I remember my teacher Mrs. Pietsch. I remember her because she taught history and that knowledge is still with me. Sacajawea has stayed with me since fifth grade because of Mrs. Pietsch, and she is still pointing toward the Pacific Ocean.
Desoto came from Spain and I can see him with his metal helmet. I understand Columbus’ men rebelling because they feel Columbus is taking them on a wild trip across a flat world. Queen Isabella (Isabel in Spanish) backs Columbus. Ah, now I know the Spanish are my faraway ancestors and perhaps some are involved in this trip. I can pronounce the names of the conquistadores or explorers.
Patrick Henry is speaking to the House of Delegates and I hear him because of Mrs. Pietsch, and I know he is supporting the right cause because Mrs. Pietsch is smiling as she speaks of him.
And she warns us, “Don’t ask questions of the veterans of WWII because they don’t want to talk about what horrors they have seen.” So, young as we are, we almost tiptoe when a veteran is near.
Oh, to be a teacher like Mrs. Pietsch. Perhaps that is why I chose that career, and maybe that is why History is my favorite subject. “Sacajawea, what do you think?”
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Dreams
Have you ever had a dream of becoming someone special or doing something unique? I have. At the age of twelve I told a friend of the family it would be nice to write an article in the newspaper and see my name as the author; byline is the proper word, but I didn’t know that at the time. And it came to pass.
I didn’t know anything about writing other than what the teachers assigned, and back then we didn’t do much writing, certainly not like the students do now. But when the teachers did give us a writing assignment they seemed pleased with my efforts.
In college and in graduate school writing assignments were my favorite work. Those assignments took time, and I had to think everything out. Even now in life I look at some of them and say to myself, “Now that is not too bad when you consider I was a teenager.”
Well, I still have dreams, and I work on them daily. They vary and there are several of them. Some are short term and some dreams demand more of me. Nonetheless I continue working toward them. I suppose some folks might refer to my dreams as goals, and certainly they are that, but I like to say they are dreams.
Happy dreams.
I didn’t know anything about writing other than what the teachers assigned, and back then we didn’t do much writing, certainly not like the students do now. But when the teachers did give us a writing assignment they seemed pleased with my efforts.
In college and in graduate school writing assignments were my favorite work. Those assignments took time, and I had to think everything out. Even now in life I look at some of them and say to myself, “Now that is not too bad when you consider I was a teenager.”
Well, I still have dreams, and I work on them daily. They vary and there are several of them. Some are short term and some dreams demand more of me. Nonetheless I continue working toward them. I suppose some folks might refer to my dreams as goals, and certainly they are that, but I like to say they are dreams.
Happy dreams.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Confidence
Recently I found an old picture of my father and me walking down the street in a middle-sized town where he went to buy car parts for his business. I am about eight years old, small, skinny and neatly-dressed with pigtails that dangled on my shoulders. Daddy wearing an open shirt and slacks is tall and walking confidently with his eyes looking forward, unsmiling but comfortable with what he is doing. I am looking at a store window, curious as always but happy to be with my father.
No matter what ill wind might blow our way, Daddy always looked and spoke confidently about the future. “We can overcome this with God’s help.”
Because of his prevailing attitude I, too, adopted his way of thinking. When something worrisome occurs, I say to members of my family, “We will work it out.” I know God will help us out. He always has. And He always will.
It pays to be confident, to work toward the solution of problems and to know that God is right there waiting for us to call on Him.
No matter what ill wind might blow our way, Daddy always looked and spoke confidently about the future. “We can overcome this with God’s help.”
Because of his prevailing attitude I, too, adopted his way of thinking. When something worrisome occurs, I say to members of my family, “We will work it out.” I know God will help us out. He always has. And He always will.
It pays to be confident, to work toward the solution of problems and to know that God is right there waiting for us to call on Him.
Confidence
Recently I found an old picture of my father and me walking down the street in a middle-sized town where he went to buy car parts for his business. I am about eight years old, small, skinny and neatly-dressed with pigtails that dangled on my shoulders. Daddy wearing an open shirt and slacks is tall and walking confidently with his eyes looking forward, unsmiling but comfortable with what he is doing. I am looking at a store window, curious as always but happy to be with my father.
No matter what ill wind might blow our way, Daddy always looked and spoke confidently about the future. “We can overcome this with God’s help.”
Because of his prevailing attitude I, too, adopted his way of thinking. When something worrisome occurs, I say to members of my family, “We will work it out.” I know God will help us out. He always has. And He always will.
It pays to be confident, to work toward the solution of problems and to know that God is right there waiting for us to call on Him.
No matter what ill wind might blow our way, Daddy always looked and spoke confidently about the future. “We can overcome this with God’s help.”
Because of his prevailing attitude I, too, adopted his way of thinking. When something worrisome occurs, I say to members of my family, “We will work it out.” I know God will help us out. He always has. And He always will.
It pays to be confident, to work toward the solution of problems and to know that God is right there waiting for us to call on Him.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Dedication
It was high school graduation night and our son was among the several hundred who had participated in the ceremony. We wanted to make contact with him before we drove home and celebrated with relatives. We looked all over and could not locate him.
And then I found them, a daughter and her father. I stopped briefly and watched. Jane, a tall slender girl, and Sam, her father, a short stocky man, stood looking lovingly at one another. She took her National Honor Society braid and placed it around his neck, and they both laughed. She made other quiet statements to her father and he chuckled. Smiles and perhaps tears.
I never forgot the poignant scene of the lovely daughter looking down at her father and can recall it even now so many years later for I knew the full story. I was told the father raised his daughter from the time she was an infant without help from anyone except a babysitter. He saw her through the pre-school years, middle school years and through her high school years. Finally, at age eighteen he prepared to send her off to college.
Upon graduation she fully understood her father’s dedication and loved him perhaps even more than other children loved their fathers for she understood his sacrifices. A few years later I saw them again, this time at her wedding.
There was not a doubt in my mind. This man was the most dedicated father I ever met, and she was the luckiest girl in the world. Blessings to them both.
And then I found them, a daughter and her father. I stopped briefly and watched. Jane, a tall slender girl, and Sam, her father, a short stocky man, stood looking lovingly at one another. She took her National Honor Society braid and placed it around his neck, and they both laughed. She made other quiet statements to her father and he chuckled. Smiles and perhaps tears.
I never forgot the poignant scene of the lovely daughter looking down at her father and can recall it even now so many years later for I knew the full story. I was told the father raised his daughter from the time she was an infant without help from anyone except a babysitter. He saw her through the pre-school years, middle school years and through her high school years. Finally, at age eighteen he prepared to send her off to college.
Upon graduation she fully understood her father’s dedication and loved him perhaps even more than other children loved their fathers for she understood his sacrifices. A few years later I saw them again, this time at her wedding.
There was not a doubt in my mind. This man was the most dedicated father I ever met, and she was the luckiest girl in the world. Blessings to them both.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Soul Mate
People and researchers have pondered over the question: Why does a human fall in love with a particular person and not with another? What is or what are the elements that cause an individual to seek the love and attention of a particular individual?
Is it commonalities? Perhaps they have the same interests. They like the same things, sports, fishing, traveling? Is the commonality the link that catches them and holds them together?
Does a person become attracted to another who reminds him of a person in his family? Some folks have stated that. Is an individual looking for someone who will fill a need? And if three folks can fill that need, why does he or she choose the one person?
Recently I found what I consider a valid answer. I read the following statement: I liked the way he made me feel about myself. That is it, I told myself. I had never read that before. We need to think about our own experiences. Did the person you fell in love with make you feel you were worthy, smart, beautiful or handsome, happy, caring, sweet, thoughtful…? Did that person make you experience the suggestion that you could even accomplish more in the future? Did you feel hope?
Did you finally feel that someone knew the real you? And you understood that person ever so well, also. If so, you reached the “soul mate’ level, a unique understanding of one another. Congratulations.
Is it commonalities? Perhaps they have the same interests. They like the same things, sports, fishing, traveling? Is the commonality the link that catches them and holds them together?
Does a person become attracted to another who reminds him of a person in his family? Some folks have stated that. Is an individual looking for someone who will fill a need? And if three folks can fill that need, why does he or she choose the one person?
Recently I found what I consider a valid answer. I read the following statement: I liked the way he made me feel about myself. That is it, I told myself. I had never read that before. We need to think about our own experiences. Did the person you fell in love with make you feel you were worthy, smart, beautiful or handsome, happy, caring, sweet, thoughtful…? Did that person make you experience the suggestion that you could even accomplish more in the future? Did you feel hope?
Did you finally feel that someone knew the real you? And you understood that person ever so well, also. If so, you reached the “soul mate’ level, a unique understanding of one another. Congratulations.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The Need for Love
An eighty-five year old man lost his wife. A year later he began seeing female friends. Criticism ensued. Why? Would they prefer he spent the rest of his life like a zombie watching television for hours on end?
Sometimes the young folks think they have a monopoly on love. Not so. No matter the age, all of us have the need for love or friendship, a relationship, or a closeness, some sort of experience in which another person appreciates you and enjoys your company.
Toddlers in nurseries seek each other out. Small children in schools, when they go out to play, look for someone to “pal around with”, to share pleasure in playing, a child to laugh with, another peer to show by a smile… I like you.
Teenagers and young adults clamor for the presence of other humans to validate them, to brighten their existence, and perchance to form a closeness they have not had before.
My grandmother died at ninety-six years of age. One of the last words she uttered was the name Benjamin, the name of her husband, the man who abandoned her once and then returned to her life asking for forgiveness for his foolish act. She rejected him but apparently never forgot him. He remained in her mind, the love of her life, until her dying day.
The elderly gentleman mentioned in the first paragraph deserves someone to accompany him in life as do we all. And so, Dear Readers, I wish you friendships, love, good working relationships and happiness in your lives.
Sometimes the young folks think they have a monopoly on love. Not so. No matter the age, all of us have the need for love or friendship, a relationship, or a closeness, some sort of experience in which another person appreciates you and enjoys your company.
Toddlers in nurseries seek each other out. Small children in schools, when they go out to play, look for someone to “pal around with”, to share pleasure in playing, a child to laugh with, another peer to show by a smile… I like you.
Teenagers and young adults clamor for the presence of other humans to validate them, to brighten their existence, and perchance to form a closeness they have not had before.
My grandmother died at ninety-six years of age. One of the last words she uttered was the name Benjamin, the name of her husband, the man who abandoned her once and then returned to her life asking for forgiveness for his foolish act. She rejected him but apparently never forgot him. He remained in her mind, the love of her life, until her dying day.
The elderly gentleman mentioned in the first paragraph deserves someone to accompany him in life as do we all. And so, Dear Readers, I wish you friendships, love, good working relationships and happiness in your lives.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Message to a Young Woman
“How do you deal with difficult people?” A young woman asked me as we chatted.
“It isn’t easy,” I told her. “You can choose to ignore the behavior that is annoying. Keep in mind that some remarks are not worth arguing over. Remember the saying, “Pick your fights.
“You can address the behavior in a decent manner in which you acknowledge the person’s ill-chosen words and yet show that you don’t appreciate them and will not tolerate them in the future. That is the tricky part because some folks don’t understand diplomatic language. And they never will.”
“Have you had problems you didn’t know how to handle?”
“Have I ever! I have blundered my way through life, fallen, scraped myself, arose and started anew. And one of the best things I learned is to forgive. Some folks are mean because that is all they know. They were treated like that and that is how they learned to cope. It is not a good idea to join that group. Instead, associate with honest, cheerful and positive people.
“Then look at your friends because your good friends are the best mirror you can find which tells you about yourself. (old Spanish proverb) In other words you associate with those folks who are most like you. So look and select your friends carefully.”
“It isn’t easy,” I told her. “You can choose to ignore the behavior that is annoying. Keep in mind that some remarks are not worth arguing over. Remember the saying, “Pick your fights.
“You can address the behavior in a decent manner in which you acknowledge the person’s ill-chosen words and yet show that you don’t appreciate them and will not tolerate them in the future. That is the tricky part because some folks don’t understand diplomatic language. And they never will.”
“Have you had problems you didn’t know how to handle?”
“Have I ever! I have blundered my way through life, fallen, scraped myself, arose and started anew. And one of the best things I learned is to forgive. Some folks are mean because that is all they know. They were treated like that and that is how they learned to cope. It is not a good idea to join that group. Instead, associate with honest, cheerful and positive people.
“Then look at your friends because your good friends are the best mirror you can find which tells you about yourself. (old Spanish proverb) In other words you associate with those folks who are most like you. So look and select your friends carefully.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)