I am not a faithful blogger, as you know. I remember when Kim set me up on this site and encouraged me to write I was very excited. It was a new medium for sharing thoughts, ideas, stories, etc. However, as in most cases, the excitement subsided and the writings became few. I found myself following this practice many years ago when I would buy a Journal Book for that year and would write faithfully from January 1 to March 14 and then my entries would slow down and stop. Probably this habit of mine comes from the fact that I can't imagine that anyone actually reads this blog or has that much interest in what I might have to say. In some ways I think writing a blog or journal or, for that matter, an autobiography could be considered an act of ego, conceit or self-absorption. Maybe not. So, after all of that nonsense, I sit here at my computer preparing to give you a "snap shot" of what is going on here at J101 Aventura Apts.
When my class reunion was over and my work there was finished, I thought I would have so much free time that I would clean out a closet or two, do some really significant cleaning of my home and also I had visions of going and doing wonderful things. Do you think any of that has transpired? Well that hasn't - but Patrick and Mikka gave me my 17th great grandson, John Patrick Evans, Jr. who is just the most beautiful, precious, adorable, darling boy child in the world. Holding him in my arms takes me back 25 years to holding Patrick. He is a carbon copy of Patrick and he makes me feel so happy. Of course, he is not my grandson and there is a vast difference in being grandmother and great-grandmother. A grandmother is "hands on" and a great-grandmother is "look on from a distance". In fact, I think that I was the last relative or friend in the family to hold the child. He is growing and changing in looks and bringing great joy to the family.
My sister-in-law, Patsy Cline Murphy, died last week. She was 68 years old and lived in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I had not seen Patsy in quite some time, but kept up with her life through her e-mails and communications with my daughter, Kim. She and Kim had a great relationship and I am grateful for that because it appeared to me that Patsy didn't have many relationships in her life. Her daughter and her family lived near so she did have that family. Her son lives in Nashville and her sister lives in Georgia. Her brother lives in Waverly. One of the traits of the Cline family is that there doesn't seem to be a lot of close Cline ties. I am very thankful that my Rainey/Russell relatives instilled in me the value and need of keeping close ties with my relatives. I treasure the time that I spent with my brother, with Juanita and other relatives when they were alive and well. Now that they are gone I remember, with great fondness, the memories that I have of going to Universal Studios with Ronald and our long talks while sitting on the beach and of course all of the childhood memories of Juanita. We had family reunions and people came from Columbia, Franklin and wherever they might live. There was much love at those gatherings. I was lucky to have Aunt Ree live in the house with me for thirteen years. My big regret is that I didn't keep my mother closer to me during the last days of her life. However, we all have a lot of "do overs" in our lives and we have to move on and not dwell on them. I just have one great desire and that is that when I am gone my girls and their families will continue the closeness that they have now.
I am beginning to believe that I really do like public speaking. I was invited to speak at my church last week at the the Ladies Day program. My topic was to tell what it is like To Be In My Shoes at This Time in My Life. The theme of the day was In Her Shoes and there was speakers of all ages - very young, young, middle age, old and Me the oldest of all. What a good time I had speaking to that bunch of Christian friends and most of all a table full of my own children and my granddaughter. It was easy for me to tell them that even though my shoes were moving slower and not going so many places as when I was younger, I have a marvelous life and am a happy contented woman in the shoes that I am wearing now. Then, I had to speak at a club meeting on Tuesday night. I chose Words for my topic for this talk. I asked the group how many words they had spoken since rising that morning and were those words significant, insignificant, inspirational, or just "idle chit chat". While writing that speech I did a lot of soul searching about my own words. There are so many times that I wish that I had not spoken at all or that I missed an opportunity to speak to someone that might be meaningful to them for that time in their life. The main thing about words, I think, is to be sure that the words I speak are true - and not half-truths or just someone else's opinion that I have adopted. I believe that we all have the power to be an encourager with our words and by the same token we have the power to bring someone to the depths of despair with something that we might say. I believe that we should all give much thought to the words we speak. If you will indulge me I will give you a short poem on the subject of words:
A careless word may kindle strife,
A cruel word may wreck a life.
A bitter word may hate instill,
A brutal word may smite and kill.
A gracious word may smooth the way;
A joyous word may light the day.
A timely word may lessen stress
A loving word may heal and bless.
When Jesus would tell his disciples something He would always start with "I tell you the truth" and that is what He wants us to do with our words. He has always been true to His word because God is good - all the time.
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