Grandparents

I had the opportunity this morning to participate in a first ever event in the USA. Our church, the Cathederal of St. Ignatius Loyola here in the diocese of Palm Beach, celebrated the first "Grandparent's Pilgrimage Mass". It was wonderful! It seems that this event got started in Ireland and draws over 14,000 people each year. It is a mass to pray for the grandparents of the world because we are the last line of help for our youth. Our families have been falling apart for years now. Divorce is easier than a manicure and has become the first thought in the minds of couples who are having problems. Husbands and wives "fall out of love" and no longer stay together for "the sake of the children". Kids are living in houses with one parent and more often than not, no parents. Mom and dad are working full time trying to pay the mortgage on the huge house with a pool and make the monthly payments on the 2 BMW's in the garage. Kids are raising themselves and the first thing to go, if it ever was a part of their lives, is their religion. More likely than not the kids have never been brought up with any religious influence. Too many parents give the same lazy answer of, "they can choose what religion they want to follow when they grow up". NOT ! If you don't know something exists why would you be interested in finding it?
So there is this wonderful movement that has been brought to the United States to encourage grandparents to introduce or reinforce religion in the lives of their grand children. We have the time, we have the faith, we have the love, we have the pasion to encourage our grandchildren to practice a faith. We old folks have learned that there is a God and nothing but nothing gets done without the help of God. I guess we didn't do such a good job getting that point across to our kids so maybe we can do better with our grandkids.
The mass today was wonderful. Our Bishop said the mass and gave a stiring homily inspiring all of us there to not sit back but to speak up, take action and LOVE our grandchildren so much that they will follow us on the path to a stronger life in faith. My wish for you all is to hear this message and spread it to all your friends. If all things are possible through God than don't you think God should come first in your life? I'll say a prayer for you . . . can you do the same for me?

Princesses

Tonight's rambling is dedicated to the princesses of the world. Not the Royal sort of princess but the women who are "best friends" to someone. That is what a real princess is, a very special, great friend. I learned this from my good friend Glo, whom I have just spent a week with surrounded by the beauty of Maine. Glo and I go wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back. I met her while I was visiting Augusta, Maine with my dad back in 1958. We became "best friends" immediatly and kept that friendship going through letters and an occasional visit every 5 years or so. But I'm not the only friend that Glo has, lucky girl. She also has "THE PRINCESSES" in her life. This is a group of women who also lived in Maine and were drawn together over the years of high school and college. They remain close friends to this day and thus have princess names befitting each of them. Their names reflect a part of their personalities, lives, likes and who knows what else. Glo is know as Princess Daisy . . . something . . .something (I never can remember beyond the Daisy part) But Glo is a Daisy for sure, Sunny, Fun and full of life. About 3 years ago Glo decided I deserved to be an honorary member of the Princesses, since our friendship was as old as the others, even if I didn't get to see them all that much. And so I became Princess G.T., named for a certain part of my anatomy and a tee shirt that I bought on a trip to Wyoming. (It's a long story and there are only a select few that know all the details, thank goodness.) Glo will tell you it stands for Gin & Tonic but we all know I prefer Vodka & Tonic. But I digress.
After spending these wonderful days with this great friend I have been thinking about how fortunate I am to have the circle of friends that are in my life. They are all Princesses of the most magnificent sort. When Glo and I are together we slip back to being teenagers. We get goofy and silly, (much to the chagrin of our husbands who are usually the brunt of our antics.) But it feels WONDERFUL to be with someone who allows you to just let loose and be yourself without the restraints of age and maturity.
Then there is Sharon, my little buddy from back in NY. We have been friends since 1973 when we were neighbors and found out we were both pregnant. When I am with Sharon she gives me the reality check that I often need, sweetened with a lot of laughing. How 2 people always can find something to laugh at, even at the most difficult of times, is a gift of gigantic proportions. If she had a princess name I think it would be Princess Giggles. We have spent many a day laughing so hard that our faces hurt.
Next in my Princess circle is Jeanne. My quiet young friend who always tells me I am her mentor. She thinks that Sharon and I give her wisdom. What she doesn't realize how much warmth and serenity she gives to us. When Sharon and I are ranting and raging about our lives Jeanne's quiet words bring us back to sanity and the realization that things aren't all that bad after all. I think Jeanne's Princess name would be Princess Angel.
I could go on naming the other wonderful women in my life, including my wonderful daughter and daughter-in-laws but I think they would all get swelled heads. I'll leave this for now and let you and your friends think up your own Princess names. Make it a good name because if you are one of the princesses you are a gift from God. I thank God every day for the princesses in my life. You know who you are . . . and I love you all.

Return to Paradise

MOOOOOOOOOOOOO All aboard the Southwest Snowbird Express, leaving from Islip, NY and, God willing, arriving in West Palm Beach some time tomorrow evening. Assuredly we will witness at least a few miraculous recoveries from wheel chair bound to walking without the aid of a cane and I know we will also be subjected to the pissing and moaning of some idiot who "doesn't like standing in line". But we won't even notice because we are headed HOME. Aren't we blessed to have a home to go back to after spending 2 weeks in the company of some of our favorite people! And can you believe we are even related to some of those favorite people?
In case you missed us, Ger and I have been traveling again. A packed flight from PBIA brought us to Aunt AnnMarie's home on Long Island. (Aunt AM is Ger's big sister and an absolutely wonderful woman in oh so many ways. I'll have to write about her one of these days.) We crammed all our luggage in her car and the 3 of us set off to drive to Portland, Maine. Slight setback when our LARGE 9:30 AM ferry was cancelled and we had to sail across Long Island Sound on the small 10:00 ferry. This normally wouldn't have been a problem but it happened to be a very stormy day. We all managed to make the one and a half hour trip without loosing breakfast but we can't say the same for many of our fellow passengers. At least when we arrived in Connecticut the rain had let up and the further we traveled away from Long Island the better the day became. We arrived in Portland and had a noisy, joyous reunion with Glo. (She too will be the subject of a future blog.) We all packed up and drove another 45 minutes to Frye Island in Sebago Lake where we had the best week ever with Glo and her husband John, some two pound lobsters, a lot of vodka, gin or beer (depending on the time of day and the menu), and a ton and a half of cake and ice cream. (Glo and AM LOVE their ice cream. I just love food in general.) But then, before we knew it, the week was over. How is it that when you are with people you really love, the time just flies by and you just never get to telling them everything you want to say? But we'll just pick up where we left off when we see each other next year.
And so we packed our ever expanding bags* and headed to Boston to visit Ger and AM's baby brother, Joseph and his wife Sue. While we were there we got to see their whole family. I don't know when the little nieces and nephews grew up but suddenly we were visiting with these beautiful people who have children of their own. What a joy to see these "children" with their families. It was a whirl wind weekend of visits and a tour of the new Greenway in Boston. Ger and AnnMarie and I all decided we needed to make another visit to this quaint, historical city to spend some time walking the streets and seeing the sights. Put that on the list.
After a much nicer ferry ride back to LI and a fabulous, famous (to East Enders) Cliff's Marinated Steak dinner at the ELBOW EAST we are back at AnnMarie's. Our flight home is tomorrow afternoon and we are ready to return to our patch of Paradise.
All in all, a great vacation.

* It seems that when AnnMarie and I get together the shopping gene kicks into high gear and no matter where we are we manage to find something to buy. Since my suitcase was pretty full to start with we are traveling home with a laundry bag full of dirty clothes. Heaven help us if the bag breaks!

On the road again

How come I live in Paradise but never stay home long enough to enjoy it ? That seems to be the question that most people ask. I guess we just have the travel bug and are in a position to take advantage of it. Plus we have friends and family all over the place so that does get us moving.
Yep, We're on the road again . . . this trip will take us to Maine and Mass. by way of Long Island. We'll be leaving our beautiful home here in sunny Florida to head up the chilly, wet East coast. The weather forecast for Florida is sunny with possible showers and/or hurricanes. (But we are at the peak of hurricane season so that's par for the course.) Traveling North at this time of the year brings thoughts of cooler temperatures, chilly evenings and comfortable days. Sounds like Heaven until you check the forecast for New York through Maine for the next 10 days . . . RAIN . . . RAIN . . . RAIN . . . with a possible hurricane! If I wanted a hurricane I would stay home! But sure enough FRED is heading across the Atlantic and thinking of traveling up the coast along with Ger and I. So not only do we have to pack up the house here in FL. so, should a storm hit, nothing goes flying away or into the pool. (that includes patio furniture, plants and the roof) but we must pack for stormy weather. Do you know how heavy that makes my suitcase? Thank goodness for SW Airlines and my free bags.
Good thing we are visiting with some of our favorite people and really don't give a damn what the weather is. Rainy days just mean drinking and eating more than if the sun is shining. (Well, not really because we will be doing a lot of both no matter what the weather, but that is our excuse if anyone asks). We will spend some time with our forever friends Glo and John at their "cottage" on Frye Island in Sebago Lake. Their "cottage" is bigger than my house and just a beautiful. It is a dream come true for these 2 wonderful people. Many many years ago when their children were little they used to boat out to the island and would always anchor the boat off one particular beach that they came to love. They dreamed for years that they would some day be able to buy the property and build a "camp" on it. Sure enough, they bought the property and we got to go with them once or twice to camp with the 4 adults and 6 kids. Cooking and sleeping on the beach and peeing in the bushes. Good times !
Now our kids are all grown and working on families of their own. The property has the beautiful "cottage" on it and the good times just keep coming. (Someday I'll tell you about how Glo and I met, oh so many years ago) It's just wonderful to have such great friends, even when we have to leave one paradise to go to another.

Gag Me With a Spoon

T.G.I.F to all you working folk out there and may your weekend be filled with fun and not crap emails. I have decided to nominate today as "Gag Me With a Spoon" day for all the TOTALLY STUPID emails that are floating around. I mean, come on people, just because some one sends you something stupid it does NOT mean you have to forward it. The day that God zaps me with lightening from my keyboard because I did not forward something in the next 20 seconds to 60 of my closest friends, that is the day I will rethink this blog. There is that wonderful little button on the computer called DELETE ! Enough with the cutsie, "you are one of my favorite people", (even though we haven't seen each other in over 10 years and I can't remember what you look like), "you are my best friend", (even though you still can't spell my name right and we did only work together for 1 year), "I am sending you a smile today", (I would really smile if my inbox only had 5 messages instead of 30). Seriously, what is with the angel mail, the leprechan, the roses, the butterflies, the woman who is walking around the world for who know what ? WHO STARTS THESE THINGS ? I think there is some man sitting at his computer just thinking up all the ways he can keep us at our computer for another 10 hours. I have no idea why, just cause it is terribly ammusing to think of a bunch of women, (and come on girls, you know as well as I do that there is not a single man alive who would bother forwarding all this stupidity!) sitting at our computers reading and hitting "forward", "forward","forward" . Did you ever think it is a plot to keep us out of the stores so we don't spend money?
What happened to the women's movement of the 60's ? Come on girls, we fought hard for equality because we are intellegent, open minded, driven women. And here we sit hoping that 300 years of bad luck will not befall us if we only can forward the little frog and his blessings to all our contacts in the next 2 seconds. STOP ! . . .THINK! . . . WHAT ARE YOU DOING? . . .It's stupid, stupid, stupid ! Am I the only one thinking this ? If you want to let me know that you miss me just send an email that says, "Hey Cath, I miss you." I don't need cutsie bunnys hopping around my computer screen wishing me good luck. Gag me with a spoon and get me a gun. I'd rather spend my day doing pretty much anything else, (except washing windows or cleaning bathrooms) than going through stupid email.

The Power of Music

Did you ever notice that when you are feeling crappy all you have to do is crank up the music and you are totally FINE. Tonight Billy and I are sharing an evening of oldies. The "Piano Man" and I spend a lot of time together. The husband always has the TV on when we are at home but since my baby boy and his fantastic wife gave me an ipod I am in the zone when ever I want. I can't tell you what a weird collection of music I have but there is a purpose for every CD. There are the classics; The Beatles, Mamas and Papas and a few show tunes left over from my college years. I can't listen to "Monday, Monday" without getting goose bumps and going weak in the knees. I swear that was my theme song senior year oh so very long ago.
But isn't that just the most fantastic thing about music? It transports you. Yea, yea . . . Corny. But how else do you explain the glazing over of your eyes and the flash backs ? NO, it's not due to the 60's and too much acid. I never did get into any of that. Not through any thought on my part, just was never in the right place at the wrong time. But music works that way for me. Put on the ear phones or crank up the volume on the computer and blast the ceiling tiles off of "command central"* and I am back to a different time of my life. Time Travel is just a CD away. I love it !
I can even tell you where I was the first time I heard some songs. Take the Black Crows for instance. I had no idea who they were until my oldest son went to college. There was a talent night on a parent weekend and we went for lack of knowing what else to do with this stranger who had been our son. (That is a whole other blog . . . kids leaving for college.) Any how, there was a group of guys who sang "She Talks To Angels" by the Black Crows. I couldn't wait to buy the album. It was amazing! I've been a fan ever since. But you really have to be in the right mood for The Black Crows. More often my preference runs to jazz, blues, Eric Clapton and Billy Joel. Sometimes I will even feel classical but NEVER, NEVER COUNTRY. I just can't listen to the s..t kickin', boot stompin' yeeeee haw stuff. Even rap is better than country.

*Command central is the fond name my hubby has bestowed on the garage/playroom where I hide out with the computer.

Serious thoughts

I'm back from 4 fantastic days with grand daughter Abby and her mom and dad and am digging through my email and favorite blogs. I came across something that my fab DIL, Kristen had posted re. a young couple that had been in a horrific traffic accident. The girls mom is blogging each day and asking for prayers. My heart goes out to her and her family but I am also filled with joy at the thought that others haven't forgotten to pray. Corny as it sounds, the power of prayer is beyond belief. There are miracles happening all around us and we don't even realize it. How can anyone not believe in GOD ?
I guess as we get older we tend to look for something to help us cope with the ravages of time. We often begin to hope that there is something after death just so we don't feel quite as afraid. Those of us, who have believed all along that there is a GOD, start trying to get closer to HIM so we feel we have a chance of going to Heaven and not that other place. Wouldn't it be great if we started making this journey toward GOD a lot sooner in our lives? I have read that it is not enough to be "a good person". We have to try to be saints. I laughed myself silly when I first heard that. ME, A SAINT . . . NO FREAKING WAY ! But the more you think about it, WHY NOT ? And here comes that power of prayer. All things are possible with the grace of GOD. Think about it . . . If you believe there is a GOD, then you believe that He is the creator of all. We were taught as children in Sunday school that God is all loving and all powerful. ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS ASK ! But don't forget that GOD also wants us to be happy and at peace so if your prayers aren't answered maybe you're asking for the wrong things. Try rethinking what you are asking and ask in a different way. I remember when my husband's aunt had a heart attack and was suffering quite a bit. Her brother began praying for her recovery but nothing was happening. When he thought about what he was praying for as he watched her suffer he decided to change his prayer. He began to pray that his sister would be at peace and that God would do what HE thought best. That night his sister died peacefully in her sleep. You have to believe that GOD knows what's best for us and believe in HIS love.
We have nothing to lose by praying and we have so much to gain.
Thank you God for all your blessings each day. Bless and watch over my children and their families. Please hear the prayers of all who call on you this day. Amen
GOD Bless you all.