60 is only a number

Tuesday was my 60th birthday. Oh man do I hate saying that I am 60.

I can still remember sitting at my mother and dads kitchen table on my tenth birthday. For some reason I calculated that in the year 1999 I would turn 50.

"I hope I die or that the world comes to an end before then." I told my shocked mother.

"Why on earth would you hope that", she asked?

"Because 50 is old and I don't want to be old, and I don't think God ever meant for us to have to go around saying 'Its the year twenty hundred'"

My mom cracked up and reminded me of that story every year on my birthday. Even when I was grown, she would call me up and sing Happy Birthday and tell me how many more years before it would be twenty hundred. Laughing she'd tell me "You better make sure you enjoy life now and not worry about getting older".

Just a month after my 5oth birthday I was given a cancer diagnosis and I began to wonder if God had been trying to tell me something all those years before. But I'm still here and I have learned to adapt (quite reluctantly) to saying Two thousand and nine etc.

But being 60... now that's a different story. I am my grandmothers age. Where did my youth go?

Oh well, for some reason I'm still here so I better do like mom said said enjoy life now and don't worry about getting older. After all 60 is the new 40 right?

Tuesday, in addition to being my birthday, it was our monthly widows get together. With Easter and the trip to Boyne Mountain with the family, I just didn't have time to do much in the way of planning a meeting. When I sent out the meeting reminder I wrote:

Easter is a time when we remember the miracle of the Resurrection and as
widows I think this is the time when we can truly identify with Jesus. Not
just identifying in his suffering, but also in his coming back to life. Do
you remember when you started to feel that life held meaning again after your
husband died? Was it something someone said to you, a place you went, or
something you did? Let’s share with each other our own Resurrection
story. I know that’s a tough question and everyone may not have an answer,
but if you do, we’d love to have you share it with all of us.

I got my own story ready to share and as I threw some pink plastic table clothes and my teacup and dish to pass in the car and headed down to the meeting I whispered "I got nothing God, no inspirational way to start the meeting, no joke to end the night with - nothing....if this meeting is going to be a sucess it's all up to you cuz I got nothing.

We had a very small meeting that night. One women was there for the first time. She drove over 30 miles to be there. She's been widow for two years. Last month at the lay ministry class I was telling some women about our group. One told me she thought our group was just what her sister in law T needed and would she mind if she gave her my phone number.

Actually I was surprised when I recieved the call from her. "I don't need to come because I'm grieving" she told me over the phone, "but I just want to be around people who understand"

Only 10 women attended the meeting that night, but it was an absolutely perfect night. The sharing that took place was unbelievable. It was a very intimate time together. And perhaps my favorite meeting of all times.

One of my friends commented how her husband had always made her laugh. She shared her husbands dying request.

Before her husband got sick ,they discussed the idea and agreed, that they would both be cremated. They instructed their children that after the surviving spouse died both of their remains were to be combined and placed in one urn.

Several years later the husband was diagnosed with cancer and given a few months to live. As the family gathered around his death bed the man called them all closer and reminded them of their promise to combine the ashes. But.....he said slowly, hardly able to breathe,......whatever you do, make sure I'm on top of your mother!

She told us how his last words filled with laughter are her life line in this world. Laughter can get you thru the tough times. Remind yourself of times you've laughed when all you want to do is cry.

Such wise words.

That's it for this post. I just want to thank God for coming thru again, and showing me for the millionth time that when I got nothing he's usually up to something

Happy Easter

What a beautiful Easter Day it was.






The sun is shining and the grass is greening up and the temperature is warming up nicely.




Today Church was packed. All the regulars plus a lot of Christmas and Easter church-goers. It was standing room only but I didn't mind because two of those C&E attendee's were sitting right beside me and are part of my immediate family.

Years ago I dressed my kids in their Easter finest and paraded them in to church and prayed they'd sit still and keep quiet so as not to embarass us.

I realized as one of them sat beside me this morning how much different today was then all those Easter mornings of long ago. Embarassment was the furthest thing from my mind. Instead my prayer was that God would be able to touch his heart in a way that would draw my child closer to Him. That somehow my son would see how much better life is with God then without Him.

I need to remember he's God's son too, and as much as I want that to happen, God has a handle on it and desires it more than me.

Since today is a celebration of the Resurrection I'm hoping that soon another kind of resurrection will take place.

On a different note...I took pictures of the grands Easter presents and baskets, but didn't realize until after they had gone home that I didn't get any picture of them opening everything.

School break was the week before Easter this year. It just doesn't seem right that the boys have to go back to school tomorrow and that they won't be here this coming week. Some habits are hard to break. But even though its over, Easter break has been just great.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter too.

Happy 4th Anniversary

Last night I got together with my special peeps to celebrate our 4th anniversary.

When I ordered the cake to commemorate the occassion, the girl asked if there was anything in particular I wanted on the cake. I asked for a teacup, since its the symbol for our group.

I was imagining it to be a dainty little cup, but instead its a little more like a soup mug. But it was so cute with the tea bag and all. And everyone gave it the awwww sound. You can decide for yourself what the awww really meant.

I tweaked a poem I found on the internet to make it pertain a little more to the group. (Sorry Jennifer if I took too many liberties with your poem. ) I think it captures the essence of our circle.

The Treasure of a Teacup

There’s a teacup and saucer that sits upon the shelf
Reminding me what I’ve been through
And I smile despite myself

The countless times I felt despair
I poured a cuppa tea
And had some quiet time alone just
My teacup, God, and me.

God gathered friends to share their hearts,
With a teacup in their hands…
How much their fellowship has meant,
Only He, can understand!

So disregard the faded roses,
The gold trim worn and smudged;
Those things increase its value
For through it a heart was touched!

Jennifer M Seest

Since it's almost Valentines Day, each woman was supposed to bring a Valentine and put it in our special Valentine basket. Then during the sharing time we picked a valentine out of the basket and read it to everyone. Some were funny some were a little off color. A couple were just your typical kid valentines.

After sharing the valentine each woman told a reason her husband had been her special valentine. Some shared marriage proposals, or a special valentine gift. My good friend AC told us about her husband sleeping so sound that they had to send the police to his house to wake him up so he could get to his wedding.

He grabbed his suitcase and rushed out the door and it wasn't until they unpacked the suitcases when they got to New York for their honeymoon that he realized he'd grabbed an empty suitcase.

Some may think the marriage would never have lasted but they were married 40+ years when he died.

I liked watching the facial expressions of each woman telling her story. There was always that twinkle in the eye and a smile and as we moved on to the next woman, I would glance back and notice how each womans eyes held that far off look as the relived a happier time.

One of the things that I love doing is buying roses for the party. Sams always has an affordable price so I can use them to decorate the table with bud vases and put a large vase of roses on the cake table.

When the party is over, I give each woman a rose to take home.

I had no idea how much of an impact this would have the first time I did this. You wouldn't believe the tears I saw in their eyes as they took a rose. I kinda had a inkling of what "The Bachelor" must feel when he hands a rose to a women vieing to be his wife and asks "will you accept this rose."

Here we are filling our faces and conversing during the meal. We are never at a loss for things to say.

So Happy Anniversary First Tea @ Five. Thanks for blessing my life in a way I could never have imagined.

Strange how a teapot can represent, at the same time,

the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company.

~Author Unknown