Remember

I fear that we are forgetting the meanings of our holidays. It is so easy to take the free time and do something fun with it. But I was determined to share the meaning of Memorial Day with our local family, especially the grandchildren. So on that special Monday, we drove to Antioch to visit Carmen's grave and place rose petals on it. The cemetery was filled with flags on every veteran's grave! Flowers were everywhere! It was such a sight. Our little Carmen is in good company. We will always Remember Carmen and my hope is that we will always Remember those who have served and left us!

We celebrated Memorial Day later in the day with all the local families. I wanted it to be special so I prepared a slide show for the kids that showed them all the major wars American soldiers have fought, from the Revolutionary War to the present, in pictures. We included the story of TAPS and had Scotty play it for us on his trumpet. Allegra made paper poppies for each family, to memorialize Flander's Field. We sang patriotic songs, accompanied by James on his recorder. Many of the kids played the piano for us. You see their pictures here. I believe the kids got the message. I wish I had included a statement that I found later, on sacrifice. It went something like this: there are only two who were willing to give their lives for you and me, Christ to save our spiritual lives and the American soldier to save our physical lives. I want to always Remember!

Reed's wife, Dorothy, lost her stepfather, Ken Combs, who died last week. He was a good-hearted man who died prematurely from various health problems. He is pictured here. We attended his memorial this past week. He is another who deserves to be Remembered.

Pictured left, top down are Jacqueline, Alexis, and James. On the right, top down is Zachary and Scott. Carmen's grave is also pictured and to the left is Ken Combs.

"Hey, Can Somebody Help Me Please?"

Mom has been in the nursing home for over a month now. She's not happy about it. She is getting regular physical therapy and the staff are all quite fine people who care for her in the kindest way. But it is a nursing home and Mom just isn't into it. I don't blame her! We are working to get her home as soon as we can but getting over the hip fracture takes time. There is a man across the hall from her that serenades us every night with the same song, "hey can anybody help me please?" It has become an almost enjoyable experience to listen to his plea, repeated over and over again. It isn't that help is not forthcoming; it is simply that it isnt' what he has in mind. He says what Mom feels. She would like some magical help that would get her home and back to normal. I feel badly that it cannot happen as she wishes it. I'm also thinking that there is a purpose in her convalescence. We are becomming quite close and there is joy in serving her.

Over the past few week there are more that need help. Two of my good friends are both quite ill at the moment. "Can somebody help me please," rings in my ears. I want to help them but am not sure how. I think, for starters, I will give myself to them and see where I am led from there. For the next few weeks that we are here, I will spend time with them. Then, sometime soon, we will head back to Colorado to return Mom home for the summer. At least that is our plan for now.

The green hills of winter are gone now. So quickly, our hills have dried out and we are left with "California Golden". Our front yard is looking hopeful, with some new plants making every effort to live. I've planted California poppies all around and they are coming up in abundance. I love looking out on their perky orange blossoms. They seem to like it here.

Bonding

We've had a rainstorm recently but, in spite of that, our hills are now brown. I loved the green of winter but, alas, the dryness of summer is already upon us. Still, brown has its beauties.

I was missing the association of close friends when we lived in Fremont. Most of the dearest ones to me had moved away. But now that we are in the Pleasanton area I'm amazed at how many friendships have come my way. It is not just that there are more women my age in our ward here; or that one of them is an old college roommate. It is more. Old friendships seem to be cropping up everywhere. Many of my friends from high school, and even elementary school live nearby! Who knew?! On Saturday I attended yet another luncheon with girls from my school days. I hate to admit that we are a bunch of old birds now, but I see the girls I knew, and enjoy their company very much. In the attached picture some of the girls at the lunch sit, ready to perform "Dooley's Amateur Hour" when we were all in Girl Scouts together in the fifties. I'm in the cowboy hat. How the time flies by!

Cliff and I gave a presentation on the many uses of whole wheat on Thursday evening. It was fun to reacquaint myself with some of the recipes that worked so well, when I was heavy into the use of whole wheat. I made some whole wheat bread for this presentation that turned out very nicely. So I'm enclosing the recipe here, in case you'd like to try it.

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD (makes 2 loaves)

1 3/4 cups milk (I used warm water and powdered milk, added with the flour)
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup warm water
1/3 cup honey
2 eggs
2 tablespoons yeast
5-6 cups whole wheat flour

Combine first 6 ingredients, then add yeast. Mix well. Add flour to cake dough consistency. Let stand 15 minutes. Add rest of flour and knead. Let rise in oiled bowl about 45 minutes minimum. Mold into leaves and rise again. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Don't preheat oven. Remove from pans right away and cool on rack.

I'm grateful for friends, especially this week. We had a great bond with our neighbors, Bev and Ernie Trutner. We seem to fit very nicely together. There seems to be potential friends everywhere in this area. I love that.

Mother's Day

Lately I've been pondering the tremendous advantage of good associations. From the very beginning of my life, the people in it have nurtured and cared for me. It began with good, caring parents. But even my extended family members, with all their weaknesses, were good to me and the other children in our family circle. I grew up in a loving place. My adulthood has been blessed also. There has been no one who has caused me any lasting heartache or serious pain. That sweet situation has freed me to think beyond myself. It has made my world a good place and placed in my heart a strong sense of gratitude. Blessings are easy to count.

Here is a Mother's Day four generation picture. Shown is my mother with me, daughter Audrey and granddaughter Allegra. Mom was with us for Mom's Day. It was good to have her home after so long a time in the Convalescent Home. She returned the same day, but, for a little while, we were all together. She is an amazing person, filled with strength and wisdom. It is a joy to care for her in her time of need. She misses her independence a great deal but seems to be able to make the most of a hard situation. She is usually determined to improve and regain her strength, but is sometimes just tired, and a bit discouraged. We are doing our best to keep her spirits up by visiting her each morning and night. So, at this time of honoring mothers, I honor my own and thank the Lord for the noble woman I call Mother.

Bunches of Service

Isn't it funny how things happen. This week I found myself lost in good works. On Tuesday I helped plant flowers at Mom's convalescent home.
You can see some of our work here. The earth in this plot was rich, dark dirt. Noticing dirt may seem like a crazy pastime, but, you see, our own personal dirt is quite adverse to growing things. It is clay. How I wish our garden plot looked as good as this one!

Thursday I helped clean house for a family in great need of that. You can see some of their collection of stuff in this photo. This adds to my perception that stuff is quite a problem for most people. We simply have too much of it. I'm determined to rid myself of my own surplus stuff.

On Saturday I helped serve breakfast at a Church Public Affairs meeting. In between I spent lots of time with Mom, who is very discouraged at being stuck in a convalescent home, if only for a couple more weeks. She is all a-whine about the poor service, food and general situation. I can't blame her; I'd feel the same way. I am trying to get her to concentrate on using her body and getting going again. Layne fed her hopes by telling her that, in two weeks, we would rescue her and take her home to Colorado. I hope that we will be able to handle her by then and I cannot help but hope and invest in her recovery.

So, all those good deeds has filled my soul with sweet feelings this week. I suppose that means that it would be good for me to do more of this sort of thing. I wonder why I hesitate to chase after those opportunities when I have the chance of it.

Sunday was our extended Family Home Evening. We have three families nearby now, so when we get together there is quite a crowd. We celebrated birthdays for grandsons Isaiah (11) and William (4). Here you see them at work opening gifts. Our two sons, Ben and Reed, and their wives visited Mom as well. They cheered her but agree with me that she is not a happy woman. But what can we do? She is unable to stand and walk at the moment and must be handled carefully to preserve the placement of her new hip. I feel so badly leaving her in the home but see no alternative at the moment. I'm trying to use her dislike of the place as motivation to get her body moving as soon as possible. But here is the quandary: her hip must be protected from improper movement, but the longer she doesn't move the harder it is to get a return of movement. Hum.