Origins of interests

  I spoke with my mom for only a few minutes today.  In the few minutes I spoke with my mom, I found out something that I never knew before.  My mom and I were talking about one of my favorite hobbies, which is horseback riding.  I have always loved horses and horseback riding, and in my short conversation with her I found a key to why I have that interest.
  It turns out that my grandfather on my dad's side, was a "trick rider" in the late 1930's - early 1940's!  He used to perform at rodeos.  This not only explains my inherited interest, but it explains some other things also.  I remember when I was about 7 years old and my grandparents took my brother and I camping for a week one summer.  The campground we stayed at offered activities such as a playground, swimming pool & waterslide, campfires and horseback riding.  I begged my grandparents every morning to take me horseback riding, my grandmother always said "no" but my grandfather never had a problem taking me. 
  Each morning when we arrived at the campground stables, my grandfather would help me up on my assigned horse, then he'd show me how he learned to "mount" a horse.  He would stand with his right shoulder up against the horse (facing the same way as the horse), grab the saddle horn with his right hand and jump into back flip and land on the saddle!  Amazed me everytime I saw it!  In later years, he and I enjoyed going to rodeos together, explains a lot.
  Another big interest I've always had is my love airplanes and flying.  The origins of this interest have always been known to me.  My grandfather on my mother's side was a navy pilot during WWII, later he became a naval officer, when he retired from the military he got his pilots license and flew corporate jets.  I was always fascinated by his stories about the aircraft he flew in the war, and loved looking through his aircraft pictures.  My grandparents took me to airshows and to see the Blue Angels when they performed nearby.  I ended up taking "Aeronautical Science" classes in college (I also was taking flying lessons during this time), then did weight and balance configurations for a major airline for 4 years (which I loved!).
  I did inherit interests from my grandmothers also.  My grandmother on my mother's side loved gourmet cooking and she also loved learning about different countries and their cuisines, customs etc...  I love trying dishes from other countries and learning about their customs, it's fascinating to me.  I also really enjoy cooking gourmet meals and learning new recipes etc...  My grandmother on my dad's side was always into making wonderful crafts, she was always in the middle of some craft project, and I also find myself always in the middle of one!  I start one after another just like she did.
  It's funny, neither of my parents inherited any of these interests from their parents, and I seem to be the only grandchild(out of 11 total grandchildren adding both sides together) that did.  Hmm...

Birthday Philosophy

  My grandpa quietly turned 89 years young yesterday!  I say quietly because he doesn't mention to anyone that it's his birthday.  My brother spent all day with him yesterday and didn't even realize it was his birthday.
  last night after dinner, my husband and I called my grandpa to wish him "happy birthday" and the first words out of my grandpa's mouth were "thanks, you know I used to love you and now I don't (followed by a little evil chuckle)", of course he was joking.
  He quickly reminded me that he doesn't have birthdays.  I asked him "why?"
he replied : "Birthdays make you older, I don't feel older, so I don't have them", "can't get older if you don't have birthdays", "age is just a number anyway, it doesn't represent how I feel".
  I replied:  "I think I'll adopt that philosophy, I don't want to age so I'll stop having birthdays too!"
  He replied:  " That's right!  Don't pay attention to the number!"
 
  By the way, as you can probably tell, my grandpa is a lot younger than his 89 years!

Memory Lane

I received 2 surprise deliveries today. A UPS truck pulled up in front of my house today (I never mind seeing a UPS truck in front of my house, especially if there's a cute driver inside wearing the uniform shorts!)and delivered a couple of huge white boxes at my doorstep.
The surprises were courtesy of my parents. I've been here almost 10 years now and they just now decided to send me the last of my belongings from my old bedroom, I thought I had everything already.
I opened one box and immediately found one of my grandfather's coats (he died in 1993)which instantly brought tears to my eyes, I gave it a tight hug for a moment. Under the coat was a large, furry, yellow, stuffed dog that provided my grandmother with a lot of comfort during her last few days of life (she died in 1984), that brought more tears, and I kept squeezing the dog.
Aside from the sad sentimental things, most things in the boxes brought back a lot of good memories.
It's amazing how items from the past can take you back! I found a few albums from my childhood in one of the boxes. One of my favorite albums was as a child was the soundtrack to the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", and has soon as I saw that album I just had to play it! I put the album on and cranked up the volume like I did when I was a kid, and I still remembered all the words to every song! The album played as I looked through the rest of the box.
I found pictures of me performing with my high school concert band at the world's fair along with pictures of past birthday parties, and family. I had a couple of old baseball ticket stubs from games my dad used to take me to.
The funniest thing I found was my diary from when I was in junior high through high school. The minute I saw my old diary I had to read it! I wrote entries about boys I had crushes on (OMG!), my older brother's wedding (he just recently got divorced after 26 years of marriage), my grandmother passing away, space shuttle Challenger exploding, the 49ers winning the superbowl, family vacations etc...What a flood of memories!
My trip down memory lane today brought a mixed bag of emotions but at the same time it was a wonderful trip!

Strange things are happening!

  Strange things are happening around our house lately!  My grandma passed away this past January 23rd in California.  I was extremely close to my grandma, I called her and my grandpa at least once a week without fail, and saw them at least once a week before I moved to the Midwest.  I spent most of the last 2 weeks of her life by her bedside, I returned home 4 days before she died (she did not want a funeral), the last day I saw her was the last day she was awake, and she knew who I was (she suffered from Dementia), I feel like in way she was waiting for me.  The last thing I said to her was "I love you Grandma" and gave her a big hug and kiss on her cheek.  I looked at my Grandma's face, and she had tears rolling down her cheeks.  My Grandma looked at me and said "I love you too".  "I love you too" were the last words I heard from my Grandma!  I couldn't have asked for more!
  The strange things that are happening, started after her death.  It was very early in the morning one day when I heard her voice.  I woke up so startled that I woke my husband!  I could swear I heard my Grandma say my name into my ear so clearly, like she was standing right next to me!  It was a weird feeling that both startled and soothed me at the same time. 
  A few days later, I was looking through a desk drawer and found a photo of my Grandma and me and realized it was the last photo we ever took together!  Later that same day I found some Christmas cards that my husband had just "stuffed somewhere" instead of throwing them away last Christmas, and one of them was signed by my Grandma and Grandpa (that's definitely a keeper!)
  Another thing is that it seems everytime I turn around I see things dated with her birthday like, documents, used checks, old receipts etc...These all feel strange o me.
  The strangest thing is, my Grandma's favorite flower was "Forget me nots".  We've lived in our house for almost 7 years and have never had flowers in our backyard, just grass and a tall bush.  This past weekend I was in the backyard, and saw something that made my jaw drop and brought tears to my eyes!  We have a whole bunch of "Forget me nots" growing all along the bottom of the back wall of our house!!
  I told you strange things are happening! 

  What do you think?




Forget Me Not
Forget me not, for I am there
In the beat of your heart,
On the wing of your prayer.

Forgive me my parting and leaving you thus,
A joyous reunion is waiting for us!

Continue to strive toward your goal and be brave.
Know that my love didn't stop at the grave.

My spirit is with you through good times and bad.
I share all the joys and the sorrows you've had.

Feel my presence within your next breath
And realize there's no distance in death.

Ask for my help and I'll answer your call.
Reach for my hand when you stumble and fall.

Run the last mile with a smile on your face.
My arms will be waiting when you finish the race.

Always remember, my love is right there
In the beat of your heart,
On the wing of your prayer.


~© Linda Shelburn Reagan~