9-24-2021

 

Mary’s Minute

“And if you’re ever feeling lonely just look at the moon.  Someone, somewhere, is looking right at it too.”

                                                                                       ~ Anonymous

You may have heard me say before that I love the moon.  Maybe because I remember looking at it with my children, and even singing the Barney song with them as we looked at it.  (“I see the moon and the moon sees me. God bless the moon, and God bless me.”) 

Now that my daughter is an adult, she often sends me pictures of a full moon from wherever she is or will text me with, “Can you see the moon?”  It is comforting to know that we are under the same moon.

The harvest moon was last week, but the weather didn’t cooperate.  I was struggling to see the moon, and at first it was a bit depressing.  Then I had this thought: even when the moon is behind the clouds, it is there.  It is more fun to see a beautiful, bright full moon, but even when we can’t enjoy the site, it is there! 

Metaphorically, we have had our share of cloudy nights.  The moon may not always be visible, but we need to remember that it is there, hidden only by clouds. Bright beauty in so many forms is always there, even when our view of it is blocked. 

And on the nights we can see the moon – on the many days when our students make us smile, we enjoy the sunshine, or one of the many other wonderful things in life – we take it in, and we are grateful!

                                                                               Have a great week!

                                                                                                Mary

9-17-2021

 

Mary’s Minute

“The only thing you sometimes have control over is perspective. You don't have control over your situation. But you have a choice about how you view it.”     

                                                   ~ Chris Pine

This was a big week for my daughter, Zoe.  On Wednesday she set out on the 28-hour drive to Riverside, CA with her big brother, who will fly home after getting her settled.        She has been excited about this and preparing logistically and emotionally for quite a while.  For instance, we took her car to the shop for new tires and a tune-up.  We thought we had everything under control!  Well, Saturday – just a few days before she was set to hit the road, the engine blew in her car.  I have to admit it was frustrating, but when Zoe and I both thought about it, we had a long list of things about which to be thankful (that she didn’t break down on the road, that Patton Automotive was so helpful in getting her quickly into a new-to-her car, etc.) 

Yesterday, about half-way into her drive, she said to me that she loved her new vehicle and that each of the last few days it was one of the things she listed when she did her gratitude ritual. 

I try really hard to practice gratitude, and one thing that is on my list at this moment is Zoe for modeling a grateful heart for her old mom.  Today as she was Facetiming me from her new apartment she said, “I couldn’t be any happier.”  Bad things happen, but we can choose our perspective.  Why not choose gratitude; why not choose happy?  For all the sadness, misery, and bad luck in the world, there is so, so much good!  My wish for all of us is that we can see the good.

                                                                                                    Have a great week!

                                                                                                                           Mary

9-10-2021

 

Mary’s Minute

“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.” 

                                                                                                         ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

My children and I have developed a tradition over the last ten years or so of celebrating all three of their birthdays, which all fall within 15 days, with a nice dinner out.  “Birthday Dinner” is something we talk about all year, and an evening I love because we are all together. 

Bill and Zoe both are headed to their respective California universities, and Jess at 33 has long been “on his own.” Bill turns 21 this weekend, so in that sense, it feels like they have all reached “adulthood.”

I have always had a keen sense that I was exceedingly fortunate to have my children in my life, but that they were not “mine.”  They have always been very much their own people.  And now as they go off on their own, I feel it even more.  I don’t take for granted the gift of having them in my life through their childhood and now as adults. 

As we have navigated life together, I hope that they have developed roots and wings in order to be happy, kind, and hardworking adults.  They laugh that growing up we had just one rule in our house, and that was to love one another.  I believe that if you love one another, everything else will fall into place.  I didn’t need to make a rule about picking up toys because if you loved one another, you wanted to help keep the house neat.  If you loved one another, you didn’t hit or yell.  Loving one another meant that you were home on time in order to be respectful.  They look back and admit that I was pretty lenient, and I look back and hope that they always felt loved and will carry that love with them into adulthood. 

This weekend as we celebrate Birthday Dinner, I will propose a toast to their roots and wings!  Then we will laugh as they order whatever they want, and say, “Treat yo’ self.”

                                                                                                 To roots and wings!

                                                                                                                   Mary

                        

9-3-2021

 

Mary’s Minute

It doesn’t feel like a coincidence that my mom was born on Labor Day.  Of course, having a baby born on Labor Day conjures up a different meaning for the woman giving birth, but for my mom it is fitting for another reason.  She is the hardest working person you will ever meet.  She doesn’t talk about hard work, and certainly doesn’t complain about it.  For her, work is not drudgery; it is just what she does and what she enjoys.  I often say the phrase, “When you love your job you never work a day in your life,” but when I try to think about my mom and “work” the line is blurred even more. 

Looking back to my childhood, I wonder how she did it all as an elementary teacher and a mother of three (and then four when our sweet Amy arrived), along with whatever adventure she and my dad were up to.  She spent her free time doing projects, like wallpapering a room or bricking a patio.  Many people would consider all of that labor, but not Helen!  It is just what she loved to do.

Now at 81 (almost 82), she spends her days happily moving rocks, planting flowers, and pulling weeds.  Most people call this hard work, but not my mom.

This Labor Day weekend, I am grateful for the model of hard work my mom has provided.  Maybe the greater gift that my mom demonstrates is finding joy in all we do!  I will enjoy some birthday cake with Helen this weekend and be sure to thank her for this gift she has given me.  You can be sure she will have some jobs for me to do, and when you see my reaction to her chores, it will be clear that her positive attitude about work has not completely worn off on me! 

                                                   Have a great long weekend!

                                                                        Mary