Thanksgiving - More Than A Few Blessings

Thanksgiving has come and gone. But, oh, what a thanksgiving it was!

Four grandkids, six adults, and three dogs (one a puppy, two days of rain and a thanksgiving meal for eighteen made for a most interesting weekend. Five days of commotion, five days of blessings. In taking stock of the time, I know why God created menopause. I have no idea how I did it before, but there is no doubt, I am glad to be a grandmother now. There's not enough energy in me to go more than a few days. The energizer bunny just wore out! Continual motion mixed with chaos, laughter, and bedtime stories and prayers makes for a grandmother's dream. Whew! It's enough to make my head spin.

Commotion first:
My dishwasher has never had it so good. I must have run at least three loads of dishes a day. The refrigerator was packed to the gills -seven servings, three times a day kept my head spinning.. Add to that more than a few loads of wash, a trash bag of dog pooh, and refilling the dog bowl no less than five times a day! Where in the world did they put all that water?

We played golf, tennis, watched football, had a treasure hunt, went to the park, walked the dogs around the block, bowled, played dominoes and go fish, went to the museum, had our hair glittered, went to the movie, raked the leaves, and slept. Whew - makes me tired writing about it.

Surprise blessings:
But in the midst of all that activity there were moments that just melted a grandmother's heart. Surprise blessings - too many to name, but here are a few of my favorites:

- My 9-year old grandson said he loved the Thanksgiving meal the most -we were
all together at one table.
- My nephew flew in from Alburquerque because he misses the family.
- My 85-year-old mother and 83-year-old aunt graced our table with memories of
our heritage.
- Watching my g'daughter's eyes at the beauty salon where she had a special
"glitter do".
- Listening to my 4 year old g'son say the blessing for my 2 year old g'son at
the kid's table.
- Saying prayers every night with each child thanking God for their unique
personalities and the blessing they are in my life.
- Having my two wonderful daughters-in-law who are such great cooks help.
- Watching my sons as they father and mentor their children.
- Taking the adults to an adult only dinner and sharing our lives with one another
- Thanking God that my 85 year old mother is so amazing that she babysat the three
oldest while we ate dinner.
- Watching my husband take the two middle grands to see Santa downtown.
- Seeing the youngest so excited to play with his cousins. His ability to keep up
was amazing.
- Playing Go fish with my four year old grandson.
- Raking leaves and sharing hearts with my nine year old in the back yard.

Yes, it was an amazing Thanksgiving. God was everywhere, and his blessings brought it all into perspective. My father who has been gone ten years and my uncle who passed away last December were sorely missed. So was my brother and his family and my cousin Susan and her family. But it is what it is.

Would I change a thing? Not on your life!

Get Ready For Surprise Blessings

Thanksgiving Day is a week away. I say fatten the turkey and full steam ahead! Time's awasting and I've got to get on the case if I'm going to be ready in time.

I just love Thanksgiving. I think it's my favorite time of year. The trees are turning and the air is crisp. The firewood is neatly stacked behind the garage; it just feels like a time to cozy in and spend time together. No matter that leaves need to be raked, flowers gathered, and napkins ironed. I love that as a grandmother I don't worry about those things nearly as much as I used to. What I really care about is just being together.

When I think of the first Thanksgiving, I'm pretty sure that I would not have made a very good Pilgrim. Those people were hardy, tough, determined. They worked hard against insurmountable odds. I know that a part of me is spoiled and would never choose such a situation. And yet maybe, just maybe, if faced with those same circumstances, I might have been heartier than I think. I sure hope so.

What I really love is that as a nation we have set aside a day to thank God for our blessings: our families, friends, freedoms, opportunities. What a great reminder that we live in the greatest country in the world. What a great time to take stock of our blessings and verbalize them to the next generation.


As the pilgrims gathered together to give thanks for their safe passage to the new world, their fruitful harvest and freedom, they also shared their thanksgiving festival with the Indians that had befriended them. What a great example of sharing our bounty with not only friends and family but with those that are put in our path.

This year I will have Thanksgiving in my home surrounded by four generations of family. How lucky can one woman be? I confess I'm not so wild about shopping for groceries and baking those pies,cakes, and casseroles to freeze ahead. I sure miss my mother-in-law for she was the best at Thanksgiving. A small town woman, this is where she shined. She was so organized, effiecient, and determined that by the time we got there she had it all done ahead of time.

But now it's my turn. As the matriarch of the family, passing down the tradition of hospitality and thanksgiving is one of my greatest honors. As I anticipate the celebration, I cannot yet imagine all of the things that will happen. The laughter and stories, the food that is mis-timed, the spilled milk and sticky hands.

But I also can't anticipate the surprise blessings that will come in my path. That's what I am keeping my eyes and ears open for this year - the surprises. Who can anticipate them? Like a child in a candy store. I can't wait to report when it's over.

Just as you can count on the sun coming up everyday, you can also count on blessings at Thanksgiving. That's what makes it so much fun. So happy thanksgiving and hang in there. After all the toil and labor, the best, the surprise blessings, are yet to come!

Gobble, gobble, gobble. Can't wait, can you?

Life Is Like A Zip-Line - Fast and Furious

Last August my husband Jim and I went to Alaska. While there we did a zipline over the Alaskan Rainforest. Heights are not my thing but out of a sense of pride and andventure, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and go for the gusto.

What an adventure.

Actually that's how my life is today - one zipline aftr another. Since the publication of "Generationg G - Advice for Savvy Grandmothers Who Will Never Go Gray," I have had no idea what to expect from one day to the next. I, therefore, decided to enter the world of blogging, a true zipline adventure of the 21st century. Right now I've just stepped off the platform, am in mid-air racing toward the first station. You might say I have just gotten my feet wet!

Just like the zipline, my journey has taken me to many stations from Texas to Colorado to California. The best part of the adventure is that I am reconnecting with so many friends from the past from high school to college - to all seasons of my life.

I am also meeting so many amazing women who are doing so many amazing things. Women with grandmother names like Grandma Purple, CC, Nellie, and Lovey. Each has a story. I am fascinatied by the histories of women and am hoping to gather these stories to one day and put them down on paper. We are all a product of our past - that's what makes us unique and wonderful.

God has an amazing way of bringing things around full circle. Sometimes I feel like a blind man stepping into situations that are unknown and unseen, learning as I go. Radio interviews are a bit like that. Sitting in the silence, a voice comes over the telephone lines. You didn't see them coming, didn't know when they were there, but a beginning of an adventure.

It is all very fast and furious and I have no idea where it is going but it has begun. I hope to enter posts a couple of times a week. I'm on the platform and am ready for the adventure.

Hope you all have a blessed day. I am blessed indeed!

Sacricial Giving - Africa Remembered

On the continent it is known as the “warm heart of Africa.” Internationally, it is known as the third poorest nation on earth. In the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, it is known as a companion diocese. To me, it is my family – brothers and sisters - dearly loved, in need of my help.

Malawi, a country poor by material standards, is rich in heart. As a people of generosity, they bless my day and grace my life. Last year this tiny country suffered a famine of biblical proportions. It is estimated that between 4 and 5 million people in Malawi (population 11 million) were in danger of starvation. Yet not much was seen in the press regarding this famine. Thanks to international relief efforts and existing infrastructure, emergency aid was able to save many lives, but so much more could have been done. And Malawi is not alone in its need. This scenario is played out over and over in third world countries. One can’t help but wonder how such a thing could happen in this day and time. Everyday in America we discard countless amounts of food. We spend thousands on Halloween candy, millions on football tickets, and billions on Christmas presents while people around the world are dying of hunger? How can this be?

When I reflect on the monumental task of feeding the hungry in Malawi and ministering to other third world countries, I become over-whelmed. After all, what can one grandmother do? Yet, that is the answer – one person, one grandmother - the power of one, the hope of the world. America is a land of abundance, so materially wealthy that most households have a car for every driver. Why then are we not able to transport food and support to these third world countries in their time of need? In a land where there are telephones in every home, cell phones in every hand, how can it be that we did not hear their cries for help? In a country where every household has a TV, why do we not see their pain and suffering? It is a mystery.

I think the answer lies in sacrificial giving. As the wealthiest nation on earth, we are often the most generous. As a people and as individuals, we have poured out upon the victims of 9/11, the tsunami, Katrina, Ike. But we have poured out from our abundance not our poverty. We have supported numerous causes, individually as well as corporately, locally as well as inter-nationally. But to whom much has been given, much is expected. We need to give more – more as individuals, families, grandmothers, more to make the world a better place for the least of these. We need to teach our children and grandchildren to give. We need to learn to give sacrificially.

That's where grandmothers come in. My goal is to learn how to give sacrificially as I address this need in Malawi and in other parts of Africa. It is not part of my make up, but I can make it so. My hope is that as a grandmother I will exercise the power of one to exhort my family and friends. I am not a well- known voice. I have no platform, no forum or support group. I am only a lone voice crying out to those who have ears to hear, a voice that has the potential to exhort others to act in the power of one. I pray that from my abundance, I will open my heart and give more. But more than that, I pray that I will begin to give at some cost to myself. It is estimated that $12 will feed a family in Malawi for two weeks. Think what a gift of $120 would do. Perhaps I can give up my weekly latte or cancel a standing lunch date. Maybe canceling the newspaper and sending that money to Africa would help.

There are more nations in Africa than one can count on one hand that exist in extreme poverty. Their ears need to hear our compassion, their eyes need to see our love. Their hearts need to know we care. But even more than that. We need to know we care. Only if we give at some cost to ourselves will we truly experience a generous heart. Can we not do for the least of these? I think not only we can, but we can do so exceedingly abundantly.

My prayer is that this year, as individuals, wives, mothers and grandmothers, we will give generously, sacrificially as a thank offering for our own blessings. May we give generously and then go a step beyond. May we as grandmothers go the extra mile and give sacrificially to those whom God has placed in our path. May we model and teach our grandchildren to do the same. This year I am exploring new ways that I might give to Malawi and am encouraging my family to do the same. What better way to demonstrate love than to offer hope to a world in crisis.

Grandmothers Are The Queen of Do-Overs

All of my life I have wanted to have a second chance – to undo or redo that which is broken, that which I messed up. Now for the first time in my life, I have that chance.

Being a grandmother gives me a chance for do-overs, for healing the regrets of the past.Now don’t get me wrong. I can’t go back and literally redo that which I regret. But now I have the opportunity to try again without the hassle of rules and regulations. And I am loving it! Here are some of the do-overs I am currently experiencing.

-No longer do I have to keep my house clean when the baby comes to visit. I drop everything to snuggle, kiss, play, sing, and hold him. The house can go to the dogs. Dinner can burn on the stove for all I care.No longer do I worry about nutritious dinners and snacks. If the grand kids want pizza, pizza it is. If they want to go to Luby’s, I’m on board. If the golden arches are calling, I respond.

- No longer do I have to worry about how I look when I go to the park. This is a good thing, for with three grand kids under the same roof, I hardly have time to brush my teeth anyway.

-No longer do I have to worry about bathing suits. In my book, whaling is in. Eight years ago you couldn’t have convinced me that I would ever put on a bathing suit in public again. But for my grandkids, the sky’s the limit. The good news is that there are some boundaries. Jumping off the diving board is no longer an option. But that’s a minor impediment.

-No longer do I mind sitting at the park or the indoor mall until the children are finished playing. Watching them laugh and squeal as they climb make believe trains and mountains is better than reading John Grishom or seeing a Julia Roberts movie.

-No longer do I have to hammer in table manners and repeat myself ad nauseum. That’s their parents’ job. Besides, it’s a miracle, I hardly notice anyway. I am too busy talking and enjoying them to take notice. But should the need arise, one word from me or my husband and it’s like magic. They pretty much turn in mid course. Or maybe we turn it mid course. Either way it gets the job done.

-No longer do I have to worry about singing on key. I can sing to my heart’s content, as loud and as long as I want. My grandkids think I am the American Idol every time, the winner that is, and they continually request “She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain” and “If You’re Happy And You Know It” again and again.

-No longer do I have to dread bath time. It has become one of the most fun times of the day. Turning the water red or blue with a small tablet is a mystery. Watering invisible plants with a watering can a challenge; searching for boats underneath mountains of bubbles a game.

-No longer do I have to spend wake less nights worrying about their well being. I can spend my time praying on their behalf. I can also use my time wisely to support their parents, encouraging and loving them, offering wisdom or suggestions only when asked.

-No longer do I have to worry about showering them with love. I can't control it anyway. It just pours out of me like a flood, covering everything in its path, washing all tears dry, soothing every cut, healing every boo boo. Now I can laugh often, give more, and generally be present to any situation.If that isn’t a perfect do-over, I don’t know what is.

60 And Loving it

Who said that aging is a bad thing?

Isn't the cheese that has been aged the best one? Don't we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for aged wines? Doesn't wisdom come with age?

It is obvious that aging has its benefits. The problem is that the world does not recognize the wisdom that comes with added years.

It is up to those of us in the know to tell them. It is up to us to show them.

I can say with certainity that the 60-year-olds I know are pretty hip. Most are computer literate, email on a regular basis, have palm pilots and ipods. Many are going back to school. learning foreign languages, and getting new degrees. Some still ski, hike, bike, dance reguarly and are basically in really good shape. Most interestingly, most 60-year-olds have a vocabulary that would rival a grad student, common sense that brings sanity to confusion, and a living knowledge of history that needs to be told.

So what's the big deal? Why does aging have such a bad rap?

I think its because people just don't know. If they did - they would all want to be where we are.

Look what we know. Look what we've experienced.

There is not enough money in the world to make me go back. I love where I am now. I have two great sons, two amazing daughters-in-law, and four unbelievable grandchildren. My life is full. I work part-time and get to pick and choose my social activities. I don't do large luncheons or big meetings anymore. I just get to spend quality time with family and friends, doing what I love most, contributing in ways that were not possible before. What could be better than that?

One of the best kept secrets of turning 60 is that we carry a plethora of life, joy, love, laughter, and experience in our containers. They are so full now they are close to overflowing. There is no greter gift than to pour ourselves out on our families, breathing life, giving hope, offering encouragement, being there for them through thick and thin.

The silver generation needs to make itself known. To stand tall, speak up, and make a difference - to be seen and heard. With baby boomers coming of age, our numbers are increasing. We are a formidable force, indeed. Let's stand up and be counted. The positive ways we can impact the world are immeasurable.

In this blog, I will address issues and challenges common to most 60-year-olds. My goal is to encourage those approaching 60 to hold our heads high. I desire to challenge us to think of how and where we can leave our mark on the world.

Our first step is to quit buying into a negative aging mentality and be proud of where we are in life. Finding ways to mentor our children and grandchildren is vital. Identifying our passion and perfecting it is key to success. Building our faith, as we prepare a legacy to pass down to the fourth generation is what we are all about.

The challenge is to accept who we are and embrace it.

The 60's generation is on the move. I say, bring it on!

"Generation G - Advice for Savvy Grandmothers Who Will Never Go Gray" released March 2008
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