Kathy's SummaShare

Consider Eccelesiastes 10:2 : "The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."

https://connectusfund.org/ecclesiastes-10-2-meaning-of-the-heart-of-the-wise-inclines-to-the-right

(OK, so I just couldn't resist sharing that,  and am of course in no way trying to make light of scripture.  Just thought we could use some lightening up these days.)

The Bible is a great  classic everyone should knowh - whether they believe it's from God,  or figurative and allegorical .

Either way, there have never been more impactful teachings in all history than those of the Holy Man from Galilee;  and if we lived by them, there really would (theoretically) be world peace.  There is always life changing Power in the Word for those who believe in His simple yet demanding formula for living,  whether or not they "do" organized religion.  Of course, Christ knew we would have to live through war and turmoil, and taught how to have personal peace in the midst of it -with hope for a better world.  (St. John 18:37:  To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.  Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.)

Advice for 2020 (and 2021, 2022, ....):

Matt 5:7  blessed are the merciful

Matt 5:9  blessed are the peacemakers

Matt 5:16  let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works

Mat 5:44  Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you...for if ye love them which love you , what reward have ye? do not even the (hypocritical, self righteous) publicans the same?...and if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?

Matt 6: 19-21 -   Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust (and inflation etc.!) doth  corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal;  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust ( nor inflation?!) doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Matt 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Matt 7: 1,2  Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 

Matt 7:3-5 -   And why beholdest thou the mote (small offense) that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam (large offense) that is in thine own eye?...Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly...

Matt 7:12  Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them

Matt 9:29: ...According to your faith, be it unto you.

Matt 10:26  For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known

Matt 16:26   For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Matt 18:4   Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the  kingdom of heaven

Matt 19:18   ...Thou shalt not bear false witness

Matt 20:27   And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:  Even as the Son of   man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Matt 23:39  Thou shalt love thy neighbor as theyself

Matt 26:40  ...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me

Luke 11:46:  Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! For ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

Luke 12: 3  Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light ; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

Luke 14:11  (and 18:14)  For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Luke 15:28  For which of you, intending to build a tower (huge new government outlay?!) , sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 

Luke 16: 10  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Luke 18: 20  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour y father and thy mother.

Luke 20:46, 47  Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;  Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers; the same shall receive greater damnation.

St. John 10: 11-13  I am the good shepherd:  the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.  But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth....The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

People 

Oct. 28, 2020

In Memoriam - MFM

The world we see has lost a clear, fair, caring thinker. The world we do not see (I fully trust) has gained him. Here's honoring my uncle Marshal F. Merriam: Co-CPO of the Paul, Marshal Lockhart, Hugh, Alan, and Charles Production Company; big brother and youthful construction architect for my father Winthrop Merriam (he drew the plans; Dad pounded nails); grandson of IRS Suit Pioneer Frederick Merriam (personal financial secretary to (one of the) Vanderbilts, who stressfully called him out at all hours - but left him a gift he successfully? sued the government to save from improper taxation); former material sciences professor at Berkeley (where he and wife Jane raised 5 boys in a house they liberally kept unlocked, resulting in some guy walking in off the street one night and starting to bang away at their piano - eventually leaving); sponsor of Mennonite missons; purchaser of tombstones for certain unmarked graves; hearty answerer of his phone every April Fools Day when I called him on his birthday.

Ironic note - I couldn't remember certain historic details for this piece, and thought, "I need to call Uncle Marshal - he'd know." With every "mortal graduation" passes a world of memories and info. But we can keep their influence from disappearing. For example, there's my Uncle's commitment to fair treatment, when he disapproved of the family using their D.A.R. and S.A.R. pedigrees for special scholarships; saying it smacked of anti-immigrant elitism or something. (referring to Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution via provable direct descent from an original fighting Revolutionary Patriot). (I think people are still applying for DAR scholarships anyway. Money is money.) (As we see in political lobbying all the time. Not to bring politics into this. Which I just did.)

I wish I'd had more conversations with him. I wish I had asked more questions. I wish I had taken the time to go visit him in Northern Cal. for some "face to face". I wish I'd been able to send him a Christmas card made out of Maine birch bark from the family lake place. (The bark is still in the bag - like so many other good intentions.)

We learn from each other- about the importance of constant companions, as well. One of his steady friends called Uncle Marshal last Sunday morning, and noticed his verbal response was garbled. He was obviously impaired. So she immediately dialed 911 and then his closest son, who started the 90 minute drive between them. When the paramedics arrived, he was unconscious. They subsequently found the bleeding from a hemorrhagic stroke had been so extensive, there was no hope he'd ever wake up - so they made him comfortable.  His family gathered around his bed to say their good-byes, knowing that (supposedly?) hearing is one of the last senses to end. They hoped he heard them.

I'm sure he did - and that he continues to hear, and see, and learn immensely more than ever before. And that he greeted his old construction buddy/brother Winthrop (who died a decade ago of Parkinsons-related whole body atrophy); along with his younger brother Michael (who succumbed last year to pancreatic cancer); his father Winthrop Sr.; and his widowed mother Prall (who sadly passed away all alone in a care center, having had her lifelong luxurious long hair cut to her shoulder tops for their convenience - and having just been served ice cream. That's all I know of her mortal "graduation" - that it was preceded by ice cream. I hope it was good ice cream.)

Note: she was only in a local care center because employment laws made it too onerous to hire in- house help "over the counter", and my parents were too principled to operate "under". (Is it ever better to choose moral over legal? - so Grandma might've had family around her, instead of minimum wage ice cream distributors?)  Of course they visited her, but it's never the same. 

Yet she still speaks to us. There's an old handwritten note of hers magnet-ed to our refrigerator:

"Therefore - come what may- hold fast to love.

Though men should rend your heart, Let them not embitter or harden it.

We win by tenderness. We conquer by forgiveness." - W. Robertson

That's a thought I'm sure she passed on to her oldest son, Marshal, and her second son, my dad. Then on to me. Now on to you.

Timeless and especially timely this year.

Requiescat in pace: MFM. And PGBM. WMSr., WMJr., MCM, JGB, ...

And may we have/make peace as well, - K

Oct. 27, 2020

Syddie's Top Ten, Oct. 2020 - thoughts after a visit from one granddaughter and her pregnant Mom (whose doctor forbade flying), while Daddy went to his father's memorial service in Texas.

Sydney, one moving muscle of a little kid, is one (& 7/12ths). ONE and:

1) DONE (what their life / housework will not be - for 18+ more years.)

2) HUN (as in cousin to Attila?) Sydney the Hun - rampaging her way through.

3) TON (of energy. (That's a whole lotta electrons.) See #7)

4) FUN (are we having it yet)

5) RUN (away from caregiver. really fast. especially in nice big wide open spaces. among scary strangers.)

6) UN (she UNdoes things and stuff.)

7) STUN (-ningly active, active, active, bright, active, active, active, strong, and did we mention active)

8) NONE (number of raisins remaining on her high chair tray - no matter how many we put out)

9) SON (what they get next, after Xmas. Poor kid's doomed to live in Stunning Sis's Shadow.)

10) MON (-key moves strongly suggest simian ancestors. On father's side of course.)

We're still stepping on Cheerios and yellow rubber duckies in the tub. There's no white noise machine whoooosssshhhhhing away in the guest bedroom. The cats are slowly (and very cautiously) venturing down from the garage rafters. None of the books/toys/doorstops/anything not nailed down/ is where it used to be. Nobody saying "Gampa" on command, or "no no no no no Nonononononononononononono!" - when we try to put her where she doesn't want to be.

We miss that little Moosecake. (And of course her Mama! After all, no Mama, no Moose. And no Mama's Mama, no Mama; then no Moose. Which would make yours truly- and then Great Gram, and Great-Great Gram PGBM (of the above quote). etc.- what? important.)

"In Memoriam" we remember who made us possible. Now we consider what (who) we make possible.

Not to forget that our possibilities are so still possible. It ain't over til it's over. And even then, as observed, it still ain't over. Cuz we leave stuff behind. (On refrigerators and hearts alike.)

The other side is real, and we're not just pieces of gradually expiring meat on feet.  We have souls / spirits / intelligence (varying degrees of the latter?!)  (There are even rational books about that we'll be reviewing.)

But time is fleeting. So should be our fingers, as well- in recording good things. And our feet in running to do them.  And our eyes in looking for them.  Our ears in hearing, not just listening.  And our minds, in sifting the good things from all the bad out there, sent to confuse us.

Fleet, like little Sydney Feet at the Pumpkin Patch; happily running along. And going somewhere. (Or maybe just cuz it's fun- to run. Wherever we end up.) And hope our caregiver/steady buddy is staying close by, just in case we ever have a need.

Be glad (that you can), be grateful (for who came before), be vigilant (for the future) - and be friends, now!

Take care, K (The as-of-yet Nameless Spouse of Gampa)

So, yesterday I made 8 small loaves of Banana Bread which Bombed.  Badly Baked, Botched, Boxy, Brickish, Bury-able Banana Boulders.  Not a Beautiful thing, as Donald Trump would say.  I had made it to take to people, and you only want to "take" good stuff, since it is a representation of your soul and your regard for them, etc etc.  (I HAVE discovered that the one thing EVERYBODY likes (make that loves) is: cinnamon nut swirl sourcream coffee cake.  But it's more time consuming, and you have to have non-moldy sour cream in the house, etc.)  Recipe to be posted under recipes. As soon as recipe blog gets started. Contact my manager if this hasn't been done by 1-1-2021. As I am my manager, response is a foregone conclusion. On the same level as world peace? but wait- I am trying diligently to limit use of sarcasm. (Disregard, entonces.)

Anyway, my Broken ego took a hit. I'd been starting to think I had the British Baking-off in the Bag.  But Behold, self said to me, 'twould Behoove you to stop Brooding, and Breathe already. Need to gracefully Bend, not Break. Baby steps. One Bite at a time. (just not of that stuff).

Now, B's Be gone. Alliteration be axed.

At least my cats don't run away from me. Yet. They say animals have a sense about people, and know when someone is bad. (??? Did Hitler and Pol Pot have puppies -or purrers?) Anyway, it's always a comfort when your dog licks you, or you kitty curls up on your lap. Makes you feel like so much less of a loser in the universe. (So why do people get goldfish, anyway? Why did Bob get off on saying "Good Morning, Gil" in the movie What About Bob? No wonder he had problems getting onto elevators. - Gil was his adoring? pet fish.) (Btw I know a guy who keeps snakes -in multiple cages in what should be his dining room. He raises their fresh dinners in his garage, which always smells of mouse droppings and drippings. I've always wondered about the health of his soul.)

Anyway, bad bread and snakes have something in common. Neither is good for happiness.

But cats and coffee cake are.

So now we got that straight.

12- 2017

Tis the week after Christmas, and all through the taxable real estate:

I’m finding peace and pieces. Pieces of cookie, pieces of game, pieces of Max (fur), pieces of (drawn on) paper.

I’m lonely. So are the small mateless socks that got left. And right.

It is no longer possible to curdle yoghurt in the house at 2 AM, because:

The (night) thermostat is set again to just above freezing , just the way we like it.

(and) The hot water heater is no longer set to just above freezing, just the way we don’t like it.

The cyclops gingerbread men are piled up in their Ziploc (body) bag on the counter, like so many casualties of the Baking Storm - with raisins (pressed in by little fingers) asymmetrically pocking their tummies.

There are little trucks under chairs, under bushes, in walkways - waiting to skid us into the ER with broken bones.

Blankets lie unfolded in big glumps.

Used diapers plump up the trash… just like 23 years ago.

The cats sidle sideways with nervous tics.

Grandma’s keyboard space bar has Levi prints all over.

The gates are open again.

The toy box is closed again.

Bath towels are all in the laundry. And I do mean all.

Grandpa’s paper piles are back on the office bed -where they don’t belong.

We are hoarse from howling: “EMMA! WHERE ARE YOU???” over and over and over. and over.

We sat through a WHOLE Sacrament meeting without drawing a single smiley face on our hands.

The word “NO” is now only heard in response to Grandpa’s questions that start with, “Have you seen my…”.

There is an available ripe avocado.

There are no plastic plates in the dishwasher.

We can take a nap anytime we want.

There’s nobody to NOT take a nap, whenever they don’t want (but their momma does).

The kitchen floor required a spatula.

The mirrors have nose pressings on them, 3 feet up.

The carpet represents a two-bag vacuuming job.

We miss patting thigh-high fuzzy heads.

Those useless decorative pillows remain on the beds.

The neighbors miss cool Miz Jenna and her Power Fitness BOOMbox. (or not)

There’s no longer anybody who can run nonstop all over the premises 23/7. (OK, 22/7).

Adios, Rodeo theme: We miss the pounding herd of “cattle” running down the hall, those deafening noise levels, the dirt-filled “arena”, and the urge to practice our hog-tying skills – on some little piggies.

Our sport court looks like a scene from Monk with all those chalked body outlines.

We will no longer have to eat mashed potato sandwiches for a month to pay the ‘lectric bill due to constantly charging the electric car battery.

We can’t wait for next year. (Ok well maybe for a little while.)

Happy Spring!  In which the world is curling back into frigid WINTER - with people re-stringing Christmas lights for hope, and Hunkering down - overusing that H word like the last soggy tissue at a funeral?- whilst angst and anxiety keep popping up alongside that popcorn on the apricot trees.  All due to a little bug in the blood, and a great big one in the national psyche - (if there is such a thing in this world - where EVERYTHING is experienced personally, or not at all.)  People are scared.  Scared because their lifelong, extremely comfortable normalcy bias just got annihilated.  They're scared of the Republicans.  Scared of the Democrats. Scared because there might not be any bacon at the store tomorrow.  Or milk & eggs, chocolate, eyeliner, or Necessary Tissue.   Or insulin or keflex or Zoloft.  No dentist for the toothache; no replacements for soles with holes; no water from the tap.  They're looking over the edge of a gaping ravine full of dark hungry Scarcity Wolves.  For some, those wolves are wearing MAGA hats, or what the media like to call "bad blond blowsie (Trumpian) blowovers".  For others, they have BERNIE tattoed into their bloody matted fur, and Strangulation by Government shooting from their burning red eyes.

We want security and full American shelves, but feel tiny and helpless in the face of this planetary March blizzard of horrible.  Those who consider it menacing, that is.  I actually know some people (or "folks", as striving folk hero Barack would've said) who shrug and say, "Hey I'm not worried. t's all gonna work out."  Work out of their bank account? Maybe they don't have one - hence the equanimity. Or maybe they bank on things that can't slide and slither 3K points in a day.  I want to be like that - and have perpetual summer where the covid blizzards and covert wolves can't howl.  I want to focus on what's good, what's eternal: what makes babies (of all ages) sleep peacefully, and what makes wolves slink away... - then work for,  not just dream of it.

This blog is a start.  Talking to strangers is a start. As long as they're at least 6 feet away?  Like we are now - on both counts. Happy Spring, my as yet unmet friend - and fellow human being / co-child of God.  (Whether or not you believe in Him/Her/They/?.)  Because God - and godly behavior - is the highest, the best, the holiest... and  what we need to hold onto right now. Even if just as a hope.   A sure hope in good to come.  Like a promised store, flowing with milk and - Honeynut Cheerios?  That's your cue to smile.  Optimism, faith, and good will being the ultimate viral prophylactics.

PS- If you can't imagine us as potential friends, please pause.  We ALL have closed minds, and only with great effort crack them open - to consider that maybe there's good in those different from us. Do you value truth, kindness, courage, consistency, everybody-live-by-the-same-rules-no-exceptions; live and let live; save banana peels and don't step on small snails?  If so you're not so different from me.  (Unless you're a Marie Kondo minimalist - 'Can't go there. Yet.)  Plus, we're unanimous against the virus with a crown. The one thing we ALL agree on!  Happy Silver Linings, & Happy Spring.

I really like Star Parker. This lady is both clear thinker and fearless speaker.  She used to blow up cars and smash things, aborting four of her own babies (before keeping the fifth), and living recklessly without any hope of a future.   Her gutsy, "audaciously" titled autobiography ( Pimps, Whores, and Welfare Brats)  tells of growing up "blaming most of my troubles on white people".  In the 11-28/12-4 Opinion section of the epic Epoch Times (Subscribe, it's wonderful), she tells how she got turned around:  "Someone confronted me with truth and told me my lifestyle was unacceptable to God." ( try using that one in the public schools.)  "I started reading the Bible and found out that actually I should want (do, be) more."  She also discovered the concept of values, and how we're all messed up because we've allowed morality to slip out of our hearts and even our awareness.  We've become so benighted we often don't even realize we're becoming uncivilized - because Judeo-Christian morality formed the base of our culture and laws, and "The founders were very clear that you cannot self-govern without some type of moral framework."  The Epoch Times article states, "What makes the U.S. exceptional is the concept of 'E Pluibus Unum', meaning 'out of many, one'.  In the U.S., diverse groups united behind a common set of values surrounding self-government.  But now, multiculturalism (Parker says) increasingly tells people they don't have to share any core American values or assimilate in any way....the totalitarian state is replacing religion..."

Star says we've  "started to see...pathologies of dependency and low educational aspiration and crime/promiscuity."  "We're in a new society, because of secularism.  We can't even decide what a family looks like."  

We've even decided to do away with right and wrong, good and evil (unless talking about political opponents, who are definitely evil.)!  Moreover, she thinks the root of a lot of social pathology is that "Big crime against humanity" called abortion - which desensitizes us to destruction of life, thus minimizing the sacredness of it.  Sacredness is no longer a concept (my interpolation).  She says "lawless living" comes from "saying that you do not have to organize your sexual impulses within marriage." (I told you, she doesn't pander. so - refreshing)  Then she suggests the ensuing social chaos is what's opened the door for totalitarianism.  "There are people who have a vested interest in us not being free," she says, and we need to choose between being "biblical and free" or "secular and statist".  The Epoch interview: "Over the past few decades, Washington has devolved into a wealthy bureaucracy and a 'playground for politicians, for legislators, for lawyers, for lobbyists,' Parker said.  'And they don't want outsiders changing the way that things are.'  The founders envisioned a limited role of government, but what the U.S. has now is exactly the opposite."  

She thinks a lot of the animus against Trump is because "this list is very long for areas where he has been very, very disruptive to the status quo."

She goes on to advocate personal responsibility instead of dependency and blame,  as well as James Q. Wilson's "broken  window theory" (consistent discipline in the smallest details leads to overall order).

Ms. Parker - the rising Star - also says government homeless shelters resemble prisons, as "the guys are all hanging outside, and there's no requirement for them to better their lives."  Whereas nonprofit and especially Christian based shelters "really think that there's potential in that person.  So they work with them to fix what's broken down, to get them back to health."   She also says just giving money to the homeless is counterproductive:  "..after awhile, (they) get used to living on the street.  Next thing you know, you don't have anything healthy enough in you to pull yourself back together."

Buy her book.  Subscribe to Epoch Times.  Get a new perspective.  Lose some ignorance.  Gain some pivotal ideas.  Or at least  better learn how to smash those pathetic ultraconservative self- righteous religious greedy capitalist bigots who want to force their narrowminded racist homophobic (blankety blank) on everybody else.  !!  (btw, I am one.) Except I'm not racist or homophobic, (hopefully) not greedy or self-righteous, OR a bigot - meaning "a person who is utterly intolerant of any creed or belief that's not their own."  That sounds more like the people who want to smash "conservatives" - literally and figuratively- !  I believe in free markets, not lobbyists' crony capitalism; fair play under rule of law applied equally to everyone; private property - yes, really! It's been the engine of prosperity since pilgrim times when they almost starved to death under "socialism"; volunteerism and private initiative more than "good by regulation"; self reliance rather than gov. dependence; safety nets but not "cradle to grave" nets; equality of ALL - especially more universally oppressed women;  "live and let live" - not " live and decimate everybody who voted for Trump";  people as intelligent free agents instead of infantile, ignorant, untrustworty, controlled and regulated subjects of government.  But people as free agents make mistakes, so some gub'mint (and education!) is necessary. The discussion will continue.  Just like Trump will keep tweeting, lettuce will keep wilting, Nancy Pelosi will keep wearing lipstick, and the world, she will turn.  And Star, we hope, will keep right on shining.

Families are the people you're supposed to be with:  every day, to eat turkey once a year, or at least when you die - or after you die and they all gather to be solemn and hope there's something in the will. 

Families are the people who give us either our messed up DNA & (purportedly) messed up attitudes; or else our  brilliance and peachy photogenicity. 

We are who we are either because of or in spite of them - (hopefully both, or whichever is better)

Families are our most intimate and tender, our most searingly painful, our first and last - interactions with the world - and a whole lotta in between.

Families are people we would never have chosen in a million years, or people we chose and then repented;  or "cashmere sweater types" who feel wonderful up close and never itch; or those who - like cold sheets - we've warmed up to..  They're either our faithful tribe,  or else our best/(least unacceptable) selection/serendipity. Hopefully, at least a work in progress that doesn't deserve the delete button. yet

Anyway, it's the same group of people all the time. Unless we change it - or us. (In which case it might be a whole new group of people around the table next Thanksgiving, all in the same bodies as this year, but new and improved  - because we see them with different eyes. )

Families are/can be forever, we either hope or un-hope. (what's the opposite of hope?)  Or disbelieve.  Or, in my case, believe.

Family is who you feel guilty for not liking.  Or else justified.

Family can embarrass us, or else be somebody(ies) to proudly hitch our Instagram to.  

Family can be either hicks / hillbillies, or else royalty.  Either common worker bees - like so many in the hive; or else drones (meaning sluggards and leeches). (Though that word fails the bee analogy here, because big fat drones - being the only viable males - are actually crucial to the colony. Even if they're otherwise useless and even have to be fed.  Anyhew, it DOES occasionally seem to describe certain XY's to a T.)

Family can be: stupid as a bag of rocks (pardon the perfect cliche), or else smart - like us.  Self-centered, or else altruistic - like us sort of.  Boring as fine print,  interesting/entertaining,  or occasionally even profound. (the pro we've found)

Pro-trumpers, TRUMP the Trumpers, or else "why can't we all just sing kumbaya together"-ers.  In unison and perfect harmony. (which means blocking out the unbelievers - or the dung-believers.)

Family members are either salt of the earth,  or environmental toxins- or else inert compost.  (I've got a pretty salty - and peppery- bunch.  All of whom are destined for compost - temporarily.)

Family are the people we ignore and take for granted - and who return the favor - until there's an emergency. Then they rally, and hug, and hold up their end of that tight kindred tent as the cold cruel world rains down. And we better as heck return that favor.

This Thanksgiving, I am preeminently grateful for: the Son of Man - whose sublime teachings are still the solution to all our world's Family squabbles... to all those in the Family of Man who came before and prepared so much, which we are honor bound to pass on... and to my family of origin, especially smart pioneer parents, who never lost (or stopped attempting) their far away horizons.   I'm thankful also for a dynamic husband (thought long and hard to distill that adjective); 6 crackerjack kids ( 5 married), and 13 bang-up grandies (so far).   dynamic. crackerjack. bang-up.  do we see a theme here ... And I am thank-full for the liberty to write this.