We were catapulted, pushed, shoved, forced into the 2008 New Year.
We really didn't want to go. We wanted to have a do over. A rewind and let's do this a different way. A different outcome. But it could not happen.
So, we went forward.
We didn't have a plan, a focus, a direction, a vision. We just wanted to survive a life without a husband, a son-in-law, a best friend, a brother-in-law.
We've done all the "firsts". Mostly together.
A room was reinhabited, trips were taken, the families reunited frequently, tears cried, a house bought, a job secured, belongings retrived, memories reviewed, a home established, traditions begun, a kitchen and bathroom renovated, a race run, brothers and cousins held close, friendships appreciated, new friends established, and a first year without done.
This year I feel like I'm stepping lightly into 2009.
Delicately.
A whole year in front of us. A year of possibilities and potential and great expectations. But, quietly and prayerfully approached.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
A Dog and His Boy
Yeah!!!
Jon is home from St. Kitts and will be in the North Country for a couple of weeks before heading out to Oklahoma.
We lit all the candles on the porch and inside and he arrived around midnight.
Jon and Otis were reunited after being separated for six months. Hesitation at first but then a joyous reunion and refusal to leave Jon's side. Oh well, I guess I'm history now that his real owner has arrived.
The red chair is Otis's. However, when Grady is in the house he takes dominion over the chair. If they are spending the night I have to remove Grady so Otis can sleep there. That is HIS sleeping chair. Grady and Dyllan sleep on their bed in Laura's room. However, the chair is free these days. Jon is back and Otis has resumed sleeping with him on his bed!
We had a beautiful ice storm last week. It left the area blanketed with ice encrusted trees and bushes then layered with a big blanket of pure white snow. It was beautiful. I took the dogs down the avenue of the elms on St. Lawrence's campus. I wish I could capture the true beauty of landscape.
Jon is home from St. Kitts and will be in the North Country for a couple of weeks before heading out to Oklahoma.
We lit all the candles on the porch and inside and he arrived around midnight.
Jon and Otis were reunited after being separated for six months. Hesitation at first but then a joyous reunion and refusal to leave Jon's side. Oh well, I guess I'm history now that his real owner has arrived.
The red chair is Otis's. However, when Grady is in the house he takes dominion over the chair. If they are spending the night I have to remove Grady so Otis can sleep there. That is HIS sleeping chair. Grady and Dyllan sleep on their bed in Laura's room. However, the chair is free these days. Jon is back and Otis has resumed sleeping with him on his bed!
We had a beautiful ice storm last week. It left the area blanketed with ice encrusted trees and bushes then layered with a big blanket of pure white snow. It was beautiful. I took the dogs down the avenue of the elms on St. Lawrence's campus. I wish I could capture the true beauty of landscape.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
A Leahy Family Christmas
We went to the Community Performance Series Concert last night at Hosmer Hall.
The Leahy Family from Canada treated us to a wonderful night of fiddling, singing and French Canadian clog/tap dancing. It was magical!
Eight of the eleven siblings performed (three of the girls were at various stages of pregnancy so they stayed home). There were drums, a mandolin, and fiddles, a banjo, bass guitars and a grand piano. They were raised on a farm and taught to work hard, appreciate music and have fun. And it was evident that they were experts at all three. They all played a variety of instruments, they all sang and they all danced. The men were great! They travel as a family, together and with their children, and at each performance they allow one child to come out and perform with the adults. Last night the cutest little six year old did a wonderful dance!
The talent of each one of them was impressive but together they were inspiring. ( I have to confess that I was asking the Lord why that family got soooo much talent, seems like it would have been good to spread it around a bit) And they were having so much fun together and with the audience and just in general enjoying each others gifts!
Wow, what a family!
I was thinking about the church as a family again today, I guess because another first anniversary is tomorrow and I have continually sensed the love of a family this year.
In the New Testament God's people are rarely referred to as Christians or believers. They are mostly called brothers, members of a family. We are brothers together because we have the same Father. We share the same life source. And our responsibility to each other in relationship is love. It's not a spiritual gift but an outworking of character. An expression, a thoughtful gesture, an invitation, a kind word, a remembering, a putting up of storm windows yet again this year.
The church, a visual representation of a family. His family; joined together, working, worshipping, loving, grieving, sharing gifts and talents and having fun with each other and the Father.
The Leahy Family from Canada treated us to a wonderful night of fiddling, singing and French Canadian clog/tap dancing. It was magical!
Eight of the eleven siblings performed (three of the girls were at various stages of pregnancy so they stayed home). There were drums, a mandolin, and fiddles, a banjo, bass guitars and a grand piano. They were raised on a farm and taught to work hard, appreciate music and have fun. And it was evident that they were experts at all three. They all played a variety of instruments, they all sang and they all danced. The men were great! They travel as a family, together and with their children, and at each performance they allow one child to come out and perform with the adults. Last night the cutest little six year old did a wonderful dance!
The talent of each one of them was impressive but together they were inspiring. ( I have to confess that I was asking the Lord why that family got soooo much talent, seems like it would have been good to spread it around a bit) And they were having so much fun together and with the audience and just in general enjoying each others gifts!
Wow, what a family!
I was thinking about the church as a family again today, I guess because another first anniversary is tomorrow and I have continually sensed the love of a family this year.
In the New Testament God's people are rarely referred to as Christians or believers. They are mostly called brothers, members of a family. We are brothers together because we have the same Father. We share the same life source. And our responsibility to each other in relationship is love. It's not a spiritual gift but an outworking of character. An expression, a thoughtful gesture, an invitation, a kind word, a remembering, a putting up of storm windows yet again this year.
The church, a visual representation of a family. His family; joined together, working, worshipping, loving, grieving, sharing gifts and talents and having fun with each other and the Father.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Is This What It's Come To?
It started in Italy.
The Nordberg boys plus myself and the Skoglund kids and Kay were introduced to House.
In between the different activities which had to be attended to we sat as lumps, glued to the television, watching episode after episode of House. We were hooked! Totally mindless!
We came back to the States and immediately introduced my neices, Laura and Jen, to this strange fascination.
Dad joined the mix at various times, just to see if he could be as smart as Gregory House. Diagnosis after diagnosis was shouted out. Could he get the answer before the third emergency was revealed to the watching audience?
Now we are recording each new episode for any who may have missed that week's show. And random people stop by, (this week, four Clarkson seniors plus Laura) gather around the kitchen TV, sitting in uncomfortable chairs bent forward to view the unfolding drama. What you can't see is Rob and myself, eating our dinner of sandwiches at the kitchen table, totally trying to come up with the current disease entity.
What strange thing will House do this week? No, hospital administrators do not wear seductive clothing and no, treatment is usually not started until the diagnosis is established but......
This may be the beginning of a new weekly fellowship group....
We have the Monday Menu at 34. Now perhaps the weekly viewing at 42!
The Nordberg boys plus myself and the Skoglund kids and Kay were introduced to House.
In between the different activities which had to be attended to we sat as lumps, glued to the television, watching episode after episode of House. We were hooked! Totally mindless!
We came back to the States and immediately introduced my neices, Laura and Jen, to this strange fascination.
Dad joined the mix at various times, just to see if he could be as smart as Gregory House. Diagnosis after diagnosis was shouted out. Could he get the answer before the third emergency was revealed to the watching audience?
Now we are recording each new episode for any who may have missed that week's show. And random people stop by, (this week, four Clarkson seniors plus Laura) gather around the kitchen TV, sitting in uncomfortable chairs bent forward to view the unfolding drama. What you can't see is Rob and myself, eating our dinner of sandwiches at the kitchen table, totally trying to come up with the current disease entity.
What strange thing will House do this week? No, hospital administrators do not wear seductive clothing and no, treatment is usually not started until the diagnosis is established but......
This may be the beginning of a new weekly fellowship group....
We have the Monday Menu at 34. Now perhaps the weekly viewing at 42!
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