Category Archives: love
Feel the Love
Filed under love
Never Stop
“Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can’t sleep with the window shut, and a woman who can’t sleep with the window open.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
“Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other who never forgets them.” ~ Ogden Nash
“Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they cannot be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them.” ~ Sydney Smith
Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then. Katharine Hepburn
The concept of two people living together for 25 years without a serious dispute suggests a lack of spirit only to be admired in sheep. A. P. Herbert
Independence Day 2021
We had a quiet celebration yesterday. Last night our wonderful neighbors in the valley put on a beautiful display of fireworks. They don’t know how much I look forward to it. :0)
Independence Day was my father’s favorite holiday. He used to get a whole double-armful of ‘ladyfingers’ that were all tied together. You were supposed to untie each one and set it off. My dad would light the one on one end, then throw the whole bunch into the yard. Each went off with a bang, making the whole bunch jump with non-stop bangs. The group jumped all over the yard by the time it was finished. He would stand there watching with a huge grin on his face.
He had a challenging couple of years the result of which was that his vision was mostly gone. (My mom laboriously copied the cryptoquote from the newspaper onto a huge piece of paper with a sharpie so that he could try to work it every day.)
In preparation for the holiday, he had bought the usual fireworks he loved, including some ones for after dark. My husband and I were dating, and we all had dinner together, my dad having grill chicken quarters outside. My husband picked up the mantle without a word, setting off the fireworks for all of us, having my dad ‘choose’ which one was next. Of course, the celebration started with the ladyfinger ‘detonation.’ We followed that with my favorite ‘snakes’ and ‘sparklers.’
Finally, my husband set off the night ones, one at a time, with my dad choosing the order. It was super hot that year, and I brought out a wet washcloth so my husband could mop his face. When the display was finished, my dad had tears quietly rolling down his face as he smiled. He stood up, put his hand out in thanks to my husband, then pulled him in for a hug.
If I hadn’t already decided my husband was the one, that would have sealed the deal.
Have a love-filled celebration today.
Marriage
We celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary yesterday. We certainly have no wise words about marriage, other than the simple fact that when you marry someone, you’re promising to share your LIVES with each other – in good times and bad. It’s a work in progress that involves thinking about the other person first, and nurturing your union each and every day.
Here are some quotes I like about marriage –
Don’t marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can’t live without. ~James C. Dobson
What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility. ~George Levinger
Often the difference between a successful marriage and a mediocre one consists of leaving about three or four things a day unsaid. ~Harlan Miller
I figure that the degree of difficulty in combining two lives ranks somewhere between rerouting a hurricane and finding a parking place in downtown Manhattan. ~Claire Cloninger
A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year. ~Paul Sweeney
A long marriage is two people trying to dance a duet and two solos at the same time. ~Anne Taylor Fleming
Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then. Katharine Hepburn
The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret. Henny Youngman
_________________
Yesterday we celebrated the FIRST 52 years by sharing a seafood platter at The Dari. Today we begin the SECOND 52!
Pretty Good Start Now
He came home and they went to college – he at the University of Tulsa and she at Oklahoma State University. When she had one semester left of practice teaching, they married – June 14, 1969.
Today we celebrate sharing our lives for 52 years, and we haven’t killed each other! He asked me for another 52 years, and, in a moment of weakness, I said. “Let’s do it!”
We have a pretty good start now. We will enjoy sharing a seafood platter tonight in quiet celebration.
Filed under Cause for Celebration, Family, love, marriage
Two Spirit-Lifters
On our way home from errands yesterday, a deer – much like this one – jumped across the road ahead of our truck. It was far enough away neither the deer nor we were in danger. We were just able to appreciate the beauty of it.
The second spirit-lifter was a bird on our deck.
This is a picture I found on the net. My husband agreed, after seeing the bird this morning, that this Painted Bunting is indeed, the sweet bird we saw. We have never seen him before. I don’t know if he has a mate with him. He has been here for 3 days. Who could look at this beautiful bird and remain down?
I’m happy to be able to share these with you. We all need to embrace the good stuff in the world right now.
Filed under love, Mother Nature
Love
Filed under Favorite Quotes, love, Poohisms
Almost Perfect Beginning
Can you see me grinning?
I just enjoyed an ALMOST perfect beginning to my day.
Our son lives and works in Thailand. Before he left years ago, he set up a secure chat program for us to use, plus a secure video chat program. He is a really good communicator, so I can almost forget that he is across the world from us.
This morning we not only used the chat program, but switched to the video program. I got to see his wonderful face, and watched him smile and laugh. My heart simply filled. My husband came in and said “Hi.” Our son thought he looked “handsome.” :0)
We had such a good visit. The only thing that would have made it perfect was one of his hugs. As far as I am concerned, he gives the best hugs on the planet. If I don’t squeeze him hard enough, he lets me know. They make me cry they are so good, healing all the little places that could use a little love.
I hope that you are close to your kids – geographically or with good communication.
Beyond priceless.
Where There’s Love, There’s Hope 5
Thanks to a friend for forwarded email with these wonderful photos.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Friendship, hope, love
Where There’s Love, There’s Hope 4
Thanks to a friend’s forwarded email for these wonderful images.
Filed under Amazing Animals, hope, love
Where There’s Love, There’s Hope 3
Thanks to a good friend who forwarded these wonderful photos to me.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Friendship, hope, love
Where There’s Love, There’s Hope 2
Photos forwarded by friend
Filed under Amazing Animals, Friendship, hope, love
Where There’s Love, There’s Hope
Thanks for a friend’s forwarded email.
Filed under Amazing Animals, hope, love
Long Distance Celebration
Our son is 42 today. He lives in Thailand and there is 12 hours time difference, so I sent him birthday wishes last night before I went to bed and then chatted with him real-time this morning. (He was up late trying to finish up a computer project for a client.)
Brian is our only living child. (Our daughter, Jade, died at two months old due to SIDS.) We feel very lucky that Brian is such a good communicator. I can almost forget that he is across the world from us. He set up a secure chat program so that we can communicate on almost a daily basis. We send pictures and videos, leave messages, chat real-time, etc. We communicate more than some people do with their kids who live in the same city.
I miss two things since he lives so far away:
THING ONE – His truly amazing sense of humor. He gets into it, making me laugh, adding to it with gestures, and finally getting up, adding more and more until I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts. I have to beg him to stop and then rest awhile. :0)
THING TWO – He gives the best hugs in the world. He doesn’t give just a one-armed hug with a quick pat. He envelopes me, hugging me really tightly – asking me to hug him tighter – and really squeezes. We create so much love it makes me cry.
Happy, happy birthday to Brian – a man who is better than his parents ever thought of being – who makes us proud of the kind, caring person he is.
Happy Birthday to You…
We will celebrate our 52nd wedding anniversary in June. As we age, our lives become more complicated – some things much more difficult – but we both feel we will never get enough.
He wants to get a Subway roast beef sandwich for lunch. I am making spaghetti for dinner with a pineapple upside down cake – his favorite – as his birthday cake.
Our son called him from Thailand this morning – the best of surprises. I’m am doing all I can to make this a very happy day for him.
Poohism – How Do You Spell Love?
Piglet: “How do you spell love?” Pooh: “You don’t spell it. You feel it.” A.A. Milne (Illustrator – E. H. Shepard)
Filed under Favorite Authors & Books, Favorite Quotes, love
Marriage Quotes I Love
My husband and I on our wedding day – June 14, 1969
Our marriage – something old that has been made beautiful with a lot of work and patching by both of us. – DiVoran Lites.
A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. Mignon McLaughlin
Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can’t sleep with the window shut, and a woman who can’t sleep with the window open. George Bernard Shaw
Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other who never forgets them. Ogden Nash
Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they cannot be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them. Sydney Smith
Marriage should be a duet – when one sings, the other claps. Joe Murray
Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then. Katharine Hepburn
The difficulty with marriage is that we fall in love with a personality, but must live with a character.
Peter De Vries
Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years. ~Simone Signoret
Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate. ~Barnett R. Brickner
A long marriage is two people trying to dance a duet and two solos at the same time. ~Anne Taylor Fleming
A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year. ~Paul Sweeney
I figure that the degree of difficulty in combining two lives ranks somewhere between rerouting a hurricane and finding a parking place in downtown Manhattan. ~Claire Cloninger
Like good wine, marriage gets better with age – once you learn to keep a cork in it. ~Gene Perret
What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility. ~George Levinger
Often the difference between a successful marriage and a mediocre one consists of leaving about three or four things a day unsaid. ~Harlan Miller
To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you’re wrong, admit it;
Whenever you’re right, shut up.
~Ogden Nash
Filed under Favorite Quotes, love, marriage
Milestone
June 14, 1969 – 51 years ago today – my husband and I made the promise to share the rest of our lives. Both sets of parents thought we were making a mistake. We happily made the promises anyway, ‘riding off into the sunset’ together, our whole lives ahead of us.
51 years later, we are still going strong.
Marriage is one of the most important promises you will ever make. It’s the hardest job you will ever have. It’s an evolving work-in-progress that will sometimes require more than you think you have to give. Merging two lives is difficult, to say the least. You will grow and change, and hopefully continue to build a stronger and stronger bond as the years pass. It’s a union that will bring some of the very best moments you will have in your life. Bad things will happen, but you are stronger together than either of you is alone. Sometimes you will feel so close your heart spills over. Other times you want to bite each other in the leg. If you each feel that you are giving 150%, it is probably coming out pretty even. In some ways, I can’t believe it has been 51 years (‘officially’, my husband says, since we dated for 8 years before marrying.) In other ways, it seems we have ALWAYS been halves of a stronger whole.
Last year, on our 50th anniversary, my husband said we had a good start, but that he wanted another 50 years. I have told him that I will do everything in my power to give that to him. We don’t know what is in store in the future, but we will face whatever comes together.
Filed under Cause for Celebration, Family, love, marriage
Sad News
Molly
We took our sweet Molly to the vet’s office this morning for a sudden nasty place on the side of her mouth. I thought she had been bitten or stung. The vet called, telling me that it looked like cancer, wanting to know what we wanted him to do. We had an honest, blunt discussion. I finally asked him to look at the place carefully, decide if he thought she was ‘fixable,’ and to call us back.
He called back, saying he was 99% sure it was malignant cancer. She is 15 years old, mostly deaf and has cataracts, as well as cysts, lumps, warts all over now. I asked if he thought she might have any good, fun, doggy time left to enjoy. He said, “yes,” with antibiotics and pain meds to get her back to the best place possible.
We picked her up about 3 pm this afternoon. She is agitating for food, but we can’t feed her until tomorrow morning. We will then add an antibiotic pill and a pain pill for the day.
We knew this was coming, but the suddenness of this is a shock. We will make sure that we make every day we have left count, giving her as much joy as we can in whatever time remains.
(She is resting comfortably at my feet as I type this.) We have been so lucky to share her life.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family, love
In Times Like This
Jeannett Antonie Overby via Penny Yaffe Krakow
Filed under Encouragement, Health Alert, love
Personalities
My husband has lived with me for over 50 years now. He describes me as, “Mean as a snake.”
Grunge
As he has lived with me so long, he probably has a point. I hope, though, that if I AM as mean as a snake, I’m pretty like this one. :0)
AND on our last anniversary in June, he DID ask me to spend ANOTHER 50 years with him. I guess he really LIKES snakes….
Thoughts on a Saturday 2-15-2020
The sun is ALMOST shining today and it’s warmer, so I’m a happy camper.
We just got back from running errands. We have two main things on our list today –
THING ONE – getting a replacement collar for the shock collar we use rarely with our 94+ pound yellow lab, Amber. The shock part is still working, but the collar is too short now. Once we get one we can use, we’ll start working with her again in the yard. We need to be able to take her to the vet, for example, without worrying about her pulling my husband or me down and making us face surf on the ground. Our biggest problem is that she minds well when we are by ourselves. She looks at us as if she has never seen us before and is totally deaf when we are out in public.
THING TWO – adjusting a door knob assembly so that the door to the guest room closes and stays closed, rather than opening with the nose of a dog or cat.
I told you that we don’t really celebrate any holidays like birthdays, Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, etc. My husband was raised without big celebrations and I don’t want him to feel obligated to get me something just because of the calendar. When we find something we think the other will like, we get it and give it, regardless of the day.
I have also told you that I’m a very happy, spoiled lady who is treated better than I deserve 99% of the time. Two examples –
He bought me these earrings a couple of weeks ago. I just love them. They gave me some trouble trying to actually get them into my ears, though. The post is curved and didn’t want to go through the hole in my ear. I kept trying. I finally decided to wait until my earlobes were completely happy and THEN try them. I wore them yesterday!!!! My husband was a bit disappointed, saying they were ‘small,’ but they looked pretty. I tried to get a pic of them with me wearing them, but I wasn’t able to.
TODAY I opened a package in the mail to find these –
The picture doesn’t show how sparkly they are. They are called, “sidewinders” or something similar because you see the whole circle while they are in your ear, not just an outside edge. I will put them on and try to get a picture. Fingers crossed!
See what I mean about being happy and spoiled?
After several days of running like a nut, I’m fairly caught up today.
I am planning to –
- Bake a loaf of keto bread
- Get back into exercising – with my elliptical trainer in the garage plus a session of yoga later today.
I hope that YOUR Saturday is a fun one!
Filed under DIET!, exercise, Family, giving, Housekeeping - Maintenance, love, Thoughts on a ________
My Husband is a Keeper
Vector Stock
This is an image of how I look and feel right now – I have melted into a puddle. Here’s why –
We just got home from running errands. We opened the mail at the dining area table as we usually do. My husband opened one of the packages. He had ordered another tee shirt. Usually the tees are gun-related or cartoon characters. (He has toned down buying the political ones that might get us attacked, and also the slightly pornographic ones…. )
Anyway, I expected another gun-related tee. He turned it around –
I hugged him, then hugged him again, thanking him for the nice surprise. He said, “It’s the truth.” That got him ANOTHER hug.
I then went to start gathering trash for the week. I came back into the dining area. He had changed into the tee.
I said, “You changed your shirt.”
And he replied,
“You changed my life.”
NOW you understand why my husband is a keeper (even though he drives me NUTS at times) and why my self portrait for the day is a melted puddle.
Filed under love, quality of life
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