Tag Archives: wisdom

Go and Live Your Life

I was raised in an era where the rules were, you get a job, get married, buy a house plus cars, have kids and that would be your life. You stayed together no matter what, for the sake of the kids, but ten years ago, I realized that wasn’t true and didn’t want my daughter to think it was the definition of adulthood or marriage. It was time to re-write, or maybe even burn the rule book.

My daughter watched me have two long distance relationships after my divorce and she in turn ventured long distance through two of her own. Today, she’s in love with someone locally and I’m thrilled she broke that cycle of traveling to the ends of the earth just to be loved.

What a terrible burden for children to bear-to know they are the reason their Mother stopped living. What a terrible burden for our daughters to bear-to know that if they choose to become Mothers, this will be their fate too. Because if we show them that being a martyr is the highest form of love, that is what they’ll become. They will feel obligated to love as well as their Mothers loved, after all. They will believe they have permission to live only as fully as their Mothers allowed themselves to live.

Untamed-Glennon Doyle

Since my daughter is living her own life, a lot of my responsibilities have been relinquished. It feels as if I’m standing in the middle of a blank canvas, paint brush in hand, but not knowing what color to start with. It doesn’t really matter what color to dip the paint brush in because getting paint to the canvas is what’s important. When God decides to call this woman home, I want my children to be left with colorful, splattered, and messy, but somewhat masterful pieces of art that tell the story of how vibrantly their mother lived the second half of her life.

As my daughter moved out she said many noteworthy things and I know she wouldn’t want me to stay put as if pausing my life just in case she needed me in hers. No, she would say, “Go and live your life.”

Feature Photo by Bella Huang on Unsplash

Share What You Know

Welcome to another installment of Share What You Know. The years we’ve spent roaming this earth, offer ample opportunity to learn and share what you know. Recently, I shared this tip with someone and it was like a revelation to them, so it’s my pleasure to share it here with you.

I like to purchase substantial shower curtain liners instead of the thin, throw away type. They usually have metal grommets protecting the holes they hang from and are weighted at the bottom. The heavier liners are not very expensive and here’s how investing in a good quality one can save you time and money in the long run.

Depending on the frequency and how many people are using your bathtub/shower, the liner can begin to look gross rather quickly. The simplest way I’ve found to clean it is to throw it in the washing machine with some suds and bleach. If you have some old towels that need bleaching, throw those in the washer as well to help weigh the liner down. It doesn’t take a lot of bleach for this method and you don’t want to use to much because bleach will eat holes through the plastic.

Once the washing machine is done, grab a large bucket or storage container. You’re going to use this to place the shower curtain liner into to effortlessly carry it back to the bathroom without dripping bleach. Sit it inside your tub and begin hanging your liner. I do this a couple of times a year and haven’t had to buy a new liner in a long time. There’s one less shower curtain liner in our landfills. 🥳

Share What You Know

It was this time last year that I was walking though Wal-Mart when I cut through the grocery department and noticed two young girls, no more than 20 years old, walking toward me. They were squinting at a list that had been torn from a small notepad. No doubt handwritten and most likely in cursive. The vibe was they were exasperated trying to locate what was on the list. As our paths crossed, I heard one of the girls say through gritted teeth…

“Why do we need half and half? It’s just watered down milk!”

This was one year ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. I didn’t say anything at the time, but wish I had. You see my lovely reader’s…there are younger generations who need what we know.

My new neighbors still have their water hose connected to their outside spigot. The weather forecast is predicting below freezing temperatures later in the week. I’m not going to wait much longer before asking my neighbor if he knows what to do to winterize that outdoor pipe. They are young, so they may not know, but I don’t want to see water gushing out of that pipe and flooding his garage when I could have said something to prevent it from happening.

Share what you know.

And for the record….half and half is a combination of milk and cream.