God's Gift to Me

Love this picture! It's all Aaron!

Good morning son! It's your type of weather here this morning: rain! Since dad and I have planned a quiet day today it's a perfect day for it. But, enough of that. Who wants to call heaven and talk about the weather? Maybe it's because of the beautiful day and it's raining I'm missing you more today. I woke up listening to the rain and thinking about you. Not that it takes rain for me to wake up thinking about you. Dad and I still have those brief moments when we see something and think, "I can't wait to tell Aaron, he'd love that", and then immediately realize, you already know it! You will forever be in our hearts and minds and that's the way we want it. But, as time goes along you not being here pain that will always be with us and yet the sharpness of it is fading to something we gladly carry and no longer fight.

I've been thinking about grand-children a lot lately. I think that's something people my age, however old that may be, think they will have in their lifetime. I don't think I ever thought about the possibility of not having grandchildren close by. I just always made the assumption that our daily lives would be full of grand kids because that's what we dreamed of; grand kids to read to, spend the night, spoil, bake with, celebrate with and love on. I wonder if that's true of everyone? I've always assumed that it was. I loved my grand parents so very much. I was so very lucky to have them around my entire childhood. Grandma and Grandpa Bothwell always lived next door and Mamaw and Papaw Coffman just lived five miles away in town. I spent hours with

Hey, a 2fer one!

all of them and loved being with them. I have so many great memories and I couldn't wait to make those memories with my own grand kids. God didn't see fit for that to be. I don't know why. I could tell you that it never bothers me but that would be a lie. There are times when I see my sisters and brothers and others with their grand kids that I still ask the Lord why. It's a foolish and selfish question. I'm feeling sorry for myself because they live so far away and before you even had the opportunity to have a child  God took you home. You should be the one upset. And yet I know you are not. God had a plan for you and whether either of us like it, you accepted it with grace and dignity. Have I told you lately how proud I am of you?  As for the distance between our grand kids and great grand kids, I have to leave that in God's hands. Only He has the answer.


BUT, yest I know, there's always a but! Knock it off, not butt. I think somehow you and Josie have linked. Sometimes the things that come out of that girls mouth. Anyway, what I want to say is that although life doesn't give us what we think we have to have God always gives us what is best and what we need...and sometimes, what we want. What is it that your grandma always says, "It's not your needs in life that get you in trouble, it's your wants and desires". Such a wise woman she is.  Anyhoo, while God's working on the grand kids thing He has provided me, us actually, with some of the most awesome nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews. The family has multiplied exponentially over the years. We are so very fortunate. God is good. As I've told you previously, well, you actually knew before I did, we have two new ones in California, Miles and Georgia. We haven't met them yet but we're trusting God and his timing. In the meantime we're staying connected with the families via Facebook and email and see pictures often. I don't care what anyone says, when you retire, time speeds up! I simply cannot believe that Allegra and Hannah have graduated from high school, Sierra will graduate next May, Josie will be six in January, and Corey will be __ in August. (Just had to put that in there to see if she's awake.) I'd put the actual age but I'm to far

Oh Corey!! Are you listening!!

away from my mom to protect me and dad would be laughing to hard. They all have always brought great joy to our lives. Dad in reading to them and singing silly made up songs to them like he use to do for you. Me, I just loved being with them and doing whatever they wanted to do at the moment. Now-a-days it's a little more difficult and I can't get down on the floor to play games with Josie but she understands and so we pull out the ottoman or pull up the coffee table and do them just the same. She's a competitive little bugger I mean to tell you!  We haven't been able to spend much time with Renee and her family but the time will come and we're both looking forward to it. 

Children are such amazing gifts from God. It's so amazing that He trusts us adults with them. Sometimes I think the kids have more common sense than the adults. As I get older I enjoy the times when I'm able to sit back and just watch the action and interaction. They are so clever and smart. I don't know what I would do if I had to help them with homework. It was tough enough trying to stay ahead of what you were learning and doing. But it's fun watching them be kids.

We've been here in Troy two years now and slowly but surely we're beginning to make contact with the Jamison side of the family. I've waited 42 years to be close enough to get to know this side of the family. Talk about nieces and nephews! The nieces and nephews dad remembers chancing their diapers now are changing their grand kids diapers. We've a lot of catching up to do. I will admit that when we first arrived two years ago I wanted it all to happen at once and now! God's wisdom is always best and in this case, again, it's working out in His timeline and plan. I just pray that God helps me stick to the plan.

My dreams of seeing all the places I want to see in the United States are still dreams. If they're suppose to happen they will. My longing to see all of them is just as clear and strong as they have been since I was very little and dreamed of seeing them: the Statue of Liberty, Lincoln Memorial, Ellis Island, Liberty Bell. They may be a child's dreams in the body of an old lady now but they're still my dreams and I'm the child of a King that owns the cattle on a thousand hills so it's all still possible.


It's been a super great week, full of laughter and joy, even though I just about worked dad's butt off. What little he has left any way! LOL. The guest room ready for visitors although I still have tons of decorating I still want to do. I promised you a status picture so here it is. The dresser dad and I found a couple of years ago for $35. It's been in the storage room and I pulled it out, cleaned it up and added paint.

Still needs the red shutter headboard

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom


 

Keys, Faith, Miracle

Good morning son! Evidently Jamison is going to help me write my blog this morning. He's laying on the back of the couch looking out the window. His behind is sitting on my shoulder and he seems perfectly comfortable. Talking about comfortable. The weather is finally cooperating. We just spent the last week in a heat wave. And just let me take this moment to "clear the air" when it comes to heat! There is a definite difference in heat waves. Call it "dry heat", "wet heat", whatever you want, but the heat in the San Joaquin Valley in CA is totally different than the heat in Troy NY! Most of the summer in San Joaquin Valley it was 105-108 degrees....and dry, not sticky. Here? the temp hits in the 90s and it feels like 105. And sticky? You have no idea. Dew Point and humidity play a very big part in being miserable in the heat. For the most part, we stayed in and stayed quiet. Dad's doctor was very explicit in what he expected dad to do: stay in, stay quiet and TURN THE AIR CONDITIONER ON! The doctor said so many seniors have air conditioners and try to make it with fans rather than turning the air on. He said it's very dangerous for seniors. Especially if they are taking certain types of medications. So, for the most part, that's what we did. I say "for the most part" because I couldn't actually nail his feet to the floor or his butt to the chair so a couple of times he had to learn "people that don't listen have to feel". Pain that is! The weather was really rough on our plants but we only lost a couple of smaller ones. They did drink a ton of water though. It's cooling off and the last couple of nights we were able to sleep comfortably.

I have to laugh at myself. Again. And, I do that a lot these days. I lay out plans of what I'm going to do and the time it's going to take. I'm so funny. Guess I think I'm still 30. The guest room is coming along nicely. According to my pre-planning both the guest room and the entry to our

building should be completed and I should be on to another project. As of this morning, I've not started on the entry. I have everything I need,  I didn't paint at all last week. Because of the heat and humidity the paint would have dried on the brush before I could get it smoothed out on the dresser. It was cool enough yesterday that I was able to prepare the dresser and today, hopefully, I will be able to do the painting.

 I continue to practice my sketching and am really enjoying it. Dad gives me good critique and ideas to try. Yesterday I spent a good deal of time practicing my depth perception. It pretty much looks like abstract art. Dad said this morning it's one he wants to keep because it reminds him of what he believes his mind looks like.

Auntie Di had her cataract surgery this last week and all is well. She had no pain. Fell asleep before the surgery, woke up 12 minutes later and was done. Thank you Lord.

We had a couple of interesting days this last week. Dad lost his keys! He frets so when something like this happens. We searched high and low. The first place we checked were the pants he had worn the day before nothing. I know a lot of people will have trouble believing this, but we turned the pockets inside out and nothing. We checked the pants he had on. Nothing. And remember, these are cargo pants we're checking so pockets are limitless. Dad even checked all his pants hanging in the closet. He tore the laundry room apart thinking maybe they'd fallen out in the laundry room. Nothing. He looked through all the trash containers in the house. And you know dad, when he checks, he checks. Nothing. He took a flashlight and searched the car. I looked through the car. Nothing. He checked the basement with a flashlight. Nothing. We then headed outside. Now don't forget. We have an acre lot in front of our house and because it had been so hot dad and Jamison had been taking brief walks when there was a hint of a breeze in the lot rather than their mile walk on the hill. So, we began the walk and the search. We poked and prodded the earth, Turned over leaves and branches. Wrapped Jamison's leash around trees and back around the other way to unwind. We walked the edge of the acre and criss-crossed the acre, searched the parking lot and the slope up the hill. No keys. Dad, being dad, came back into the house and re-did the house search. Nothing. As we were waling and searching the acre I was talking with the Lord. I knew how badly your dad was feeling. He just worries so when something like this happens. I'm more of a, "okay that's happened, now what do we do" person. Dad is a, "I've got to fix this" person. As I was talking with the Lord I asked him to let your dad find the keys. It would mean so much to him to know that he had solved the problem. But, like I said, at the end of our search of the acre, nothing. I had no idea what the Lord was doing. I really expected dad to find those keys right then and there. What? You mean just because I asked I wasn't going to get an immediate answer? What's up with that? We are funny creatures aren't we? Immediate gratification. We expect immediate gratification. Those darn expectations sure can get in the way sometimes don't they?  Anyway, as I think back now, I guess I was kind of disappointed that dad didn't find the keys in the acre. I guess I really did think that because I asked it was just going to happen. I immediately went on to something else however and knew there was a solution even if it meant we just had another set made and gave up on finding the other set. However, for some reason in his makeup dad doesn't have that

"give up" button. That's just who he is. Does it drive me crazy sometimes? Absolutely! Would I change him if I could? No. Because to change one single thing would be like skipping a stone on water. It would forever change the water. I love him just like he is. And because he refuses to give up, and God knows that, guess what he found the next morning? Right. His keys. Guess where they were? No, come on, guess. He was putting a load in the washer and found them in the pockets of the pants he had on the day before he noticed they were gone. The pair of pants that we had turned all the pockets inside out and had checked. It's pretty easy to take something like this and rationalize it away. But, for me, God gave a chuckle as he answered my prayer, in His timing, and allowed dad to find the keys. Pretty cool God huh.

Guess I'd best get up from here and get busy. Dad wants Jackpot Noodle Casserole tonight so I think I'll make it this morning while it's cooler and then we can just reheat. THEN, I can get to my painting!

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom

 

Moving Right Along

Good morning son! I know I've asked this many times, but where do the days go? They just disappear and then here it is Sunday again already. My picture of retirement was a lot slower than this. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. We're busy but we're doing things we want to do, when we want to do them, for the most part anyway. 

Such sad news this morning, Cory Monteith of "Glee" was found dead in a hotel in Canada this weekend.Cory Monteith  How very sad. Thirty-one years old and gone. All that talent gone. All that future gone. All the family and friends left behind. I understand the loss and I grief and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Dad and I will be praying for his family and friends. 

We're expecting some very HOT weather this week. It's predicted to be in the high 90's but the humidity is going to take it into the 100's. Dad and I spent the afternoon yesterday moving an air conditioner into the living room. The one we had in there "died". It's a smaller one but will work just fine to cool the one room which is all we need. We already have one to cool the bedroom so we can sleep.I think Jamison suffers from the heat more than we do. If we had to wear a fur coat in 100 degree weather I think we'd understand. I've never cared for a fur coat so guess that won't ever be a problem.

We're still working on the guest room. I bought the paint to redo the dresser and need to do some decorating but we've already had our first guest; Josh came over last week and spent the night. What a hoot that kid is. He reminds me so much of you. He and dad spent time organizing fishing gear. Because of storm and flash flood warnings they didn't make it to Grafton Lake , but with any luck, this week or next, weather permitting. We watched Star

Make be giggle!

Trek, Voyager and Animal Planet. Sound familiar? My intent was to get the dresser painted and the room finished this week so I could start on the entry this week. But, that didn't happen so I'll finish up this week. As with any move, whether it be distance or just a room, one move leads to another. Once we got things sorted out I had so much project stuff in my studio I now have to sort that out. The whole intent and purpose of having a large work table is to have work space when I do a project. Right now, NOT! Since I'm finally headed in the direction I've always wanted to go, Primitive, rustic and wood, much of what I have I will not need. So, I'm sorting and making a pile, a big pile, for Taylor School. All the kids have gone there and Josie, Dylan and Josh are still there.

I experienced something very surprising last week. Dad had asked me to sketch out some of my ideas for things I want to build so we'd have an idea of what we want to start. I did some rough sketches  with measurements to give him an idea. As I sat there with sketch pad and pencil in hand watching Animal Planet with Josh I started doodling. An amazing thing happened, my doodling took on an actual recognizable picture. I'm not saying they're great. It just amazed me that they were actually recognizable. Dad gave me some ideas on shading and moving things from the foreground and to the back and depth perception and I've been doodling since.

I want to do a lot of the painting "free hand" on my wood projects so now I just have to be able to transfer some of my ideas from paper to wood. I want to try out some of the new paint pens as well. You'd be in hog heaven, Sharpie has an entire line of paint pens. We use to do all of our work with Sharpies and now you can actually get them with paint. Woo hoo! Many times I've wished I had your Sharpie collection. I don't think there was a Sharpie pen color or tip design that you did not have. It will take a lot of practice but I'll get there. I am so excited about finally being able to head in the direction I've always wanted to go. This week dad is going to be spending some time with me on the saws. We have a couple of neighbors here who work late and sleep until about noon. Dad and I figure we can do the sawing in the afternoons and in the morning when everyone is sleeping we can put things together and do the painting. The back deck is a perfect place to do it all. Most of the time it is shaded and comfortable and we have our 6' table and electrical on the deck so we're good to go. Eventually we'll need to get band and miter saws but for right now we'll go with what we have.

Friday night I went to the movies with Corey, Jamo, Josh and Josie to see Despicable Me 2. The whole time we were there I could just imagine you sitting there laughing your head off. You would have loved it as much as the first one. It is SO your type of movie. The three little girls in

the movie are so adorable. I so wanted to bring them home with me. You just wanted to reach into the screen and squeeze them they are so cute. We laughed until our sides split. As always, any time spent with any of the Troy 9 is a hoot. We're going to drop by and see Corey's newly redecorated screened porch. From the picture she messaged me it looks beautiful. Can't wait to see it! That table looks small, but don't be fooled. You have to remember how many people have to fit around it!

I have to share another picture with you that Corey posted this morning on Facebook. It's a picture of Jamo and Josie sitting together. A comment was made, or question asked, "When did his arms get so long?" As I looked at them sitting there together I thought, "When Josie was born". That's when his arms got so long. When Josie was

Josie & Jamo

born. It's so hard to believe how much they have all grown since the time we've been a part of their lives. They're just all growing so quickly. In January, Josie will be six. How DID that happen? Sierra will graduate from high school next May and Hunter the next year.Life moves so quickly. And believe it or not,  at least for me anyway, even more quickly in the two years since I've been retired. As of February next year it will have been three years.

Remember your Auntie Di especially this next week. She has cataract  surgery on Monday due to chemo. Uncle Ron can use your prayers too. It's been catastrophically hot in the valley and he's had to work out in it. He'll be with Auntie Di on Monday so I'll let you know how things go. Grandma had her check up last week and she's doing great. That's always good news. Julie and family are doing well. The girls are doing good and have made friends. We're hoping to be able to take a trip next year and visit with them. 

It may seem a small thing to some, but dad and I have ordered the Sunday Times Union Albany paper. One of the things that's been difficult since we've moved to Troy is that we have no history here. It's difficult to even get interested in reading the paper because we don't have the history or know the people. So, we've started with the Sunday paper. The first arrived this morning and dad has really been enjoying his morning relaxing and reading. The more we read, the more we'll know and recognize. It's a start. It all begins with "get up and do what's in front of you". Dad use to say that to you all the time, remember? And when you were in high school he added, "but first, you've got to get up"!

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom

 

Up To The Change (Challenge)

Good morning son!! And what a beautiful morning it is. It's predicted to be another hot one. Add the thunder showers this afternoon and the humidity and I don't think dad and I will be doing much but watching a movie or two. We've been working pretty hard this week, heat and all, to get ready for the bed to arrive. Yes, we were finally able to add a bed and create a guest room. It has felt really odd to be creating a home and not have room for guests. Now we can have company! It feels so cool to be able to say that again. We've never had a home when we couldn't invite people to come and visit. Things are once again tilting to the right!

Times and lives do change. People change. Change is something we all have in common. We can accept it, take it and run with it, or, we can fight it. In the end, whichever path we choose, change is going to happen. Dad has a saying, "The only thing constant in life is change.". Not only is change constant but, it progresses in it's own time. Sometimes it happens and we don't even realize it until later. Sometimes we see it coming and have time to prepare. Sometimes we're not aware of the change that is coming and there's no time to prepare. For me,  just speaking for my life, there's been a LOT of changes over the years. God has seen fit to give me a personality that accepts change pretty well. When I was younger, much younger, change came pretty easy. As the years have passed, please note that I'm NOT saying, "as I get older", I've still been pretty acceptable of change, I don't fight it, but I can "see" this funny, quizzical look on my face as it's happening and it takes longer for the recognition of it's reality to set it. For instance, when we moved for dad's work. Most of the time dad would call and say, "I'm being transferred to, X, Y or Z". And my response was always, "Okay, let's go". As always, the company paid the expenses for US to move so we did all the work. Dad and I could pack and load a truck in less than a week. Dad had to start work the Monday we arrived. It would take me three days, count 'em, three days from the day we arrived for me to unpack, have everything in it's place, pictures hung and boxes broken down and on the curb. Now evidently, it takes the both of us two years!

We are so thankful for God's grace and patience with us as we continue to maneuver through life's changes. Whether it be a life change or a room change in our home. God is there. How do people do it without Him?
 
Dad and I have always wanted our home to be open and welcoming. Your grandpa and grandma were two of the best examples of that. I guess I came by it naturally. Dad is from the South and I know it's natural there, "Y'all come now, ya hear!". We've loved having friends and family visit, invited and unannounced. Growing up that was a daily occurrence in our home. I think it's more difficult now to get people to just drop by. Maybe it's because lives are so busy. I don't know. But times change and that's not necessarily a bad thing, just different.

I've been thinking  about you a lot this week. More than usual. All good. Maybe it was a natural thing to think, "now the kids can come and visit", while we were getting the room ready. It was just one of those fleeting moments that I have. It happens so quickly it's there and gone almost before I realize it's happened. I hope those moments never stop. At first it was really difficult to have those moments because I missed you so much. I still miss you, but the pain isn't as great. Oh shoot, I don't know how to explain it. You know what I mean. The pain is still there but with time becomes more bare-able. Clear? Oh well, you're on your own, I know what I mean.

I know I promised you "after" pictures of the guest room but I didn't get as far as I thought I would. We had been using it for storage and also had all the Christmas decorations stored there. Dad cleaned up the area down in the basement and moved everything down there. In one day I might add. I was going to change the paint color but after thinking about it I've decided to leave it the cream. I'll add color my usual way, furniture and accents. Maybe my painting days are over?  (Now that we've both stopped laughing.)

This week dad and Josh are going fishing. Dad did a "header" down in the basement last week and so they had to postpone their fishing trip until this week. No, he's fine but for the first time in a long time he had to sit all day with a package of frozen broccoli on his knee. Don't laugh, that's all I had and it worked!!

We had a quiet 4th of July. Just the way we like them. It was a good day. We talked some about all the 4ths we celebrated when you were growing up. Yes, I'm laughing here. I think the last time we did fire works together was the year before the Lord called you home! Do you have fire works in heaven? Maybe that's the lightening we see. So many unanswered questions that aren't going to matter a hoot in heaven. Funny how we wonder now. 

Today is going to be a very quiet day for us. It's time for rest and fortunately, we still have enough brain cells to recognize it. Most of the time anyway!

Until next week, be Aaron, love mom