This was to have been a celebratory weekend. Rick’s birthday was Saturday and Mother’s Day was Sunday. This year I received a special card from one of my Sunbeams who said I was “the best teacher ever!” Now, that’s something worth celebrating!
I called my mom, but they were at my brother David's celebrating with his family (wife Amy and nephew Joshua - see their blog "Dave & Amy's Journey"). They visited my other brother, Vic and his wife Linda, on Saturday. I miss being near them all and participating in family gatherings . Rick and I don’t live terribly far away, but our visits are usually reserved for the big holidays so we can have extra time to travel and visit.
The older I get the more grateful I am that my parents are who they are. Generally they did a good job raising all three of their children (myself and my two brothers, Victor and David). As for my faults and issues, they’re the product of my own choices, not theirs.
My parents raised us to be independent, self-motivated, clear-thinking individuals. (Like I said – my issues are my own, not my parents’.) We were given chores to do around the house and yard and were expected to participate in them as a family and we had family dinner every night. I have fond memories of us gathered around the table, passing food back and forth and sharing the happenings of our days. One memory stands out vividly. We were having hamburgers for dinner and my brother, Victor, was holding his in his lap between bites instead of putting it on the plate. Well, we had a dog, Max, a dachshund, and he just couldn’t stand it any more and decided most gratefully to accept the kind invitation my brother was giving him – by taking it out of his hand, almost taking a finger with it! Now, Max wasn’t the best trained dog in the world, but he wasn’t the worst either, and I defy any dog to withstand that kind of temptation.
My mom was – and still is – a very creative woman. She sewed almost all of my clothes and some of the boys’. When I got big enough, she taught me as well. Between them, she and my grandmother taught me to knit, crochet, embroider and needlepoint. I still enjoy those crafts today. Nowadays my mother is a very accomplished quilter and has won prizes in quilt shows around the nation, as well as teaching and leading workshops. You can find her at http://www.judylundberg.com/.
My dad is now retired. While I was growing up he was a technical editor in the government and in private industry. For several years he and my mom worked together running a typesetting business – but then desktop publishing started to intrude and dad got into other businesses, finally retiring as an employment counselor.
I feel pretty lucky to have the parents I have.
Saturday was my husband’s birthday. He just started a new job this past week, driving trucks (big rigs) for a company in Findlay, Ohio and ended up driving home all day Saturday. He actually didn’t mind it too much. He had time to sleep in on Saturday and not rush or worry about delivery, so he was going to enjoy the ride. He got up all rested and refreshed, the weather was clear and he was looking forward to a good day driving. I’m sure you can guess that things didn’t go as planned (well, they never do, do they?). He went to a truck wash and got his rig cleaned, and then couldn’t start it up afterward. He called dispatch and they found him a mechanic in the area, who showed up almost right away. He checked a few things and got it started, and Rick started tooling down the road again. I must say, we are both impressed with this company.
Needless to say, once he got to his delivery, and dropped it off, it was much later in the day than he intended. He finally got home around 9:00 that evening.
Through it all Rick was in a pretty good mood. He was really grateful that he broke down at the truck wash instead of at his delivery. Plus, he really liked the countryside he was driving through in SE Indiana and SW Ohio. Lots of nice woods interspersed with huge farms. He kept calling me and telling me about how great it all looked and how much he likes driving around and seeing the countryside. Even though he was working on his birthday, at least it was something he enjoys doing (for the most part. Thursday night wasn’t so hot.)
In a couple of weekends, when we have some time to celebrate, I’ll take Rick to his favorite place – Cabela’s – for elk burgers and some (window) shopping. Rick is an AVID fisherman and hunter and he really enjoys spending hours in that store checking out all the fishing gear, boating supplies, hunting clothes and camping equipment. He’s worse than I am in a book store!
This has turned into a much longer entry than I thought it would be, but I had a lot to share. I am truly grateful to my Heavenly Father for my family and my friends, especially my parents. I want you all to know that I love you and appreciate all you’ve done for me. I’m stubborn and thick-headed, but eventually I learn the right things. Thanks for hanging in there with me, and here’s looking forward to many, many more lessons to learn! Love you all.
No comments:
Post a Comment