Filling Mom's Shoes

My mom wore a size 5 shoe. In her glory days, she stood five feet tall. But this little woman knew how to get things done. She had a passion for making thing, and although the materials she chose to work with changed over the years, her hands were always busy. We, her family, were the recipients of most of her labours – crocheted afghans; needlepoint creations and many other things.

Any time a new baby was born into the family, Mom had a blanket ready to wrap around the wee one. At Christmas time, she made stockings for any new members of the family (new adult members as well as babies). These were not just any stockings; they were a replica of the ones she made for me and my brother when we were born. She also baked cookies and sweetbreads to hand out at Christmas, along with her special Russell Stover fudge (and sometimes other homemade candy as well).

When she passed away in 2008, I planned to step up. I would make the baby blankets. The stockings. The fudge. The… wait, that’s probably about all I could handle. The first Christmas I actually did it. Mom had left no pattern or instructions for the stockings, but I found her box of “stuff”. Looking at my stocking, I was able to recreate reasonable imitations, and three new family members got a stocking that year. I stayed up till 4 a.m. making several batches of fudge. When a new grandbaby was born the following March, he got a blanket. I even started a blanket for my great granddaughter, who was due in August of 2009. That half-finished blanket that I messed up on is still sitting in the little cabinet of my coffee table. I have never made any more fudge, or much of anything else. I do keep up with the stockings, because, well, that’s a necessity. That includes re-making stockings for a few of the more transient family members who don’t have their old one any longer. I do have to admit, however, the ones I make don’t compare to my mom’s tiny, even stitching.

In my defense, I work. Hmmm, well, so did she for many years. Okay, she didn’t have facebook, and all the other vices that make me wonder where the last three hours went. But I guess what I’m really trying to say is Mom might have had tiny shoes, but they sure are hard to fill.

Six stockings for Christmas 2014

Wedding Day

The bride walked down an aisle carpeted with autumn leaves. As flickers of sunlight wove through the trees, my beautiful granddaughter was joined in marriage. It was almost as though God had created the weather just for her wedding – the temperature of that late October day was perfect.

Tiphanie & DJ

I was delighted to be in attendance at this event, and felt blessed to be honored as her grandma. Tiphanie was a gift I received as a result of my late son Matt dating (and later marrying) her mother. Through the years she has always been one of the grandkids, even after Matt and Cindy were no longer together.

Besides anticipating this event for its own sake, I had been champing at the bit because I couldn’t wait for the chance to see all the kids. Tiphanie and her family live several hours from me; and Tyler and Valarie, Matt’s two biological children, live much further, as does Jake – another grandchild I got to claim. It had been a little over two years since I had seen most of them; a little longer for Tyler. What with time, distance and tragic events of Matt’s death, I worried that they might not have anything to say to me.

I was greeted by an exuberant Tiph, and warmly welcomed by Cindy and her family. As I went to speak to Alex, who has stepped up to be their dad, my eyes fell on Tyler. The last time I saw him, he was tall, he was grown up, but he was still a “kid”. Now he is a man. A very handsome one too, I must say. Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen one of the bridesmaids standing nearby, and Alex asked me if I had noticed this young lady. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I realized that it was Valarie. Of course I follow her on facebook, but that doesn’t prepare a person to see her little granddaughter actually grown into an absolutely lovely young woman. Another shock came when I saw Jake and discovered that he is now taller than I am.

Valarie

Tyler and Jake

Even though Matt’s absence from the event was a black hole in my heart, I spent a very happy evening getting to know my grandkids again, and also enjoying the company of other family members who were there. Three year old Hannah entertained us when she photobombed other wedding guests – people she didn’t even know. Several of them were in a group posing for a picture and she just walked over and stood beside one of them, folded her little hands and smiled sweetly. The day was also Roger and my sixth wedding anniversary, and I can’t think of a better way we could have celebrated. I am blessed.

In His Hands

My smallest dog is terrified of storms. With the accuracy of a meteorologist, she senses their impending arrival long before we humans can spot any evidence. As soon as her nose begins to detect ozone in the air, she huddles in a “storm shelter”, her little body trembling. Nothing comforts her until the tempest has passed.

One recent night, just as I was preparing for bed, she ran under the bench in my kitchen and began to quiver. I grabbed my Kindle and looked up the weather forecast. Sure enough, scattered thunderstorms were predicted.

Shortly after I lay down, I heard thunder in the distance. As the noise grew closer, I began to feel sorry for Bianca, and sleep was impossible. I got up and knelt down beside her, stroking her shuddering form. I began to pray. I asked God to hold this little dog up above the waves and to please let her feel His presence. Suddenly, I was overcome with the feeling of Him… holding… well, the entire creation. For a few seconds, I was one with all the saved beings both on earth and in Heaven, as well as millions and billions of animals. We were all held firmly in our Father’s hands, and all was well.

I wish I could give this story a glorious ending – the storm suddenly ended, or Bianca joyfully ran out from under the bench and began licking my face, but neither of those things happened. I was once again simply a mortal woman on her knees on the kitchen floor, beside a terrified dog. But I went back to bed with a feeling of peace, knowing that all things are indeed in our Creator’s hands, and I could rest in Him. 

What's for Dinner?

Ugh, I am so tired of defective equipment! I wrestle with things that don’t work properly every day at my job. Here at home, the roof leaks, our water heater is about to cash in its chips, and don’t even get me started on everything else that needs to be replaced… Earlier today, something I had plugged into a power strip stopped working, because the power strip suddenly decided to shut off. After that, another incident occurred that left me tugging at my hair.

Today was a day off. On my days off, I try to cook nutritious meals for my husband, who indulges in extremely unhealthy habits. Therefore, I filled my crock pot with chicken breasts, which would later be combined with brown rice and vegetables. An hour later, I lifted the lid. The chicken sure didn’t seem to be cooking very fast. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even feel any heat. Don’t tell me the crock pot had breathed its last??

I got into mechanic mode and began troubleshooting. Lo and behold, I actually solved the problem! I discovered that there is a white cord, about three feet in length, protruding from the back of the crock pot. When the appliance fails to heat up, if the prongs at the end of this cord are plugged into similar holes in the wall, it seems to take care of the problem. What a relief – and thanks to my superior fix-it skills, a nice, low cholesterol meal will be served on my dining room table this evening!

This model only works when it's plugged in...