SOCIAL MEDIA

No Title Here...Just Me & My Ramblings

11.14.2008


The past couple of days have left me thinking...

Zoey and I went out for lunch at a little restaurant the other day for a special treat and I couldn't help but overhear the middle aged couple behind us who were talking about a friend whom recently had been diagnosed with Lyme's Disease and couldn't afford her insurance deductible and thus couldn't get the care that she needed.

On that same day we went to the supermarket and while unloading groceries onto the moving check-out belt an elderly couple won $20 with the little store incentive program and they were so excited they were almost in tears.

Later in the week while at the video store I overheard a conversation between a woman checking out videos and the video store clerk and she was telling him about how it was her son's birthday and she (and 4 kids + 2 adults) couldn't afford to go out to the movie theatre as originally planned. It would have been over $100 if they had gotten the tickets and just minimal treats for the kids.

At another place of business I listened while an older man was talking with a friend and he was telling him that he had a couple of potatoes at home and that he probably should go to the store and pick up a couple of bananas (that being all that he could afford).

I could go on and on...there are friends that are struggling and families that are facing hardships and things that are happening that just don't make sense but are just so. A good friend just lost his sister to cancer leaving behind two small children. A couple our age and with two small kids just lost their home and all their belongings to a fire. My heart is aching and I have this desire to do something but I just don't know what it is that I can do that will make a difference. The MOP's group that I belong to is putting proceeds from our fundraisers towards Wisconsin Public Service bills of those that are behind and are in threat of having disconnections of service in their home and we've also "adopted" some families that are need of special items and we are all independently helping out with that as well...but I want to do more as the need is so great here it seems. It's funny how once you start to give it starts being hard not to.

My birthday was last weekend. I turned 31. It was pretty uneventful (sometimes that can be a good thing). I actually worked that day teaching a class at my local scrapbook store and then later Ethan and Zoey took me out to eat and afterwards we went home to some special treats that they had prepared and some little gifts to open. It was nice. It was what I wanted and I couldn't have been happier. There was a box that had arrived in the post that day and it was marked that it was from my mother. I opened it up and inside was a Jesse Tree just like the one that I had when I was a little girl (my grandmother had made it for me back then). Turns out my grandmother made me another one...this one the stitching is a bit off and the ornaments are a little more haphazard in design, but I know that I love this one even more than that first one. I am so blessed with the people in my life and that I can carry on in my heart the things that I've found to be most important to be treasured. There are times that my heart feels so open and so big that I fear it means that I'll die of it for sure. I will try to do a post later that shows more detail of this project and to tell more about it as well. It's really a special thing and I have so many fond memories of this as a child all centered around the holidays and it's true meaning.



The bakery that I worked at part-time upon moving here is closing or rather now, is closed. This was my first place of work after having had Zoey and being a SAHM for 3 years and to say it was part-time is an overstatement as I only worked one afternoon a week. In that one day though I had been given so much. I find it almost ironic that their last day of business was on the 15th...my birthday. I went in to say good-bye and ended up leaving with my arms full of cookie cutters, cake pans, and other little trinkets that will help me to remember what it is that that job and the friendship between the owner and I meant to me at this time in my life. I did a lot of healing within those little walls of that bakery and I will forever be grateful to those special days spent working there and to those friendships with those people that I worked with. It makes me sad that this place will no longer be here and that outside circumstances made it so.



I want to remember and be reminded of the things that are most important. I want to remember to say thank-you and to look at people knowing that everyone has a struggle that they are dealing with and I want to be kind anyways, despite it all. I want to remember that we really all are not as different as we think and yet we have all something unique to offer. Especially now.


Kim Faucher said...

wow, lots on your mind my friend!
I too, have been so worried about those that don't have as much as me... this time of year.. with it being cold and hungry would be horrible...
Nice to hear your Mops group is organizing something...
Im putting something together for my Brownies to do as well... last year they donated a few backpacks filled with "stuff" for a homeless shelter... it really meant alot for them to do it... makes them aware!
Have a pleasant day!
Kim

Unknown said...

Well said. Seems like when I am feeling overwhelmed and struggling I receive a "wake-up" reminder. God gives us what we can handle and that which makes us stronger, better.

Martha said...

Happy belated birthday...I think being 31 is awesome. Maybe instead of depending on farmers and the grocers we could start being a bit more self-sufficient? We had an awesome crop of tomatoes this past fall and have LOTS of frozen tomatoes we've been using to make sauce for pasta...very affordable and healthy!