Starbucked Strangers

All holidays must come to an end and the real world of work and hurry quickly takes over. While traveling back to Wichita this morning, I decided to stop at Starbuck's in Midwest City, OK for an Americano (with steamed soy milk). The parking lot was surprisingly busy and I remembered my mantra to be nice no matter what, so I allowed a red truck to take my parking space and I went around. When the man from the red truck entered the store he was greeted with shouts of admiration, and a young lady said that she had thought of him when she was in Wichita last week. Wichita? Another man said he was from there and on his way back home and my mouth volunteered the information that I, too was on my way back to Wichita. The cashier asked if we knew each other and indeed, we had never met before. The nice man in the red truck actually lives one block from me! What a truly small world. We all laughed and talked and then went our separate ways. After a 100 miles or so, I actually read the words on the cup..."I talked to a stranger once over coffee...we're not strangers anymore!" Normally, I stay within my safe little world of one and rarely talk to people I don't know. Perhaps this holiday season, one of the life lessons on which I need to focus is to become more friendly to strangers.

Black Friday

Amber is on her way to New Mexico in her shining new car leaving us with hearts full of love and pride for what a wonderful young lady she has become.It's her first big road trip alone and we are a little worried, but I know she will be safe. As she was leaving, I kept trying to offer her "one more cup of coffee" and was reminded that I am only emulating what my Nana used to do when we were ready to leave her after vacation. Years of guilt have haunted me because I moved away from my New York home when I was 19-years old, and with the exception of a few visits, really never went back. I thought I had abandoned my mother and started a cycle of kids growing up and leaving their parents far behind. In reality, it was Nana who embedded wanderlust in my soul. She married for the 5th and final time, James Forrest Plank, in the mid-1970's and left Rochester to the unheard of hinterlands of York, Pennsylvania. That represented a 6 hour drive to see my grandmother with whom I was so close. While the transfer of residence did afford us the opportunity of wonderful summer vacations in the picturesque mountains of Pennsylvania, it was so difficult to leave her after spending such great times together. She was the core of our little family unit. We had so many traditions and memories in which she was the focal point.

After she passed away, that sense of family togetherness also seemed to pass in my heart. Oh sure, doubts and questions nag as to whether I tried hard enough to maintain ties with my mom, sister, aunts, uncles and cousins. After all, it was I who moved so far away both geographically and emotionally.

With my mother's passing less than a year ago now, I have fallen into a black trench of "what could have been's" and "what should have's". Through the last few decades, I have attempted to create traditions and memories for my own three little chicklets, but it doesn't feel the same. Only two children were home for Thanksgiving and the other two didn't even call. Time is a great reminder of what we have and the lesson of holding dear to the here and now. In a minute, it is all gone and hopefully, if you are lucky, those precious memories and traditions will live on in the minds of those you have touched. So have that second cup of coffee;take time to enjoy each other and always be mindful of thanks.

Hope you are all well.

Peace, Love, and Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! I have so much to be Thankful for this year. I earned my doctorate, obtained a job at a university, found a great apartment in a wonderful city....but a far more important event occurred over this past year. My mother passed away from this life and while that has been a most difficult experience, I have taken from tragedy the lesson to daily be thankful for the abundant blessings that surround me. I am thankful for my beautiful children, my husband, my fantastic in-laws and all of my friends. (and my darling kitties!). Hope you are all well and in peace.

Thanks full

Time goes by quickly enough, but in blog-land, it's even worse! Since I last posted, Amber has found a brand new car. It's a Mercury Milan so she will be driving to her new duty station on the Friday after Thanksgiving. (Beware anyone driving between Oklahoma and New Mexico ;p)

I am back in Oklahoma for the holiday week, but I miss my kitties. Luckily, I have the cutest grand-kittens in the world to keep my company. Projects for the week include writing a grant for a new research project I am considering. Sometimes it is so difficult to know where to start. Never having written a grant proposal for actual money, is a chore! My plans are to have it completed by the weekend by I am going to have to search for the Muse of grant writing to help me out.

Hope you are all well.

November, what?

Where has the month of November gone? Nana always warned me that time goes by so quickly when you are older and she was not exaggerating! Much has happened since I last posted. Amber came home from Japan on November 5th! She has been stationed at Misawa A.F.B. for the past 2 years and she is home for a little holiday before reporting to her new duty station in New Mexico.

I drove home to OKC to pick her up from the airport last weekend, and then this weekend, Rick and her came here to Wichita. A mandatory visit to the zoo was in order! Cold rain and bitter winds did not dampen our spirits! Some of the animals were off exhibit for the winter, but there is so much to see that we had a great time. As always, the Jungle is my favorite place to visit, made all the more exciting as we entered just in time for feeding. Evidently, macaws like to bully fruit bats and they were flying energetically above our heads. Amber also got to see the one month old baby lion that is still in his nursery, but there is a remote camera coverage of him and mommy. The lion she is sitting in front of in the pic is about two years old.

Next weekend, I will go down to Oklahoma and prepare for the Thanksgiving break. Inconceivable! Amber will be leaving soon after Thanksgiving to drive out to her new base, hopefully, in her new car.

I hope you are all well, love,

mommy