Proud Mommy

I was sent a copy of the local newspaper tonight that has my son on the front cover.  He is one of 43 high school students that was awarded a scholarship for a week long trip to Washington, D.C.  He gets to have an amazing trip with an incredible learning experience.  He is going to meet people from all over the U.S.   He will get to see national monuments and visit places of American history.  Why?  Because he was dedicated to his local, state, and national FFA.  He not only believes in it, he is active in it.  He wears his blue and gold jacket with pride.  But not as much pride as I have of him!

Looking Forward to Spring...

This time of year is a favorite of mine.  Every year for Valentine's day my husband buys me tulips.  After enjoying them for a few days, I send my children out to plant the bulbs.  Then every year at this time, I get to be surprised by the blossoms of those tulips.  I love seeing them all around our acreage.  I love the smell.  The first blooms  this year were red.  I still have yellow, pink, and purple to show themselves.  The best part is that I know that those flowers also represent the love my husband has for his family.  It is the little things he does that makes our world special.  Those flowers are a part of that!

Wow! No Sadness!

Lately I have been writing about death a lot...not because I am fascinated by it, but because it has been a part of my life.  But I promised myself that I would blog about something that made me laugh today.  That would be my students.  I love my kids.  Most days they cure what ails me.  They make me glad I do what I do.  So I thought I would share some short stories.

I have a wonderful little boy in my class.  He is a black and white kinda of kid.  He sees things in his own special way.  His father was running for city council.  He had spent several evenings with dad putting out signs.  He was excited to see the signs out that contained dad's name.  Dad had placed one across the street on a friend's fence post from school.  My darling student couldn't wait to point it out to me.  He then wanted to know if I wanted one for my yard.  I pointed out that I didn't live in town, so I didn't need one.  He looked at me in amazment and said, "So you aren't going to vote for my dad!"  I tried to explain to him that because I didn't live in the community, I couldn't vote.  He became upset with me and told me that his dad "was going to do a good job!" so I should vote for him.  After fifteen minutes of trying to explain it to his little six year old mind, I gave up and told him I would vote for dad.  The next morning he came in and told me "Bad news, Mrs. M!  You live in B********!"  Then he turned to another child and said, "Silly Mrs. M, she thought she could vote for my dad!"


Today another child explained that she needed to borrow my glasses.  When I asked why, she answered, "I want to look like you when we play school."  What a compliment!

Death-Why so Young?

This weekend I attended two funerals.  Each different in many ways and alike in a few.  Both were part of a family that loved them.  Both were parents.  Both left children behind.  Both cared about the people in their lives.

The differences were amazing...one, a mother of three boys, died from breast cancer.  She fought a good fight, but her body couldn't go on anymore.  The other, a father of a daughter, died from his addiction.  He choose to put poison into his body that allowed death to knock on his door. 

The mother had asked for a pastor to meet with her three weeks before she died.  She discussed her salvation with him.  She planned with her parents how the services would go and how her children would be prepared for her death.  She made a point of letting her sons know that they were loved and she planned for their future.

The father lived a life that society doesn't consider normal.  His homelife was different from her's in many ways.  He allowed the addiction to rule his life.  He was given every chance to come clean.  He was sent to the best facilities to heal, he had the best doctors, he had a job that he liked, and he had family that loved him.  He couldn't overcome the need to poison his life.

They both were what I considered young...late thirties, early forties.  Why did they die?  What can I learn from it?  

I have decided that I need to plan for the future.  The first thing I am doing is adding to my life insurance.  I am writing a will.  I am writing letters to my children.  I want them to know that they are the best thing I have ever done.  I want my family to know that I love them.  I want my friends to know I admire them.  Starting this week, I will write to one person in my life to tell them what they mean to me.  I want to make my life mean something. 

Pray for my friends.  Pray for their children.  And pray for me.