SYOTOS

No more winter doldrums. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family. It went smoothly and comfortably. I was especially thankful that I didn't have to cook this year. I simply wasn't prepared. We have too much going on working on our house. And my niece and her husband did a beautiful job with our family Thanksgiving. It could NOT have been better.

I did wake up with a song on my mind this morning, though. I'm not sure why. I have noticed that a lot of people have been posting tributes to their lost loved ones on Facebook this week, and of course the holidays always remind us of the ones that have gone on before us. I suspect that is why this song is on my mind today. 

It seems there are some that think there should be a time limit on grief; and that people should not continue to post about their loved ones. Apparently, some have even been told it is "time to move on". We all grieve differently. No one has the right to put time limits on anyone.

For me, it isn't about holding on to grief, it is about keeping a memory alive. Everyone loves to post about their children's accomplishments, and life situations, don't they? Well for some, this is all they have to keep their lost loved one at the forefront - a way to keep a continuation of a life lost too soon. It is a comfort and a means to be able to inadvertently say, no one has been forgotten. Certainly, we can't do that with silence.

Some might find this song melancholy, but it is one of my all time favorite songs by one of my all time favorite artists. I have not heard it in some time, but it simply won't leave me today.

It is Toby Keith's Crying for Me, better known as Wayman's Song. It is written and sung for Toby's good friend, Wayman Tisdale. To keep it short, Wayman was a basketball player in the NBA and also a jazz bass guitarist. More than that, he was a wonderful human being who lost his life to cancer far too early. This is a wonderful tribute, sung with a whole lot of love.

I hope you will enjoy the video below and really, really listen. It's ok to remember those we have lost; we know we will "seem them on the other side".  But don't ever let anyone tell you that it isn't ok to keep "Cryin' For Me". And that has nothing to do with doldrums.

“It opens the lungs, washes the countenance, exercises the eyes, and softens down the temper; so cry away.”         

~ Charles Dickens

 

Roll On Winter Doldrums

I finished all my work outside for the evening - stacking firewood, feeding the horses and then feeding the new cat - just as my neighbor pulled into the driveway. He was dropping a few supplies by for some work he is doing for us; so I stopped for a moment to visit with him. I must have sounded a bit forlorn, because he quickly asked me, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah", I just as quickly answered, but I didn't know what my answer should be, any further than that. I didn't really know why I was out of sorts, and I felt bad that my neighbor had picked up on it. Shame on me!

Anyway, I finished a few more things outside after he left, then decided I needed to come in, sit down at the computer and blog about my love hate/relationship with winter. Maybe the new snow was my attitude problem. As I walked into the house I said out loud to myself, "But in a way, I kind of love winter! How come I feel like this?"

No matter. I didn't need to figure out any of that just now. I had checked my email before going to my blog and there was a message from my son. No words; just a music video to listen to. I read the title. It was a song by two of my favorite artists, performing a song by another favorite artist of mine from long ago.

I smiled...just reading who I would be listening to warmed my heart. My son knows me. Just the thought of him thinking of me when he saw this video and then caring enough to send me the link chased my winder doldrums away....at least for a little while. And it has kept everyone else from having to read about my love/hate relationship with winter. Instead, enjoy Neal McCoy with Trace Adkins performing a song by one of the best country music artists ever, Charley Pride.

 

 

Yeah, it made me cry...the lyrics, the melody, the talent, the trio, the thought, the kindness...childhood dreams...reliving the memory....maybe, it "made me feel like a child again"....

 

And then I smiled; and listened again and again. I listened to the instruments, I listened to the words, I took in their voices. I listened with my eyes open, I listened with my eyes closed....try it..."torn overalls, cane pole and old straw hats"..."childhood dreams I grew up on." "World spinning around, too fast for me, I need a place to dream." Ah, summer...big fat sigh..."barefoot and fancy free". I'll enjoy winter, tomorrow...Right now, I'm going to listen one more time to my kind of music. :-)

 

Neal with Trace singing Charlie. That's a whole lot of Pride, right there. It doesn't get any better than this. ;-)  Roll on!

 

Thanks, Son!

We Voted

I pulled the sticker off of my sweater. I didn’t want it to leave a stain by being left on too long. I paused for just a moment to read it, though of course I knew well what it said.

“I Voted.”            

I smiled as I wadded up the patriotic sticker into a little ball to throw it into the trash. Such a simple thing, yet such a BIG thing that we take for granted far too often.

But looking at the sticker also triggered a sweet memory for me. It seems like forever ago now. My husband and I had just voted and we had taken our young son with us. We always went everywhere together as a family. Yes, even when we voted.

After we finished and we got back into our tan, Ford Taurus, my husband rolled down the window, and placed that little voting sticker right there at the base of the outside mirror. My son, from the back seat, watched him do it. I don’t know how long that sticker stayed on our mirror; it was months, if not years. It may have even still been there when we finally traded off that vehicle. I know! It seems like the weather would have worn it away, but I don’t think it did. The sticker held up for some time.

Years later, (and I do mean years!) my son and I voted together in what I believe was his first time to vote.  I always love voting at the polls, and try to make sure I always do. It is a very meaningful experience for me. Sounds corny, I know; but it just is – meaningful.

Anyway, this time my son had driven us to the polls, and I was in the passenger seat. When we were finished and got back into our vehicle, I smiled, (probably through tears, knowing myself the way I do) when I watched my son, roll down the window, and place his voting sticker on the driver's side mirror of our Bravada. He never said a word; but looked over at me and smiled.

Pretty cool! I love generational stuff, but it gets better.  Some time later, I was taking my folks somewhere in our Bravada. As my dad walked by the driver’s door to get into the back seat of the car, he pointed at the sticker, tapping it as he walked by. As we settled into our seats, I told him the story of how that sticker came to be on the driver’s side mirror – our son, imitating his dad in what has become a silly family tradition.

I will never forget the look on my dad’s face. “Grandpa” was more than pleased - he was moved to emotion. And while I know the voting aspect of the story was important to him, I knew without a doubt, the son following in his daddy’s footprints was the headliner of this story for my dad.

Teaching your kid’s what is right and watching them follow through in their actions – it doesn’t get any better than that.  Well, maybe only made better by sharing it with someone who understands and taught their kids what is right, too...meaningful. Very meaningful.

 

We Voted.

God Bless America!
We vote!