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A Comforting Message
Posted On 05-23-2009 , 12:56 AM
A Comforting Message
Dear Diary
 Memorial Day Weekend is generally considered the beginning of summer vacation time when school is out or soon will be. It's when we kick-off our shoes, go barefooted, wear shorts or shorten our skirts and head for the campgrounds, fishing ponds and beaches. That's the fun part on which to build memories.
There are other memories, too; sad thoughts as we remember those no longer with us, for one reason or anther. So we pull up our boot straps and steel ourselves with the resolve that life must go on ... just as they would want us to "get on with it."
 The original memorial observances began when returning soldiers and families decorated gravesites of Civil War casualties. Later it was known as Decoration Day and May 30 became the official date of commemoration. It was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action and known as Memorial Day. Now we honor those casualties on the last Monday in May.
It's not surprising that over time, our non-military families and friends use the occasion to honor their own members who are no longer with them. They are out of sight, but not out of mind.
The following parable is a comforting message for all of us - grown-ups and kids alike. This is an opportune time to teach kids about how to handle the loss of a family member, friend, or even a pet. We miss them and are surrounded by memories of them. We need only look out our windows, visit favorite places, walk familiar paths to be reminded of their real legacies and that they are still with us in spirit. We hope this parable is a comforting message for any losses in your family - past, present, and future.
A Parable of Immortality
"I am standing here upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the
morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says, ‘There she goes!’
"Gone where? Gone from my sight – that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as when she left my side and just as able
to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says, ‘There she goes!’
there are other eyes watching her coming and
other voices ready to take up the glad shout, 'Here she comes!'"
~ Henry Van Dyke
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Now and Then
Posted On 03-14-2009 , 9:35 PM
Dear Diary
I just wrote an article about Bakugan the anime action adventure series. It reminded me of when my kids were growing up and how times have changed. Now (according to a forum I saw recently), and much to the consternation of some moms, their little tykes are running through their homes shouting the battle cry, "Bakugan Battle. BRAWL!"
Back when one of our little tykes (the one who is now past the mid-point of his life) strutted thru the house with a raccoon cap on his head, he proudly sang "Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier." He did carry a handmade wooden rifle over his shoulder in case he came upon a bear back then. (We were living on a military base in Fairbanks, Alaska then, too; I felt quite protected.) So things haven't changed too much in that regard; but, they sure have in the types of heroes, vocabulary, and styles, etc . . .
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. . . and the hairdos. Now (actually a couple years ago) at a family function a teenage relative showed up with a spiked "do" and another time the same teenager was in "Goth." Then, I thought, "Oh my gosh, she's gone over to the dark side. Not so. She was and is a lovely young lady, an excellent student from a fine family, and headed for college in the fall.
Fooled you, didn't I, Dear Diary? I bet you thought I was talking about a male student, smoking funny stuff, skipping class and flunking out of school. I think that's called stereo-typing. That's a no-no. ^.^
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Here's a Thought
Posted On 02-18-2009 , 2:42 AM
Dear Diary,
 I was working on another article for the website over the weekend and trying to think of situations where families could increase their bonding opportunities. You know, mother and teenage daughter, father and teenage son or vice versa. And I thought of the times I used to do jigsaw puzzles - still love to do them, just don't have much time anymore. I remembered how natural it was to chat when one of the kids joined me at the table as we pieced the puzzle together, chatting away - relaxed and unpressured - catching up on one another's day. What a perfect and natural opportunity for family members to experience that closeness we all treasure. 
So here's a suggestion. Find an area (in or near the kitchen, if you can); where you can lay out the puzzle pieces on a table that family members can work on as opportunity presents itself. It's a hobby you can leave to stir the pot or check the oven and come back to as time permits. It'll always be there when you get back to it and who knows who'll drop by and chat awhile. ^.^
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