About 8 years ago this summer, we set off for the cabin in Macks - without Julianne. She had to work and also there was a cute new boyfriend in the works, which made her staying more bearable. As we left the house that day, we bid farewell to the both of them with the encouragement to BE GOOD. They would be. I was just hoping he would hang around long enough to still be there when we got back.
As we sat packed around the cabin table, playing cards one night, the telephone rang. Jim was the closest and reached to answer it. We all paused and took a break while we listened in to the conversation.
Jim: "Hello. . . . Oh, oh . . .You're kidding! . . ." We know Jim too well. He can make you laugh at a flat tire. So it was fun to hear him "joke" on the phone. But after a dramatic one sided exchange, he handed the phone to Randy, and with a tone of solemnity in his voice said, "It's really bad!" (Again, that Jim. What a card!) Randy's conversation lasted a little longer. And we pretty much stopped the game when he stood up and walked away from the table.
It turned out, that was a fun filled summer of big monsoons in AZ. Julianne and Brenden had just returned home with a pizza, ready to settle down in front of the TV. When they came downstairs, to their surprise,there was water everywhere. Especially in Carianne's middle bedroom as water filled the window well, caused by a broken sump pump. It looked like a water fall, filling the room with inches of water. There stood Julianne and Brenden. . . That's when Julianne went hysterical (a sight any new boyfriend should never have to behold). And that's also when Brenden ran upstairs and jumped into the filling window well from the back yard. Shoes, clothes and all (a sight any new girl friend would swoon over). He was able to clear and relieve the clogged drain. Now there was only a basement full of standing water. The home teacher was called. A rug man was called. Fans were placed everywhere. Our phones rang off the hook. And that all took place deep into the night and early morning.
I can't imagine the panic, when they saw the predicament. The story goes down in their history. But I learned a lot about Brenden that summer. He stuck around, instead of throwing his hands up. His evident love and devotion for Julianne was so apparent, and continues to be. Any one that can over look hysterics and still think about solutions gets my vote. I pretty much think he is a winner! I couldn't ask for more.
Happy Birth month, Brenden!
Love,
Your indebted mother in law
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Being Fully Present
be fully present
from an open [sketch]book by suzanne cabrera
newhands
A few years ago I thought I needed six hands...now it appears as though I need eight...or do I?
Shortly after writing yesterday's post, I stumbled upon this excerpt from Samantha Power's commencement speech at Occidental College. It really struck a chord--or perhaps more accurately, a nerve--with me, so I wanted to share it with you.
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
IN WHATEVER YOU do, try to be present, fully present. As Satchel Paige put it, “Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.” You gotta be all in. This means leaving your technology behind occasionally and listening to a friend without half of your brain preoccupied by its inner longing for the red light on the BlackBerry.
I have gotten some glimpses of modern learning: In many college classes, laptops depict split screens—notes from a class, and then a range of parallel stimulants: NBA playoff statistics on ESPN.com, a flight home on Expedia, and a new flirtation on Facebook....I know how good you are at multitasking. You have developed the modern muscle set. I know of what I speak because I, too, am a culprit.
You have never seen a U.S. government official and new mother so dexterous in her ability simultaneously to BlackBerry and breast-feed. But I promise you that over time this doesn’t cut it. Something or someone loses out. No more than a surgeon can operate while tweeting can you reach your potential with one ear in, one ear out. You actually have to reacquaint yourself with concentration. We all do. We should all become, as Henry James prescribed, a person “on whom nothing is lost.”
[via The Week]
Add star
from an open [sketch]book by suzanne cabrera
newhands
A few years ago I thought I needed six hands...now it appears as though I need eight...or do I?
Shortly after writing yesterday's post, I stumbled upon this excerpt from Samantha Power's commencement speech at Occidental College. It really struck a chord--or perhaps more accurately, a nerve--with me, so I wanted to share it with you.
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
IN WHATEVER YOU do, try to be present, fully present. As Satchel Paige put it, “Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.” You gotta be all in. This means leaving your technology behind occasionally and listening to a friend without half of your brain preoccupied by its inner longing for the red light on the BlackBerry.
I have gotten some glimpses of modern learning: In many college classes, laptops depict split screens—notes from a class, and then a range of parallel stimulants: NBA playoff statistics on ESPN.com, a flight home on Expedia, and a new flirtation on Facebook....I know how good you are at multitasking. You have developed the modern muscle set. I know of what I speak because I, too, am a culprit.
You have never seen a U.S. government official and new mother so dexterous in her ability simultaneously to BlackBerry and breast-feed. But I promise you that over time this doesn’t cut it. Something or someone loses out. No more than a surgeon can operate while tweeting can you reach your potential with one ear in, one ear out. You actually have to reacquaint yourself with concentration. We all do. We should all become, as Henry James prescribed, a person “on whom nothing is lost.”
[via The Week]
Add star
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