Gentle rain falling throughout the night left these sparkling diamonds for me in the early morning walk through the green garden.
The daylilies will soon be bountiful with blossoms.
I’m RICH!
Have you ever had a thought and even though you knew down deep inside it wasn’t true, you also had a lot of evidence to support the fact that it is true? Sometimes an enemy lie or a loss or a self-defeating prophecy echoes through your head. It’s funny to us on the SNL movie “Stuart Saves His Family,” when he has to repeat the mantra “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and doggonnit, people like me, ” because we know that in reality he is hearing, “I’m going to die penniless and homeless. I am still 25 pounds overweight. No one will ever love me.” Stinkin; thinkin’.
And it is all pathetically untrue, for Stuart and for us. But we have those accusations that pierce.
Mine today was: everyone leaves you eventually. Nobody stays.
Then, playing a CD Tara gave me as one of my Mother’s Day presents (Hidden in My Heart ~ A Lullaby Journey Through Scripture, www.scripture-lullabies.com), this song broke through, and it is lovely and it is true. I know this.
I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU
“…For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you,’ so we may boldly say: ‘The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?…'” Hebrews 13.5 NKJV
When your sky is cold and lonely and your heart is filled with fear
I will wrap my arms around you, know that I am here
And I will keep you safe and sound through the darkness that surrounds
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I will never leave you
Nor forsake you
Know that I am with you
You will never be alone.
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When your way is bright and glowing and your soul knows no despair
Can you hear Me singing with you? In your triumph I will share
For I am watching over you and I rejoice in all you do
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So remember, never doubt this
Hold it tightly to your heart
I’m forever always with you
I will be right where you are
Pond garden weeded, re-arranged, added to and mulched. Pretty. Now it is time for Dave to get the fountains running and fish fat and happy. And for Rocky to replace all the lily pads he threw out which he found distracting and bothersome, but which I’d spent 4 years cultivating! Tsk.
‘Cause we were all so young and foolish, now we are mature.
And those were the days of roses, poetry and prose
And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows, we’d packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.
Do you have to let it linger? Do you have to, do you have to,
Do you have to let it linger?
And there’s no misery ooooooh oooh like the misery
I feel in me, gotta find me an angel in my life
I left my tender seedlings out last night and some frost bit them. *sigh
Tara had a couple of rather persnickety English teachers during her high school career who would candidly point out to me Tara’s seeming inability to write a simple sentence, for she would use commas and semi-colons and colons to make her point without taking a breath and the ‘period,’ as it were, was a rare find in her one-page essays, causing me no shortage of embarrassment, I assure you, for I knew she had inherited this English-teacher-frustrating trait from none-other than her beloved mother, that being me, it so happens; and so, while I wanted her to do well and excel in writing and possess a great mastery of the language arts, I also understood, while said teachers obviously did not, that Tara is a master communicator, well able to make not only her point, but to make it in such an interesting way that an overuse of the period-as-punctuation is not necessary, but rather over-used in our short-attention-spanned society. Sad. Very sad, indeed.
The period-punctuation gives people too many opportunities to escape my words. I am most likely not finished. So don’t try getting away.
The book is inscribed inside as having been owned by one Mr. Harry Story of Great Falls and is dated 5/13/12 – almost exactly 98 years ago! Image on the right has in quotes: “Is it because we are merely attractive that you mentioned the relationship?” *smile…
The book page pictured (top) is Japonette (c) 1912, by Robert W. Chambers [1865-1933]. I feel a strong affinity toward his sentence style. I don’t think. we. need. as. many. periods. as. they. tell. us. I say let’s make people stay in there until the point emerges! Yes. I do. Especially since sometimes, yes, I wander and the point may seem way down the road. It is coming. Wait for it. I will make it. I promise. Eventually. But not too soon.
N O T E :By the way? Tara was an A student in English. No worries. And when she writes? She writes well. I think it was the one year I homeschooled her. Yes. I believe I will. Take the credit. For the lack of periods. And how good. She is. Period.
“Presently she caught his eye and made him a pretty gesture.”
“‘I wonder just how innocent we really are,’ she said.”
MORE ABOUT THE BOOK: I actually bought it at a used book store in Montana because it was illustrated by none other than Charles Dana Gibson [1867-1944] himself, the great “Gibson-girl” illustrator, whose glorious images of curvaceous, bold women with nonchalantly up-swept yet-tumbling-tendriled hair, make me glad to be womanly.
Because not only is Churchill really good (really good), Bethany Kelly is in Churchill and she is awesome/talented/sassy/gorgeous (and practically family)!
QUICK CLICK for full, crazy, sentimental effect: The mood music
My little brother, Joe, turns 49 today. When we were little, when we were “Jeanie and Joey” way back when, he was my best friend and confidante. I was bossy and he needed to be bossed. I was forthright and opinionated and he was the gentle listener who appreciated my opinions. I talked. He listened and drew pictures. He became an accomplished artist and I, a talker.
One time he quietly saved me from drowning and another time he saved me from something much worse. He risked a lot to be in my corner during a really hard time…or two. He has spent his life teasing me, tormenting me, aggravating me and protecting me. I have spent mine acting like I am always right and challenging him to boxing matches (which I win, of course, because gentle Joe would never hurt a girl).
For a lot of years, marriage and raising kids and careers and life made what we once shared so closely (he was my first nap and room-mate) a sweet, but distant memory. But then the melancholy of years and a deep, abiding love reminded us to reset our priorities and to be not only a brother and his big sister (he now calls me his “little sister” which is all the more reason to love him), but to be friends – the kind who are God-sent and will never let you go. For that is what I have in Joe.
During those interim, busy-life years, I once almost lost Joe permanently and I didn’t even know. I was living my own life and he was dying, coding repeatedly one night after he collapsed doing police work at the airport. Thinking now about what I’d have missed if he hadn’t made it makes me nag him and check his pacemaker for malfunction when I see him. His strong, steady heartbeat is very important to me.
He was my first best-friend. At times, moving around like we did as kids, he was my only friend. Now? Friends to the end!
Forgive my sentimentality, but I have put together 10 minutes (!!!) of pictures of me and ‘the Joey.’ And I added “mood music” because this is how I want to tell him how happy I am that he was born on April 14, 1961. Plus I am all melancholy and sentimental.
I know you are probably thoroughly embarrassed now, Joe-Joe, but I don’t care. It is what I do. You KNOW I’ve got the “Joey-Joey-Joey-Joey
down in my heart!” And I love ya! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! So glad, so so glad you were born to be MY brother!
Now and Forever by Carole King
Now and forever
you are a part of me
And the memory cuts like a knife…
Now and forever
I'll remember all the promises still unbroken
And think about all the words between us
That never needed to be spoken
We had a moment
Just one moment
That will last beyond a dream,
Beyond a lifetime
We are the lucky ones
Some people never get to do
All we got to do
Now and forever
I will always think of you
Didn't we come together
Didn't we live together
Didn't we cry together
Didn't we play togetherDidn't we love together
And together we lit up the world
I miss the tears
I miss the laughter
I miss the day we met
and all that followed after
Sometimes I wish I
could always be with you
The way we used to do
Now and forever
I will always think of you
The final curtain fell on Prairie Playhouse’s production of Annie 2 weeks ago now. It was a great show. Dave was amazing as Daddy Warbucks. The cast had great chemistry. The orphans were not only adorable, but very talented! Director Shauna Dunlap did a great job of putting the show together and getting the best out of everyone. Don Dupree led the orchestra and did a great job.
Our entire family continues to sing Annie tunes when we are together…and even when we we’re not!
From backstage
If you are Dave’s friend on Facebook, you can see gazillions of pictures from the production. Please note my antique desk, my chair, my Christmas tree, my dog and my husband. I would like my contributions recognized. : )
Friends and family and neighbors attended every single performance. There was always a line of people waiting to get pictures with Daddy Warbucks and Annie!
Jovan’s nieces Mikhaila and Bella and their friends; Amy Anderson and Linda Timmerman came all the way from Nebraska!
Sister-in-law, Sharon from Eaton; Jared and Kristie A., Rocky, Marilyn and Corky
Dancing and singing on stage
The final bows, a fond farewell
So, for Dave’s birthday a few days later, the girls whipped together a little Daddy Warbucks theme.
You can speed up or slow down the slides by clicking on the plus or minus symbols and to read the caption, just place the cursor on the picture as it goes by.
We did all don bald caps to surprise him, but I am not allowed to show that. Or I won’t. Whichever.
NOTE TO DAVE: You were great, honey. Seeing you jump on furniture and dance, watching you act,
seeing your have so much fun – was great! Yet, no.
I am not OK with you growing long-long hair for Peter Pan. Huh-uh. No. I am not seeing that.
It’s called a wig. Check it out.
Portraits by Dani, the photos from the actual play
Hunter brought Sam and Moses to the play. Averi and the Kelley girls were there along with parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles. When the Garcia boys asked, “Where is Gavin?” for the cafeteria was overflowing with 1st graders, teachers and family members. Hunter informed them, “The orange hair! Look for the orange hair. ” Yep, that is our Gav-Gav! The first grandson, the first grandchild we ever had…The “Big Billy-Goat” with the orange hair. And sweetest heart ever!
NOTE: Observe how well this firstborn kid makes sure the mic is where it should be! Yes, I am very proud of him!
Maybe far away
Or maybe real nearby
He may be pouring her coffee
She may be straighting his tie!
Maybe in a house
All hidden by a hill
She’s sitting playing piano,
He’s sitting paying a bill!*
He was born “Baby boy Bigham” on March 23rd, fifty-one years ago to a young girl in rural Kansas who would leave the hospital without him. When he was 5 days old, the Rhoades family signed adoption papers and picked him up there, where he’d been left to himself those first important days. That precarious beginning is probably why little David Allen Rhoades, a gentle-hearted, deeply-dimpled boy grew up to be such a family man, so devoted to creating a large, loving, caring and loyal family. And why his motto is, and the kids still laugh about it, “Never go against the family,” from The Godfather.
*Betcha they’re young
Betcha they’re smart
Bet they collect things
Like ashtrays, and art!
Betcha they’re good —
(Why shouldn’t they be?)
Their one mistake
Was giving up me!
So maybe now it’s time,
And maybe when I wake
They’ll be there calling me “Baby”…
Maybe.
Foresight.
When Dave married me and took Tara as his own daughter on July 23, 1981, he alleviated my parents’ fears for her future by telling them he now understood why he’d been given in adoption. He found purpose, believing he could become her daddy and they’d have that special *chosen* bond in common, something they would understand about each other.
And when he proposed, he looked into our future and told me, “I want you to be the mother of my children.” I could not have comprehended the depth of the honor of that request in that moment, lovesick and swept away by emotion as I was. But in saying yes! I do! I have reaped the benefit of being married to a man who has been committed to building a lasting heritage, a legacy that will live on for a very long time.
*Betcha he reads
Betcha she sews
Maybe she’s made me
A closet of clothes!
Maybe they’re strict
As straight as a line…
Don’t really care
As long as they’re mine!
He is…
He is an extraordinary “poppa,” loving those grandbabies zealously. As for his passionate love for his children? His pride and pleasure in the people his children have become and the spouses they have chosen? It’s evident in his beam when he speaks of them to his students or friends.
He teaches. He preaches. He stretches his own canvases and paints in color. He sings and dances and acts – on stage! He writes books and has story after story inside him – just waiting to be told!
He is honoring to my mom and respects my dad so much. He is a pal to my siblings and loves the nieces and nephews. He reminds me to call my mom and anytime I mention going to visit my parents he says: Do it, honey. You shouldgo.They’ll like that.
Dave is a thoughtful man, making sure the toilet ring is never up to surprise me, and he never forgets to take the trash out on the right day. He’s man enough to buy *woman-stuff* for me and just seems to divine when I must have a Cheetos night 2 or 3 times a year – as if he just knew that nothing else on that night would suffice.
He does dishes and laundry (not big on folding, but he hangs anything and everything that can be hung and seems to enjoy it – which is why I will keep letting him do it). He cooks for me if I need him to and tucks cash in to my wallet just because. He charges my phone, fills the gas tank and carries heavy stuff for me.
Dave is a nice guy and a good husband. And I am mostly thankful that even though I kinda think I am, he tells me I am not crazy. And he sees my drive and tendency to jump into the deep end of life (he has called it, going at everything in life “like a house on fire“) as me being passionate, alive and lively. And he likes that about me.
Loving and loved.
So today, I celebrate Dave’s life. Even though 51 years ago he was alone, today he is surrounded by hundreds of students and family and friends and even fans (he was a spectacular Daddy Warbucks) who know his worth and his value and how lucky they are to know him. I know I am.
And I am happy that he spent the last 6 months getting that A1c level down from 13-14% to 6% and has taken huge strides in reversing his Type 2 Diabetes! He is healthier now than he has been for 5+ years. I have always loved those Perry Mason-broad shoulders and I am so proud of him, he is looking good! So glad that we’ll be celebrating his birth and the life he lives for many years to come!
Happy birthday, my husband. I love you. I am loving all the changes.
And so glad the hair will be growing back now, too!
*So maybe now this prayer’s
The last one of it’s kind…
Won’t you please come get your “Baby”
Maybe…
Pictured: Top, Dave at age 1, then at age 4 or 5 with his mom and in April 1981 speaking at chapel at Northwest Bible College just before he graduated. Next, Dave and the original 4 daughters at Stonebrook Manor last week. Then, watching a video of his Annie performance with some of the grandbebes one Sunday night (Gavin, Guini, Gemma, and Averi); Next, Dave with some of the grandkids the night he was going to be getting his hair shaved off (Hunter, Averi, Guini and Gemma). Then, Dave at Stonebrook Manor for one of the fundraising dinners, Dave backstage with some “orphans” from Annie. Finally, Dave and I at Stonebrook Manor last week and on our way to a Heaven Fest potluck a couple of weeks ago.
*Lyrics: “Maybe” from Annie, the song that made Dave tear up at almost every performance over the past couple of months…because he understood…
