Flash 55 Friday

Fateful Dinner

We were never quite
sure who started it.
You with your funny
faces, or me with my
voice impressions but
either way no good would
come. One giggle, then
two, a scolding from mom.
A glance across the table
and peels of laughter
would erupt. And then .....
I spit my milk all over grandma's face....

Once again, true story. When all the men would go up deer hunting my grandma would came stay with us for 10 days. My middle brother and I often got the giggles at the dinner table and one night it went too far. I had just taken a drink of milk when I looked at my brother, started laughing and spit the milk all over my grandmother's face. She just sat there, face splattered in milk, eye glasses dripping, and calmly asked my mother for a towel. Mollie was her name, and she was always such a good sport in life, she wasn't mad but boy my mother sure was! Have a great weekend

Thanksgiving....

I was driving home after work tonight, crossing one of the bridges that connects the two parts of our city. It was after four, nearing dusk, the snow was falling and the lights of the city twinkling. Michael Buble was crooning "I'll Be Home for Christmas" on the radio and I realized in that instant how different my life had become than it was a year before. Fear no longer seizes me, I know how to deal with difficult situations as they come, I appreciate the little things in life, and I no longer walk alone. To each and everyone of you awesome bloggers who touch my life every day in one way or another may your Thanksgiving be filled with blessings that never cease.......

One Shot Wednesday - Ghost tails.....

It seems so harmless sitting in the warmth of the fire,
That quiet summer eve so long ago.
You were getting married in the fall
and were home for the summer,
I was entering my junior year in high school....
We decided to go for a walk, having just finished dinner
You grabbed your camera "just in case"
We meandered down the highway
and turned right on the over grown road.

Many times as children we came down here with adults
to swim on the rocky shores of Lake Superior.
We even gave the place our own name "Max Beach".
The legend was this land was owned by DuPont. It was
a place for guests to stay and the only building that was
left still held a broken player piano. As children we
never ventured inside, but now we were older and decided
to take an overdue look.

I crept over the broken glass into
the deserted kitchen while
you stayed in the main room.
I was imagining all the parties
when this place was in full swing.
The fabulous 40's and 50's
must have seen a lot of action.
Now just broken furniture, dirt, and
animal nests provided the only form of movement around.

You asked me a question
and since I didn't hear it, I went to
where you were standing.
The summer sun had sunk to dusk and our light
was quickly fading.
I opened my mouth to ask you what you had said
when we both felt it.
A presence, a shadow, a movement, piano keys.

Neither of us said a word as we tore out of there as fast as we could.
Running all the way down the highway.
We fell to the grass in grandma's
backyard. Panting and out of breath.
Eyes wide at what had happened or
did it really happen?
Was the dusk of day playing tricks on us? Either
way we never spoke of it until now.
Funny, it was probably some animal
just spooked from their hiding place...
and yet why do I
have goose bumps on my arms.........


This really happened to my oldest brother and I. The spot sits on rocky cliffs overlooking Lake Superior. The land has been sold and now a beautiful home sits on it. We never brought this story up for years, and then one summer night while sitting around the fire at the cottage we remembered, and both of us still had goose bumps....

Rainy day Monday...

This is our second day of rain. Everything is dark, gray, and depressing. You can sense the mood of most people in the office. Low patience tolerance even though it's only a three day work week people are already crabby. It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is here upon us. Alex and I will be helping at the AA Alano club to prepare and serve a Thanksgiving meal to those who have no where to go. Then we'll come home and have a Thanksgiving meal with Grace, Sam and my mom. Hubby is away hunting. I've noticed a lot of impatience with people lately. It seems the closer we get to the holiday season the worse that impatience gets. When I hosted the "We are Not Saints Group" meeting Thursday evening a man whom I've seen in other meetings showed up. He was full of talk of himself, critical of others, and in general made me rather uneasy. As I was cleaning up I over heard him talking to another meeting goer about his manic depression and how he feels so good that he took himself of all his medication. This
other man kept telling him that he shouldn't take himself off his meds and that he needs to see his dr. Nope the first man said he was sick of Dr.'s
and that he didn't need any stinkin medication. Well Saturday came and this mad showed up at the 11:00 meeting with a list in hand. Which he proceeded to read off, and basically took everyone's inventory and then told everyone to f--- themselves before storming out. Obviously this person is in pain, is seriously mentally ill and needs his doctor. The mood was somber and quiet and then an old timer began to speak. He said he was shocked at how rude the man was, but he also knew where he was coming from. Ten years before this mad had done the same thing. He was so angry with himself, and the program and the people that he came in and unloaded one Saturday morning. Yelling and screaming and leaving in a rage he swore he would never come back. But after a while he realized that he was just angry and bitter with himself. He hadn't worked the program of AA honestly. He had tried to do things an easier softer way, and it didn't work. So he put his tail between his legs and apologized and came back to the club. From that point on he never looked back. He knew what the man was going through. So much pain, disappointment and disgust with himself that he wanted to blame the whole world. I was glad that this gentleman had spoken up. He made me stand in the other person's shoes for a while. So instead of leaving hurt I went home and put the man's name in my God box. It's so easy to dismiss someone who "unloads" as nuts or crazy but we never really take the time to see the pain they are in. I lack patience a lot but since Saturday I've been taking a deep breath and trying to look at things from the other side. It can be confusing, and humbling, and revealing all in one, but it definatley opens your heart up as well as your mind. And that's always a good thing, rainy day or not......