Random Thoughts: February 4, 2011
My Dad always tried to find a greeting card for me that was touched with hints of glitter. I can't recall exactly when we started this little "tradition" but to this day, it's one of the first things I notice when I open a card I've received from him in the mail, and it makes me smile.
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It's nearly impossible to get snow off the brain these days, even here in Florida. Every evening and every morning, the news shows fresh images of snow drifts and weather people bundled up in lined parkas with furry hoods. As I was waiting to doze off last night, my memory flitted back a couple of decades to Gram & Gramp lying in their own bed across the hall from mine late at night or in the pale pre-dawn hours, listening for the snow plows to come up over the hill clearing the fallen snow off the roads. The house would be silent, save for the muffled sounds of plow scraping against frozen surface and a barely audible whisper of one grandparent to the other: "There's the plow, Ma." "Yes. Second one this hour." There is something uniquely comforting about this memory. It isn't profound or deeply meaningful. Just a recollection of a cozy everyday life, reliable and familiar right down to the dialogue.
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I have a love/hate relationship with the color yellow. It was my Gram's favorite color & so on that hand, it makes me think of her & smile. But on the other hand, I really just do not like the color yellow (and it was the color of *both* my childhood bedrooms--the one at home and the one at Gram's house--though I swear my dislike of the color has nothing to do with that fact). It doesn't look good on me. I'm not drawn to it in decorating or accessories. I'm not a huge fan of flowers that are yellow. And yet, inexplicably, the other day, while looking at the (dark, dreary, half-wood-paneled-ew!) entry way of a house online Troy was showing me, I nonchalantly commented that it really wouldn't be so bad if the wood paneling (ew) was gone and the walls were painted a cheery yellow. Um, say what? No idea where *that* came from. Because I still don't like the color yellow.
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This lady right here was one of the finest I've ever known.
I wish I could hug her tight. She would have been 94 today, if she weren't singing with a Heavenly choir & watching over me.
7 with their own thoughts:
Seeing this picture made me cry. I still miss her sooo much.
Katie
this year, my grandmother would've been 119 years old! Thankfully, she's keeping a watch out over me :-)
Love that your Dad sends you cards with a bit of glitter...those are my favorites!
Janet: It's good to feel watched over. =) The glittery cards are my favorite too--especially when a bit gets stuck to your fingers & shows up elsewhere later! The gift that keeps on giving! LOL
Aw, what a sweet picture of your grandmother! I know you miss her so, but it's nice to have such a wonderful guardian angel :)
It's such a bittersweet thing, missing someone who is gone...it's all I can think about today now that Mike has gone on...I just hope he's watching over me.
Such a nice post Dawn.... great way to wrap up a long week. :)
My mother's favorite color was yellow, by the way... and while I too have had a love/hate thing with it (no particular reason - it makes me happy, but looks terrible on me. Wrong shades can look too mustardy or gray, which irritates me. Go figure...) it's my daughter's favorite color - which makes me put it in a whole new light. And of course - makes me think of my mother... See, still a struggle. ;)
My Nana and I shared the same birthday, so it's always bittersweet for me. She was 89 when she passed 7 years ago - so she fortunately had a relatively full life. But you never, ever stop missing them. ---------------
I think that the nostalgia gene kicks in sometime after 30. Then the things that bugged us as kids become a part of what we liked at the time. Yellow and your Gram are connected so the color now has a different feeling. But how can one not like yellow daffodils in the spring! Thanks for your comment on our snow. The afternoon light on the snow made the field a peaceful winter scene. This year winter is a lot closer to you.
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