Making It Last!

On Friday, my parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.   Both my Mom's and my Dad's parents also celebrated 50 years of wedded bliss.

50 years of marriage sounds like quite an accomplishment....  but it is much more than that.  In our day and age when over half of all marriages end in divorce, one that lasts 50 years is truly something to be celebrated! It certainly takes more than love and attraction.  It takes communication, forgiveness, caring, selflessness, dedication, devotion, appreciation, gratitude, patience, honesty, sacrifice, and hard work.  Putting your spouse's needs before your own.   Is life all roses?  Of course, because roses do have thorns.  Feelings will be hurt.  But that is why communication is so important.  So many times, we may see our spouse do or say something that upsets us, but we need to be honest and communicate how we feel.  Never making a mountain out of a molehill.  And forgiveness is just as important, as are all of the other attributes I've mentioned.  If everyone was just a bit more caring, and less selfish, I believe that there might be more than a few starving divorce lawyers, and being invited to a 50 year wedding anniversary celebration would be commonplace!    

Footloose

As you can see from this photo, on our recent trip to Utah, Samantha greatly reduced the degrees of separation between herself and Kevin Bacon.  Here she is, dancing at the Lehi Roller Mills, where back in 1984, Bacon's character in "Footloose" carried around sacks of flour, and practiced his dance moves.

The buildings and silos remain virtually unchanged since 1902, but gone are the cornfields where his girlfriend's parents Rev. and Mrs. Shaw (John Lithgow and Dianne Weist) anxiously watch while the high school dance goes on.  The entire area is now home to fast food restaurants, fine dining, grocery stores, convenience stores, and even motels.  What a difference 30 years makes! The Roller Mills is not exactly a tourist trap, because if you are looking for Kevin Bacon or Footloose memorabilia, that won't be found here. But you can purchase biscuit, cookie, brownie, or pancake mix.  And of course, pose for a photo :-)

The Empty Egg

I did not write this story, nor do I know who to give credit to.  But it is an Easter favorite of mine, and I always have a special "empty egg" in my basket :-).

Jeremy was born with a twisted body, a slow mind and a chronic, terminal illness that had been slowly killing him all his young life. Still, his parents had tried to give him as normal a life as possible and had sent him to St. Theresa's elementary school. At the age of 12, Jeremy was only in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. 
His teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him.  He would squirm in his seat, drool and make grunting noises. At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy irritated his teacher. 
One day, she called his parents and asked them to come to St. Teresa's for a consultation. As the Foresters sat quietly in the empty classroom, Doris said to them, "Jeremy really belongs in a special school.  It isn't fair to him to be with younger children who don't have learning problems. Why, there is a five-year gap between his age and that of the other students!" Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue while her husband spoke. "Miss Miller," he said, "there is no school of that kind nearby.  It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really likes it here." 
Doris sat for a long time after they left, staring at the snow outside the window.  Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul.  She wanted to sympathize with the Foresters.  After all, their only child had a terminal illness.  But it wasn't fair to keep him in her class. She had 18 other youngsters to teach and Jeremy was a distraction. Furthermore, he would never learn to read or write.  Why spend any more time trying? As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. "Oh God," she said aloud, "here I am complaining when my problems are nothing compared with that poor family!  Please help me to be more patient with Jeremy." From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy 's noises and his blank stares.
Then one day he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg behind him.  "I love you, Miss Miller," he exclaimed, loudly enough for the whole class to hear.  The other children snickered, and Doris's face turned red.  She stammered, "wh-why, that's very nice, Jeremy.  Now please take your seat."
Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large plastic egg. "Now," she said to them "I want you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life.  Do you understand?"
"Yes, Miss Miller!" The children responded enthusiastically - all except for Jeremy.  He just listened intently; his eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said about Jesus' death and resurrection?  Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call his parents and explain the project to them.
That evening, Doris' kitchen sink stopped up.  She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it.  After that, she still had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse and prepare a vocabulary test for the next day. She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy 's parents.
The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk. After they completed their math lesson, it was time to open the eggs. In the first egg, Doris found a flower. "Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life," she said.  "When plants peek through the ground we know that spring is here. "A  small girl in the first row waved her arms. "That's my egg, Miss Miller," she called out.  The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real.  Doris held it up.  "We all know that a caterpillar changes and turns into a beautiful butterfly.  Yes, that is new life, too" little Judy smiled proudly and said, "Miss Miller, that one is mine."
Next Doris found a rock with moss on it.  She explained that the moss, too, showed life.  Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom.  "My daddy helped me!"  He beamed.  Then Doris opened the fourth egg.  She gasped. The egg was empty!  Surely it  must be Jeremy 's, she thought, and, of course, he did not understand her instructions.  If only she had not forgotten to phone his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. 
Suddenly Jeremy spoke up. "Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk about my egg?" Flustered, Doris replied, "but Jeremy  - your egg is empty!"  He looked into her eyes and said softly, "yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty too!"  Time stopped.  When she could speak again.  Doris asked him, "Do you know why the tomb was empty?"  "Oh yes!" Jeremy exclaimed.  "Jesus was killed and put in there.  Then his Father raised him up!"  The recess bell rang.  While the children excitedly ran out to the school yard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away.
Three months later Jeremy died.  Those who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket, ...................all of them empty.

Pawn Stars

During a recent visit to Las Vegas, we were able to stop and visit the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop.  Or should I say, the World Famous Tourist Trap.  While the sign as you approach states the shop is open 24 hours, it actually isn't.  It was after 2AM when we arrived, and there was a window where I actually spoke with Big Hoss, who informed me the showroom is only open from 9A to 9P.

So after catching some Z's, and a breakfast buffet, we made the trip back to "Pawn Stars".  It was nothing like you see on The History Channel.  Samantha was so excited for the chance to meet someone she's seen on TV.  But, no Rick Harrison...no Chum Lee...not even The Old Man.  Our only brush with greatness was seeing Johnny Cash's 1967 California Driver's License, and it's $95,000 price tag.

Possibly even more interesting was the gift shop, where you can buy postcards, magnets, coffee mugs, t-shirts, bobbleheads, and even golf balls - all with the "Pawn Stars" name.  Other than that, this is just your basic pawn shop.  Minus the TV's, DVD players, and musical instruments. Plus some old coins, old guns, a Samurai sword, and a few original Picasso paintings.

Boys Night Out

I've been looking forward to April 15th for several months now - not because of taxes being due, but it's the day the new Oak Ridge Boys CD comes out!  For the 1st time in over 40 years, The Oak Ridge Boys are releasing a live album!  And yes, I do show my age when I say I've been a fan for 40 years!  I can't wait to get out and buy the CD, which, by the way, is also being released on vinyl.  (I guess for those of us growing up in the 70's, an 8-track would have been asking too much)

I'm sure that "Boys Night Out" will capture the excitement of seeing the Oaks perform live, which I've done more times than I can count.  Joe, Duane, William Lee, and Richard are like family to me.  If you've never listened to their music, do it today! Of course a CD can't take you backstage, where you can shake hands with dear friends, but I know the next time they make it to Texas I will be doing just that!

Polygamy Porter

There is a beer produced in Utah called Polygamy Porter - with the catch phrase - "Why have just one?"  This, along with the HBO series "Big Love", give the inaccurate picture that Mormons practice polygamy - that is, have more than one wife.  While it is true that there are people living in Utah who do just that, they are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  People like the one in this picture

are not Mormons.  They are part of a polygamist clan residing in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, and should never be confused with Mormons.  In 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley made the following statement about the LDS Church's position on plural marriage:  "This church has nothing whatever to do with those practicing polygamy.  They are not members of this Church...  If any of our members are found to be practicing plural marriage, they are excommunicated, the most serious penalty the church can impose.  Not only are those so involved in direct violation of the civil law, they are in violation of the law of this Church."

April Fools

Anyone who has been following my blog, will not be surprised that the title of this post doesn't exactly match it's content.  Only in that I am a fool to think that I would receive good service in a bank inside Walmart.  Not only did I not receive good service, I was treated rudely, and with contempt!  I think these people have forgotten why they have jobs.  Having worked in a bank, a grocery store branch, no less, I know that these branches are not there to make money.  They lose money, because a branch of a bank makes it's money from taking in large deposits, and loaning large amounts of money.  These accounts need to be opened at that branch for it to count towards their bottom line.  Needless to say, if I am a large business owner, I am more likely to head to an actual bank, not a grocery store to do my business.  The same for a loan.  So the truth is, the only reason a bank operates in a grocery store, is for convenience, mainly after hours check cashing.  Anyway, back to the service I didn't receive today.  After waiting in line for 10 minutes, and after a manager knew exactly why I was there, I was told I would not be able to trade 2 $5 bills for a roll of quarters.  The logic - I don't have an account with that bank.  Seriously?  At this point, I requested to speak to management, who also told me flat out, that I couldn't even get a $10 bill for my 2 $5 bills, because I don't have an account with that bank. Nor will I.  Every person who walks through that door deserves respect, because every person who walks though that door is a potential customer, a potential account holder.  But then again, maybe I'm just from the wrong side of the river, with no drug money to deposit there.