Gratitude - Day 30

The month of gratitude ends - and today is also the 14th anniversary of the death of our dear friend Charlie Graham.  Seems fitting to end it on this note of gratitude for a life well-lived - and a life that still influences and impacts others for good.

Rest in peace, Charlie. We miss you still!

Gratitude - Day 29

When I was a teenager, my mother recruited my sister Alice and me to help with one of the boys in her Cub Scout Den.

Later I was a Den Leader for my son Harry.

Later still I was just a Den Leader - but Harry was old enough to serve as my Den Chief.

Then I was asked to be a Den Leader for Noah.

I think I thought I was done.

But for the last 5 or 6 years, I have been the Stake Cub Master, working with two of my grandsons.

You might say I'm a lifer!

But it has mostly been a blessing.

And I am grateful for that!

Belated Birthdays!

In the crush of daily gratitude posts, I got behind in the birthday celebrations!! But happy days this month to my dad, who would have been 100 years old, to my wonderful sister Donna, to the ever irrepressible Deacon, the lovely Miss Isla - getting baptized on Saturday, and Harry W - 11 years old and growing up!!

It's tough to have a birthday at the holiday season of the year - you sometimes get neglected.  But we love all of you!!

Gratitude - Day 28

I am certainly grateful for all of our grandchildren. They are all unique individuals and I have loved getting to know them.

Your first grandchild, like your first child, holds a special spot though. 

And today I am grateful for Ara - grateful for the wonderful mission she is serving.

And grateful that she returns next month - excited to see her and hear all about it!

Gratitude - Day 27

In 2011, we lost our little grandson Jonah Adam after a brief sojourn here on earth of only 11 days.  He had been born with a serious birth defect that just wouldn't allow him to live here on earth.  We knew it before he was born and were told he might only live a few minutes or hours.

So we were grateful indeed for those precious days.

I am grateful for the blessing of eternal families - and the peace and comfort it brings.

Gratitude - Day 26

I sort of went to college by accident. I had friends who talked about it, but most of them stayed home and went to the local college.  My brother was at BYU, and he sent me an application for BYU.  I not only got accepted, I got a scholarship too.

It was one of the best decisions I ever made.  Getting a degree impacted so many aspects of my life. If I had not gone to BYU, I would never have met my husband.  If I had not gone to college and gotten a degree, I would not have worked as a school teacher.  If I had not gone to college, I would not have made a group of life-long friends who are still a major part of my life.  

A great blessing - that continues to bless my life.

Gratitude - Day 25

Alice used to make lots of my clothes - and we collaborated often on our wardrobe choices. The above dress was a favorite of mine - she made it for me the summer I got engaged. I wish I had more photos of other fave dresses and outfits.  But I am grateful for memories of favorite things in my life!!

It's good to have favorites!!

Gratitude - Day 24

Years ago, Harry got serious about marathons - and after qualifying at Death Valley (in December!) he ran his first Boston Marathon.

He's run 10 or more Boston's - we have missed the last two - but the years we have gone have been great experiences.

Travel, seeing historic sights, facing tests and trials, having family join us, meeting new people, sharing important moments with each other - all blessings!

Gratitude - Day 23

Over the years, Harry and I have served in many callings in the church. And that has indeed been a blessing in our lives.  Not all callings are created equal - some seem to be more rewarding than others - but they have all added to our lives in good ways.

Harry usually served - and still does - in leadership callings - Elder's quorum presidencies, bishoprics and bishop, YM President, Stake YM President - but teaching callings and others - Gospel Doctrine, Scoutmaster.

Mine have been more diverse - Ward Librarian, Relief Society teacher, Primary teacher, Nursery leader, Cub Scout Den Leader - much later I began serving in presidencies and as a YW President, Relief Society President at the ward and stake level - and Stake YW Camp Director!!

But regardless of the calling, I have found purpose - with occasional frustration - and when released, I do miss the calling - and especially those I worked with!

Truly a blessing in my life.

Gratitude - Day 22

November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

I am not grateful for this event - but grateful for a government that was stable enough to move forward in spite of such a heinous act.

Good government is a blessing.

Gratitude - Day 21

I have 5 sisters - and 6 brothers - and I love them all - but I have a special spot in my heart for Leslie and Donna.  They went with me often to my playground job for LA Unified when I was home summers.  They often went in the car with me when I went to the market for my mom. When I came home from school to work for a semester to go to France, they hung out a lot with me.

I am grateful for those experiences being "pretend" mom with them - they were fun - and I think they taught me a thing or two!

And it created a basis for our ongoing friendship - which is a blessing too!

Gratitude - Day 20

This is the only photo I ever saw of my mom with her parents and 2 brothers - in the same photo.  Not sure why, but they didn't seem to gather as a group with photo-op moments!

I loved my aunts and uncles and my grandparents - I am grateful for their place in my life.  My past is a little richer for knowing them!

Gratitude - Day 19

I am grateful for colleagues - who made my 20 years of teaching a rewarding experience.  This does not begin to include everyone - not sure I even have photos of everyone - but what I miss in retirement is the daily association with some really great people.

Gratitude - Day 18

A couple of weeks ago, at the start of November, I started a somewhat ambitious task of  posting a daily gratitude message - on FB, IG, and my blog.  I was using the quotes in a gratitude journal I bought last February at the MOA at BYU.

It is a little tricky - I have to find the right quote, the right photo, and remember what I have already posted - even though I am certain no one is reading all three of those!

But alas, I am running out of quotes in my book - there are 25 quotes left - that means the math won't work.

So I am using up the quotes on FB and IG - and the blog will get just some generic out gratitude thoughts!

Today I am truly grateful for the opportunity I had to go to school in France for 6 months.  It was fun, enlightening, and I made some important life-long friends!

Vive la France!

Gratitude - Day 17

Anne Lamott, a delightful author I recently became acquainted with, said "Every time I see the bumper sticker that says 'We think we're humans having spiritual experiences, but we're really spirits having human experiences,' I (a) think it's true and (b) want to ram the car."

The above photo was taken when I was pregnant and ill with Hannah.  Every baby has been worth the weeks of feeling awful - but you still have weeks of feeling awful.  Is that a human having a spiritual experience or a spirit having a human experience?

I am grateful for all the experiences that have made up my life - spiritual and human - but I certainly hope there is not a spiritual equivalent of morning sickness!

Gratitude - Day 16

Unfortunately, I have no photos of any fools - even if I did, it might not be circumspect to post such a photo with that designation!!

But Mark Twain once said - and it sounds exactly like something he would say - "Let us be thankful for the fools.  But for them the rest of us could not succeed."

And I am grateful for contrast - and for the mistakes of others that make us look smart - but also teach us something important too!

Gratitude - Day 15

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wisely observed, "For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining, is to let it rain."

Lots of ways to take this injunction.  To my way of thinking, it means to make the best of whatever it is that life is offering you.

I am thankful for that advice - and thankful for rain - whenever it comes!

Gratitude - Day 14

A.A. Milne said, "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

I found this photo - says 1969 - and it looks like Joan, Lyn, myself, and Charles are not in the photo.  I'm pretty sure we did not come home for Christmas that year - maybe Charles was still in the mission field - and Lyn and Joan were married and living away.

At the time, saying goodbye didn't seem hard - but at times when I reflected on where everyone else in the family was and where I was, I would recall holiday times - and feel a bit of melancholy.

And it is indeed gratifying to be fortunate enough to have something you miss when you don't have it!

Gratitude - Day 13

John Baldessari, once again someone I have never heard of, said, "Luckily, I'm blessed with a well-developed sense of absurdity - it's what saved me."

These two photos are from our trip to Paris 25 years ago - to celebrate our 25th anniversary. It was not so much absurd as kind of odd - middle of March, cold and gray, our finances not really up for a "Grand Tour," but we found bargain tickets and said, "Hey, let's go."

And we had a fine time - one I remember in great detail.

Grateful indeed.

Gratitude - Day 12

Mark Frauenfelder said, "I think I'm the happiest I've ever been.  Part of it is just learning what makes me happier and doing more of it, and learning what makes me unhappier and doing less of it.."

So grateful for a great family - willing to gather often - this makes me happy!! 

Not sure what makes me unhappy - but I'm pretty good about avoiding what I don't like!!

Gratitude - Day 11

Getting behind in my posting - I post daily on FB, IG, and the blog - and try to make them all different - gets confusing at times - but at other times I like the freedom to discuss different outlooks.

Anyway, the visual says 2009, but it's all good - thanks to all the veterans - not just on November 11th, but all year long!

Gratitude - Day 10

Robert Frost, American poet, said "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."

Lines we are all familiar with - and Annika and I were not choosing a path when this photo was taken - but the various choices we have made in life have certainly determined where we are now..

I am grateful that most of my choices have been good ones - and that those choices have made such a good difference!

Gratitude - Day 9

The children's book author Maurice Sendak said, "It is a blessing to get old.  It is a blessing to find the time to do the things, to read the books, to listen to the music."

These women didn't necessarily sit around reading and listening to music, but they were always doing - and it was usually something important and significant - at least to their families.

Growing old is not for sissies - and that's not just a catch phrase.  It is tough to face the encroaching years - the aches, the pains, the limitations, the hindrances. 

But the passing of years gives you a certain amount of freedom that youth just does not enjoy.

I think you have be getting older to understand that.

And aren't we all getting older?

But I am grateful to have had these women in my life - for the lessons I learned from their advancing years and how they faced them.

And I hope I can apply what I learned!

Gratitude - Day 8

Nathanael West said, "Art is One of Life's Richest Offerings.  For those who have not the talent to create, there is appreciation."

We have friends - two in particular - who are fine artists.  And their work has graced the walls of our homes for many years.  And it is a blessing. One we are grateful for!

Gratitude - Day 7 - Thanks for a great dad!

Gertrude Stein - someone my father would have scratched his head at - said, "Anything one does every day is important and imposing and anywhere one lives is interesting and beautiful."

I am grateful for a dad who went to the shop everyday and worked hard to support his family.  I am grateful for a dad who took us to church every Sunday.  I am grateful for a dad who came home for dinner every night.  I am grateful for a dad who plugged away, every day. And it was all important - to us anyway.

And I am grateful for the beautiful life my dad provided for me!

Gratitude - Day 6

Pema Chodron said, "Appreciate everything, including the ordinary."  These words ring true to me - and when I think of Harry's Aunt Dorothy, I think she is the perfect example of someone who appreciated the ordinary.  She always had a smile - even as she was complaining about someone or something, you got the sense that she was happy to be alive to complain about it!!

There's a lesson here. And when I posted the photo, I noticed that Genieve is there is the corner.  And Genieve was also someone who truly appreciated everything that life had to offer.  She was limited in so many physical ways, but she always had a laugh and a smile for you.

I am trying to learn from this little foray into the world of gratitude!

Gratitude - Day 5

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I  love the Sunday Morning. I hail it from afar. I wake with gladness & a holiday feeling always on that day."

The only Sunday morning photos I can find are Easter photos - but you get the point. Over the years Sunday mornings have meant different things.  As a child, it meant being ready on time and for me, helping a younger sibling get ready too. My dad did not tolerate tardiness well at all - he'd honk the horn - and leave you stranded if you didn't get right out there! (We always got right out there - not sure what he would have done if someone was actually tardy!)

As a young married it was a lazy, languid time.  As a young mom, it was pretty hectic and busy.  When the block plan began, it could be lazy too if we were on the 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. time slot.  We are the only ward in the building now, but we still always meet at 9.  But I don't have little ones - and even when we have the grandkids or something, it doesn't seem to be too hectic!

When I had busy callings that necessitated attending early Sunday morning meetings, it meant rising early.  When I was going out to my mom's on Sundays, it meant rising early, but the drive to the Valley with no traffic was quite pleasant.  When I was taking Helen to church it was not always pleasant - sometimes Helen was difficult. But we usually made it.

Now Harry is almost always gone before I am even up.  Sunday mornings are quiet and slow. The whole day can be quiet and slow, because Harry has meetings and appointments.  Sometimes I feel lonely, but not often - I can always keep myself entertained - reading, napping, writing letters, visiting teaching - there is always plenty to do.

So I may not get a "holiday feeling" on Sunday.  But I do count it a blessing in my life!

Gratitude - Day 4

John F. Kennedy said, "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them."

Grateful to live with a man who lives by the words he utters! And has thus encouraged me to do the same. 

Together we are a team - for which I am grateful also!

Gratitude - Day 3

Marianne Williamson said, "Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things are."

I have no idea who Marianne Williamson is, but she's right!

Helen was always striving for an eternal family. And when that goal was achieved, many good things happened. Then sorrow and sickness intervened - but things were still good, because the family is forever.

Happy 4th Birthday to the lovely Miss Rhoda!

This sweet girl is 4 today!! I vividly recall my first night with her - she was not settling down for her novice parents. I suggested that I take her to the living room with me - I was sleeping on a blow up mattress.  It was winter cold in Washington DC - and I was pretty sure she was cold! So I snuggled in on the couch, and snuggled her with me - and she dozed right off!

I recall my mother telling stories about the nights she spent with Bonny right after she was born.  She would bring Bonny to me to feed her, then she would take her out to the living room.  Four hours later, she would bring her back.  She always said she and Bonny had forged a special relationship on those nights!

And I think she did - because I feel like I have had the same kinds of experiences with my grandchildren. In myriad ways, we have connected - and those connections weave a special fabric that endures.

 

Miss Rhoda and I continue to have good experiences together - and it doesn't get much better than that!

 

Happy Birthday to you - may the day be special and the year ahead be wonderful!

Gratitude - Days 1 and 2

In the Terrill family favorite,  Holiday Inn,  der Bingle croons, "I've got plenty to be thankful for." And I do indeed have plenty to be thankful for.  In fact, as I was reflecting today, I realized that I am truly blessed - and if I complain, I am truly being ungrateful.  That doesn't mean that everything is hunky-dory.  But it does mean that I should probably pause a moment before I start grousing!

I was born of goodly parents, have a passel of great siblings, was able to attend the college of my choice, married a fine man, to whom I have been married for almost 50 years, have 6 great kids who each have a wonderful spouse, and they have given us 22 beautiful grandchilden.

We have a lovely home in a lovely town.  We belong to a church that gives purpose and meaning to our lives. We are healthy and strong.  We have many opportunities to serve.  We are both retired, but we have meaningful work to do each day.

John Wooden, famed UCLA basketball coach, said, "If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier." There is a lot of food for thought here - and I think I will start eating!