In the Presence of Princesses

I got to spend today with a couple princesses. The Children's Theater performed "Beauty and the Beast Jr." at The Taft today, and my almost 3-yr-old Claire and 4-1/2 (NOT 4!) year old Sylvia were my guests. These girls are all about princesses and were more than a little excited to get to wear their princess attire outside of Grammy's house or their own homes. They got to go OUT as princesses, and no boys allowed, and what could be better! Some think this is silly and just too "girly" and teaches them to wait for their knight in shining armor to sweep them away to a wonderful world of castles and kingdoms -- and I say let them be princesses while they can. They live in castles and the grammyvan is their carriage and we drove through the "forest" on our way to the show. These are princesses with imaginations and giggles and twirls and all that is good in little girl world. They will learn soon enough that the world doesn't work like that, but when you are almost 3 and 4-1/2 (NOT 4!), the world is all nice and pretty and full of wonder and joy. Let them imagine and dream and play make-believe all they want. There is a whole life time to face the real world, but not this day, not while in the presence of Princesses, riding in Grammy's carriage through the enchanted forest on our way to the castle to see Beauty and the Beast. Soak up the enchantment while you can, and enjoy every minute of it. I sure did.

Kind and Gentle

Eunice Humbert was kind and gentle, and she died today. She was 92, in a nursing home and pretty much out of it for well over a year. So her passing is a blessing, as she is now with her God and with the love of her life, Jack. But all day I've been thinking of her and the years I had with her. She was my first mother-in-law, and I loved her dearly. I was 19 when I met her, and she was truly my second mother. I grew up with her. I think back on all the times I did stupid stuff as a young wife, and then a new mom, and she never, ever criticized, ever. Because that was Eunice. Kind and gentle. I remember I always wanted to be like her; I always hoped that some day when we had kids, I would be a mom like her. But I wasn't. Because Eunice was quiet and calm, and that's not in my genes. My family is loud, and opinionated, and laughs loud and yells loud. So I could never hold a candle to sweet, calm, gentle Eunice. But even though I couldn't BE like her, I learned so much from her. I used to relish our conversations over doing the dishes. She was just so easy to talk to, and I felt like I could confide in her about anything. She just had a way of making you feel better. Going to see Eunice was like going to a spa -- her home just had a calm aura about it. If you were stressed walking in, by the time you left you felt like everything would be okay. I used to love just sitting in her calm surroundings. She adored her husband, and loved her kids and grandkids. I think back and remember when she'd get mad at my then husband over stupid stuff he did, all she'd say was "Oh, Mike!", and that was it. She'd be giggling again in a matter of minutes, because she just couldn't stay mad, at anyone. She found good in everyone, and she never, ever spoke badly of anyone. She was a devout Christian and watched PTL and Oral Roberts (the Joel Osteen of the 70s); we think she probably built Oral Roberts University with all the money she sent him. I was so lucky that even after the divorce, Eunice was my support. She never abandoned me, and I knew she loved me as much as I loved her. And she loved her son fiercely, and she loved his new wife. And it was all okay because she had plenty of love to go around. And all of us over all these years were truly blessed that we all got to be in her world. I will never, ever forget her and the kind of person she was and the kind of life she led. Kind and gentle.

Been a little busy....

Well, maybe lazy. I was just reading my old posts and can't believe it's been 3 years since I've written anything. I really wanted this to be something I'd do at least occasionally, so I'm going to give it another try, and maybe find something to write about at least monthly. For now, I just want to do a quick catch up on what's been going on. When I left off, we had 2 grandkids, and now we have 6! We simply adore Charlie (5), Sylvia (4), Claire (almost 3), Margot (2) Alex (7 months), and little Albert (3 months). We love spending time with them and are so lucky that their parents let us have that time. Jenny is still at FlipDaddy's and recently got a dog. Matt is now a Financial Planner and father of 3. Jenn is a nurse working part time. Rachael has been teaching for ten years already, and Sylvain lost his teaching job over a year ago and now works for Google at home and stays with the kids. Jordan is still in Louisville, and just this week starting working for Amazon. We've been on a couple nice trips in the past few years; an Alaskan Cruise with friends, Nancy and Denny Goebel 2 years ago. And last year we took all the kids and grandkids to Hilton Head. Jay lost his job in April 2013, worked a couple part time jobs, then after a year landed another sales job with WestMed. It's nice having our "normal" income back and leading the life we were used to. I'm going to try to put a few pictures on here and just leave it at that... Happy Fall!!