Ten More Days of Gratefulness

 Starting out Ten More Days of Gratefulness with a single stanza from the famous poem

 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882,

The Midnight ride of Paul Revere:

Listen my Children and you shall hear,

Of the Midnight ride of Paul Revere;

On the eighteenth of April in 75:

Hardly a man is still alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

This poem has fourteen stanza's. It is a favorite of mine, although one I could not memorize in it's entirety. When Nick and Colton were small boys, they were very busy! Honestly, not much of that has changed through the years! They were wound up tight so I would give them a bath in chamomile and lavender and make them a cup of Sleepy Time Tea. It worked like a charm.  But I would start out reading this poem to them and before I finished this first stanza, they were asleep. That is simple Parenting 101 and Grandmothering at it's best. I had always been a lover of poetry and wrote much of it when I was young, foolish and often in love. I am a firm believer that someone still needs to teach the children something more in life then video games and electronics. 

A favorite photo of these two, from Noelle's 2000 wedding.  Colton had already torn a hole in his tuxedo pants and shed his jacket and boutonniere! I remember this capture like yesterday and I caught them for that brief moment before then ran off to play hard.

1. Gratefulness for these moments we catch on film and the memories that go along with them. Thankful for all these things.

2. Grateful for poetry, in case I have missed saying it out loud. I will always love it and think it is important for children to have some sense of it.

3.Grateful for the sense of taste. I use to love eating popcorn and especially all the flavored ones (i.e. cinnamon, chocolate, cheddar cheese) but then it started to stick in-between my teeth ! Now I Just love the smell. I like the scent of newborn babies and a well thought out Thanksgiving feast. I am very grateful for my sense of smell. Fresh bread, cinnamon candy, to name a few more , yum...

4. Grateful for conversation. I was working on this post and Noelle said why don't you stop by and visit Harrison. He was watching a movie so I headed over there, two houses in-between her house and mine. Noelle had the 2020 Target kids catalog for CHRISTmas.  I said why don't you look over this catalog and find some things you'd like? Of course, nearly every item was marked! He looked concerned, and then he said to me, Grandmother, why don't you take this pen and mark a few things you'd like too. HaHaHa! How well he knows me as the next several pages were filled with dolls and all the things most girls love. It was a fun conversation. Gratefulness.

5. Grateful for peppermint gum. To ward off raiding the remainder of the Halloween candy, I like to chew peppermint gum or drink peppermint tea. The smell is wonderful and I love the taste too. I am very thankful to enjoy peppermint in all sorts of ways. 

6. Grateful for my perpetual calendars. Many, many years ago, when my children were still small, I had a beautiful perpetual calendar from Elisabeth Elliot. I still have it today and there are biblical verses on it daily and it really lifts my spirits, in these dark and daunting times, it is so important for me even though it is small and old and worn. Thankfulness.

7. I am very grateful for H U G S ! Today it is hard to give others a hug but I still hug my kids and my honey.  Since it is hard to give hugs to others I do not know very well, smiles work too! Especially when  I am stopped at a red light. Even in the store, with a mask on, you can feel the smile popping up underneath someone's mask. It is a small token of kindness, gratefulness and something I am most thankful for.

8. You know I use H U M O R to stay positive! This came from a friend with four children, two of them with Down's Syndrome. This first grader should be a comedienne!

9. Today I am very grateful for Harrison. He has been a good buddy for over 4 years now. Anytime I have the chance to see him, it is a good thing. I am very grateful and so thankful he is in my life, today and forever. 

10. Grateful for more smells and more phamily. When Rebekah was getting ready to be married, a wedding she planned in a mere 54 days that ended up being the biggest blessing of 2017! She wanted some nice jewelry to compliment her wedding gown (which she refused to purchase, until it received her dad's approval!). I went to the jewelry store with her. They were selling these soft and cuddly bears. This guy is Avery Bear so since it is my honey's name I "Had" to buy him! Plus $7 of every Bear sold went to St. Jude's. You can not pass a bargain like that up! Seriously! I recently found this burlap pillow for my hubby. He loves burlap. He could smell it all day long! It is very reminiscent of his childhood. As for the statement on the pillow, well....that is who we are! We just roll with it. Grateful for Rebekah, our middle girl and of course her twin middle, her dad Avery! Thankful!