"I have a theory," she replied. "I remember thinking long ago,

'were loved infinitely for however little bit of time we have.' 

And its not ultimately tragic to die at any age. Whether we're

talking about being blown into little pieces or, what is ultimate

tragedy. (I just think there isn't ultimate tragedy except for 

evil, and God doesnt will any evil.) And we're surrounded by-

I tell little kids about the Good Shepherd, I think its a great image

for them, but the vine and the branches is great too-) but whether

we feel it or not, we are surrounded by this tremendously loving

presence, and that covers every second of every day. Of everybody.

from: Strength in What Remains

by: Tracy Kidder

Dearest Lexi...
All my scrapbooks are packed away for safe keeping...but if they werent in boxes I would have littered this post with all the darling pics I have of you as a chubby baby girl!! (whew...you dodged that bullet from your crazy aunt didnt you!!!??)
I miss you Lexi!! Truly I do.
Your dad says its been nearly 2 years since you went North. It seems longer than that. Much longer.
I grew accustomed to seeing your darling face at the Bloomington Subway, sporting those timeless fashion accessories- the black visor and black golf shirt. I bet you were sorry to hang those up for the last time!! I should have taken better advantage of your working  only a few blocks away. I have regrets. Dang our regrets!!!
I wish we were better friends. There is no such thing as too many friends...especially when you're an old lady like me...and even more so when those friends are family.  It should be easier that way...but sometimes it just isnt. Dang it again.
You are a special young lady my wanna- be-your- friend friend. Special in a good way-not special in an awkward way....  Im just  wondering...were you EVER awkward??!!

(this is me...as a sophomore in high school...now that's AWKWARD!!!!)
Never have you been this awkward..or this "special"...Im sure of it.

But you are indeed  special, because some of us who have known you the longest, know things and remember things that are very tender and sacred about you. You were too young at the time and cant possibly  remember them  now...but Im sure you've heard the story that  Im about to relate...probably more than once or twice.  Im willing to wager though, that your spirit remembers these events...even though you have no recollection now. Oh how the world messes with our heads...but our spirits can remember and be "above it all" thank heavens....if we let them.
Im risking once again of sounding like the spiritual hippy freak that I am...and receiving permission from your good dad...to share again with you something remarkable and sacred that happened to you...and your dad...the night that your beautiful mom left this world years ago.
A tragic accident brought  so much sorrow, pain and heartache to so many people that loved your mother. And now that you are so much older, Im sure that you can picture it all in your mind...and Im sure you have times where with no difficulty you can feel it for yourself even now.  Imagine the pain and brokenness your dad felt when he received the terrible news of her death in that treacherous canyon. It is from this point that I please ask that  cut me some slack and remember that I unfortunately  dont hang on to details very well. This is what I remember your dad telling me about what happened that very night.  I do remember the phone call I had from your dad that morning to tell me what happened. I remember dropping every thing and heading south to be with you and your dad.  I remember just a few days before Leah's funeral, your dad relating to me...and others Im sure...what he experienced the night of the accident. You were in your room, sleeping in your crib. You're dad was shocked, dazed and brokenhearted. Then suddenly you woke up and started to fuss.  (I guess this was unusual for you...you were a dozer baby, a good sleeper, like most of my kids were.) Your dad headed down the hall to your room, to check on you, but before he could open the door, you stopped crying and just babbled and cooed for a bit.  It was at that moment that  your dad just knew...had the very distinct impression that your mom was there in the room with you...to calm you and to say good-bye.  This rang true to me then...and as I write this now..it still rings true to my heart. What mother wouldnt choose to do this last thing...before moving on??!!
I pray my dear niece, that this reminder will only bring you peace and comfort. It is a hard knock world out there and these reminders of tender, miraculous things do indeed  help us  ease our way sometimes. And in your case I think they happen more frequently than we know. All of us need to open our hearts and minds and seek out these gifts.
Believe that you are special Lexi. Many of us know it, and your mom of course does as do your family here.
I understand that you have had another experience with a very thin veil. With your wild and crazy and adoring Grandpa Chad. Cherish these experiences Lexi. Keep them in the forefront of your thoughts. For they are gifts, and many, many of us are not as blessed with such faith building gifts.
Faith is a gift.
Faith that there's something better on the 'other side.'
Faith that there is only goodness and love through the veil.
Faith in something worth striving for, and making those on the other side proud of us.

I think we are all guilty of forgetting or not realizing just how many people love us Lexi.  I think its easy to not understand how important each and every member of our families are to each of us.

 Do you recall the movie Its A Wonderful Life...that classic Christmas story?? George believed that the world would not miss him or notice if he had never existed. Oh how wrong he was...
It took a heavenly angel to help George learn this about himself. Clarence was his name...an angel earning his wings.  You have had angel experiences my love. You know that there are folks that love you very, very much..both here and in heaven. There is a whole team of people cheering you on Lexi. They pray for you, and miss you at our less than frequent family gatherings.  Seeing you again would bring so many so much joy!!
We love you Lexi!! And we always will!!!

"In your language you have a form of poetry called the sonnet."

"Yes," Calvin said impatiently. "What's that got to do with the

Happy Medium?"

"It's a very strict form of poetry,is it not?"

"Yes"

There are fourteen lines, I believe, all in iambic pentameter. 

Thats a very strict rhythm or meter, Yes?"

"Yes" Calvin nodded.

"And each line has to end with a rigid rhyme pattern. And if

the poet does not do it exactly this way, it is not a sonnet, is it?"

"No"

"But within this strict form the poet has complete freedom to say

whatever he wants, doesn't he?"

"So what?  You mean you're comparing our lives to a sonnet? A

strict form, but freedom within it?"

"Yes.  You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet

yourself.  What you say is completely up to you."

from: A Wrinkle In Time

by: Madeleine L'Engle  

Mayci my love...you are a generous, peaceful soul. ...qualities that both your folks also possess.
A perfect example of your parents generosity happened 14 yrs ago when they invited me to attend the blessed event of your entering into world.
(you know what I think...I think baby doctors may be some of the luckiest people on the planet. Everyday they get to be instrumental in the birth of babies! It must  be a magical experience.)
I know it was magical for me when I was included in that day. It was a gift and an honor and now my heart is bound to you  forever. To witness your parents becoming mom and dad to a beautiful daughter was a sacred gift that I will always treasure.
You should know and might find it interesting to know  that I have loved your dad from the very first time I met him...which happened at Grandma Stephenson's  home, at the dining room table which had  so many chairs around it that I was confused!!  So MANY Stephensons!!???
Bob brought me down from USU to 'meet the family', and your dad was just a young whippersnapper teenager, just a few years older than you are now. Truth be told...he was just a younger, male version of me as a teenager too. He was a handsome, restless, young man, who happily listened to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, and yet was a Stephenson thru and thru...with a heart of gold and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. We could relate to one another and we had much in common. He most certainly had to have been blown away by the impossibility that   his older, straight-laced brother had fallen in love with a wild and somewhat rebellious California girl!!  The friendship I have enjoyed with your dad is something I cherish even after all these years.
And then there's your mom. A beauty both inside and  out..and with more class than I'll ever dream of possessing!! I love her with all my heart. I love that your dad was inspired to marry her and bring her into the family. Truly I love her as a sister! Plus...I love that the two of them chose to marry in one of my most favorite places on the planet...Zion!! It was a sign that we were going  to be fast and loyal friends!!

I suppose Im telling you all of this random stuff because its been fun for me to remember the good ol days. Days gone by... about 14 yrs ...when you were born. And to look at you now and see so much good, so much sweetness..so much beauty and love, makes my heart sing.
There was so much love in that hospital  room when you arrived Mayci.
And now..all these years later, there are so many people that love you so very, very much now.
You are easy to love my dear. Kindness, thoughtfulness and wisdom beyond your years are just a few of the great qualities that you seem to be blessed with.

And now...Now that Im headed your way for the summer, I look forward to spending some time with you..and to get to know you even better. If you'll let me that is.
We can hike. I can watch volleyball. Or...we can eat Pringles and drink Diet Coke and suck on Gummy Rings together and remember our counterfeit corruption of sweet Benjamin!!
You'd put hiking shoes on for me...right!!??
Just like I'd eat donuts and cheer like a mad woman in the bleachers for you!! ( and I bet you wouldnt even be embarrassed by me!!!??)
Love you Mayci!
Stay true to you!!  And to your hip dad and your amazing mom!!

Giving is more joyous than receiving not

because it is a deprivation, but because in the

 act of giving lies the expression of my aliveness.

from: The Art of Loving

by: Erick Fromm

My good brother sometimes sends me sweet emails...just to check up on me.  I appreciate him so much.  I dont know what it is about the Sharps...we arent great communicators...and thats not really what I mean..To be more accurate, I mean we arent chatty.  Sometimes I wish we were.  But I think its a learned skill...and I believe we may be too old to learn new tricks.  But I do know he's in my corner...and thats enough.    I miss him..we dont see enough of each other.
And now I'm done complaining.  Just had to share this blast from the past with you.
My brother Joe and my two oldest boys...Joe and Rob; many years ago.
Peace

BIRTHDAYS REMEMBERED

Sure, the universe is large, but it isn't all that

complex. It took an impressive series of geniuses,

but now the secrets have been exposed, the

universe is not so hard to fathom.  Strangely,

I think that some of the mechanisms within

the universe - like you and me- are much more

complicated than the universe itself.  ...its easier

 to understand the Big Bang and galactic evolution

than it is to understand human thoughts and emotions.

from: Fizz

by: Zvi Schreiber

This is my darling grandma, Helen Myrtle Swenson Sharp...she was darling when she was young, and I thought she was darling when she was my grandma.  Havent a guess to how old she'd be in the above photo...but I bet it was taken way before she was married.  Late teens maybe?  It causes one to wonder what her dreams and aspirations were at this age...to marry, have babies, and see the world? She did all those things..and became a beloved grandmother as well. 

I remember our grandma Sharp being so proud and so happy on this day...watching her handsome, uniformed grandson, marry the woman of his dreams.  She was an emotional lady...like me...and was quick to cry at the happy times and when she was sad.  I loved her for that. And I also remember she had the most amazing charm bracelet...loaded down with charms from all the places she had visited in the world. That thing probably weighed 3 pounds! I was fascinated by the stories that went along with each unique charm. She dearly loved to travel. 
(I also remember the times when I used to like to sew. I made the dress Im wearing in this photo...and I was actually pleased with it...I wore it often.  Those were the days.)

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!

i know you would have loved being a great grandma!!!

.


















A generation that cannot endure boredom will be a generation
 of little men, of men unduly divorced from  the slow process
 of nature, of men in whom every vital impulse
 slowly withers as though they were cut flowers in a vase.
from: The Geography of Bliss
quoting: Bertrand Russel
by: Eric Weiner

WILLIAM HENRY WARNER

William was My Builder's great, great grandfather on his father's side.

William was born in Ipswich, Mass. on Aug 20th 1827

He was always interested in farming and in learning the best methods of sheep and cattle ranching. 

He loved to sing and was very interested in genealogy workand was  a great reader, enjoying most, reading to his family .  His history also talks of his love for flowers and gardening.

William joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he was 25 yrs old, in 1852, along with his first wife.

 Soon after they trekked west to Utah and settled in Nephi, Utah. There he married his second wife...(yes, we're talking about polygamy here) This dear woman is the mother of  Mary Ann, who was My Builders great grandmother.  

William died July 19th, 1902.

William was an upstanding, hardworking, devoted husband and father.  He was the father of 13 children and by now, innumerable great grandchildren and great, great, greats!!!

Here's to remembering you William...and wishing you a Happy Birthday!!

Maybe happiness is this: not feeling like you should

be elsewhere, doing something else, being someone

else.  Maybe the current conditions in Switzerland

make it simply easier to "be" and therefore "be happy."

from: Geography of Bliss

by: Eric Weiner

MASTER of the Story of Griselda

[Italian Early Renaissance Painter, active ca.1500]

Artemisia

1492

Oil on panel, 88 x 46 cm

Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan

I finished reading The Passion of Artemisia longing to see some of her work. And here it is!!  I'll be searching for more!!

The Pah-Ute (Paiute) Indian group, near Cedar, Utah in a picture from 1872. O’Sullivan was famous for not trying to romanticise the native American plight or way of life in his photographs and instead of asking them to wear tribal dress was happy to photograph them wearing denim jeans.

I've been missing Southern Utah...I have friends that do a great job posting what they've been up to down there...without me...sigh.  Then I stumbled upon this photo...what a harsh life.  Im grateful I wasnt born to be a pioneer; without air conditioning, running water and bug exterminators. 

Its been a LONG time since My Builder and I have been to a movie. We stay home and Netflix...but we went to this one...Men In Black III, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Good choice for us!! Thanks dear.

I bought a bike helmet, for my bike riding adventures. Ben looks way cuter than I under that hat!

Mimi in 1975..with her best friend Judy and her family.  Arent the two of us just as foxy as they came!!?? te he Thanks for sharing Jude

I seek weekly refuge and peace here...and I always find it.

Two of my boys are spending a week at Lake Powell...I am not...

Instead we went to the Cashe County Fair..
and saw pigs...goats..sheep..and cattle.
Lucie got her face painted
Ben got to dip his piggies in the stream
I ate homemade french fries
and held My Builders hand.
The highlight for me was..strangely enough... being introduced to McClintock the 2300 lb bull..whom Im told will probably go to Nationals and win! 
I was impressed!!

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Thursday evening.

One of our many goals for Relief Society and my new calling is to visit every lady in our ward..and since I hate to go anywhere unfamiliar, empty handed...we made up this little card to give each lady..with our name and phone numbers and meeting times.
Silly, but it gets the job done.
Tomorrow (Sat) is our first funeral. We are expected to feed 90 people at the luncheon. Gulp. There's nothing like just jumping right in...

Peace

A RIOTOUS WEEKEND FOR EVERYONE!

 Spring Explosive (1965) by Salvador Dali













BLAST FROM THE PAST....INCLUDING UNHAPPY FEMALES!!!

The boys are fine...
The girls on the other hand....????!!!!
its anyones guess...

HOPE MY FRIENDS HAVE A TRANQUIL WEEKEND

.




















BLAST FROM THE GOOD OLE' PAST!!

Is that my mom and dad shak'in their bootie!!?
Why yes it is!!
Joe and Debbie's wedding in lovely No. California!
Good times!!!!

LOVE SOMEONE'S MUG THIS WEEKEND!!

 





















BLAST FROM THE PAST!!

It looks as though these three may be under the same roof again, for a while...
thanks to the incredible generosity of family we love.
Bri and Becca...going to college
Sweet Steph...done with college...for now at least.. and now shaking her head in wonder about those darling overalls!!
LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Mimi Monday

Like our shadows, our wishes 

lengthen as our sun declines. 

-edward young

Here's another blast from the past...
Here's my darling mom...
with our first born...
darling Robby
Who is now the father of 3 beautiful babies of his own.
This picture was taken in Laurel, Maryland...
we lived there for a few years..
My mom always came to where I was when I was having a baby...
handsome baby Joe on this occasion...
Arent moms and grandma's grand!?

Thank you mom
I love you.


.

BLAST FROM THE PAST!

I LOVE these people!!

Birthday Remembered

The second principle of magic... things which

 have once been in contact with each other,

continue to act on each other at a distance

 after the physical contact has been severed.

from: Words I Wish I Wrote

quoting: Sir James G Frazer

by: Robert Fulgrum

This is a photo of my Grandmother Ida ...we called her Grandma Clemenson.
She was married to Paul Burnham. ...my mothers folks.
We think this photo was taken in 1928 which makes her  aprox. 24yrs old here.
She died before I finished college.
I have always felt bad that she never met My Builder.  And I have wished that my children could have known her too.
She was a classy lady. Very proper.  The type that wore pearls to breakfast. Her home was always immaculate.  I remember her being generous and perfect in appearances.  Everything had its proper place.  She had a fat and very old cat that drank milk from a bowl at the back door; the spot where a milkman delivered her milk through a special trap door. Whenever I smell petunias Im taken back to her back yard...she had lots of petunias growing there in the summer months.  She had a cronic little cough, and took these tiny little black squares of something licorice smelling, that acted like a cough drop.  She drove the coolest old black Mercedes that seemed to have bench seating for multiudes of people.  She had a cheery yellow kitchen, where we would eat strawberries and cream for breakfast. (cream from that milkman!) Ida was an artist. Anna and I, and my mom have her work on our walls and her decoupge lamps and jewlrey boxes. 
Her good parents were Nephi Young Schofield and Ellen Vilate Romney.
We have much to be grateful for in these good strong ancestors of ours!!  May we continue to learn from them...even though they are no longer with us!


.

FATHERS DAY REVISITED...

Tegus, I'll not find a better man than
you, not on the steppes, not in any city
or in all the wilds of the Eight Realms.
You're better than seven years of food.
You're better than windows. You're even
better than the sky.
from: Book of a Thousand Days
by: Shannon Hale

Dad with his fabulous "man-childs"
Bob, Mark, Brent and Scott

"He was all questions. But small boy expect their fathers to be walking lexicons, to do two jobs at once, to give replies as they are working, whether laying stones or building models...

My grandpa Sharp (2nd from the left)
Stan, Cecil,Frank, John
D, Mur or Anna, Gramps, and Beth

...digging up a shrub, or planting flower beds...Boys have a right to ask their fathers questions....Fathers are the powers that be,

Daddy Joe,  Logan, Liam, Beckham!!!

and with their power and might must shelter, guard, and hold and teach and love...All men with sons must learn to do these things....

Dad and Mom and ME!!!! (1yr)

...Too soon, too soon, a small son grows and leaves his father's side to test his manhood's wings."
by:Roy Z. Kemp

"Gramps" or John C Sharp--baby Bump--my dad

My Builder

Grandfather-Paul Burnham

Brother Joe and first born-joshua

My grandpa Vern and Grandma Ida Clemenson

Rob, Lachlan, Olive, Knox

David and Benjamin

By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families
in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the
necessities of life and protection for their families.
Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their
children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and
mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.
from: The Family:A Proclamation to the World
by: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Birthday Remembered

It is the secret of the world that all things subsist
and do not die, but only retire a little from sight
and afterwards return again.  Nothing is dead; men
feign themselves dead, and endure mock funerals and
mournful obituaries and there they stand looking out of
the window, sound and well, in some new strange disguise.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA PAUL
Born on June 9th 1903

this handsome man was born109 years ago

In preparation for this post I was able to read the minutes of his funeral.

Oh how I wish I could have known Grandpa Burnham.

Oh how grateful I am to have the faith and knowledge that someday I 

will have the opportunity to greet him on the other side of the veil.

Many wonderful accolades were spoken on Pauls' behalf.

Mostly words of comfort to my grandmother Ida, and to my mother and her brother Bruce.

Many people loved and admired Paul.

My mother was 12 years old when he died.

After all these years..she is still very sad about her loss. Im wishing she felt more comfort

and peace. I think she wonders about how different her life might have been
had her dear daddy not died when he did.  Mom is good at delving into "what might have beens."
I wish she wouldnt....for her experiences have made her into the wonderful woman she is today..
with character traits that sound a lot like her dad....
generous, kind, hard working, 

There was a poem read at his funeral that I thought I'd share again:

A REAL MAN

Men are two kinds, and he

Was of the kind I'd like to be.

Some preach their virtues, and a few

Express their lives by what they do.

That sort was he.  No flowery phrase

Or useless spoken words of praise

Won friends for him.  He wasnt cheap

Or shallow, but his course ran deep.

And it was pure.  You know the kind.

Not many in a life you find

Whose deeds outrun their words so far

That more than what they seem they are.

There are two kinds of lies as well; 

The kind you live,  the ones you tell.

Back through his years from age to youth

He never acted one untruth.

Our in the open light he fought

And didnt care what others thought

Nor what they said about his fight

If he believed that he was right.

The only deeds he ever hid

Were acts of kindness that he did.

Men are of two kinds, and he

Was of the kind I'd like to be.

No door as which he ever knocked

Against his manly form was locked.

If ever man on earth was free

And independent, it was he.

No broken pledge lost him respect,

He met all men with head erect,

And when he passed I think there went

A soul to yonder firmament

So white, so splendid and so fine

It came almost to God's design.

.

MIMI MONDAY

P is for Play Pens

You may not feel outstandingly robust, but if you are

an average-sized adult you will contain within your modest

frame no less than 7X10 to the 18th

joules of potential energy-enough to explode with

the force of thirty very large hydrogen bombs, 

assuming you know how to liberate it and really wished

to make a point.  Everything has this kind of of energy

trapped within it.  We're just not very good at getting it

out.  Even a uranium bomb - the most energetic thing

we have produced yet- releases 

 less than 1% of the

energy it could release if only we were more cunning.

from: A Short History of Nearly Everything

by: Bill Bryson

Aunt Cathy

If you look on line you can find quite the debate about the pros and cons of playpens.
The reason  I bring this up...is because of a comment my daughter made the  other day...when we were all in the garden working...Anna had  Ben and was frustrated that she couldnt lend a hand.  I said something about getting a play pen out there with us, under the trees, and then we'd all be happy and comfortable.  She said something like, "oh, he hates that..."   WHAT!!???  Dear Ben has never even seen a playpen let alone been in one!! What is that about??  Anna wasnt/isnt even going to entertain the idea.   Interesting.

Now that I've been thinking about this topic I have noticed some things.  One being that tv characters are forever putting their tv babies into playpens, which are situated in the front rooms so that the babies appear to be in there gurgling and purring away...when we all know they really arent there at all.  Smoke and mirrors...tv is smoke and mirrors.
Also, my three oldest kids spent some time in a playpen and they turned out ok  great!!! I was happy to have a respite from them eating dirt or worrying about them pulling something heavy down on top of them while I ran to the bathroom.
But we have a new generation of kids now...parents that worry that using a playpen might curb their development, stifle their creativity etc, etc. All of which would be turnrue if you planed on leaving a baby in a pen for extended periods of time.  I happen to know that none of the parents of my grands would ever do such a thing...they are excellent parents/caregivers/nurturers.  Im just looking for ways to make their loadsa bit easier at times.
These days it seems to be all about baby enabling...and guilt about parent simplifying.
Wasnt it Bill Cosby that picked up a playpen and turned it upside down to capture his twin grandkids underneath it...just for safe keeping and for sanity sake?  I wasnt horrified!! Were you??? Im sure he threw them some crackers.

Mimi wonders what you think about this?

I know what is said about why coincidences so often

 happen; that there actually are only twelve people

 in the world and the rest is done with mirrors.

from: Ride With Me Moriah Montana

by: Ivan Doig

Dear Cousin Ann,
Just thought you'd like to know that Im finding it incredibly surreal to  be calling the lower east side of Logan home now.  This is your home.  This is where I came for summer visits to see you when we were young.   Every day I travel the street  that you did as you grew up here.  There were sheep grazing on the corner lot years ago--which is just across the street from where we're living. There are no sheep there now. I remember being impressed by the raging Logan River and all the shaded irrigation canals, lush with vegetation, like huge weeping willows, that begged to be tubed down. I have fond memories of standing on the bank of 1st Dam Reservoir with your dad, early in the morning, catching trout and bringing them home to fry up for breakfast. YUM!  Now I take Canyon Rd on foot and admire the fine park and all the ducks that now enjoy the reservoir too.   I see the house where your piano teacher lived. I remember that your house was full of music, books and cool Scandinavian furniture. And did you know that the house next door to where you lived still has a red door?  The pizza parlor on top of the hill is still there too.  Do you remember the foxy boy that worked there?  I now hike that hill frequently and walk past that pizza place; I bet there are still handsome boys working there..but Im no longer invested.
How come I dont ever remember going into that cute little market on the corner of 400 East and Center St. for a soda or a Twinkie? I go in there all the time now.  They are well stocked!!! I needed  jalapeno peppers...and there they were!! ...and of course I cant resist the fresh donuts sitting on the counter under the cake glass as they bagged up my peppers and T.P. and paper plates.
Its so strange to be going to church in your old neighborhood. (How come I cant remember going to church with you way back when?  Was it because I wasnt a Mormon then?)  Or was I just too kookie a cousin from hip California to grace the halls? Im sure it was totally obvious I wasnt the church go'in type.  Back then I was just boy crazy.
Even our Mill is a stones throw away from where your dad had his lab...surreal....
Sure I went to college here for a year, but I didnt have cause to come down to 'The Island" ...except to visit your mom on rare occasions.  Oh yeah...I remember your mom being an excellent cook, and that she was incredibly patient with me.
I feel like I live in the 'Ann shadow' here.  I feel like I should ask each 'old-timer' I meet at church or in the neighborhood if they know you or your family.  oh yea....I've learned that your house is now a notorious party house...how weird is that!!!?
The Mall  is still pathetic...but we now have a Sam's Club and 2 Walmarts. wow
You should be here dear cousin.  It feels so strange to be here without you.
Love and Miss you,
Cindy

When I was young, the future was where all the good stuff

was kept, the party clothes, the pretty china, the family

silver, the grown-up jobs. The future was a land of its

own, and we couldnt wait to get there. Not that youth

wasnt great, but it came with disadvantages; I remember

the feeling I was missing something really good that was

going on somewhere else, somewhere I wasnt. I remember

feeling life passing me by. I remember impatience. I dont

feel that way now. If something interesting is going on

somewhere else, good, thank god, I hope nobody calls me.

Sometimes it's all I can do to brush my teeth; toothpaste is just too stimulating.

from: A Three Dog Life

by: Abigail Thomas

me.1976

My kids love giving their mom a hard time...calling me "hippie mom."  I gladly wear the title.  Using funny phrases and worrying about recycling, and listening to the music from "my era" , loving Steven Tyler and mourning when trees are senselessly chopped down, are all good things.  Heres a list that'll make you smile.  


Bummer!

Can you dig it?

Catch my drift?

Catch you on the flip side.

Decent!

Don't give me that jive.

Dream on!

Dy-no-mite!

Far out!

Foxy mama!

Funkadelic.

Gag me with a spoon!

Gimme some skin.

Good night, John boy.

He's such a wackoid!

Here's the skinny...

Keep on truckin'.

Let's blow this taco stand!

Let's book it out of here.

May the force be with you.

Mellow out!

Outta sight!

Pop a wheelie.

Righteous?

Say what?

Slam dunk.

Solid!

To the max!

Trippin'!

Tubular!

Unreal!

What's happening?

Do you remember any '70s slang that you'd like to add? 




Peace Out Everyone!!


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Do you believe in magic?

Believe in the magic of a young girl's soul?

Believe in the magic of rock 'n roll?

Believe in the magic that can set you free?

-The Lovin' Spoonful

I just couldnt resist dear Pam!! I have a picture like this of me...and now I lOVE it!! Oh the memories.. oh the hair!!!
I didnt know it then...but I do now...but I was a hippie!!
I still am.
And I love you! Everything about you!!
Im sorry Im a day late wishing you a very Happy Birthday!!
I look forward to seeing you this weekend!!
Hope it was a good day!!!



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