Desperate Housewives

Tonight is the "Friends Party".

Jane, Juell, Debbie, Michelle and me(Myra)

. We are the original
"desperate housewives".

We have seen each other through sickness, surgeries, affairs, divorce, second marriages, the loss of a child, the loss of parents,
the loss of our innocence.

Our friendship has endured separations,
and
disappointments....
in ourselves
and
in each other.

It's been 29 years of
living and laughing
loving and surviving

Tonight we gather for dinner.

There will be new spouses and old.
Some of us will look great and others worn out.
Some thick and some thin.
Our faces will have old lines and a few new ones.

No longer do we gather for morning aerobics, or afternoon movies.

It's been nearly two years since our last lunch date.

The business of living has taken us in different directions.....

Yet tonight,
it will be like we've never been apart.

We will bask in the love we have for each other
the respect for lives well lived
and
the hope of many more years
....together.

National Lampoon's Christmas Pot Luck

I get a call from my brother Curt. His son will be here for the holiday....do I want to do my usual "get together for desert" on christmas day evening?

One problem I tell him, we stopped doing that almost 6 years ago.

We do, however, continue with the pie on Thanksgiving evening(almost 20 years now)and since we were sick two years ago and in South Dakota this year, getting together during christmas sounded pretty good!

After hanging up, I remember that we stopped christmas day evening because our grown children, nephews and nieces, needed time to visit their in-laws. I send out an e-mail requesting majority rule for the 29th or 30th.

I get a second call: Why are you giving people options? They'll never agree. (thus, the majority rule I explain)Just set the date. After some discussion, I realize the problem is that New Year's may be celebrated by the nephew from Japan on Saturday. OK, I don't need to be hit by a truck. I didn't realize it was New Years(celebrating is falling asleep on the couch and waking up in time to go on the porch with my pots and pans )if it effects him, it will probably effect others... so let's start early on Saturday, have a pot luck.

I get a third call: I just got off the phone with Laird(our cousin)We had a great talk, you may want to include him in this get together...Curt, does that mean you already did? Silence.

I send out an e-mail suggesting the menu and decide to call and leave a message for my oldest brother Fred (he lives in St George)just in case there's a chance he could make it.

I get a fourth call: It's Fred. "I don't know what you have in mind, but I've got a fantastic french stew ....maybe we could plan the party around it.


Merry Christmas

Face Forward

Well, I think we are all finally recovering! On the heels of an ill fated Thanksgiving, we are girding our loins for Christmas.

I love Christmas. Kind of. I'm somewhat selective. Beginining with Christmas Eve, and on to Christmas morning. The rest of it ...Not so much.

I remember BIG Christmases growing up. I also remember stories of my mom hocking her wedding rings to provide for those Christmases, and the panic of making ends meet for the new year.

Maybe that's why I do most if not all of my shopping 2-3 days before the big day. It's only then that I get excited and wish I had planned better. It would be nice if that last minute buying limited the amount I spent. Unfortunately, I seem to be quite efficient at spending a lot in a very short time.

Saturday is the big Dutch oven Christmas breakfast, with the ward. It's amazing to me how much people do to make nice events for others. It really makes me feel like a slug. Where does all that energy and dedication come from?

The other day driving home from work I asked myself if I was happy. The last time I can truly remember being happy, was when Taylor and I went fishing with Gina and Ray. I'm not sure why, but the memory is still so acutely poignant. It was a perfect moment in time.

It seems nearly impossible since his death to be unequivocally happy. Happiness is a far off memory. Any attempts at happiness are always tainted by the thought of his not being here.

My life is measured by before and after.

Yet life is inescapable. Through my children and my grandchildren, I experience peace . So it is with peace in my heart, that I face the Christmas season. For now, their delight, their joy and happiness is enough. If I can participate in that then perhaps happiness is close by.