friday.28.may.2021

reflection section holding hope

I have a few single earrings in my collection of jewelry that I can never bring myself to toss because I hope that their partners will turn up one day. I know as soon as I toss the loner earring, I will find its mate under the car seat, inside a purse pocket, or stuck in my curly hair. That's hope. Holding onto hope. When my Dragonfly Debbie was so very ill with cancer and tried everything in the oncology book to make progress and try to beat that damn disease, she willingly put herself through hell and every awful side effect you can imagine. Why? Because she was holding onto hope. Debbie taught me bigtime about hope, in fact. Unfortunately, the stupid cancer won, even though she never lost hope. That's hope. Holding onto hope. We certainly use the word often in conversation: I hope you had a good time ... I hope you enjoy your vacation ... I hope to see you soon ... I hope you are well ... I hope the sun comes out ... I hope you like it ... I hope I can do this. There's lots of hoping going on! And that's a good thing. When we hold onto hope, we believe things will work out. It is a strong belief in the unseen, the unknown. It helps to make tough situations more bearable. We believe we will find that other earring!  We hope we get the job! We hope we win the lottery! We hope we win the game! We hope he proposes! We hope we get the contract! We hope, we hope, we hope. On the flip side, sometimes we think hopeless thoughts: Why bother, it's hopeless ... My life is a hopeless mess ... It's hopeless to try to convince her. We might believe a situation is hopeless, have false hope, or view an individual as hopeless. Hopelessness suggests despair and that is simply no fun at all. So we stick with the more favorable feeling of hope ... faith ... trust ... belief ... they all go hand in hand. How do you hold onto hope? What is something you are hoping for right now? "It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine." ~ Eeyore

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snippeteer backtalk

last week's snippet: where's the party? "Papa Louie! I loved this tribute to his lampshade-wearing life. He would be so proud. Life is a party! Pay but the slightest attention to the one that is vomiting in the corner, crying in their beer, or the slime bucket drooling and hitting on everyone. We all look at life differently and every party has a pooper; that will always be the case. The important part is that you attend and leave a good impression, like your father did. Ken is a lucky man to have such a rabble-raising funster in his life. I wish that I had known your father, what a hoot he must have been. Actually, I guess I do know him, through you. His legacy lives on spreading joy and laughter to both friend and stranger, near and far. I pray that you never give up your weekly SNIPPETS. What a gift you have; affecting the lives of people you don't even know ... a true blessing. I know at times it feels like a daunting task but the number of people that you have encouraged is countless. Keep up your Good Works, my friend. May God continue to bless you (and Ken, through you. LOL) Party on, my friend ..." ~ Geri in Delaware "Great job! You described our daddy to a tee! I can so picture him doing all these things. Reading this brought tears to my eyes. And don’t forget what Aunt Angie used to say, 'You have to make your own party wherever you go!' " ~ Paula in Pennsylvania "I've also learned that if hubby doesn't want to go someplace, or do something, with me ... 1) I don't stay home and 2) I don't force him to go with me; nothing worse than a party pooper because he didn't want to be there!! BUT luckily, he doesn't try and keep me home. Just came home from a week with family in Florida. When I booked the room I told them I would let them know if my husband would be joining me. (I thought maybe the room cost more with 2 people. I don't get out much.) The lady said, 'It's a king-size bed, I don't care who you bring.' So my friend went with me, I had a roomie who wanted to be there, and a bed big enough that we never even knew each other was there. And, when I got home, he had missed me and was all welcoming." ~ joanne in new york "I love this column! I may not be loud in terms of noise but I want to live loud in terms of doing! I love to be on the go, meeting friends, visiting family, shopping - so this past year has been HARD! But I am vaccinated, my older kids are vaccinated and my 2 oldest granddaughters just got their 1st shot. I am going to start living loud again - even though it has been 2 years since Tom died, I want to find friends to travel with, go out to eat and keep living loud. I'm not done kicking yet! Thanks for a great column!" ~ Karen in Maryland "Loved your SNIPPETS this week. Often people will say to me that I should slow down and I say: 'Why? Live life to the fullest!' Or as you say ... Live it loud. Thanks for sharing your thoughts." ~ Jackie in Maryland "I completely agree with you! Party hardy while we can because we never know what’s ahead of us." ~ Phyllis in Maryland

prayer flares

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FOR Mark recovering from broken ribs and elbow after a bicycling accident. After a heart attack and taking medical leave from teaching, he had been doing well and biking 15 miles daily. A week before he was to return to school, a car pulled out in front of him on his bike FOR Dave recovering with broken ribs and more injuries after a bicycling accident

good to giggle

queen of quotes

HOW TO WIN AT LIFE IN 2 EASY STEPS STEP 1: let people do what they need to do to make themselves happy, mind your own business, and do what you need to do to make yourself happy STEP 2: remember step 1

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