We Came, We Saw, We Celebrated

Neither rain, nor mud, nor heat, nor humidity, deterred 90 people from celebrating my parents' 60th wedding anniversary party this past Saturday.

I don't have pictures, yet, but when I do, I will post a few. In the meantime, here is one of the tribute letters to my great parents:



Happy Anniversary Meadie-Peadie and MarionBelle:

There is a popular saying that the only consistent thing in life is change, but whoever said it didn't know Meade Vernon and Marion Cecelia Rowe. For me and many more people within your realm of influence, you have been the most consistent element in our lives.

It is because of your 60-year commitment and devotion to each other, your children, and your community that so many of us can gather here today to say thank you for your caring, compassion, faith, humor, and wisdom.

Who among us could forget the Meadisms that prepared us for life. Sage words like:

1) "Money don't grow on trees."
2) "You can please some of the people some of the time; none of the people none of the time. But you will never please all of the people all of the time."
3) "This too shall pass."
4) "You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip."
5) "When your 18, you're on your own."

Or how about Daddy's wise sayings that helped us learn to set boundaries:

1) "My name is Bennett and I ain't in it." Or
2) "My name's Bess and this ain't my mess!"

And didn't we all believe Mommy when she said:

1) "I've got eyes behind my back." Or
2) "What you do in the Dark will come out in the Light!"

Haven't we all been inspired by Mommy's faith:

1) "Where there is a will, there is a way."
2) "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
3) "But for the grace of God, there go I."
4) "We walk by faith, not by sight."
5) "God can do any thing but fail."
6) "Hold on to God's unchanging hand."

You have led not only by word, but foremost by example. In your offspring, you have planted the seeds and continually watered the seeds, and today, I hope you can see the fruit of your love and labor.

Happy Anniversary, Mommy and Daddy. Peace, Love, and Joy, YaYa

Time to Play

We don't stop playing
because we grow old;
we grow old
because we stop playing.
--George Bernard Shaw







I'm on vacation with Buddy. I'll be back on Monday, August 24, 2009.

Learning to Let Go

G.K. Chesterton once wrote: "Angels fly because they take themselves lightly." If that's true, I recently decided, I'd better start letting go of some stuff or I'm never going to earn my wings.

So, in good faith, I packed 30 grocery bags of books and magazines this summer and donated them to the library. It was not easy. In fact it was excrutiating. I am from the "you-can-tell-a-lot-about-a-person-from-her-bookshelves" school of thought, and had amassed a library to represent me.

I lamented over every title: from a book of Christopher Robin's prayers to a copy of E.B. White's Charlotte's Web; from Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice to Alice Walker's The Color Purple; from John Gray's Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus to Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which I've never read, by the way. But I planned to.

Just like I planned to put six shoe boxes of photos into albums, organize my cassettes in alphabetical order, paint my toenails--10 different colors; make homemade granola and yogurt, sew a quilt from old pairs of blue jeans, feng shui every room in my home, earn an advanced degree in at least two more subjects, and earn a million dollars before I retire.

All well-intentioned plans; all out-dated. This is what I discovered as I cleared my book shelves. I am surrounded by stuff that screams "Do me, do me, do me;" none of which I am motivated to accomplish because they represent former versions of myself. Its akin to holding onto size eight clothes when you know damn well the closest to an eight you will ever get again is your shoe size.

So now the boxes of photos have been winnowed down to two; the cassettes have been dumped; not so difficult to do when I realized I no longer own a cassette player and doubt that they are manfuctured any longer. If I paint my nails once a year I am lucky, and trying to reach my toenails is a strain, anyway, so I trashed the nail polish. Why bother making homemade yogurt when I don't like the taste of it? Afterall, its not like its chocolate pudding! The homemade yogurt maker went to the Goodwill along with the seven pairs of jeans. A blue jean quilt? What was I thinking?

I don't need to feng shui my house, I just need to simplify my surroundings.

I have enough academic degrees. I don't need to know more, I'd rather feel more.

A million dollars? Don't foresee me earning it, but I am open, open, open to receiving it from unexpected income streams. Of course, I would be willing to share. That's the only way I could travel lightly.