Today is my PawPaw's birthday. Mumsy's Dad was born in Vernon, Texas in 1910. I think about him often & miss him a lot. I was the first grandchild so I was properly spoiled and adored throughout his lifetime.
Lately I've been going through things around here & downsizing. In the process I am coming across a lot of pictures, some of him and Granny, obituaries, preserved flowers. There were some of Mumsy's things I'd not seen before — like my sister's baby book. Lajuana June was born October 31, 1958 and passed that December. She was a ‘blue baby’ & then there were no cures for it.
All of this coupled with other events have started me thinking of my own mortality, especially as I approach another birthday. It makes me look at my ‘stuff’ in a different light — do I want my family to have to sort through all this when I'm gone??? NO!! So it makes a difference in what I keep & what I get rid of.
Just felt a bit nostalgic & wanted to say
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAWPAW!
Remember how you feel when you come across a new game? It's exciting! You touch it, look at it, and can't wait to get it home & learn all there is to know about it. Anticipation is at its highest. You rip open the package & look at all the items, picking them up & examining them carefully before moving on to the next. Now it's time to read the instructions to see how this baby works! You spend hours playing the game, practicing to be the best at it.
As time marches on, you are quite familiar with the game & it becomes a bit boring. So you look around for others views on the game, are there are cheats, any short cuts, ANYthing to make it more exciting to you now. In the meantime, you don't pay as much attention to it as you did before. You still love to play the game, but maybe now you overlook a few things. Even the shortcuts & cheats have become boring. Where's the challenge?
In some ways, life & love are like this. It's all brand new & exciting, but then comes the routine, the day-to-day responsibilities begin to take their toll. You neglect things — people — that you shouldn't without even realizing it. When they can't take it any more, they throw down the gauntlet, catching you completely off guard. ‘What? Are you serious? What are you talking about?’ And if that person is willing to tell you — and you're willing to listen — you begin to realize that they're right. You've sort of taken it for granted that things were okay, that they knew you still cared, still loved them ... only to find out they weren't and they didn't.
Maybe YOU felt you were being taken for granted, neglected, left out ... but you didn't say anything. Bad move because if YOU were feeling that way, chances are the other person was, too. Don't wait for the gauntlet ... challenge yourself to be the best person, to stop & appreciate what you have NOW. Because sometimes it's too late.
