Today is Cameron's 24th birthday. I am sad I won't get to see him today, but happy that they will be home in a couple of weeks! I miss Cameron (and Lauren), and although I am super proud of them, I hope they don't stay out of state too much longer! (no pressure). I am thankful to Lauren for getting Cameron a cake, and for occasionally hiding some vegetables in his food so that he gets a few vitamins once in a while. It is absolutely crazy to me that this kid is 24. He was born the day after my great-grandpa passed away. He was like a promise that good always comes back around. Cameron is a kid who takes advantage of opportunities when they present themselves, and I am proud of him for taking life by the horns so to speak. He has grown into a great man, who I have thoroughly enjoyed watching grow up! I love you Cameron - I hope you have a great birthday!
This has been another one of those fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants type of weeks. Too many things going on, too much year end stuff piling up at work, too much insanity in life. I won't say what I accomplished, because I am not entirely sure there would be anything to put on the list. I am happy that the grandkids give me something to look forward to every day! Evelyn has decided that she loves picking up trash on the sidewalk outside my office in the mornings. She knows not to go into the street, and she checks in once in a while, so I allow it. Not to mention, it makes me happy that she wants to clean up the town! This morning, she asked me if I could print her off a werewolf mask. I did. My maintenance man then came in requesting help with his phone, so while I was fixing him up, he helped Evelyn cut out her mask. Next thing I know, he had taped it to her head. This may or may not have been a good idea. It certainly kept the mask on her face, however when it was time for school, getting the tape out of her hair was not very much fun. She had a great time walking around, picking up trash and growling at people! Beware the trash werewolf I guess! :)
Thirty two years ago, I moved to college. I was living in the 4-H scholarship house, Clovia. I met this girl named Grace, and we immediately hit it off, mostly because it was funny to be Hope and Grace. At Clovia, the rent was reduced because we took care of the house with certain duties that you were assigned by the semester. We cooked all of our own meals, cleaned everything, and maintained the house in exchange for lesser rent. First semester of my freshman year, I had a cook duty with Grace. Now, I grew up cooking all the time. My parents were busy running a farm, my mom worked a few jobs outside the home, and sometimes the cooking fell to me. I knew how to cook. For 6, or 10. I did not know how to cook for 60! But surely it was not going to be hard, and I would figure it out. Grace was also assigned as a cook on the same night. We were culinary wizards in that kitchen. We had zero idea what we were doing, but we both had a love of food, a desire to not give anyone food poisoning, and zero fear of running equipment that was there for us! To say it was not a fiasco would be a lie, but we seriously did create some amazing meals, and nobody died from eating our cooking. It was also a great amount of fun. Days I wish I could go back to! Grace had a way of cracking me up. Every minute we were in the kitchen working our butts off, was also a ton of fun. We laughed, we made huge messes, and we occasionally called her mom or my grandma for advice. We bonded. We became actual sisters. We connected on a level that I didn't know was possible. I love Grace. When I got married, and left KSU, I made a promise that I would keep in contact. We have done more than that. We have intertwined our lives. We stood up at each other's weddings. She is a Godmother for some of our kids, she and her husband are both Godparents to Quincy. Jim and I are the Godparents to her son Stanley. We have traveled together, cried together, laughed together, showed up for each other and more than once, she has helped me when I got in over my head with projects. I am thankful for her friendship and blessed that she has been in my life all these years. Stanley is getting married this weekend. Jim and I were honored to be asked to bring the gifts up in the wedding. I am excited about the wedding.
And honesty, I love weddings. There is just something about the blind faith of stepping before all your family, friends, and God himself, and pledging to love someone, live with them, and bind your lives to them forever. Nobody, and I do mean nobody, on their wedding day, can say for certain that it is a good idea. Nobody knows what you are actually getting into. Nobody can know that you will have days where you literally want to beat the person you married into a bloody pulp with a frying pan, but you refrain because well...because murder is wrong. And nobody can know the rewards of it either. The extreme of how deep a love can go. The way you come to rely on your spouse, the way you know you can trust them with your life, with your children, with your heart. The days you brought people into the world, and the days when you had to say goodbye to someone you love, with that person at your side. I know we have done a lot of stuff that we might choose to do differently, but I would definitely not choose a different person to do life with. I think the reason I love weddings is because I love marriage....my own included. I will continue to pray for Stanley, as I have done since he was a tiny baby who was entrusted to my Godmothering, and I will now pray for his wife as well. My prayer for them is that they will be successful at learning to love each other, and will stay the course, even on the bad days, knowing that the rewards of marriage are worth the sacrifices. I will also pray that the 'frying pan' days are minimal for them! :)
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