Tag Archives: Family

The Wow! in Proverbs

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Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

Children’s children are a crown to the aged…Proverbs 17:6

Wow! I must be headed for a mighty fall…mightier than Humpty Dumpty’s, because I am so proud today, and my head is so swelled that the crown of the aged will not fit it.

Six of my grown grandchildren are responsible for this beautiful, biblical dilemma and here’s the reason why.

My twenty-three-year-old grandson, Spencer, is graduating from the University of British Columbia with his BSc in Biology as I write.

His twenty-one year old brother, Oliver, is heading for Australia on the first of June to play field hockey for The Waverley Hockey Club in Melbourne, to gain valuable experience for the Canadian men’s senior team.

Another grandson, Jordan, who is twenty-six and a granddaughter, Rachel, twenty-seven, just completed shooting a commercial together yesterday for a great Canadian company. It was a first for Rachel and another step in Jordan’s budding career.

Neither of them knew the other had landed the same call until a few days prior, which stirred a huge amount of excitement in our family. This was quite the coincidence–or was it?

Another granddaughter, Laura, twenty-nine, is marrying her long-time sweetheart, Cam, this Saturday. I love love!

On a sadder note, but on just as grand a scale, my granddaughter, Amberley, twenty-five, has had to stand up to one of life’s hardest lessons; the death of one of her dearest friends, just a few days ago. I am extremely proud of the way she has faced the tragedy head-on, and made some difficult decisions at this time.

So, if pride goes before a fall, I’m ready and willing to take my thumps, and if that crown of the aged is making its way towards my head, I’ll see what I can do to make it fit; because today, I am one proud grandma!

On Being a Mother

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By the time I was twenty-three, I was raising a son and three daughters; another son joined us seven years later.  Their dad had his work cut out providing for our growing family.

 

Chapter Fourteen  –  On Being a Mother

“You should be in school, not here having a baby.”

It was the voice of an indignant, yet empathetic nurse, who was coaching me through the final stages of a forty hour labor.

The nurse’s words were drowned out by my agonizing shriek, as Deborah Faith crowned her way into my life. Daughter number one was here, and I was too exhausted to welcome her. However, we had the rest of our lives to get to know each other, and she was a very brave little girl to give this seventeen-year old, inexperienced mother a chance to discover a new dimension of love. It was September 19, 1954, a new beginning for both mother and daughter……

 

“Be fruitful and increase in number…”  (Genesis 9:1)

 

Tomorow  –  Worry-Wart  –  A Lesson in How not to Worry

 

Nobody Argues with Grandma

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In this part of chapter seven, I am four years old and  looking at my favorite comic strip, Mandrake the Magician, in the attic of my grandmother’s farmhouse,

Chapter Seven  –  Nobody Argues with Grandma

My grandma is calling me to come and eat. I have mixed emotions. I want to stay in the stillness of the attic with my heroes, but the smell of the food is enticing, and my grandmother’s insistent voice is coming closer. I must go down to the kitchen.

The humming has ceased. Grandma is at the bottom of the stairs, sternly calling me to come at once. Lydia Airaksinen has raised four sons and two daughters, who even in their older years would not dare to disobey this tight-lipped, little lady. I fold Mandrake and Becky in half. They will still be here when I return. But for now, the voice that beckons will not wait. Nobody argues with Grandma.

 

I’m sad to say, the devil caught me in the vegetable garden in the rest of this chapter.

The Blimp, the Boil, and Mr. Beckett’s House

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In this chapter I was three years old when a ceiling collapsed in our home. Here is today’s excerpt.

Chapter Six – The Blimp, The Boil, and Mr. Becket’s House

A thundering crash scared us awake one morning. I scrambled over the bars of my crib, and hit the floor running for the stairs as fast as my three year old legs could carry me. Mom grabbed my sister out of her crib, and Dad followed with a loud shout to be careful.
I was halfway down the stairs, and peered wide-eyed over the banister. The air was thick with dust, and smelled like chalk. Huge chunks of plaster covered the floor and furniture. I couldn’t see our kitten, Snuff, anywhere, and was terrified that she was lying dead under the debris. When her dusty, white, head appeared from behind the sofa, I forgot the danger, and ran to rescue her. We carefully picked our way through the mess to the safety of outdoors. I remember being in awe that a ceiling had actually fallen down. How could that happen?

The rest of the chapter describes some other experiences in that year of my life. Tomorrow, “Nobody Argues with Grandma.”

The Story Behind My Name

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Hello and welcome to Day Five of my first blogging experience. I hope you are enjoying the read as much as I am enjoying the writing. It really is a new, and fun experience at this stage of my life.  And now on to Chapter Four.

Chapter Four  –  The Story Behind My Name

My mother’s name was Ann, and her best friend was a lady named Patricia Morgan.  We called her Aunt Pat.   She was from Wales and always smelled like Noxzema.  She was an austere looking spinster; tall, large boned, and wore her hair in a disheveled, flat bun on the top of her head.  My mom was a petite, five foot, two inch, blonde with laughing good looks.  It is said that opposites attract and they sure were opposites………

This chapter is a short description of the people behind my name.

A good name is more desirable than great riches…(Proverbs 22:1)

If I’m Not Irish, What Am I?

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I always believed that I was Irish. I can still hear my dad singing, “When Irish Eyes are Smiling,” “Toora Loora Loora,” and my favorite song, “Galway Bay.” As a child, daydreaming about Ireland was one of my favorite pastimes. In my mind’s eye, I danced with the fairies, conversed wth the leprechauns, kissed the Blarney Stone, and watched the sun go down on Galway Bay.
In my thirty-ninth year, a phone call from my younger sister changed all that………….

“Honor your father and your mother…(Exodus 20:12)

This chapter introduces my parents, my sister, my heritage, and the second love of my life.

Tomorrow: A Feeling of Abandonment.