The Gift of Life

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Life is a fleeting gift like a bouquet of roses, sweet smelling, blooming with vibrancy for a short time, yet gone with the wink of an eye.  I learned this life-lesson at the age of fourteen after having a near-death experience with asthma.  I saw life pass me by again at the age of twenty-two when my young husband died of melanoma.  Many never learn the fragility of life.  It pierced me again when I gave up a little boy for adoption and again when my daughter had her first diagnosis of melanoma.  Life rolled over me when my young nephew died of an overdose, leaving behind a two-year old.  Emptiness and despair cradled me after two divorces…the death of relationships and love, the waste of years and tears.  Most see the gift disappear when the reality of losing a parent strikes.  That precious gift gets unwrapped and enjoyed for such a short time.  Friends go on to their heavenly rewards.  Your first high school romance leaves the earth behind.  Homes are dismantled and packed up. Precious relics of the past are sold or given away.  Memories become your best friends. You buy your last car.  You make your will. You wonder where the time went.  Life slows to a card game or a movie on TV.  When it’s bedtime, you recall your childhood prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep; if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

At seventy, life has been played. I have my eyes on things above.  Eternity is the gift that Christ has given me.  It will never die or wilt away.  Joy will be forevermore.  My family and friends I’ll see once more, and I’ll stroll the streets of gold with saints of old.

Make sure you have used your gift wisely and lovingly, but the best is yet to come.  I pray you are ready and sure your name is in the book of life.

God Bless!Image

Are you in a bird cage?

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Are you in a bird cage?

Good Monday to you! Do you feel like you are in a bird cage with people always looking at you? If you feel that way, think of yourself in a beautiful oriental birdcage like this one in Old Town, Wichita, Kansas! Remember to look your best and be ready for photos! A bird cage is not so bad. Think of all the little lost birds outside who are tossed in the wind. You are safe!
Have a great MondAY!

Kentucky Derby Day…Ladies get on those hats!

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Kentucky Derby Day...Ladies get on those hats!

Picture of me and one of my creations. I made a new one this week, and I’ll try to get a photo to show you. I love to decorate hats and purses…sort of a hobby of mine. I am driven to create something all the time. That is another reason I write! Anyway…Sat is the Derby and all the ladies get out their biggest, prettiest, most unusual hats to wear. Don’t forget yours!!

Storms of Life

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The images on TV of the past week of weather damage are just horrible.  I feel so sorry for all the people who have lost someone or a pet or their homes/cars/property, etc.  The power of pictures is just amazing.  My heart races just watching the aftermath pictures.  I am a survivor of hurricanes and tornadoes and I understand how you feel.  I relive my own horrors when I watch what you have been through.  I am asking God to bless you and restore what has been taken from you.  Remember that God is always with you even in the bad times.  If I had the money, I’d send all of you a million dollars.  With that money I would expect you to recuperate first with a vacation and then rebuild or move on to a safer location and rebuild.  I moved from Mississippi because of the hurricane damage and the strong tornadoes.   I still love Mississippi, but not the storms. To my friends in all the damaged states, I send my love and encouragement.  I hope you are safe. I am saying prayers for all of you.

Take care of yourselves and may God watch over you and bless you beyond all your imaginations.

God Bless

Alaska by land and sea

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I took this picture a few years back when I visited Alaska on a tour both by land and by sea.  It was a fantastic two week adventure that I’ll never forget. Alaska is a wild, wonderful place to visit. Everything there is bigger and better than anywhere else on Earth.  I saw grizzly bears, eagles, caribou, mountain sheep, and even a huge moose.If you get a chance to visit, it’s worth every bit of your time and money!  Enjoy!

Alaska by land and

My Mother, My Friend

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My Mother, My Friend

This is a photo of my mother about 8 years ago. She used to come to the campus with me once a week and file. She is putting new tests in my testing manual. Mother loved to keep busy and she was until the last three years of her life. She was a classy lady with lots of talents like writing poetry, organizing events at church, and of course her job at Savings Bonds Division of the Treasury. She used to travel all over the US and teach payroll clerks how to do Savings Bonds deductions. I miss her. She died of Alzheimer’s, a cruel disease of the mind.

Writers Write!

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Writers Write!

This is the cover of 1 of 4 Text books I wrote when I was Ann Hill for DBCC and my HS classes. Since then I have written one other text book with another author and two children’s lap books. Right now I am looking for publisher for my next two books…From There to Eternity: A Believer’s Story of Survival with reflections by her daughter and Milligan Mayhem, a short mystery novelette that takes place in the 1960’s at Milligan college, my Alma mater. Look for them soon. I may publish with PublishAmerica again.

Looking for Paradise on Earth?

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Thought I’d tell you a little bit more about this Independent Living Place at the Isles of Vero Beach.  We are located about 2 miles from I95 and about 12 min. from the ocean.  Our complex is huge…like four buildings all connected, three stories high.  All the apartments have a sun porch.  Some of the porches are enclosed like mine, but some on the first floor have screened in porches with a little patio area.  The apartments are really spacious and cute.  Our apartment has one huge bedroom with walk in closet and a full bath.  We also have a den which houses an extra single bed, three curio cabinets, a chair, lamp, and my computer desk/etc.  There is a door to this room but no closet.  The den also has a large window and a door to the patio.

Our sunroom is really nice.  It holds another single bed, a desk (with my doll house on it), a table and lamp, and my c-pap equipment on one end on a table.  The entire room has windows!  there is also a huge storage area that could hold a washer and dryer, or you could use it as a storage room like we do.  There is free laundry with washers and dryers on each floor.

We have another full bath with shower, a full kitchen (mine has room for a table and chairs and a baker’s rack.)  Our living room/dining room is one big area.  Since we eat all our meals downstairs in our dining room, we have a drop leaf table and four chairs available if we want to have company for cards/games.  We usually just use the card room for that.

I really enjoy it here and stay very busy.  I am the new President of the residents’ association that meets together with all the people once a month.  I also teach a Bible Study on Tuesday nights and I host a story telling session on Sat. afternoons when different people here tell us about their life story.  It’s a lot of fun and everyone who comes enjoys it.  This Sat. we are having a couple tell about Madagascar…where they lived for awhile in the Peace Corp! Frank and I play cards/Mexican train with them once a week and they have an interesting story to tell.

I also stay busy with exercise (bike in our gym). On Thurs. we go to a home group from church. We spend about two hours at church on Sundays.  It’s a great Vineyard Christian church which has awesome music!

We enjoy entertainment at least once a week, root beer floats on Wed. afternoons, wii bowling (our team bowls on Fridays), horse racing on Wed., Bingo three nights a week, craft classes on Monday afternoon (this week we’re making Kentucky Derby hats to wear to our Kentucky Derby party), and other things that happen for special holidays.

We have a chapel and service three times a month with communion once a month.  We also have a beauty parlor with three hairdressers and a nail tech.Image  The pool is open year round and is heated.  We have water aerobics twice a week from April to Oct. We have a bus that is available for dr. appt. and shopping trips.  We also have a car that is available, too. You really don’t need a car here.

If you are considering retirement, this is a great place to live…We have folks from 65 to 102 !! We even have an apartment or two for rental when we have lots of company.  Small charge includes meals.  Sounds like paradise, doesn’t it? It sure seems like it each week when someone vacuums, cleans the toilets, and changes the linens!!

God Bless!

Anyone Hungry?

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Isles at Vero Beach 027

Just a short blog before dinner tonight.  At the Isles we are on a tight schedule..breakfast=8am, lunch=12noon, supper=5 pm….

You have to be there when serving begins because there is a process…first, out comes one tray on wheels that brings in am…hot cereals…lunch…the drinks and salads, and supper…the hot soup…So if you miss that opportunity, it’s gone!

Supper is usually light fare…sandwiches/salads and soup.  Of course we have dessert two times a day, which is great.  We are offered ice cream at lunch and supper…great choices=mint choc. chip, butter pecan, strawberry, choc., vanilla, and sherbet….

The food here is fantastic.  First off, I don’t have to do the grocery shopping anymore…or hauling it all inside and putting it all away!!

Then..no cooking…no clearing the table…no washing the dishes…I tell you the truth!  The meals are varied and the chef is fantastic.  We have a food committee who takes issues to the chef once a month.

The other great thing about the food is the alternate choice.  For example, today at lunch we had pollack or we could have chicken Marcella..We also get a potato/rice/sweet potato and a vegetable…hot bread/rolls…and dessert…We can order half, regular, or large order, also.

Well, all this is making me hungry.  I only had a jello salad and vegetables for lunch..too much breakfast today.  NOW I am hungry!

God Bless!

Seventy is not for sissies…

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Word to the Wise:  if you are a computer user and seventy, make sure you have the money to put into old hardware and new software.

I am having major problems and cannot access Internet frequently..so..no new blogs until I figure out whether or not to buy a new computer or go without.

God Bless.