Words of Affirmation: Heather Sanders

 April 2nd, 2012,

Loralee,  You know I am not one to throw around compliments lightly, and when I do say it, I really mean it...

YOU should be writing for a living. PERIOD, no question.  This is what you are called to do, and extremely gifted at, and if you should ever need it, I would be honored to illustrate this story for you. (Especially if Homer is a white egret!)

Words of Affirmation: Guy Crain

So, have y'all ever heard of the 5 Languages of Love? It's a book which goes through--in depth--the five ways most people feel loved. They are: Gifts, Acts of Service, Quality Time, Touch, and Words of Affirmation.

Mine are--in descending order--Words of Affirmation, Touch, and then the other three. :)   So, when I get especially encouraging, touching, etc. 'Words of Affirmation', I write them down! Here is # 1.

Guy is a young man who went to Brown Trail after I had already graduated, but I was still a member of the congregation.  I kinda had a little crush on him at the time.  Anyway, time passed, he got married, had a kid, his wife left him for another man, and we had gotten back in touch with each other.  Nothing was going on, but a friendship which was encouraging. We talked on the phone and were people who filled a need for each other at that time in our lives.  I've since lost touch--again, but I'm sure he is having a lovely life, playing his guitar, and helping his wife raise that little boy (although the boy might be a grown-up by now.)   Anyway.... 

From Guy to me:

-A heart-felt amen to all your frustration and confusion about the suffering and injustice in the world.  

-And a heart-felt amen to your affirmation that God is still nonetheless good and just even beyond our capacity to understand. BOTH amens are very important, I think. (not just the first one, Mr./Ms.Unbeliever, and not just the last one, Mr./Ms. Preaching School Graduate. =o)

-I am humbled by the colossal size of your heart and its endless well of compassion. You are an example to me.

A HUGE PROJECT

Good evening, Everyone!

     So, I've been considering getting back to blogging recently because of some serious upcoming changes in my life, but have been putting it off because of all the work required in ACCOMPLISHING the aforementioned serious upcoming changes.  I will write a blog about the 'Serious Upcoming Changes" soon.  

However, today I discovered something kind of horrific.  FACEBOOK deleted the Notes feature and all my poetry and writing VANISHED!!  Thankfully, my amazing and intelligent and talented (and young and tech saavy) niece figured out a way to re-capture my notes, but it will be an issue of me bringing up the notes and hand typing them back onto another location--which for now will be here.  At some point, I will definitely buy one of those nifty thingies that keep things stored, but--for now--I'm doing it this way!   Anyway, so there will be LOTS Of new posts in the next week or so....I'm just transferring stuff.  Please forgive!

P.S. Nice to see y'all!

I Cannot Leave

For C.L.

For Paul

Because you both made a difference

Adorkable, I do not want to leave your home right now, even if all we do is sit in your living room—under a blanket—watching a movie.

I do not want to leave your playfulness.

I do not want to leave the way you always make me laugh.

I do not want to leave how we can talk about nothing and everything, and you can know something and I can know something and—together—we can grow into people who are better than the people we were in the beginning.

I do not want to leave the fact that the more I get to know you—well, the more you make my little ol’ heart go pitter-patter.

I. do. not. want. to. leave.

And, I’m not completely certain that I can.

Superman, I do not want to leave your presence right now, even if all I do is sit in my living room—under a blanket—remembering all the little things, each one made special because you were a part of it.

I do not want to leave your ‘PROLLYs’ or your ‘NO-YEAH-BUTs’ or your ‘LORI-LORUS-LAVORUS-LIEBOWITZ-LILLIPUT-LIPSCHITZs.’

I do not want to leave your head thrown back in your full-hearted, happiness-inducing laughter.

I do not want to leave your explanations about the Rose of Sharon, or what hands on stomachs means or why sometimes decent people do things they don’t want to do because it is the RIGHT thing to do.

I do not want to leave how you could tell me you loved me—without words—with just the smile on your face.

I. do. not. want. to. do. it.

And, I’m not completely certain that I can.

I do not want to leave, but if I follow my heart and stay here with you, then I’ll be

Leaving those people who have loved, guided, and protected me these 23 years.

Leaving my illuminating job as a lower light, and

Leaving the only hope I’ll ever have of walking along that street of gold, and

Leaving GOD.

I do not want to leave either of you.

I. do. not. want. to. do. it.

But I cannot leave HIM.

I. can. NOT .do. it.

I cannot leave.

Paradise, Lost

Paradise, Lost

This just in:  It turns out that Superman ain't so super, anymore.

He has--with forethought and purpose--thrown away his cape.

He isn't the son of Jor-El, as we've always believed.

He is a human.  He is only a real boy.

He will no longer fly to the top of the bright, blue sky

to fight and defeat all those evil, nefarious, ne'er-do-wells.

I guess he wants to retire from being the strongest, wisest,

handsomest, and awesome-est man on the planet.

And there is no one who can EVER take his place. Not one soul.

It's his choice, I suppose, but I have to be honest--
I'm absolutely devastated.

But, I still love you, Superman.

Hashtag: Work Funnies, # 1

So many interesting things happen to me four days a week when I'm at 200 Creekside.  I may feel compelled to write about them every now and then, so I've decided to start a blog inside a blog which I've (tongue-in-cheek) entitled "Hashtag: Work Funnies."  

This photo was taken today when I was cleaning the men's bathroom.  As you can see, this man must have been sitting there for a bit cos he decided to take on a decorating job.  Yep, he very precisely (and mostly evenly) draped a large bit of toilet paper around the hand rails!  Maybe he had gotten the memo that Christmas decorations were being taken down today and he wanted to do his part to stop the desecration of festiveness?   Dunno, but it certainly made me laugh!

I didn't take photos yesterday, but some funnies occurred then, also.  A preface:  When I first began this job, my boss gave me two work uniform tops.   I said that I prolly wore large, but all he had was extra large, so what was I to do but take them, yeah?  After handing them to me; however, he let the other shoe drop.  Those are men's extra large, though."      This was another 'what was I to do' situation, so I took them and have been wearing them every day for five weeks.  They are H-U-G-E on me!  Seriously, they are probably 2-3 sizes too big.

I had a ton of errands to do yesterday after work, so I brought a change of clothes with me when I left the house and changed after I clocked out.   As I walked up to the front to give back my keys, Kimmy looked at me with shock in her eyes!  "You have BOOBS!!!" she said, "I would NEVER have guessed it from your work top!"  

Seriously, y'all--you can't make these things up!  :)

Momentous moments with Mom

a preface: I was up and couldn't sleep and these words just came to me and wouldn't quit bugging me 'til I wrote them out. I'm pretty sure that the things I write in the middle of the night might come out kind of convoluted and weird, so--in advance--I am asking for your forbearance!

26JAN13

I couldn't sleep (too much tea at supper, I suppose) so I was up cleaning up the kitchen. At one point, I was thinking about something I have to do in the near future. I looked up at the calendar and realized that it is the 26th of January. On this day--25 years ago--I gave my oath of enlistment and joined the United States Air Force.  As a matter of fact, it was about this time (at 4:30 a.m.) that Daddy and I got into his big truck and headed for the M.E.P.S. center in San Antonio. I don't remember much from this day (well, it WAS 25 years ago, yeah?). Two things stick out in my mind, though. When I was done weighing in and doing all the tests and giving my oath of enlistment and was officially an airman, I spent about $3.00 (in 1988 money) on Hostess cakes cos I hadn't eaten any in a month or so!  
My favorite memory from that day was back there at home--when I was getting in the truck with Daddy. He shut his door, turned on the truck, and--while putting on his seat belt--he said to me, "Your Mom is crying." I was shocked. "How can you tell?" I asked him. He replied, "I can see her looking out at us at the window. She is wiping her eyes." I looked over at the window as he backed up the truck. There she was, looking out through the space between the curtains and the valance. I could see the top part of her tattered black robe with the lace trim and those huge blue glasses (It was too early for her to have put in her contacts). Below the curtains, I saw all our dogs looking out at us too, tongues lolling out and tails wagging.  And there was Mom, wiping the tears from her eyes with a tissue. I didn't understand it at the time, but those tears meant that she was proud of me for the path I was taking. She would miss me (at least a little) and that she loved me! What an amazing way to start such a momentous journey!  
She wasn't just there that day crying and encouraging me with her love. She was there for me through the six weeks of basic training and even beyond. I got letters from home nearly every day. Newsy briefs about what was happening with Vicky and Doug and Daddy and the dogs and even her projects. I found one of those letters the other day and laughed out loud cos it told me all about what was happening with Mason and Julia and Cruz and Gina. If anyone who didn't know me had picked up those letters and read them, they would have thought, "Dude! Ford's family should be on a soap opera!" What was funny is that Mason and all those other people weren't members of my family. They were characters on 'Santa Barbara', a soap opera that my family watched. She was keeping me up on what was going on with them, too. During those difficult days of basic training, even my mom's letters filled with news of fictional characters my entire family 'knew' kept me grounded.

When I went on to tech school in Wichita Falls, I would call collect once a week and we would talk and share and it was really amazing how our relationship grew during that time. She was THERE for me through those letters and--the very expensive, I later found out--weekly collect phone calls.
When I broke up with the boyfriend I had when I was stationed at the Air Force Academy, I called to tell her the news. Her reaction was amazing and perfect! "Oh, Loralee. I'm so sorry you're hurting. But I am so glad you are rid of him. He was such a loser jerk and treated you terribly." Marvin was my first real boyfriend. I was still in that place where I didn't have a sense of self-confidence and did whatever he said so that he would be happy. I didn't realize that I should have stood up for myself and dumped him months before that day. I think Mom was sorry I was hurting, but happy that I was growing up and learning to take care of myself. I really had a very supportive Mom. 

What a blessing she was (and still is!)