Pieces of the Whole
Mimi is ready for the royal life. I almost called her “Queen Mimi,” but hey, I’m the ruler of the roost around here (why do I think I hear my cats laughing?).
Image Credits: Paws in Heart © Bigstock Photos; Cesar Cat © Belinda O; Mimi © Belinda O; Royal Cat © Kudryashka–stock.adobe.com
I’ve been editing down the storage space–something that’s taking me a very long time to accomplish–and I just cleared out some of Walter’s favorite hiding spaces. Don’t worry, he’ll find more, but in the meantime he doesn’t quite know what to make of this newly tidied space.
Image Credits: Paws in Heart © Bigstock Photos; Cesar Cat © Belinda O; Walter © Belinda O; Scaredy Cat © Alice–stock.adobe.com
I belong to a writer’s group, and we’re always open to new members. It brings a new life and new perspective to the critiquing process, something any good writer welcomes. But we have a hard time finding the right people. That’s not to say people who are right with us, but rather, people who think we’re right for them.
We had one young woman we all liked and we thought she liked us, until she bowed out saying she didn’t have the time to write that she thought she would. Now, we don’t demand much, if anything, of our writers. If they don’t have time to write, they don’t have to submit. That seems to happen to everyone. We always have enough submissions to make the meetings worthwhile. So her excuse fell a little flat.
Later, we discovered through a mutual acquaintance of one of our members and this young woman, that she was intimidated by our ages. The youngest is in his thirties, but I’m the second youngest and I’m 63. The oldest is 88. She shouldn’t have been intimidated. She should have welcomed the experience.
Especially since she was majoring in 20th century history. Wow, what we could have shared with her based on our personal experiences and the stories from our parents. It might have added a whole new life to some of her lessons.
I know it’s difficult sometimes reaching out beyond your own age group, and there’s a discomfort if you’re primarily surrounded by people your own age. Recently I visited my dad in Palm Desert, CA, and we went to the Living Desert, which is a zoo featuring desert animals from around the world (including some wallabies, such as the ones pictured here just for fun.). We happened to be there on a day when they had Halloween treats and activities for the kids. It was also one of the first weekends in a very long time with tolerable outside temperatures.
My dad was uncomfortable around all these children. He’d been equally uncomfortable a few months before around all the college students, and even their parents, when he attended my nephew’s graduation from Tulane. He’s used to being with others in their 70s and 80s (he’s 87). Now, my dad gets along well with people and he’s not reclusive, He just mostly hangs out with people his own age.
But I hope we all can reach out beyond our comfort zone and learn from others in a different age group, whether they’re younger or older. History has value, but so does the latest cutting edge technology. We all have value.
Image Credits: Wallabies © dennisjacobsen–stock.adobe.com; People of All Ages © Kai Alves–stock.adobe.com; Woman at Computer © MP Studio–stock.adobe.com.
Today while waiting for my lunch hour to arrive, a little hungry, a little cranky, I heard my co-worker Anna take a call from her daughter. Here’s what Anna said:
“You’re kidding! Where are you?”
“No, stay where you and do what they tell you to do.”
“I’ll stay on the phone with you.”
My antenna was up. I was afraid it might be what so many parents–and others without children–fear: a shooter on campus. It turned out I was close in what I’d been thinking. There’d been no gunfire, but police confiscated a gun from a student who’d brought it to school and was showing it to friends. He’d made no threats. He just was stupid about show-and-tell.
Anna, my co-worker, was calm throughout the entire conversation. Fortunately it didn’t take long for things to cool down, although students were told to stay in place for awhile after they’d arrested the boy. That got her daughter agitated, but Anna assured her there are procedures in place and while we may not understand them, we need to follow them.
Procedures in place. How many times have we questioned those in authority about one thing or the other, simply because we didn’t understand the whys of what they were doing? Or maybe we don’t question them per se, but get frightened because something seems to be taking too long.
Doctors order tests with certain symptoms simply to rule things out, but they’re also protecting themselves. What if they didn’t check it out and it resulted in lifelong consequences, or even death, for a patient? Yes, the tests can be expensive, but I don’t believe the doctors are doing it to make money. I believe they’re covering their you-know-whats, emotionally and financially. And it’s the responsible thing to do.
It pays to question those in authority if we’re wondering what’s going on rather than surmise what they’re doing. A lot of people would prefer to gossip and moan instead of getting the truth. Don’t be one of them. Trust those who have proven themselves worth of that trust, and ask questions when you can about why they do what they do.
And pray that your school campuses are safe. Procedures can save lives.
Image Credits: Woman on phone © Malik/peopleimages.com–stock.adobe.com; Doctor/Patient © sebra–stock.adobe.com
Hang in there. You lost your mom so fast, they told you she still had years to live and it turned out to be weeks. She was so young, no one knows that better than me. She was exactly three weeks older than me.
You told me tonight you’re depressed, and thank God, you’re reaching out for help. I’m proud of you for that, because when you’re depressed, it can be hard to move. You lose faith in the possibility of change, so you don’t bother to take any steps that might make things better.
But you’ve been down there before and I don’t think you want to be there again. Your life is looking good these days, or it was before this happened, and you don’t want to lose everything like you did the last time. I want to hug you for recognizing all of those things, and I want you to take action before you start to feel worse and lose track of their truth.
There are things in your life I hope you can change, people I hope you will tell to shove off and others I hope you will let in. You have us. It isn’t the same, I know, but we will never leave.
(I know you’ll never tell those people to shove off, and it wouldn’t really be right to do so anyway. But is it too much to ask that they learn some boundaries? It would be like a light in a dark room, a room that had gradually been getting dimmer, so you didn’t realize how little you could see until it was illuminated.)
Call us, we’ll come over and cook dinner. Bad idea. We’ll pick up a pizza. We’ll spend the night, stay up and talk or watch you sleep. Call us, even if you don’t know what you need. We’ll figure it out.
Okay, I can’t really send you this letter. All I can do is back my words up with actions, so I’m going to go do a little of that right now.
We love you.
Image Credits: Puppy/Kitty © Claudia Nass–stock.adobe.com; Angel Statue © radekcho–stock.adobe.com
My World With Words 
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