Tradition...Still

Growing up our family Christmas traditions included opening one package on Christmas Eve. We always knew what that pretty box held. Our new Christmas PJs! A necessary component for our Christmas morning photos.

As you can see my fleecy, cuddly new Christmas PJs are waiting for Saturday night. When I'll be listening, as I have for over 70 years, for sleigh bells and reindeer on the roof.

Not likely, I know. I live in a first (of three) floor apartment. But I'll not extinguish that child in me. 

AirFlight flies over frequently. Do you think Santa might stop by via helicopter this year?

Actually, many of my childhood Christmas memories are not happy ones. So I determined to create good ones and did! 

As Long as There Is Christmas

The first few lights glow brightly, as you watch the season start.

You know you should be happy, but don't feel it in your heart.

Instead, you think about a time when someone laughed with you

and the love you shared then filled your soul. But too soon, 

it was through.

So Christmas comes with sadness, and a yearning deep inside,

a thirst for love and peace and hope that will not be denied.

            

Late one night you hear a voice, so soft and without blame...

then you realize He's calling your name.

            

"I know your hurt and loneliness, the heartache that you bear,

I listen and I cry with you through every single prayer.

"I promised in the manger and fulfilled it on the cross.

I built a home that's filled with love for all those who are lost.

            

"So let me come and heal your heart and give you rest within.

For my way is kind and gentle and will bring you joy again."

            

His words still echo through the years, a vow that He made true

"As long as there's a Christmas, I will be in love with you."

By Jack Zavada (with permission to use)

   

Pity Party P.S.

Pitiful Pearl

 

Illustrator William Steig was the creator of Pitiful Pearl. 

In the 1950s, Pitiful Pearl left the page and became a popular doll.

        For as long as I can remember, I associated her with this song from the 1940s:

I'M A LONELY LITTLE PETUNIA IN AN ONION PATCH 

Of all the saddest words 

That I have ever heard 

The saddest is the story 

Told me by a bird 

He had spent about an hour 

Chatting with a flower 

and here ís the tale the flower told

I'm a lonely little petunia in an onion patch, 

an onion patch, an onion patch 

I'm a lonely little petunia in an onion patch 

and all I do is cry all day 

Boo hoo, boo hoo.

Listen at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p4u7ZcOWnA

I relate to poor Pearl for in the last year or so I have had quite a few lonely, boo hoo days. 

Since I have been dealing with multiple health issues, those days have increased. 

Chronic illness can take the stuffin' right out of you: little or no energy, no stamina, 

fatigue and whatever symptoms are causing your limitations, including pain.

I came up with a way that helps me get out of the onion patch. It allows me to be that

lovely petunia, who is able to say, "Be gone, Pitiful Pearl!"

The next post I'll share my Pity Party Bashers

Selah-

Connie

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Woe Is Me - Part 2 & 3

Fatigue leads to fears. For seniors, like me, those fears include becoming incapacitated, developing dementia, and dying.

For me, my immediate fear is that a diagnosis and treatment will not be found. If so, my current life-style will have to become permanent. The unknown is a fear in itself.

My call to write a book is the hope I cling to each day. I believe God will provide the time and the way to complete it. Therefore, I will accept the challenge to live each day the best* that I can in order to fulfill His plan for my life.

Selah… think on this.

Fatigue brings on loneliness- even when others are present. It stems from fickle feelings, such as, nobody understands what I’m going through, they act like I’m not sick at all, they wait on me like I’m incompetent, cannot they see I need some help? Unrealistic expectations on both sides end in conflict. Fatigue makes it difficult to resolve those conflicts.

I remember years ago that I had hepatitis as a complication of mononucleosis; however, I was not contagious. My dear neighbor made sure I had food and anything else that I needed, but she would not come into my house. Her fear was unfounded and I would have appreciated visiting with her, especially as I improved and slept less. My own parents would not come even though for my son, a first grader, who would have loved a trip to McDonalds^®… definitely more exciting than being stuck with a sick mother .

This time, I live alone and just want the comfort of someone peeking in on me. With little energy for conversation, we could have watched a movie together. Just someone’s presence was what I craved.

I might add, the person, who knows when not to talk, is an extra-special blessing.

As a Parish nurse, I often sat at a bedside without saying a word so the patient could rest. When something was needed, I was there. My presence brought comfort to the patient and the nurses were grateful to have another nurse’s eyes assessing the patient.

Selah… think on this.

Connie

* Future post: "What is the best?"