Good to Remember

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy". Thich Nhat Hanh

MAYA ANGELOU'S BEST POEM EVER, oops, actually not Maya Angelou, in the tradition of the piece that went around attributed to Kurt Vonnegut,.

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own even
if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her dreams wants to see
her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
one friend who always makes her laugh.... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her
family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal that
will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
HOW TO QUIT A JOB,
BREAK UP WITH A LOVER,
AND CONFRONT A FRIEND WITHOUT RUINING THE FRIENDSHIP...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or
the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...
but its over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't
take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
or a charming inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year....

Julie's photo of Reilly taking an umbrella drink.

We Keep On Going On

New ""day the Lord has made". Hope it is a good one for you. For Don and I, we are celebrating that Don finally was able to see the dermatologist who gave him a cream compounded of Sarna and a steroid cream. Magical. The itching is lessened. The rash skin is sloughing off. Hooray.

We finally had some rain in our "this never happens here drought."

Mary seems to be getting on nicely, ready to meet with the court on June 20th to hopefully arrange for her daughters to live with Sharon and her family and the goats and chickens and rabbits for awhile, while Mary gets her life together and a job. She is attending meetings and classes, has a great attitude. Congratulations Mary.

Jennifer and family are living in their newly remodeled, redecorated home near Utica Square in Tulsa. When the pictures arrive, I will add them here. Jenny loves, loves it there.

Chuck keeps on remodeling those fine old LA homes with his team. If one ask, they can see photos of work in progress for the home that will soon be in a book or magazine. He loves his dogs, Judy and the newly adopted one, and they love him.

Richard has designed a cover and contents page for a book to be called, Dreams of Ada, in which he plans to assemble works from members of family and others about this old town of his growing-up years. Maybe to counteract on the new film soon to be released based on the John Grisham book,The Innocent Man, that slams that little college town. Other projects are in progress as well.

Sharon plans to make a temporary home for Elizabeth and Allison Winterhalter. She continues to type at 120 words pre minute for her doctors in California and works part time in the post office. She has such a gift for living, writing, advising. Beth's leg is nearly healed from the three wheeler (or such) accident in which it was run over and burned. Her skin graft site looks pretty good. She gets staples removed tomorrow. She is looking at apartments and jobs up in Provo/Orem and SLC areas. She is very capable and ready to move out . But her mom is not sure how capable she is of letting her go on. David who is living in Salt Lake City, quit his job at FedEx and is looking for something in heavy equipment which is what he really wants to do. . Jon just got two new students. He really loves teaching. He bought a little tractor and a chipper. He wants to retire and dig in the dirt too.
Sharon and Jon are putting in a square-foot garden as we speak.

We don't hear much from Alan who makes architecture in Oklahoma, looks in on his father periodically.

Peter keeps working at his clinic in Cushing, always working. Ahnie and Christian are back for the summer. I'm hoping the swimming pool is in operation. Allie works at a high end shop in Oklahoma City.

Debra keeps keeping on at her two jobs. She tells me that Zachary "is very hot there [in Iraq]! He is doing well. Sent off a care package a couple of days ago and we ordered him a laptop. He says he has been relatively safe, but the missions are long and hot and they come home dirty, sweaty, smelly and tired." Malan Christopher leaves for Boy Scout Camp today. Malan Anthony is having big success with his new CD. The track ’shesadisease’ from the new album “Who Is Malan D?” is currently the #1 track on the XMU Channel 43 RADAR Report, a station that plays and charts new artists in an effort to “alert the industry to the presence of amazing and talented musicians” is playing #1 on XM radio. Malan is receiving offers and offers and is retiring back a bit from his public life for a month says he might "climb a mountain." And Debie reports on Benjamin, "Ben has completed his Associates Degree in Christian Ministry from Leavell College of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He had the highest grade point average of his class and is now working on his Bachelors Degree. I was able to attend the graduation ceremony. It was really nice, they wore caps and gowns ( it was a real college graduation actually) Even the governor's wife attended and spoke as she was an important part in getting the school established. Everyone should be congratulated.

Julie sent a book of photographs for Mother's Day. Her whole life in photos. And she keeps photographing everything in sight, concentrating mostly on Reilly and Ethan and family members. She's getting awfully good at it.

Susan may work again with a parenting organization. She sent out fine photos also from her trip to Denmark to find information about her g-g grandfather Jens Jensen. She's traveled a bit this year to NY to Chicago to Oxford where she stayed for a month in her old neighborhood.

Jeffrey, living in Hoquim, Oregon, recovers slowly but surely from a broken collar bone.

Cathy and Casey are back in Denver after a long, enjoyable trip from Denver, through Taos and Santa Fe to Louisiana and points in between and to visit us in North Carolina for an enjoyable 8 days for us, and then back through Taos and on to Denver. And all the way they feasted in the true gourmand manner they are known for, and took photos, took care of their cats, Tawa and Leisel. Their photos can soon be seen on Cathy's new web site. I'll let you know where.

Pretty dry? Yes. Bad Christmas letter type. But there we are.

Am I the only one I know (Betty Robbin's is perhaps) who is obsessed with the ending of The Sopranos? Just for the last four episodes or so, ever since Christopher got his nose pinched and died. I have the theme song going off in my head.

I notice with my aging that I do not think either visually or in ideas anymore, but now in song lyrics. Very interesting to discover that all that is there perhaps is a crowding of all those years of lyrics. The tunes preserve them I am told. When I see you next, I may just speak to you in the song that your presence inspires. Best to you.