Know Anyone in I.F. named Lydia?

(Piggy & Dirt sell twine on their online etsy.com store)



Readers,

Remember my pathetic post about being afraid of a spinal tap? Another woman was there named Lydia. If you know a "Lydia" will you please give her a hand for me? She will need help the next little while, I think.

And if you find yourself seeing her, could you help her for me?

Thanks.

Here's the backstory to Lydia.... I hope she doesn't mind me taking license to share. We parted without getting numbers or anything because it was urgent.

That same day I was wheeled into the Radiology waiting room, there was a room full of scary things going on. I was wheeled to a place in the sun by the window and as I read someone loudly said something to the effect of "a person's face being pulled back and... this just shocked me that they would say it so non-chalantly . 

Maybe the person had skin cancer. I don't know. But I was nerved up about my procedure and trying to read and this kind of talk jolted me from the page and I looked at the person wide-eyed.  And the individual's voice trailed off when she saw my shock.

I suppose I could have listened in and got the scoop but the person talking must have been given numbing medicine cause she talked about it like it was no big dealio.

My embellished story about being scared wasn't totally void of fear- I was nervous and I also noticed another person that seemed to be quietly nervous pacing back and forth as, looking out the window. She looked like she needed to be sent over to the ER.

After looking up and taking in the whole room, I tried to calm again with my book. Which worked. And I tried to mind my own business but I kept getting a feeling to talk to the woman who looked to be in her 20's.
Occasionally wiping a tear from her face,  I Knew something was not right, she was alone, and I had to say something.

So there, in all my glory,  in the wheelchair with my book and my fears- once I made eye contact with her I motioned to come to over.

Me: "I apologize if I am intruding but are you okay? Can I help you in any way?"

Her: She gave me a summary of what was happening, I nodded. Her child was safely in the care of her mother. Her husband dropped her off for the Xray and was back at work. Whew.


 Both of us were there waiting, dreading our procedures. Not so: Whew/
So, like a mom trying to come up with a story for a kid at bed time to get a child to calm down and go to sleep-I told her my situation was not a big deal. Basically an epidural.

I asked her questions. She was in pain and had to work through it while we waited.  So then I took over with telling her random things about me that might get her mind off of her situation.

I shared with her the book I am reading about a guy named Scott who was a contestant on The Biggest Loser- which I have never watched before.  ( we don't have regular TV here. Or I just haven't cared to watch it. ) The book was given to me not in the sense of losing weight but what the guy went through in his life. My friend wanted me to read it with J.

I have read further ahead. And have found myself going back to things in the book and re-reading because they are so powerful. It is called: Alive Again. I told her about Jaden.

Sometimes the procedures you have to have done require uncomfortable conditions and the people there allowed her to get comfortable just a little bit so that she could at least sit down.

Thank heavens. I got to learn a little bit about her and it was enough for me to hope she is okay.

I have not been able to get her off my mind.

I didn't get to tell her anymore but my name and good luck when they called her back. We both gave each other weary smiles as she went one way and my eyes went back to my book.

I was glad that I had the opportunity to actually have someone else to think about as I went through my ordeal. It helps to think about someone else.
We were able to calm each other's nerves.

I ached for her. So if you are from I.F. and know someone named Lydia- could you tell her the nervous lady in the wheelchair says hello, and that I hope she is okay.

I know it's a shot in the dark, might as well try.

Spinal Tap & Summertime

 



(cute little gift in the hospital gift shop. I hope you have lots of "stars" in your life- )

 

Yes, you read that correctly, Reader.

 

Spinal Tap

I  had one.
 AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~!
Look- I had one and it still makes me scream!

I will tell you more about it but I wanted to slip into journal mode- I am sitting here with J. as the day unwinds itself. * some day awhile back.

He is on the bean bag playing some video game while making rap/jibberish noises that boys make,
And I am dropping hints like:

"Hey, go shower so we can read."

or

"Maybe you should take some allergy medicine."

because the sneezing, sniffling, you name it allergy symptoms outta him due to the grass he mulched today for Padre is driving me crazy.
(Where would we be without an in house mower?)

NOT showering is sort of the summer norm but when you have been mowing, refuse to wear socks, and your shoes end up in my bedroom and you want to snuggle while we read....
You better shower first. Or hope I can forgive ya.

(Readers, this is THE Nick Zdon, testing out the hatchet over at Bestmadeco.- Doesn't this picture make you want to cut your own wood for the fire, put some dutch ovens down in the black coals and cook some peach cobbler while the little ones whittle away at a piece of wood and then their finger? All the while tall tales are told while you are perched on a summit peak shaped rock or, if you are a lucky one, a log next to the fire.

Readers, it is officially Summer.

The weather is warm, kids are coming and going from camp, braces/ retainers are breaking;
walking outside barefoot is the norm;
(unless you have fallen or been injured and need a brace so you do this a little differently.)
Scout Camps are getting moved from that one place I forgot again,  to Little Lemhi cause one bear won't leave the food alone;

Family coming to visit, and staying to talk as we sit in the camp chairs on the porch while J. methodically dances his bike around obstacles in the front yard.
(Like Padre's car which makes us all nervous.)

Tonight I sat on the cool, watered lawn while family visited- it felt so good I had to lay back on it and let the squishy earth cool my spinal tapped back. ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even if daunting appts are written in red on the calendar, it's summertime.


(map of the stars- bestmadeco. - used with the permission from Best Made Company)

Like I mentioned above, I had a spinal tap! It was on the calendar next the many appt.s that were lined up for this summer.
 

 I avoided thinkinf about it, or the date, but it came- looming in like a vulture on my calendar!

The Dr. re-assured me that now days they have ways of doing it that an imaging device can help the person put it right where it needs to go: meaning that a nerve might not be rammed into or something.

That sounded reassuring but who wants a needle saddled right there next to your nerves in the first place? But it is a great diagnostic tool I was told. So there I was in gown and a bunch of warm blankets, my teeth chattering like crazy.

The procedure might as well be those darts from the picture up there being flailed at my back because I was NOT looking forward to it: Simply by its name alone.

Spinal Tap

 

So, like most people in this day and age, I went to the best sourse of quick, visual medical information: Youtube.

 *right before I had to leave for the procedure,  Give or take a few hours.
 

If I could give you ANY spinal tap advice, don't do that.  Unless you get the guy I did because his went really smoothly. And it had me saying to myself:

"Oh, it's not that bad."hmm

Then I read some comments below it. Big mistake.

 Don't read the comments. That is my next set of advice.

 

Because under the really smooth job, there were comments of not so smooth experiences and you don't need that kind of stress before a lumbar puncture/spinal tap.

 

So my you tube guy did help me find the stance I needed to take:

He laid there in the fetal position and it wasn't a big deal.

 

 I mean, I have had an epidural before when I went through child labor.

I have had shots given in that area. I know the drill.

 

The drill for the spinal tap is this:
 

1. Drink A LOT of water before (and after the procedure.) 

2. Sort of tuck your legs up while you lie on your side and don't move.

3. Make sure you have a driver to take you home.

 

They will give you a local anesthetic.

&

it shouldn't be a big deal.

 

Yes, there is pressure.

 

So, even though I was armed with Youtube Guy's perfect posture- I was still nervous.

Readers, I shook like an old roller coaster called: The Mouse- at Lagoon in Utah while I waited.... in the waiting room. (the rickety mouse ride is long gone)

Even after seeing this guy do a remarkable job at not shrieking when they put the hollow needle in his back and then hold vials below it like they are tapping for maple syrup, I wasn't convinced that I'd feel happy with a cannula sticking out of my back.

(Davall's Farm.com)
 

Well, that's pretty much how mine went. Youtube Guy- 1o minutes. He was calmly tucked in the fetal position and.... he had his epidural. Given by a Dr. wearing a dress shirt and tie.

Me- longer than 1o minutes. (Of course! Why should it go any better with my luck???) And my Dr. or Radiologist Person had on his Apron with the Wyoming license plate insignia. So we will call him Wyoming from here on out.

I took a hot shower right before and scrubbed up to try and relax, I was shivering in a wheelchair in the radiology waiting room. I mean, good grief. Get ahold of yourself girl. Despite these feelings, I stayed as still as the word on a piece of paper- I didn't move.

I didn't want anything like what happened to some of the comments section of the you tube video; happen to me.

I was small talking with everyone because when they told me to get on the table, the Dr.  was ready- then the two techs came BACK and told me the Dr. WASN'T ready I was nerved up again. And out of 21 questions to ask the techs.

Tech 1: "It should be about another 20 minutes."

TWENTY MINUTES?
 

READERS! I had prepared myself to be ready for it RIGHT THEN! NOT in 20 minutes!!!!!!???????

That gave me time to re-get scared, start shivering, and want to back out right then.

I sat there a few minutes trying my best to get to know my techs as my feet dangled over the op table and the blood just pooled in my feet.

TECH 1; "Do you want to get back into your wheel chair?"

ME: "YES!" trying to not sound too excited. As I scrambled off the dreaded table.

They both tried to tell me it wasn't that bad and stood around with their hands stuck in their lab coats like they were blue jeans pockets.

I actually asked if they had pockets or if that was just a comfortable place to put their hands while bored and waiting for things to happen. The coats happen to come with both- pockets or no pockets.

Then Wyoming waltzed in and it was show time. Which wasn't so bad. Yes, I had a jolt down one leg. Minimal time frame and pain.

 

However, I started to wonder about things when they started adjusting the table. I felt like I was going to fall off or something but nope.

Optical illusion he said.

Wyoming: "Can you please cough?"

ME: "Sure."  cough. cough. I did my smallest coughs so as not to dislodge the cannula or something.

So time passes and I am repositioned a few more times. And it reminds me of those boards people will use to balance on and there is a ball or something under it to and you have to be really agile. I can't think of the name of it right now. But can you get the picture? I felt like I was on a tilt a whirl.
hmmm.... this whole procedure is like a theme park.

ME: "How many vials do you have filled?" I asked after some time of trying to hold perfectly still, grasping the knob one of the techs put on the bed for me when I asked what I was supposed to hold onto when one is on their side and anticipating a spinal tap.

Tech or Wyoming: "One."

ONE????

I saw four filled on you tube guy's!!!! And I didn't see him told to cough either.

Wyoming: "Can you give me another good cough?"


ME: "What does the cough do?"

Dr: "Helps get the spinal fluid, blah, blah, blah. "

?

ME: Cough. Cough. Cough.

I did better at coughing this time instead of my weak prior attempts.

 A good cough made the needle hit nerves but if we were on one vial, I'd do all the nerve hitting to get that needle outta my back, my body off that table, and back on my back when I was back home. (protocol to avoid the dreaded post spinal tap headache.)


Over all I think I did pretty well enduring the slow tapping of fluid from my spine. They were able to do the measurements needed and I talked to my specialist today about the results. 

The key is to really rest for the next two weeks post spinal tap. Drink caffeine if you believe the Coke cure to ban off bad headaches. Or just stay horizontal for as long as possible. !

And P.S. because summertime is in full swing- it may as well be over. It just goes that fast. Darn it.

The Troops are Home!

(J. in the: 'don't talk to me until I am rested mode'

Not where the term: "Happy Camper" was derived.)

 

Readers!

 

The troops are home!  *This is from last week, Readers.)

Not the troops fighting for us that our world needs and we wish could come home but our Boy Scouts. They spent Monday through Saturday up at..... the name just left me. Somewhere in the woods in Wyoming. Come on, Amanda....... Treasure Mountain!  

 

Dealing with the mess after camping can make you forgetful. delirious., so on and so forth.

 

I need to stop here and thank those troops who have served, are serving, and may one day serve.

 

(Piggy & Dirt stars = love America. etsy.com)





 

 

Thank You.

 

From what Jaden said that happened at camp some young men are learning the things that are necessary. I guesstimated he was one of those by telling me that he kept busy most of the time between 6 a.m. and midnight.

 

He was proud of what he accomplished and that was all I needed to hear. The fact 6 to 7 bears had been spotted in camp, was not what I wanted to hear. I don't know if that was the week he was there or the overall time the full time leaders spent there.





 

Yes, they {scouts} mess around a lot; cause their leaders consternation; 

 

(unpacking gear from the trip- Thanks, Leaders.)

 

but I think over all they are learning something. I hope. I know J. loves the outdoors and he and his best friend have logged in more hours of watching that one guy, Bear Grylls (sp?), so if anyone should find themselves dangling from a cliff- J. will have those episodes to tell you about.

 

Kidding!

 

He whittled a canoe for me..... so I am pretty sure he could whittle a huge one thanks to these people: bestmadeco.com (picture used with written permission from Best Made Co.)

 

This picture makes me homesick for the mountains there is only one problem- I don't know how someone in an Arizona foot brace, a walker or possibly sitting in a wheelchair to rest an ankle- wouldn't slip on the moss.

 

Can you?

 

 Maybe Bear Grylls could figure it out and I could be in the picture up there.

 

So the Scouts are back,

the 4th is over,

 heck,  - summer may as well be over because  Back to School ads are going to start appearing like lightning. And before we know it, it will really have turned into 'back in school sitting at your desk and wondering where summer went.' For J. (I can't help but suppress an evil laugh to that and at the same time not want it to end because he is full of excitement from all the stuff he does.

 

There is still time to get some injuries, however. It wasn't half a day that J. was home- with minimal wounds from camp, (mosquito bites, blisters, burst blood vessel under a thumb nail. ) that he jumped on his long board and wiped out.

 

Not only did he wipe out- it had to do with a bolt on the board which probably had to do with him not taking care of it, anyway, he biffed it on THE SAME KNEE that he let a truck fender eat last summer.

 

That knee is going to have a lot of stories to tell one day to his friends, etc. So I guess a few more scars aren't such a bad thing after all.

 

And as if things couldn't get closer to an outdoors/amped out child, Best Made Co. sent me this email:

(Picture courtesy of Best Made Co. with written permission. bestmadeco.com and someone really rugged and cool.)

This company knows the inside workings of a boys heart. The hatchet. Reminds me of a story by Patrick McManus- an author who loves the outdoors, grew up in Idaho, and his stories can make you laugh so hard you wish you had not heard it because it was too funny to handle.

 

Speaking of handles these hatchets come in different styled ones.



They also remind me of that one long haired guy named "Sully" off of the series, 'Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman' who used his hatchet to hurl it at a sign that unjustly said:

 

"No Indians or Dogs Allowed!";

 
(Norman Rockwell painting that shows a leader telling a story using an Indian head dress and a dog is at his feet. Found it on Amazon.com)
 

He might have been trying to show off in front of Dr. Q. 


to cutting some twine off in a barn to let the military in to look for Indians- which escaped through the back door. Oh, and he used it to cut Dr. Q's dress to use in an experiment when they trespassed on land that was mining for gold and putting mercury or something in the water and poisoning the town.

 

I forget where the dress came in- oh, if the dress turned black the water had mercury in it.

 Boy, I should have watched those shows back when I was in school-

I would have learned something.
 

 I have no idea why I didn't. - Didn't watch the show nor learn more because I could have been a Medicine Woman or something. now I can't get enough of learning sometimes!
And I am glad I didn't watch them back then because then I wouldn't have anything to watch while I fold laundry and give my ankle a break before it becomes broken.

Thanks, prednisone. Or Cushings. Or life.

 

Where was I?

Oh, hatchets from Best Made Co.

 

Readers, as you can see, every person, young or old, needs a hatchet.



(picture courtesy with written permission of bestmadeco.com)

There are all sorts of things that can be done with a hatchet! For instance, there is a big
 Mountain Man Trading Post that happens in the summer by Yellowstone and men wearing authentic duds and they show off their skills with a hatchet.
And try to sell you one.

For 20.00. Which, if you buy, just put it up on a shelf for looks cause the blade just fell off J's and he was sad to have used his hard earned $20.00!!

(bestmadeco.com- used with written permission from company)

Stitches can be acquired with one if you aren't careful.
Did I ever tell you of the time we hiked for a whole week starting from the Jackson Hole, Wyoming side of the Tetons and ending up on the Idaho side?

Well, on this trip, one of the teenagers that were part of our group sunk his hatchet into his tanned, wool socked calf. He was old enough to know better, but hatchets just have a mind of their own!

I had a crush on this particular teenager so when this happened and we were half way from Jackson and Driggs, Idaho- it was a big deal. Did I mention he was cute?

Or a Bow and Arrow.

 

 

 

 (picture courtesy of bestmadeco. used with written permission)

Well, this post is getting the heave ho! Off it goes from the ship of posts that I need to get rid of!
More exciting and hilarious posts to come.

You can't have a summer without a little cabin fever and Padre caught it, I think.

 (Does my name not look so cool when it is welded?????????)

 

Piggy & Dirt's Star Babies hit the Target

(Uh, these are cute. Piggy & Dirt on etsy.com no longer need to be asked to specially make these, they have them listed on their site. )

Readers!

I have mentioned on this blog before about a man from Switzerland whose name is Fred Miller.



*At Brother Miller's funeral. Far right I am wearing one of the old back packs of my Aunt's.

We called him 'Brother Miller" because he led all the hikes back in the day for our church-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He took the girls on day hikes. If you ski Targhee, Fred's mountain is named after him- not the moose.

 

So that started my mom and our family hiking with family and then other families got hiking and the rest is history. Hopefully I can continue his legacy of sharing stories and poems he taught us and some memorized on those hikes long ago.

 

 Somewhere in the archives I tell more about it. One of the songs he taught the "troops"

 ( he mainly worked with the Boy Scouts)

(oh, look! Here is a picture of one now- returning from Boy Scout Camp. Where it rained all week!)



 However, he would take the girls up Darby canyon to hike the ice caves, or possibly Table Rock- he shared the "Star Baby Song" with the girls and my mom sang it to me when I was a girl.
So I had to ask Kurt to make some of those for our grandkids and because, well, their cute. So cute they look like you could eat them...... so keep the babies away from doing that.



 

Piggy & Dirt created this "Rhubarb Pink" for me. But I think they call it watermelon on the site.

 

 

 

Cute, huh?

 

 

And then I asked Kurt for a Target. J. gets plenty of target practice but after running across a quote that was inspiring, I wanted it. Because let's be honest, not a lot of boys think stars like the ones above are cool in their room. Especially, watermelon, rhubarb pink.

 

"An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is pulling you back with difficulties, it means it is going to

LAUNCH YOU

into something great. So just focus & keep

Aiming."

 

 

(Piggy & Dirt's glass target with arrow find it on etsy.com)

 

Brother Miller would tell us stories about the Indians when we sat around the campfire.

 

One thing that he wanted to be remember for was that of a teacher. He was at the public school but he also was by example. He was born with clubbed feet and it hurt to walk. All the time.

He was usually last- so if you were one of the ones who like to meander, you got to hear the stories.

 

I was one of the ones that tried to shoot up the mountain Pronto style to get the misery out of the way.

My, how the tables have turned.

I wonder now if Brother Miller is tapping into me through pulling me back by way of the physical adversities I am having.

 

My feet, ankles, and lower bones hurt. I am wearing a brace that keeps my right ankle from rolling on a piece of sand. So far, so good. But I really rely on it.  And it's hot.

 

The target looks a bit like molten lava from this view. Lava is hot. The Arizona AFO brace is hot.

Not is a stylish sort of way.

 

Well, I am spent. I think I need to try and listen to some Big Band Love Songs to help my body.

Physical Therapy can really do a number on you; pull you back.

 

I just wonder whether I can keep my aim with all this pulling.

I might not hit the center.

 

Plenty of stars to wish on though- this Jade one seems to be calling my name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Dear Grandpa

(the Peacock star Grandma picked, the blue one Abby picked for her last Mother's day, & I picked the clear one that bears her name: Mary Lu. She spent most of her time here looking out and the window washing dishes by hand. )



Dear Grandpa,

Your hearing is going so I will write you letters like I did with Grandma. They won't all be on the computer- you know why this one has to be.... or Michelle or Allie will tell you.

Yesterday *Thursday) I waited two hours for an appt. and afterward I went to see you because it was around the block. As I pulled up your street,   I purposely turned on the song Homeward Bound  on my William Joseph CD.

(The song is written by a woman by the name of Marta Keen Thompson. She said she wrote the song and its  lyrics to "a loved one embarking on a new phase, to express the soul's yearning to grow and change."Posted by Bryce Haymond on September 25, 2013 )

 There weren't any cars in the driveway when I reached your house, which was a surprise and I was glad I stopped by. There you were out front in your well worn Levi's. (that belt you wear with the Cadillac Buckle-is definitely needed to keep them on  your asparagus frame.)



(you stewing over the containers that are all over your countertops that were once filled with food brought by kind people during the last few weeks. If you own one- please feel free to come get it. Grandpa is pretty concerned about them getting to their homes. : )

You had on a shirt with Grandma's pin. You were pulling the green hose to a different patch of lawn to water the dry grass.
I couldn't help but smile that you have yet to wear the new pair of Carhardt pants my Dad helped you buy the other day.

(Later I found that they were washed by Michelle and you are saving them for the wedding reception. You couldn't understand why Michelle would wash them before you got them dirty! I told ya that the wash softened them up.)

(one of the greatest comforts my grandmas gave me were quilts and blankets. Piggy &Dirt make these Polka Poppy 9 inch stars that remind me so much of them quilting in the front living room.

Machines may do it now but back in the day many family members, friends, and neighbors put quilts together.

There are some things that only Grandmas and Papas can provide that are a special comforting- for example: 

how you move the water like clock work. There must be some internal clock that you have; or maybe you watch the clock.

Readers might wonder why moving the sprinkler would be comforting- I believe it is because they do it like clock work and you can COUNT on them to do it.

Your sprinkler sprays up like those missile fireworks from Frank Vandersloot's show on the 4th, then becomes a fountain at the top. 

(trendpictures.org)

I believe it is the same one you have had since the day you moved in to that house!

 Newer ones have a larger coverage and if a sprinkler isn't broke, why replace it?

Ya know, I think deep down, my Dad likes to move the water too.

Speaking of clocks, when I opened the familiar screen door, the clock chimed and it flooded my heart with memories.

Clocks can be comforting.

I looked down the hall to see you sitting in her chair instead of her. Which has become the new normal. I need to record the chiming of the clock. And I need to record your voice.

I can still hear Grandma say: 'Mandy' in my mind.

 

I never want to forget her voice!

 

However, when I sat down in your comforting chair and began to talk to you, I noticed that all of Grandma's lotions, nail files, cuticle creams were all gone. My breathe got caught and shoved my chest back to my spine. Wait! Don't be gone Grandma!

This was one of my favorite past times: fixing my cuticles, etc. and putting on lotion smelling of almond so having them gone- it caught me off guard. That was a ritual of sitting down next to grandma; reaching over and helping my nails look better.
And the smell of grandma on my person.......

You said there wasn't a woman that didn't have her hands in the water more than her but she went to a lot of effort to make them look nice  and one wouldn't know how long they'd spent in scalding water.
Aunt Joni painted them one last time. They looked so beautiful..... She gave a good back scratch.



You had a toothpick in your mouth as we talked and Meridith Veira's show was on but the sound was off. You don't like the show. You think Merideth is a fine person but Grandma always liked to watch it so you had it on as you sat in her chair.

There are some things about coming to your home that are
always comforting.

Like pulling into your driveway.
(if it isn't already full)

 



In the song, Homeward Bound, there is a line about retracing steps to a loved place- how oft have your kids, and grandkids,
 

"retraced their steps"

to your street, your door, and

your home?
 

And for those of us who couldn't at times, how often did we take those steps

in our minds?

Whether it was for Grandma's Monkey Bread, A Coke, or just Grandma's Sympathy.

 

 

*water color art given by written permission from Susan Branch @ susanbranch.com)

Your once straight back is now slouched and when you had walked into the house leaving me to linger out front and get ahold of my tears- it gave me some time to "pinch off" the geraniums that were spent, so the others buds could take their turn to bloom!

  

While we talked. Or you did and I yelled, I read a little from the last talk given by Elder Boyd K. Packer about family- how children (and grandkids!) are the meaning of happiness.

(one of the latest grandkids born and placed on Mary Lu's fridge)



 

Elder Packer said that the secret to a happy marriage was:

(picture from a Martha Stewart magazine from 2011- They are called Martha's firework cookies!Perfect for the 4th of July or for wedding fireworks! parentmap.com has great ideas for kids)

 

A cookie and a Kiss!

While I sat in Dr.s waiting room, I read the article and  I had to share it with you.

It talked about young love, how the couple can have everyone around them disappear as they enjoy holding hands, moonlit nights,



Love Letters.....
and roses- however,  

I skipped to the part where Elder Packer talked about
long time married love.

("During the Summer of my kidage years, I'd walk to Carson's market and buy a popsicle for a dime. They had this aqua colored, licorice flavored ones, oh and the bright red cherry flavor was another favorite. Two sticks, two cool confections, one dime-" Kurt's words from his stor called Piggy & Dirt on etsy.com used these colors that remind me of the days when Big Band Love Songs played...... Something Grandma Mary Lu loved)

 

Elder Packer addressed young love, or 'new love' for those of us that fall in love later in life:

 

".... you have not yet lived to see the devotion and the comfort of longtime married love. Married couples are tried by temptation, misunderstandings, financial problems, family crisis, and illness, and all the while love grows stronger. Mature love has a bliss not even imagined by newlyweds.

( life's difficulties, and life's good times help couples lives become woven and "divinely intwined"- you can find this from Piggy & Dirt at etsy.com Yes, they provide more than stars!) 

 

 Things I want to remember about that day- getting a one on one chance to tell you that I love you. I know you miss Grandma and are ready to be with her.

Will you stay a just a little bit longer until we can get used to the idea?

If you think that the stories we heard of your parents and grandma's- do you know what you are to us?

Heck, the only times the young ones are allowed to swear are if they are quoting you.
Thank you for telling me about my Dad, how he was. And joke about him. It makes us laugh and take ourselves less seriously.

I loved hearing how tough he thought he was but then you said with that chuckle of yours:
"You should have heard his calls home to Mom from basic training."

Yes, everyone loved Grandma. She was the one woman to soothe a baby from crying, to tell the stories of the past, and I could find solace in just walking in and seeing her up to the table in her chair.

Right now it is morning as I try to wrap this up. That song I mentioned above talks about the quiet misty mornings when the moon has gone to bed.

I recall you saying you had not dreamt of her yet. I don't know why that is because sometimes I can be going through something and my childhood friends pop up in them all the time.

I guess ya have to not be forcing the issue. Who knows.
68 years with someone is a long time.

Love,
Mandy

 

 

 

Last Letter to Camp





(Best Made Company has the best customer service of ANY company I have worked with. Thanks, Nic for the permission to use your pictures. And for giving photos and footage to make him want to live outdoors. All the time. Your products have been put to good use. Visit us when you come to Idaho to Camp, fish, etc. We'll show you our favorite spots)


Dear Son,

I finally had a moment where I really needed you. Yes I have missed you but I have been as independent as possible. When I saw a spider, I didn't shriek and need your help- wait, I never have a problem when I see a spider.

I still tried to annihilate him and make sure none of his friend come up the drain in the bathroom.

So back to the moment that I needed you....... It was a moment where I had put my glasses down and couldn't find them. You are always around during those instances and so I stayed perfectly still and felt around. I ended up finding them by the radio but it sure was a scary moment!

 



 

(*piggy & dirt's faceted flag on etsy.com)

 I finally heard word on how you were doing. Aunt A. said that you looked like you were in your element and looked like you didn't have a care in the world.

I guess rain and camping for boy scouts isn't that bad? Padre said there is  A LOT of MUD and doesn't want the Cadillac up there for fam. night. I wasn't even thinking of that!

 I guess Wellington boots should be added to the check list. Or at least mine if I can make it up there.

Love,
Mom

This is Piggy & Dirt's Star of Provence- Reminded me of Blue & Gold Banquets.



Mom

https://youtu.be/sNMwZnOsq5o

This is a great song from the group One Republic called: I LIVED!