Love

This photo of my lovely daughter and her son years ago is a beautiful example of agape and storge loves .

It’s Spring and love is in the air. Of course, love is always in the air if you know how to catch it.

In ancient Greek society, there were four types of love:

Agape: unconditional love, such as the love of a parent for a child and God for us humans;

Eros: romantic love; you know, the one you thought you couldn’t live without (but eventually you found out you could live without him/her)?;

Philia: Friendship: Ah, friends. They’re the ones who feel more like family sometimes than family. With a true friend, you can completely be yourself and your character defects won’t change the friendship. (Unless, of course, your defects are way off base.);

Storge: Family love/brotherly love: The ones we live with until we fly away from the nest. Family, the favorite sister or brother. The beloved mother or father. Yes, even the distant cousins you’ve only met twice in your life.

In the beginning there was love. In the end there is love. And flowing like a river throughout our lives (if we’re lucky), there is always love. We don’t always recognize love as being there for us. Like the ghostlike character in our minds who was the love of our lives and the one who got away, love is sometimes so fleeting that even a hummingbird can’t catch it.

If we’re really lucky, we’ll love again. And if we’re not lucky in that arena, we might not love again. It comes and goes, is large and small, appears and disappears, leaving us with tears of joy or sobs of despair.

It’s odd to me how so many people think only of Eros when they think of love. One family spat and Storge is gone for a short while or a very long time. One tragedy in our lives and we begin to question the love of God. And should a friend betray us, we hide in our homes’ furthermost corner, hanging our heads and wondering how we could have ever trusted her/him in the first place.

I love the way we use the word “love.” “I love Edy’s Rocky Road ice cream,” you may hear me say. And I do. When I was a kid, one of my friends’ mom’s worked at Edy’s. Then Edy’s went away. Imagine my surprise to find Edy’s ice cream in South Carolina several decades later. I also discovered that Dreyer’s Ice Cream makes both brands, but only sells Edy’s on the East Coast now. I can’t really classify that love as one of the four, unless, of course, I choose unconditional love! PS – If you click on both ice cream sites, you’ll see that they have the same color scheme.

“I love going to the movies.”

“I love fishing.”

“I love reading.”  and on and on.

When you think of love, does one particular person or thing come to mind or is your brain indexing like crazy?

I adore the words from one of John Denver’s last songs, “Perhaps Love: “The memory of love will see you through.”

And it will, my friend. Thank you for stopping by. I hope to see you again soon, and I would love for you to share your memories of love in the comments section of this blog!

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Sunshine Blogger Award!

The Sunshine Award!

I smiled with joy when, upon opening a comment, I discovered that the writer had given me the Sunshine Blogger Award! What a treat and an honor. So thank you, Jay Morris, for honoring me so. I think my readers will also like your blog, which is The Wayward Journey (link will open in a new window).

I must admit I’m embarrassed to be so late announcing this. Jay actually wrote to me at the beginning of January. However, it’s been a rough couple of months health-wise, so I am behind on many things! Now, I am feeling better, and the beautiful Gerbera daisy above heralds the beginning of spring.

The requirements for accepting this award are that I tell you seven things about myself and that I nominate ten other bloggers for the award, not to mention letting Jay know how much I appreciate his award to me.

Let’s start with the seven things about me that you may not know.

1. I’m a cat person. I like dogs and had them while I was growing up, but I adore cats. I love their independent spirits, their ability to take care of themselves when I leave for a few days, and the way they curl up in balls when they sit in my lap.

2. I’ve traveled to South Korea, Japan, Mexico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico.  I lived in Korea for nearly two years and loved that wonderful country and its friendly, loving people who always had a smile for this expat. I took an eco-hike on St. Croix and learned many things about herbal medicines from the naturalist who led the hike.

3. I’ve been in every state in the Union except for Maine, Massachusetts and Alaska. I would love to visit Alaska one day. It’s been a dream for many years.

4. I have one daughter, who is 39. She is a woman of many talents. I adore her and her son, who is the light of my life. When he moved back to be with his dad during his teenage years, I missed him so much I could hardly stand it. But I am so grateful for the spending most of the first ten years of his life near him in person. We had wonderful times and still do have beautiful, warm talks and hugs when I see him!

5. My favorite color is yellow. My sofa is yellow, and the chair that goes with it has lots of yellow too. Yellow is such a sunshine color and always makes me feel great, whether it’s in my own living room or at the store buying flowers. I hope my daisies will come back this year.

6. I love gardening and I have had several wonderful combination veggie/flower gardens. Unfortunately, because of my health now, I can’t garden like I used to. However, I can do container gardening. In 2012 I had way too many containers with plants and flowers and veggies! It took me 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to water them each day. But they were beautiful.

7. It is still my dream to travel more. I would like to go to the holy healing places of Medjugore and Lourdes. Maybe God will send me a miracle healing if I go there. Of course, maybe He’ll send one even if I don’t! Next, I’d like to go to Israel. It doesn’t seem like a very safe place right now. I always pray for peace in that region. Finally, I’d like to go to Eastern Europe and see the Czech Republic and some other places. I hope one day I can achieve this dream. But if I don’t, I feel blessed and grateful for the traveling I’ve already done in my life. Many folks haven’t even been out of their home city or state.

Okay, now for the nominations.

1.  Monce Abraham is a writer who lives in India. His blog posts will really make you think. They’re not fluff at all!

2.  Lead, Learn and Live is David Kanigan’s inspirational blog.

3.  Piya Singh is an Indian Artist, currently living and working in Germany. I think you’ll like her creativity.

4.  Charlie and Tom are photographers whose work is lovely. Their blog is PhotoBotos.

5.  Shannon Elizabeth Moreno writes about her strong faith in Revelations in Writing.

6.  Marney McNall scribes her volunteer experiences in The Volunteer Fringe.

7.  Rebeca Bud has a different take on her blog: Taking the Kitchen

8.  Loolie and Poolie have a fun blog about their vacations: The Adventures of Loolie and Poolie.

9.  Dianne Gray is an award-winning Australian author. Her blog is Writing and Loving Life.

10.Speaking from the Heart is an out-of-the-box blog by a woman who is a holistic health practitioner.

Where Do You Go…

when you don’t know where you’re going?

You know your life is changing permanently.

You feel as if you’re making the right decisions.

But, in one way, you don’t even know what the question is.

My daughter is with me now. She’s going to be with me for a couple of months. And then she thinks she’ll go to Atlantic City to be where her son is going to high school. She hates Atlantic City, but she loves her son. Kind of like I didn’t really want to come back to the South, but I loved my daughter. So I came.

And when she leaves, I’ll be here alone.

I could go anywhere I want, I guess, after she leaves.

Everyone’s growing up. My grandson is 14; my daughter is 37.
And I just turned 63. And I don’t want to be here without her.

So where do I go after she’s gone?

It’s an evolving question.  And I hope I’ll figure out the answer soon.

God will help me, I know He will.

Flies in The Buttermilk, Shoo Fly Shoo

Credit: Free photos from acobox.com

Skip to My Lou

I woke up singing “Skip to My Lou” this morning. Only God knows why! I haven’t skipped in a long time, and that got me starting thinking about skipping, jumping rope, hopscotch, jacks, and marbles. (Oh, by the way, if you click on the “Skip to My Lou” link under the photo, you can listen to this old children’s song and see some kids actually doing it!)

Anyway, a lot of folks have nostalgic memories of their childhoods. It could be that you have some, too. Maybe you remember fishing with Dad while Mom read a book. Perhaps you recall having Mom and Dad come watch you play a not-so starring role in a school play. Decorating the Christmas tree, hardboiling the eggs for Easter, going trick or treating as your favorite character, or playing basketball in a vacant lot might be some of your favorite childhood memories.

On the other hand, some children have no happy memories, because they came from abusive homes or maybe had alcoholics or drug-addicts for parents.

Regardless of what type of upbringing and memories you have, I think that is why Jesus said (in Matthew 19:14), “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

There’s an amazing thing about children — they believe without questioning. It isn’t until we get older that we start questioning whether there really is a God, how a belief in God clashes with that of evolution, etc. (Truth is – many scientists believe in both God and evolution, but a lot of people don’t know that.) Little children trust that what you say is true. They believe in God unconditionally if you tell them about your God.

And as we get older, most of us forget how to play. If we play cards we have to have a beer in our hands. If we play basketball, it’s not just for the fun of it; it’s for the competitiveness of the sport. If we go fishing, it can often turn into a hassle because everything has to be perfect, and we take so much gear that it’s hard to really enjoy the day.

If our kids want to play with us, do we? Do we get down on our knees and compete with them on a video game, or do we sit down at the table and teach them better spelling by playing Scrabble?  If we want the children to go outside, do we throw the ball with a spirit of fun or do we get frustrated at them because they didn’t catch it?

And when it comes to God, what do we say to them? Do we even talk about God and our relationship with this amazing higher power? Or do we just take them to church and hope they’ll absorb it? Or do we just not go to church, thinking that it really doesn’t matter anyway?

I remember teaching my beloved grandson how to jump in a puddle after the rain. His mom, my darling daughter, was none too pleased with the wet pants, but he and I had a great time that afternoon.

Are you more intent on making sure your children grow up to be responsible adults than you are on allowing them to be children and participating in that time of innocence?

Maybe tomorrow you’ll buy a jump rope and use it with your children if they’re small. If they’re not, maybe you’ll pull out Trivial Pursuit or checkers and have some old-fashioned fun. And maybe when you do either of those things, you’ll wind up talking about God and how important your relationship with Him is.

Have a blessed day!

Sit by my side, come as close as the air…

I heard Phil Ochs’ song “Changes”on a folk album today and decided to share it with you. You can click on the link and it will open in a new window, so you can listen to it while reading my belated blog.

“Sit by my side, come as close as the air
Share in a memory of gray
Wander in my words, dream about the pictures
That I play of changes.” – Phil Ochs

“Change,” my ex-husband once told me, “is the only thing that is for sure.” We had a lively argument about that statement, and for years I don’t think I believed it. But now, in my ultimate wisdom of 62 years, I know he was right.

Tomorrow I fly out of here to go to my grandson’s eighth grade graduation. To be honest, I forgot they had graduations at that age (I probably had one too and just don’t remember it). So I was really surprised when my daughter told me about it a few weeks ago. I called Hammie and asked him if he wanted me to come. “Yes, Nana, I would really like that.”

Atlantic City, New Jersey is the last place I expected to be on June 15th this year. I pictured myself walking through World War II memorials and ruins in Poland, straining my neck to see the Sistine Chapel ceiling or visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. But Atlantic City? Never in a million years. Just goes to show you how wrong I can be. And how changes affected my life in one incident.

Change. It’s something we relish and dread. If we’re moving, we are excited about our new place (usually); however, we abhor packing and getting ready for the move.

If we’re going to the hospital for an operation, we look forward to getting better, but we do not get all giggly at the thought of someone cutting into us.

We eagerly anticipate the coming of spring and the crocus and daffodils brightening up yards everywhere. Then again, you’ll hear some people complain that they don’t know if they want to do all the work of a garden this year.

The river of life carries us to places we never thought we’d go, where we meet people whom later become our dearest friends. Or it carries us to dark places in our minds where we imagine every possible bad outcome to any situation.

How we deal with changes tells people (and us) a lot about who we are, what our true character is like, and a lot about our faith (or lack of it). I like to picture God laughing in delight if we wind up praising Him during a crisis. If we don’t, my mental picture is one of God saying, “Tut-tut…guess we still have some work to do, don’t we?”

As for me, I’ll try to make the most of this jaunt to Atlantic City. Hugging my grandson after he gradudates will make everything else pale in comparison. And I’ll tell him about the song.

I hope you have someone to sit by your side today, and your upcoming changes bring growth and happiness to your heart.