My World With Words

October 15, 2022October 15, 2022

Three Classic Films with Charming Ghosts

If, like me, you can do without the deluge of horror stories that arrive every October, here are three classic films with charm and style–and ghosts. I’ve reviewed each in my other blog, Classic for a Reason, and include a link so you can read the full review.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

rex-harrisongene-tierney — Rex Harrison, Gene Tierney

A headstrong, independent widow goes against her late husband’s family’s wishes and strikes out on her own, young daughter and loyal maid by her side. Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney), no longer wishing to be under the thumb of her mother-in-law, decides to move to the coast. She finds an affordable cottage that would be perfect, except it is haunted by the ghost of sea captain Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison), who wants nothing more than to scare the young woman away.

Instead, there is an immediate attraction, which takes an interesting turn when Lucy learns her investment income has dried up and she has nothing to live on. Captain Gregg comes to the rescue with his idea to write a book, a memoir of his life at sea, salty language and racy stories included.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Death has come about 50 years too soon for boxer Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery) when novice Angel 7013 (Edward Everett Horton) takes his soul early. Pendleton’s untimely arrival in heaven is confirmed to be a mistake by Angel 7013’s superior, Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains), but by the time they arrive on earth to place Joe back in his body, he’s been cremated.

Thus begins the search for the perfect new body. Despite his reservations, Joe ends up being placed in the physique of an unscrupulous millionaire, Bruce Farnsworth, who has been cheating thousands out of their hard-earned money. Joe sets out to right the situation, and falls in love in the meantime.

I Married a Witch

vlcsnap-2020-11-07-14h39m21s702 — Veronica Lake, Fredric March

In 17th century Salem, two witches, Jennifer (Veronica Lake) and her father Daniel (Cecil Kellaway), are burned at the stake, and an oak tree is planted over their ashes to trap their spirits. In revenge, Jennifer casts a spell on the man responsible for their demise, Jonathan Wooley. He and all his male descendants will find misery rather than love.

That spell’s magic is worked in the lives of all Wooley men over the next 270 years, and it looks like it’s about happen again. Gubernatorial candidate Wallace Wooley (Fredric March) is about to marry Estelle Masterson (Susan Hayward), whose father, J.B. (Robert Warwick), is Wallace’s biggest political supporter.

The day before the wedding (and two days before the election), lightning strikes the oak tree trapping Daniel and Jennifer, and their spirits are released. They soon find Wallace, and Jennifer is gleeful about the thought of further revenge. Against his better judgment, Daniel allows Jennifer to talk him into letting her take human form once again.

October 15, 2022October 14, 2022

Equal Time for Mimi

My last few cat posts have featured Walter, which is easy to do since he’s so much more expressive than Mimi. Today, however, I caught my little bean looking a little anxious, a little inquisitive, with a little, “say what?” expression on her sweet face. So I’m sharing Mimi with you, which is a good thing, seeing as how she’s such a love.

October 6, 2022October 6, 2022

Today is World Cerebral Palsy Day–Showing Respect and Love

I’m betting most of you know someone with Cerebral Palsy (CP). I know several people as a result of formerly being a case manager for those with developmental disabilities, not to mention a friend in high school and the daughter of a co-worker now. It’s a disorder that runs the gamut in how much disability it causes, but all with CP have challenges with movement and posture.

They also have challenges with public perception.

Children, we all know, can be cruel, especially when presented with a classmate who is different in some way. My friend Leigh and my co-worker’s daughter Anna (not her real name) were teased so much all through school that they became reclusive and had difficulty making friends. Leigh found a church group and Anna relates well to adults, but not people her own age.

Anna’s mom talked to Anna’s teachers, who allegedly all said the same thing: “we’ll just make it worse by punishing the children who tease.” (Maybe that’s true, maybe not–I’m not entirely sure Anna’s mom is telling me everything there.) Many schools have a zero tolerance policy with bullying now, and hopefully that helps children with disabilities survive the turmoil of their youth.

Then there’s the opposite reaction of too much sympathy. When I worked in a bookstore, a boy using a walker came in once and headed straight to the children’s section. He asked for help once getting a book down that he couldn’t reach, and aside from my usual can-I-help-you-find-anything, that was all he needed from me. When he was ready to check out, he put his selections in the walker, and we headed up the cash register, where an older woman gushed all over him.

“Oh, you brave little angel,” she said. “You remind me of my granddaughter, and I love her so much.”

She turned to me and said, “Poor thing. His life must be so hard.” This right in front of the boy.

“I think he does just fine,” I snapped, and checked him out. I was impressed that he handled his own finances–he was probably 11 or 12–and when his mom showed up seconds later (she’d been looking for books in another section) I told her as much.

She beamed and he smiled. “He insists. He’s pretty independent.”

So there you go.

I think most of those reading this blog already know this, but I’ll say it anyway. Children and adults with disabilities, CP and otherwise, need help with the things they can’t manage because of the limitations of their disability. That’s it. The rest of it is the life stuff we all face (okay, we all need help with that from time to time) and you can’t coddle or patronize them.

That’s how you show respect and love.

Image Credits: Friendship with Heart © artbesouro–stock.adobe.com; World Cerebral Palsy Day © Waseem Ali Khan–stock.adobe.com

October 3, 2022

Make a Plan, Save a Life

Last week, while getting ready to turn at a busy intersection, I found myself growing a bit impatient with the car in front of me. He wasn’t moving, even though we had the green light and there was no oncoming traffic. Turns out he was keeping us both safe, for several long seconds into that green light a minivan, going east-west to my north-south, tore across traffic, ran into a car crossing the intersection and spun out of control, nearly tipping over in the process. I can only guess that they seriously misjudged the yellow light and chose to speed up rather than slam on their brakes.

It scared the bejeebers out of me. I got home and thought, what if they had hit me? I drive a small car; I could easily have been hurt in a collision like that (and no, I don’t know if there were any injuries). Who would take care of my cats if I were in the hospital? I quickly texted a friend and asked if I could leave my keys with her for just such an emergency.

This comes on the heels of a horrific home fire I recently heard of, in which one woman was killed. I need to say here she did everything right, but fires are unpredictable. But it did prompt me to buy an emergency ladder for my second floor apartment. I know all the ways out of my apartment–there aren’t many–but some of you live in bigger homes. I encourage you to map out multiple escape routes for yourself and your family members. It’s easy to say you’re going to do it, and just as easy to forget. Invest in emergency ladders if you live in a multi-story building. You can buy them on Amazon and I’d bet a myriad of other places, depending on where you live.

Hurricane Ian reminds all of us to have a plan for a power failure. I live substantially inland and hurricanes generally travel east of me, so they’re not my worry, but there can be a lot of reasons for a power failure. Keep a flashlight handy (I’ve heard they don’t recommend you rely on your cell phone as a flashlight in the event your electricity goes out. You should be saving your phone’s power for phone calls). Keep some Nutella and crackers or whatever around at all times (of course that stuff will go bad so you have to eat and replenish!).

And as I hinted above, give a spare key to a trusted friend or family member if you live alone and have pets so someone will be available to care for them in the event of an accident. In fact, even if you don’t live alone, make sure someone is always available to care for your pets.

There are so many things we can do to be prepared for life’s surprises. Not paranoid, but prepared. Be prepared. Save a life.

September 20, 2022September 20, 2022

Overriding Feeling of Gratitude

I’m committing to making a conscious effort to be grateful for what I have. It’s not that I haven’t been grateful in the past, but I have taken a lot for granted. What a luxury! With a bit of irony, I find myself being thankful that I have been able to take so much for granted.

It’s not that I want to live a life of paranoia that I may lose what I treasure, but rather, I want to lift my eyes skyward and say, “thank you, God, for continued good health. I know that as I age, things will go wrong, but remind me about what I still have, and remind me to be grateful for your continued care, no matter what happens.”

Not just my health is involved here, of course, although the older I get the more aware I become of what can go wrong. And I don’t want to imply that I won’t grieve losses or feel fear or frustration in the future (sorry for the alliteration). But the overriding feeling should be gratitude.

I am grateful for my friends, past and present, online and in person. I thank God for my parents and my brother and sister and all the work they do on my behalf when the situation calls for it.

Why gratitude now, you ask? I’ve come very close to losing a few things I value, and I’m grateful to have had them, whether or not they stay in my life. I’ve had gratitude journals in the past and they didn’t really work for me, but I do want to daily be grateful for the good things in my life.

So I’m holding on to gratitude. I think it makes the heart beat stronger, literally and figuratively.

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