Past

Influencing Lives

Lent is over and Easter has arrived. My parents, sister, and I went to the early Mass. We were grateful that we arrived in plenty of time to get seats. Evidently after the church filled up, they seated the overflow crowd in the lower level where there was a live feed set up. I really […]

Knew My Father-In-Law

When my mom attends her Parkinson’s exercise class, I usually visit with the other caregivers. As we were talking today, one of the men mentioned that he was a retired police officer in the city. My ex-husband’s father was also a city police officer. I asked the man when he was on the force and […]

Retreat High

Today at church, the priest talked about a national youth conference he recently attended with some of the high school teens from the parish. It was obvious that he was very excited as he shared how proud he was of the kids and so impressed with their behavior and faith. He was kind of all […]

Grandfather the Magician

My sister and my dad worked long and hard today on the scrapbook pages about my grandfather the magician. One year when he came out for a visit, he went into our grade school classes and performed some of his illusions. He kept all kinds of memorabilia, including thank you notes sent by the children […]

Enjoying Projects

My sister is very creative and has made several beautiful scrapbooks. She has helped my mom complete her family history book and is now helping my dad put together some of his treasured memories. A couple of weeks ago, they completed a page honoring my grandfather and nephew who trained in the same Navy base […]

A New Car

My son has been having problems with his car recently – well, since we drove it across the country to move him here. It has almost 200,000 miles on it, so it wasn’t really surprising. He was hoping to make it last until he got his student loans paid off and then look at buying […]

Dad’s Physics Interview

Today my dad received a phone call from a man who worked for him while he was in the Air Force about 40 years ago. He was a “young kid” when my dad first met him. They worked together in meteorology and weather forecasting. The gentleman had retired himself as a Lieutenant Colonel 17 years […]

Community Picnic

This evening was the annual Board Meeting and Picnic for the housing community. It had been a few years since my parents had attended and they looked forward to going. My dad carried the lawn chairs to the open area where the tables were set up. I loaded up my mom’s walker compartment with sweaters, […]

Learn From the Past

Yesterday on social media, I saw a quote, “Never be a prisoner of your past, it was just a lesson, not a life sentence.” This really struck me as there are many times when my mind wanders to my past – the mistakes I have made, hurtful things I have said and done. Then I […]

Remembering When

Today I took my mom to a Parkinson’s exercise class to see if it would be a good match for her. I sat in the little waiting area and watched as she did the stretches and movements. The people teaching the class and helping were super nice, patient, and attentive. There was another person sitting […]