord. So much earthly loss but so much heavenly gain.

Without that, the times of remembering would be difficult. But.....because of their faith choices, my choice to remember was one of celebration!

CHOOSE: TO GO

Some choices are easier than others, as I often say.

We chose to go to Texas in the middle of the week because retirement afforded us that "time" opportunity. 

Being there with grandchildren is so much better than FaceTime or seeing the video!

So...........it was easy to choose to go! 

But God.......gave us a special memory. Watching Nathan, "from the stands," catch his first touchdown pass ever as an Allen Eagle, was a memory for a lifetime. 

CHOOSE: TO WAX NOSTALGIC

Does waxing nostalgic occur more as one ages. Certainly more years = more memories. But...it seems that "medicare" folks, in their fascination with the past, tend to "go there" more often,  than others of the younger generations. Gen-Xers and Millennials tend not to waste time "going there" in a contemplative mode, as they are too busy "living."

It isn't regretting and complaining that "life ain't what it used to be." Waxing nostalgic is an emotional journey that remembers experiences and times that gave texture to one's life.
It's like inhaling a mixture of love and sadness---a wistfulness of sorts. Event photos, cards and letters seem to breathe sadness into words as one recalls and shares her past.

Just walking by these fragrant gardenias, given to me yesterday by my dear friend Janice H., had me choosing to wax nostalgic. First my thoughts went back to my childhood days with Mama Davenport, my spiritual mentor. Then, I remembered the big gardenia bush behind our MSU faculty housing on Central where we lived when Buddy was 5 and Josh was born. All those memories shared with hubby.
Not totally painful---but a sort of bittersweet  longing.  Not necessarily a longing to return, but to remember. How special it is when one with whom you share your life has shared some of those memories. Roots and continuity of a shared relationship are such a bond.
As it says in Job 12:12, "wisdom is with aged men and with long life is understanding." When people age together, there's such a strength that results from shared understanding. "Til death do you part" altar promise.

Maybe its okay to "go there," either alone or with with another who has shared that  adventure....but not to stay there. Continuous dwelling in the  past could border on a disorder but the occasional "look back" can refresh one's today.

A refreshing reminder to celebrate moments and keep stocking up memories for future times of choosing to wax nostalgic.

Nos-TEA-algia

A good [man] leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: 
(Proverbs 13:22, KJV)

Memories can warm you from the inside out. Other memories hold the pain of loss or loneliness.
Today's arrival of my class of '64 group picture, had recent memories of that "fun" event flood my mind. But recalling those whose faces were missing from the picture, tugged at my heart.

Not only that, but the memories, from that place where so many of my yesteryears were spent, are buried deep......but not so deep that they don't surface. Family memories.

Those memories had started surfacing as we turned toward "home" at least 24 miles out. I felt them in the pit of my stomach. No longer was a family home available in "my hometown."
No longer would Daddy dance with me at my reunion as he had done just 5 years earlier. I would visit Riverside Cemetery, not 2211 South Virginia though I would drive by.

Yet, when I visited the Christian Village homes of my parents' friends, we shared memories of happy times with Mother and Daddy. Bittersweet, yet somewhat healing. I indeed had a rich inheritance and it was therapeutic as I shared and recalled special events and funny times with their friends. Sharing was a two-way street and I think each of us took a little edge off the loneliness we all felt.

Sometimes a cuppa nos-TEA-algia is easier to swallow than at other times. 

Sharing that cuppa with "old" friends helps.