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Channeling My Inner Athlete
As I remember, it was a warm, sunny day in 1960, and I was missing school because I was supposedly sick. I say supposedly because my only truly vivid memory of the day was that my fifth grade teacher was speaking to my mom on the phone. I was naturally concerned that I had done something wrong and was about to be punished. Far from it. The annual athletic day was tomorrow and my team needed me. Apparently, I was the fastest runner in Grade Five and the relay team would go down to defeat without me. At the tender age of 10, I was regarded as pivotal to their…
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Let’s Do This!
I have known for a while, that because my Grandmother was born in Northern Ireland, I am eligible to apply for Irish citizenship. I have also known that as exciting as that may be, the process appears to be quite rigorous and I have a long list of other adventures to pursue. But I recently decided that it's time to just do it! 2024 will be the year I will wholeheartedly devote myself to the application process. I am committed to this. And so with the full support of the Sisterhood, I begin.....
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70 is the New “I Don’t Care”
If you are young, and by young I mean under 70 years, this post probably won't resonate with you. In fact, you will likely find it difficult to get past the title. If you've made it this far, however, I urge you to keep reading because this will inevitably apply to you. The sad truth is we all get older. The happy truth is that often we get wiser and hopefully end up in the "I don't care" stage of life. Allow me to elaborate.
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Citizenship Through Ancestry
In today’s whirlwind world of social media, it is so easy to endlessly scroll through meaningless content and immerse oneself in ridiculous trivia. I am no exception. And so it was that I recently happened across an interesting article titled “Irish Citizenship Through Ancestry.” Well that caught my eye and I clicked. To my surprise it is apparently possible to claim Irish citizenship if one has a grandparent born in Ireland. Hmm, I have a grandparent born in Ireland. The mind boggles! And the mind is now on overdrive. I am compelled to investigate further. Initially, it seems to be a deceptively simple process. Of course there is documentation to…
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Opening Up The Past
It is a generally accepted principle that Grandmothers are "the best." (Full Disclosure: I am a Grandmother) But this post isn't about me. It's about our Grandmother, Lena Matilda, better known as Tilly.
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Life With H.A.S.
Our Dad often signed business memos with his initials H.A.S., hence the title of this post. His handwriting was beautiful and somewhat embellished. In fact, a handwriting expert might predict a strong, decisive personality and that would sum up Dad perfectly. He was very intelligent and our family "Go To" for problem solving. We often said that he knew a little bit about a lot of things. He was also what we would describe as "quirky."
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Miss You Mom
Mom left us six years ago. Tomorrow would have been her 96th birthday and we are reminded that there are so many things we remember and celebrate about her. But most of all, she was quite simply a sweet, warm, friendly person, and her Starbucks story is one that personifies those qualities. So, in her honor, we offer a reprint of one of our original posts, "BettyBucks."
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Trials and Tribulations of the Oldest Child
Its not easy being the oldest child. The burden is heavy and I am too short and delicate to be tasked with such a massive load. The stress is unrelenting, but I do my best. Unfortunately, almost immediately after birth the pressure was on. Mom entered me in some kind of a "Baby Royalty" contest. I was only able to achieve the status of "Duchess," and all I got was a lousy pink ribbon. What a letdown! Even though I was eventually joined by 4 siblings who were able to share some of the spotlight, the expectations were still high and to this day, I feel an unresolved trauma when…
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Make No Bones About It
Mom was a few months short of 90 when she passed, and she enjoyed relatively good health well into her mid 80's. She was a very social person, happy to participate in many of the activities at her care facility. She walked every day (even though it was only a few blocks to get her Starbucks☺️) and took her medications as prescribed.
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All’s Well that Ends Well
After our post race recovery regimen of a shower and big lunch, complete with celebratory libations, it was time for the other important part of our trip. And that was spending time with our brother Randy, who we had not seen for a few years. He graciously came and picked us up and drove us to his farm, about two hours outside Montreal. Once we got over the surprise of how much he now looks like Colonel Sanders (albeit a more svelte version), we were off to the farm. Little Sis got the front seat on the drive and she had a great time enjoying our brother's somewhat offbeat sense…
