One Less Pea In My Pod...

 (2 Peas in a Pod Fork by BlockandHammer)

     Please forgive me today, but I only have one thing that I want to talk about today...and it's not tennis....I lost my friend last night. :-( I woke up this morning and realized that the next time I see something really funny on television, or my husband says something funny that makes me laugh...and makes me remember how much my hubby is just like her late husband...I won't be able to call her and giggle with her about it.

      I remembered that there are some times that her and I have shared over the years that no one else knows about...or knows the REAL story about!...except me and my 'bestie'...and now.... I am the only one that knows. :-(

      We have been two peas in a pod...two women who could not be more different...or more the same...

 (Crochet Lapel Pin and Brooch Set by wuglyees)

      I am very glad that she is no longer in pain. Her pain has been a constant thing on my mind for about two years now. :-( The fact that she was able to endure it and still care about all of the important things in life...her God, her family, and her friends...says a lot about the kind of woman she was...and the kind of God Jehovah was, to illicit such devotion from her.

      It's gonna be a long day...for all of us who knew her. ;'_'; The photo below was a recent photo that my hubby took of her when she was in the hospital...I wasn't able to go and visit her because of my health. So my hubby took my love to her for me. She was not in good shape, but you would never have known it from this picture...which she sent to me...

     She sent me a 'sign language' sign of "I Love You". :-]  She knew how to talk to me, even when we didn't have our 'ears' on each other. ^_^
      I know that mine was not the only friendship that she nurtured...and I feel sad for them today too. :-( We'll miss her terribly! But we'll see her again. Death is a thief...but not a thief that my God cannot recover the goods from!! I look forward to new and interesting conversations with my friend in the future...but in the interim, I will miss her voice and smile. ♥

Love Fills The Holes

Isn't  it wondrous,
this life that we live,
the holes we fill up
from the love that we give?

Even the hard times
make wonders abound,
because of the memories
of times safe and sound.

The good times, they come,
they fill us, they flow
and leave behind a smile,
like the hard rain's  rainbow.

So, its the love that keeps growing,
that adds wonder to life;
because no matter how peaceful,
or how full of strife,

Isn't  it wondrous,
this life that we live!
Cherish it always-
for the holes it will fill.

I'm Remembering My Teacher...

(Leather Lunch Sack by MarbleHillStudio)

     I'm remembering a really smart lady, with a heart as big as all outdoors. A re-married mom of two cute little boys, one of which was from her present marriage...I'm remembering being at her home for my personal Bible study, and how great she was at paying attention to all of my clarity-seeking questions, while at the same time watching her oldest son go up and down the little culdesac (street closed at one end) where she lived.

   I'm remembering how funny she was, and how un-assuming...How not much flustered her, because her faith in Jehovah was so strong...I'm also remembering that she wasn't that great of a cook. ^_^ I'm remembering a dinner of boxed macaroni and cheese...only!...and how I kept looking for the MEAT! Ha! Ha!...and she reminded me that: "You don't HAVE TO have meat for it to be dinner!" ^_^

     I'm also remembering how one time she was making a cake, and half way through the process she remembered that she didn't have any eggs!...Oops! O_O...but how she grabbed some mayonnaise from the refrigerator, added a couple of dollops to the batter, and kept right on going!! Ha! Ha!...She said: "Mayonnaise is nothing but eggs and vinegar!" ^_^...I didn't tell her, but: "Uhhhhh...I don't like vinegar in my cake, though!!" LOL...I never tasted it, so who knows...it could've been good! ^_^

   I'm remembering that she taught me the real meaning of forgiveness...Something had happened with hubby and I years prior to me getting to know her,...something not important to me telling this story...and I was wielding the knowledge of that 'something' over my hubby's head all the time....my emotional power whip!...She reminded me, and showed me the scriptures to back it up, that if God held every bad thing I did like a whip, waiting to 'put me in my place' whenever he didn't like what I was thinking, I'd be DEAD!! O_O...Point taken...and point learned! I never wielded that whip again!!

   I'm remembering her face the day I got baptized...with no tears showing, but just joy...for me. :-]  And I'm remembering how she was always looking around to see where her boys were, and that they weren't misbehaving, even then! :-)

  I'm remembering her oldest son...a handsome little fella, who she said never knew his father, but yet walked just like him, and had quirky mannerisms just like him...I'm remembering that he was a sweet, smiley, quiet young man, who loved his little brother very much...even though they jostled around and fought sometimes...Oh, how she loved him!

   I'm remembering all of this today because I just saw the report that her oldest son, the sweet little first real love of her life....died. :-(  I'm remembering how long it's been since I've seen her....more than twenty years. Our lives took different paths...physically...but the same path spiritually.

    I've heard 'of' her, her husband, and the boys, from family and friends, in passing, over the years. They were all doing well. Both of her sons married...But I was not prepared to hear this...that her son, the sweet tugger of her attention, was dead.

    Now I have to remember how to comfort myself...how to write a letter of sympathy...how to pray for her, in specifics...and how to move forward, remembering that he is in God's loving memory, and death will be the distant memory soon...

      Revelation 21:4 says..."...he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain...The former things have passed away."

    I'm remembering how comforting the Bible can be when someone you love has passed away...And I'm remembering my dear friend....and teacher.

About My Teachers

Let me tell you about my teachers!
Those who let my spirit fly.
Those who taught me self-control.
Those who always made me try.

My music teacher, small in size,
whose unsung words would sometimes sting;
He taught humility and patience,
while also teaching me to sing.

My English teacher, gregarious,
whose toothy smile was just as loud;
She taught me confidence and joy,
and to be fearless in a crowd.

My drama teacher, A or E,
from her I earned my hardest grade.
It was for letting out a scream.
From which I learned: 'Be Not Afraid'.

For basketball, and also Gym,
My coach would train us like a nut!
And though we lost, most every time,
I learned to try, no matter what.

I learned to cater and to waitress
from a crew who taught me well.
In fact, so many new experiences
that I now can hardly tell.

My Bible teacher too,
taught me how 'I must forgive';
And by teaching me God's laws,
also taught me how to live.

To my teachers, one and all,
bold, soft-spoken, shy or tough,
Thanks for teaching me the knowledge
that being 'me' is good enough!

No One Wants To Think....

     Funny how things can change so quickly. I had a blog planned with just a few photos to show you today. One photo being this nice shot hubby took by the river the other day. There was a boat, a pair of blue shoes, and out on the boat ramp a little ways was...

     ...a wheelchair! There were no people around, so all that was left was the question: Why would someone leave a wheelchair, a boat, and a pair of sky blue...yes, I said sky blue...shoes out on a pier?!

           Wish I knew the answer.
      Just to make himself feel better hubby had to take a look down here...

      But all he saw was the current moving, and this little fella.

     I think he just "fish"-tailed himself over to see what all the clicking was about! :-] ....Anyway, it did seem kinda strange. Out here with all of this calm and quiet.

      Oh well, I've got some other things to tell you about today. Remember the GIVEAWAY that csnstores.com gave to my blog readers at the beginning of the month...The one that Becky of the blog Writings on Rose Petals won?! (I mentioned it here) Well Becky took her $55.00 gift and decided to get some pfaslzgraff dishes. She was nice enough to share a picture of some of the ones she got!

    Aren't they beautiful?!! Made me think that maybe I need to get some new dishes! But it also made me think that maybe I better keep that little thought to myself...considering the amount of dishes we already have around here and that hubby might not like my thought about getting some more! ^_^ Thanks for sharing them with us, Becky!!
   Unfortunately all of my news today is not good. First, I had a distant relative die last week. And then I got 2 phone calls last night...{I'm starting to hate the sound of a ringing phone}...One was at 6 O'Clock. My dad called to tell me that the girl who was my best friend in junior high school died yesterday...Cancer. She was the same age as me. We have relatives in common, so I have heard about her through the years, but I hadn't talked to her in about 35 years!! Yet, as soon as I heard her name, and that she had died, all of the childhood memories of us together came flooding back. Funny how that happens, isn't it?!
      I immediately started crying, but not just because she died. I was kinda angry that no one had told me! She apparently had been in and out of the hospital over the last several weeks and everyone kept thinking she would beat it, so there was no reason to tell me bad news. But now she's dead, and all I can think about is that I didn't get to share a laugh, a memory, a smile, or a hope of future things, with her.
    Then, a half an hour later...NO KIDDING....I got another phone call. Long distance. Another friend called to tell me that a girl I studied the Bible with many years ago had also died. Cancer again! She was cremated last week... *sigh*...What's with people giving you this kind of news AFTER THE FACT?!! Seems kind of cruel to me! I would love to have sent a meal, some flowers, made a phone call, or shared SOMETHING with them. Is that just me?! Would you rather not know when someone you cared about passed away?!!
    And as a little bit of salt in the wound, while I was on the phone with her, long distance, she yelled: "Oh No!!!" She was watching T.V. and saw on the news that Solomon Burke, "The King of Rock 'N Soul",  just died too! We're both music folks from waaay back...It's a good thing my pinched nerve is much better, and that I can do some comfort-bringing crocheting today. I think I'm going to need something to do with my mind today. YAY for pistachio yarn!!
    Yep! A poem came immediately to mind. But first one other photo hubby took. It might be a clue to who the blue shoes belong to, but we don't know for sure.

No one wants to...

No one wants to think of death,
the eventual certain coming end.
No one wants to contemplate
the death of loved ones and of friends.

No one wants to have to think
of how to lift the family's chin;
Of how to put a good face on it;
and give death a positive spin.

No one wants to shed hot tears.
To know the enemy, Death, will win.
That it's call we'll have to answer,
whether young boys, girls, or men.

No, no one wants to face it;
that death's next victim it will find.
They'd just rather not believe it,
or try to push death out of mind.

No, I don't want to, but I will.
'Cause that's what's needed here and now.
To be a shoulder they can lean on,
and share the faith I now endow.

And while I know that God has promised
no more death, pain, sorrow, tears;
Still I'll miss my friends and loved ones,
family, workmates, buds, and peers.