My 'Going Away' Box

 

I seem stuck in a rut lately. My creative juices have all leaked out. 

Let's see....

I need to think about this for a bit....

I could tell you that I have been busy preparing for a 'What's Next' program for the residents here at my apartment complex. 

What's Next? you ask.. We all are getting older and some of us were discussing dying and getting ready to die. 

I know, morbid, wasn't it? But, if we don't recognize the reality of life, we can't enjoy it. We have to take the bad with the good. If you have breathed your first breath, you WILL breath your last. 

I had just seen a program about how a young wife had chronicled her last days on the internet and how it had helped her and her new husband to deal with things. Yes, we do need to talk about it.

I hear the clock ticking every day. So, I ordered a couple of books and decided I'd share what little I know with the other residents. 

I have a 'going away' file box. It's filled with all the documents my children will need once I am gone. And, there's more to getting your ducks in a row than you think. 

Can you imagine your grieving children having to all of a sudden start going through drawers, closets, safe deposit boxes trying to find things like your birth certificate, your house deed, your cemetery papers etc, etc, etc. I believe in having all that in one place so they won't have to go through all of that trauma. 

And, I am also going to talk about how we want to spend our remaining years... and geez, I hope it's a big number!! 

Would you want to be resusitated? A feeding tube? would you want Hospice so you could probably stay at home? Your family needs to know these things.

How about whether you want to be buried or cremated. Do you have a favorite song you'd want to be sung at the funeral? Maybe certain facts put in your obit. All this needs to be in that 'going away' box. 

Oh, you say, I have all of that in the safe deposit box at the bank. Well, guess what! If you are the only one on your account when you are gone, the bank freezes your assets and your children can't get to what they need. 

Oh, I could go on and on but I won't bore you or 'scare you half to death'. But, we are not guaranteed one more second of life... just because you are young doesn't mean you'll be here 'forever'. I can't believe that I am edging on toward my 91st birthday. Yes, I do hear that clock ticking! I am one of the oldest residents here at our 55+ complex. And, I am in better shape than most of them. I'm not saying that to brag but to be surprised, amazed, it's unbelievable. 

And, through preparing for this 'session' I will be presenting to the residents on the 14th, I am feeling more comfortable with the thought of going away. I feel like I am in control of how my life will play out to the end. That feels good. 

A Hankering for Cornbread Dressing

                                    

I have a 'hankering' for some good ole southern cornbread dressing this morning. With mashed potatoes and gravy. Forget the turkey! 

My Mama made the best cornbread dressing ever! 

Oh, that makes me remember the time I tried making dressing for the first time. It was 1957 and we were living in an apartment on Castle Street in Honolulu. There were 8 apartments and our landlord was Mr. Ching. He was a quiet man but I can still, in my mind's ear, hear him shuffling around the property wearing those leather flip-flops of his. 

picture taken from internet

He was kind, a good landlord. Once a month he'd host a luau out in the parking lot in front of our building. Those were always fun. 

Shirley entertaining everyone at one of our luaus. 

One day he came up to me  and asked, 'you from the south, right? How 'bout you making some of that yellow pudding for our next luau?'

Yellow pudding? Maybe he meant banana pudding. It's yellow. Or maybe a lemon pie, or just plan vanilla pudding. I had no clue what he was asking me to make. 

I asked Alice who lived next door. What the heck is Mr. Ching talking about? 

" Oh, he loved cornbread dressing that a previous resident used to make."

Cornbread Dressing!!

picture taken from AllRecipes online

Lordy mercy on me. I'd never made that dish in my life. And, this was decades before Google and it was too expensive to call my Mama for advice. In fact, we didn't even have a telephone!  So, I just winged it.

Luau night came, the group was in fine spirits and I nervously sat my dish of cornbread dressing among all the other yummy food on the table. The salads, the veggies, the poi, the lomi-lomi salmon.

My dressing was a disaster! Dry, not enough seasoning, just awful.

Guess you know Mr. Ching never asked me to make yellow pudding again. 

Poor Mr. Ching. Well, I tried. I really did. I can make cornbread dressing now but it never measures up to my Mama's. 

Mountain Majesty

 I do love me some mountains. I love the rise and fall of the landscape, the palette of colors in both spring and fall, the excitement of riding along and seeing 'way over yonder'. (That was my Mom's old saying). I love the way mist drifts down and nestles around a mountain like a blanket around a child. I love mountains in any season, in any weather. They are God's magic created just for us to enjoy. 

I hope you enjoy these photos I have taken over time of one of my favorite places to be - the mountains. 

Have a wonderful weekend.. Hugs to all of you! 

                                                                            Latane

The Signs of Fall

                           The Signs of Fall I Love the Best

Doesn't it make you want to get out and enjoy the brisk air, the sound of falling leaves, the hint of chimney smoke?

What are your favorite signs of Fall?

Monday Memory - Strollers

 Things change! Boy, do they! 

I wonder if any of you remember the strollers we used for our babies? Of course, they probably are all different depending on the time we had those little ones. 

I first stroller I had was of course for my first child, Marie. We were living in San Diego, California and here is Marie in her stroller in front of our row of apartments. It looks so darn strange now, doesn't it? 

That weird push handle... my word and that half enclosed seating area. That couldn't have been comfortable. And, oh my gosh... the wheels had covers! Uptown, for sure. Year... 1952

Susan came along in 1963. No pics of the transportation for the two in between.

The push handle looks more sturdy. And, the seating is actually cloth which had to be better than sitting for hours on metal! A nice comfortable place to rest those sweet feet and a tray to hold toys. To heck with the wheel covers!! 

In 11 years the manufactors had made a huge improvement. 

Then the grandbabies came along. Still more changes made in their care.

A trip to the zoo with Christopher and Yvonne. Strollers were totally minamilized. 

But, Grandmother to the rescue. Now, this is the way to travel. I had such fun pushing those grandbabies around the yard in our wheelbarrow. Better than a stroller any day of the week. 

Welcome Fall

                            Happy 1st Day of Autumn!

Let's enjoy these glorious day of fall. 

Much love to you all. 

Latane