Like most parents, I have many photographs of my children around the house. A few months ago, I woke one morning and my eye landed on a studio portrait of my three children together at ages, 12, 5 and 2 respectively. I love the picture. My oldest was on the cusp of becoming a teenager, with new braces on her teeth, my son is grinning in his own particularly mischevious way. The youngest with her huge brown eyes and bowl shaped haircut, looking very cute. I realized that I have only one other photograph of them together, taken at my niece's wedding in Birmingham, Alabama about five years ago. So on Easter Sunday I told my husband that he had to take their picture together, because it isn't so often anymore that they are all in the same place! He obliged and I was thrilled with the results. I gave my oldest daughter a copy and she put it on her refridgerator with a magnet. One day when I was visiting, she told me that her boss, who grew up in foster homes had come into her kitchen to fill up his water bottle at the sink. Turning around, he spied the photograph on the fridge. He walked over to it and exclaimed, "just look at that picture! Three great looking kids, together, still in touch with each other. Your parents must be so proud"!
I am proud of them. Now each one of them has contributed their share to all the gray in our hair. The oldest has had her share of chronic health problems, our son has been in several serious accidents and got into trouble running with the wrong crowd. The youngest went through a tumultous, rebellious teenager period. The son has just moved back home temporarily. The youngest has completed three years of college and is moving back home to attend nursing school. I've been praying for a calm period.
On MY refridgerator, there is a copy of an old Family Circus cartoon. It is titled: Before You Can Turn Around. It portrays the parents in the center of the picture at various ages looking a little bewildered. On the left are their four young children playing with their toys. On the right side, the phantom figures of the same four kids are young adults leaving home as older Mom waves goodbye and Dad looks perplexed. I laminated it and kept it to remind me that childhood is indeed short although it doesn't seem so as you endure it on a daily basis!
I love the song in the movie, Fiddler On the Roof, in which the lyrics ask"Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy at play? I don't remember growing older. When did they? When did she grow to be a beauty? When did he get to be so tall? Wasn't it yesterday when they were small? Sunrise, sunset swiftly fly the years. One season following another laden with happiness and tears."
It hasn't been easy at all. But I am blessed.
8 comments:
Even tho you don't have a current post, I am writing to you after reading your post on Vee's blog. Just wanted you to know that I'm in complete agreement with you. My husband won't watch the debates either. We've got our minds made up which way we're going and it's NOT with Obama. He scares me. He's way too cool and charismatic. He's got way too many questionable contacts, etc. The liberal media and all the programs that you're talking about (Oprah, etc) make me sick. Just think about all the young minds out there who are voting for the first or second time and they are so eager to do so, and yet they are being brainwashed by the media. McCain is not perfect either, but I am not afraid of him. He's a good American soldierboy who I think wants what's best for his country (and has proven it over and over), not what's best for himself and his party. This is the most important election in my lifetime I do think. I'll be glad when it's over. I pray that God's will be done and that He will have mercy on us. And I also pray that there IS a silent but strong majority out there who will rise to the challenge and not allow the cool, charismatic charm to overcome. Lord help us if we don't stand up to it. Vickie
Loved your comment on Vee's blog. I too have given up Oprah in all forms.
Not only do we share a love of James Herriot, we also love Family Circus. Bill Keane sure hits it on the head and out of the park with every comic strip. I've just spent a pleasant time at www.familycircus.com.
Anyway, I see that Vickie beat me to it, but I wanted to thank you very much for your visit and your excellent comment. I think that you could enter the fray at any point! Excellent points all.
Oh, and I gave on Oprah years ago. The View went out the window some years ago, too. Joy Behar...*shudder.*
Oops, that would be Bil not Bill Keane. That guy was born in 1922! Amazing...
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Kim
A wonderful post! And yes, they grow up all too fast! LOL!
As to the marble countertops -- they are NOT honed. As to cleaning, I am not kind to them but neither am I kind to my island which is a 100 plus year old piece of marble from the kitchen where I used to work. I must be honed because it is not polished unless the polish wore off over all those years!
I use dish soap on them and I use cleaner on them -- sometimes a soap and vinegar cleaner and sometimes a commercial one (depending on what mood I'm in when I buy cleaner) --
I must say that I DO NOT want anything in my house that I have to baby -- and I had the island for a long time before I got the marble on the counters and although I had read (and a store told me) that marble was "fussy", I really don't find it so. I do LOVE it! But if you are picky, then perhaps marble is not for you!
As to the butcher block, I got that piece at IKEA for about $40!
Martha
In the intervening years between posts, there must have been a whole lot of living going on and you are definitely a writer. Who's going to tell those stories if not you? I also miss The Stickhorse Cowgirls very much and hope that you are both doing well.
I just want to thank you for dropping by a number of times in the past many weeks. I so appreciate the prayers. As the song says "life is hard and it may not get easier..."
All good things to you...
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