Family...Pass it on...

The March wind doth blow today!  Wish I had a big kite to fly!!  I remember making a kite as a kid and thought it was so awesome to watch it rise to the sky and watch the tail move to the swaying of the kite!  Do people even fly kites anymore?  It's way too fun not to!  Some things never get too old to be enjoyed that's for sure!

In today's economy, family can be about "passing it on."  Besides family stories, and sharing my faith, I so cherish the things of this world that came from my mother and father and their families.  When my first husband and I were married we were so happy to get anything to help furnish our home.  We didn't worry about whether it matched or not.  If it was usable, we welcomed "it" into our home.  We were fortune to be blessed with two very giving families.

I am not a hoarder by any sense of the word and things don't define my life.  However, everything I have has a story behind it and I smile when I "touch and think".  There was a time when I lived in a huge house and had every nook and cranny filled with items I considered precious.  God gently reminded me that I was only a caretaker and when my life revolved around things, it was time to release them.  I went through a divorce some years ago and told my children to bring moving vans and take anything they wanted.  I only kept enough to furnish a tiny one bedroom apartment.  It was nice to be able to know that someone else could use the furniture, dishes, rugs, paintings, etc.  After my children took their selections, I invited my friends in to select from the remainder of stuff in the house.  Now, when I visit family or friends, I can smile knowing that part of me is with them.


Prop from bar scene used in filming Lonesome Dove

 As a decorator, I enjoy making things pretty and scour the countryside looking for odd items that can be conversation pieces.  Someone asked me last Saturday if I had professional training and how I became so proficient at design...  I thought about that for awhile and realized that for many years I was a decorator magazineaholic!  I also studied rooms that intrigued me and played around with anything that caught my eye.  My style has evolved over many many years of trial and error.  Most men enjoy the rooms I create as they feel comfortable putting their feet up and don't feel like they are overcome with fufu!  I tried my darnedest to work with pastels when I did the decorating board for the little casa ... it just wasn't me and all of a sudden, I started injecting deeper clear colors of red, pinks, golds, greens...  The little casa turned out to be "me" but in a little softer tone.  No matter what your talent, you can pass it on to others by allowing them into your world.

Pass it on when you need to ... pass it on when you can ... pass it on when God taps you on the shoulder and reminds you that someone is in need.  Sometimes He has asked me to give something up that I dearly treasured ... since I started my blog, that something treasured has been my silence and Pollyanna memories.  Gosh, it's been tough being so visible ... so vulnerable ... so naked before the world.  There have been times, that my heart and skin have been so raw that I thought I couldn't write another word.  Yet, with each release of truth, there was healing not only for me but for someone else in the world who needed to hear what I had to say.  Families aren't perfect and some secrets need to be revealed for the generations to heal and know that their memories aren't imagined.

Not too long ago, I heard the comment, "I wonder if my memories were true or if when I looked at a picture, my memory was influenced by another's story."  I thought about that for a very long time.  I have a photo of my brother and I taken when we were about 9 and 8, give a year or so.  I remember that photo session so vividly and it is different than when others look at the photo and see two kids smiling and looking their best.  My mother had bought me a dress to wear for the photo sit and I was so embarrassed ... I had no say-so in picking out the dress and I could see through the top.  I cried and cried until I couldn't cry anymore ... I hated that dress.  Not only was I made to wear the dress, I had to wear it to church every Sunday until I outgrew it.  The little girl in the photo gave in and wore the dress ... the little girl in the photo felt embarrassment every time, she put on the dress!  My mother would tell the story differently ... she would say that I was so pretty in the dress and that she was so proud of my bother and I.  It was a fufu dress and I was not a girly girl.  To this day, I prefer classic,  fun and soft not flowery and lacy.  I made a vow when that photo was taken ... I would NEVER make my children wear something they hated.  I kept that promise not only to them but also to myself ... I NEVER wear anything I am uncomfortable in ... I am tastefully ME!!"

What do you have to pass on today?  Family is about passing it on whatever that is to me or to you.  Unless you break your silence no one will know what made you YOU!  Do you have things that others could use?  What's gathering dust and cob webs in your attic, spare room or garage ... or for that matter, your mind?  My Lord God tells me that as I give to others, I am giving to him!!  So, "Thank You for Giving to the Lord!" 

Always remember you are loved and prayed for ... YA YOU!!