Tombstone Tidbits

A year ago last week we buried my mother. She was 95 and 353/354 years old. The reason I bring this up a year later is that last weekend I finally got around to doing something about her tombstone. They don't call them tombstones - they are monuments. She 'd had a small, bare bones "just the facts, Ma'am" stone put on the grave when my dad died and we, my sister and brother and I, wanted a nicer one. As a person who loves to root around the past and do genealogy, I wanted it to include the full dates of birth, death, and marriage. We also wanted it to include a sentiment that would tell other cemetery visitors a little bit about them. It has taken a year for this to happen. We pondered, read, and searched cemeteries for ideas. Quotes from W.C. Bryant's Thanatopsis (too wordy) and Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas (inappropriate for a 95 year old woman who is eager to see the rest of her family and friends on the other side) were up for consideration. What does one put on a monument? How do you sum up a life in a few words that will last for ages. We decided on Loving Parents of Elizabeth, Robert, and Helen-
Ordering the monument was another experience. After discussing various possibilites and tying down the loose ends. The stone cutter and I had a discussion about taxes (why they are so high), our health care system and why we don't want socialized medicine, and why capitalism works better than socialism in a democracy. Not your usual "Pay me half now and the rest due upon delivery. Thank you very much." I also found the answers to some burning questions- like What's the most important thing to remember in raising children? Trust them and they won't disappoint you. What should I do after I retire? Begin your second career and make it something you like. You can always watch the History channel in the evening and there's nothing good on daytime TV anyway. -and- What's the greatest gift of life? Grandchildren. So I got more than a monument for Mom and Dad. I think Loving Parents of Elizabeth, Robert, and Helen sums it all up. I'm thinking about my second career. Can't do much about the grandchildren- just look forward to the happy times ahead.
Hey, by the way, be sure to check back with me next year- maybe by then I'll have deleted Mom's number from my cell phone.

You Are Here

Yesterday was a great day! We visited the Museum of Natural History with my daughter, Megan and son-in-law, Keith. We set out to see Sue- the T. Rex exhibit. (Dinosaurs are always fascinating- they remind me of dragons.) But first we went to the planetarium. What a great show. We got to see the constellations in the night sky- first, just the stars, then the overlay of the actual pictures of Orion fighting Taurus, the Twins, the Ram and so on. I couldn't help but marvel at the visual ability of our ancestors to not only SEE the stars, but to link them together to make a picture and a story about them. As a lover of story, maybe I should star gaze more. Sitting in the planetarium and seeing the birth and death of a star reminded me that Earth is also subject to the laws of nature. Someday our sun will burn out and Earth will just be a cinder in the universe. A sense of awe and comfort wrapped around me. As I was pondering the cause of this warm fuzzy feeling my husband pointed out in his best nasal twang, "Yep, it don' matter. Jes' toss that there pop can out the winder." Yes! Of course! That's it! For a few moments the weight of the world had lifted. I was insignificant! I wasn't responsible for the elephants of Africa, the pandas of China, the Amazon rain forest, or the hole in the Ozone layer. And it felt great...

Decisions...Decisions
I've been salivating over the creation of 2007's book list. I 've been to the library, worn a path through Border's, and bought the lastest month of "Booknotes" which has many lists of favorites to read: international authors, US literature by the decades, nobel prize winners, books by women, books by men, books by monkeys- whoops- scratch that monkey! The only thing I've been able to decide on - is that I don't want to be too tied down- I don't want to decide. I don't even want to commit to specific genres. But I did come up with a plan- a safe plan- a no-fail plan- well, almost no-fail. (I'm learning that the way to be successful is to set really easy- "even an idiot could do them" goals.) So here's my "even and idiot could do this" Reading List for 2007.

I have only 5 must -reads, and even some of them are negotiable.
1. A memoir- TBA (check back 01/01/08)
2. Two Nobel Prize Winners for Literature- 1949- Faulkner (my birth year) and 2006- Orham Pamuk- Istanbul
3. "Drums of Autumn" by Diane Gabaldon
4.The fifth Harry Potter book ( I'm way behind).
5. A book from or about Ireland- maybe Dubliners by Joyce or something by Rutherford, or Literary Ireland which Erin noticed at Border's. I'm open to suggestions. I want to think about and get ready for the summer of 2008!

Other than that- I really like going to the library and seeing what I'm attracted to. I usually have three books going at once - I like to choose. So, check back in 2008 and we'll see how I did.

True Colors!

This week our Basic Skills group had one of our monthly meetings. We had a speaker talk to us about the "True Colors" program. True Colors is a take off of the Myers-Briggs personality assessment. But instead of word labels , you are assigned a color. So you are either green, blue, orange , or gold- which in terms of characteristics you are either curious/knowledge, harmonious/dependable, duty/responsiblility, or freedom/risk-taker. The idea is to be able to see what color your students are and then you can respond accordingly for teaching styles, behavior plans, etc. Also, they can self-assess since they get assigned a color- which is much easier to understand than "intuitive/extrovert". There were two interesting things I learned from this exercise. 1. I'm not in the majority- I try very hard to just be "normal", not stand out, and go with the flow. Out of 50 teachers, there was 1 group of 5 of us greenies (curious/knowledge) and 1 group of 4 orangies (freedom/risk-takers). Everyone else was either blue or gold! Sooo- does that mean I'm in the wrong profession??? The second thing I learned was - not every one can laugh at themselves- but the people that do have a lot more fun. We saw a video- of a green wife getting ready for work in the bathroom with her blue hubby. It reminded me very much of Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Alice, and Trixie -what characters- "To the moon, Alice, to the moon!" - I was laughing my head off at the front table- but when I turned around - some people weren't even chuckling. Of course, most people in there aren't as old as I am. And that's the way the morning went. Where all my "good" and "desirable" traits became foibles for jokes. I had a great time!

Helen's Favorite 9 from 2006

Yes, I'm back! Three things are getting me off the couch and back to writing and walking.
One is the 10 pounds I gained back after losing 20 another, I really do like to write, and finally, Cheyenne has been begging every day to go for a walk. She misses our quality time together. My new goal for the blog is to NOT POLISH. No rewriting, or editing, (except for spelling and grammar) , no quest for the perfect paragraph, and my new goal- keep it short.

Helen's Favorite Reads- 2006

These are in order that I read them. I tried to rank them- but I just can't- I always have three books going at any given time- because I don't know what I'm going to feel like reading, where do I want to go after a hard day at work, or who do I want to be.

1. The Tunnel and the Light by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross NF dying and life after death
2. Girl Sleuth by Melanie Rehak NF Nancy Drew as part of society/culture
3. Birds in Fall by Brad Kessler F story of plane crash victims' families, poignant, beautiful language
4. Treasure Forest by Cat Bordhi Fantasy Beautiful story about kids who are at one with the forest and the adults -who aren't
5. The Keep by Jennifer Egan F-Mys. Think layers, metaphor, character AND plot driven
6. Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr NF I want to return to Italy and root around in old cellars!
7. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz F Great setting- blending the possible with the impossible- or is it?
8. Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster F Lifel sucks, life happens, life goes on, life is good.
9. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer NF Trying to understand why people must do death defying things- it didn't really answer the question but I was breathless for two days.