a non-birthday gift

My sister Dede and I share the same birthday month.  Our mom and dad are great about remembering and arranging some sort of celebration.  We had that Saturday.  We gathered at our house for dinner.  Dede and her family brought a Wii so the kids could play Just Dance 2.  The adults talked...and talked...and watched YouTube videos on the AppleTv. We had agreed a few months ago to make birthdays more low key and not to exchange gifts.  I was shopping at JCrew the night before and found a sweater that would be perfect for Dede.  As she was leaving I gave her the "non-birthday gift."  I was walking with Dede toward the door for her first load to the car when she casually pointed to a box sitting by the door and said, "There is your 'non-birthday gift.'"  I picked it up.  It was so heavy I thought it must be food storage.  I opened the box and saw a family treasure.

Before a move, my mom was going through all of their possessions.  She decided to give us some of her treasures--- I received her grandmother's silver, Annie received the china, and Dede received the Little Colonel books.  These books originally belonged to my great aunt.  My mom had read them to us---and we loved it.  We loved the stories and they were more dear knowing where they had come from and the memories attached to our mom reading them to us.  Dede said, "I know you will read them to your girls."  (Dede has four wonderful sons.)  I was so touched by her gift.  She has always been one of the most generous people I know.  She has inherited that quality from our dad- who I believe inherited from his mom (Granny).  I have a lot to learn from them. xoxo

resolve

It's never good, when you have reached the end of the year and can't recall any of your resolutions from the first of the year.  Well, I did add music to our home...improvement in the other areas was very slight.  I hope for a better resolve this year!  I love the newness of a brand new year.  Danny and I had an impromptu talk on the couch on January 1st.  We are excited about our resolutions!

We are going to take greater care of our bodies!  One of favorite friends is Effie Nielsen.  When we were neighbors, Effie had competed and won a weightlifting championship.  See here and here.  She was encouraged to compete by her great-grandson and his coach.  At the time Effie was 90.  (She will be 100 this May.)  I was talking with her in her front yard quite a few years ago.  We were talking about her garden.  She mentioned all of the rhubarb she needed to harvest.  I asked what she did with it besides the obvious pie choice.  "I make rhubarb juice" she said.  "Rhubarb juice???  Does that taste good?"  I responded.  "I don't live to eat, " she replied sweetly,  "I eat to live."  We hope to follow Effie's way of life.  We are going to think more about "eating to live" instead of what we "live to eat."  There wont be any family strict codes...just an effort to do better with a stronger focus on our health.

We will also be outside more (breathing fresh air and working our bodies)!  I have a propensity to hibernate in the winter.  It is not good for my body or my mind.  We started Monday.  We woke up, enjoyed a quick breakfast and headed out the door.  We even found a few friends who wanted to join us on our way.  There will be more walking, hiking, yoga, pilates and even running this year.

We are going to "show up" this year.  Last week we were all gathered at Grandma's viewing.  It had been a slow evening.  It was cold outside.  It was feeling too quiet...even with family surrounding us.  I looked toward the door and in walked one of our most favorite families.  Danny's friend Kenny walked in with his wife Heather and their four children.  They were dressed up in their Sunday best and brightened our entire evening.  I don't think Kenny had seen Grandma since our wedding, yet he showed up.  They are dear friends and taught us a great lesson.  Show up for people.  When we are there for people---weddings, funerals, babies, surgeries, graduations, birthdays...they feel loved.  We can definitely do a better job in this category.

So yesterday when Danny's mom called and needed help in her yard---we showed up.  We were outside in the fresh air, working with happy hearts.  Thank you Parcell family for your good examples.

"Certain qualities, talents, and works which distinguish a man are more readily appreciated when one knows from what nationality he has sprung..."  The Life and Times of Asher B. Durand p. 3

I remember standing by a bus in Argentina when a man asked me, "De donde es?"  He wanted to know more than where I was currently living, and more than my country of origin...he wanted to know my nationality.  That really isn't an easy question...I have lines from many different countries---France, England, Germany, and more...  Needless to say, he wasn't satisfied with my vague answer.

Although there is too much variety to identify with any one country besides the country in which I currently live, I believe there is a great benefit knowing where we come from.  Instead of focusing on places we will focus this year on people that have come before us.  Danny and I brainstormed a plan to create "book of remembrances" like those my parents had when I grew up.  They were covered in hardback leather with strong metal posts.  We are going to craft new books from antique photo albums.  (Thank you Papa!)  We will add pages:  fill it with lined sheets, pictures and family trees.  There will be a section of all four lines of my girls genealogy.  It will be a special place for them to note and write what is important to them of what they have learned.  We can't wait.

I am also going to read a few books to help me learn more:   The Life and Times of Asher B. Durand (a great, great, great uncle) and a few books on the Mayflower (to learn more of the Brewster and Standish family lines from which we are a part).