Heirlooms Revisited

This is my grandson. As he made little lines by pulling his fingers against the nap of the fabric on this chair my thoughts went back some sixty years.

I used to do the very same thing when I was a little girl. It was fun. And all you had to do was brush your hand over the fabric again and the lines would disappear.

My brother and sister and I had all done it. Then I realized not only did I do that myself but I did it on this exact same chair which was in my grandmother's living room. I can remember it so clearly. The chair has been reupholstered several times, but it's the same chair. I explained to my grandson that I had also done that when I was little and that the chair belonged to my grandmother then.

I tried to explain to him who my grandmother would be in relation to him. I was kind of shocked to realize that the woman I remember so clearly was his great-great grandmother! Two greats!! I think it was kind of hard for him to imagine that his nana had a grandmother.

Yeah. Started feeling kind of old. Just kind of. ;-)

And check out this picture! I think it's better than I ever remember drawing! Both of those grandparents were artists-- musicians. My grandfather also made oil paintings in his retirement. I bet they're both smiling at this work of their great-great grandson on the furniture that used to grace their living room.

Somehow we remain connected by threads of memory to those who went before us. And somehow, I am quite sure, they must be pleased. God rest their souls.

The Weeds and the Flowers...such is life

Sometimes I like weeding in my garden. It gives me the joy of absorbing the glory of God all over every flower.

                                                                                      

Here is a dwarf butterfly bush blooming. I love it, although it is a little weedy-looking.

And this is a dwarf hibiscus.  Lots of enormous, delicate, beautiful flowers. The petals look like tissue paper. And each blossom only stays for a couple days. A gorgeous and poignant reminder of the brevity of life.

So I love to be around these beauties, even if the reason is because I'm weeding. Even if I should have weeded many weeks ago.

Look at this king weed (not a proper name). Incidentally, the weeds are not going to get links. They have enough advantages. :-) How did I not notice this monster? Or this guy.

                                                                                

Or this!

It's not really that I didn't notice them. Sometimes it was that I was too busy to get out there and pull those things. 

As I weed, I am reminded of how important focus is. I can think about God's gorgeous gift of flowers of enormous variety and how the greatness of God is mirrored in His creation. 

Or I can bemoan the fact that I did not get to the weeds earlier and that they've gotten so big and invasive. I could even do worse and criticize myself for letting them grow so wild or decide that I should just resign myself to not being a very good gardener. Or I could sink into self-pity that I don't have more time to devote to gardening. No, I must not do any of these things.

Instead, may my focus be on God and His glory. May I block those negative thoughts with prayers of thanksgiving and praise for the gift of creation.

And may I apply the same principle to my life. There are weeds. And there is plentiful beauty, grace, and blessings. Let's focus on the blessings.

Thanks be to God. He is so good.

 For the first time, I attended last week the Catholic Writers Guild in-person conference. It was a delightful experience. I met many other catholicMom contributors, including some I have "spoken" with extensively online but have never met in person.

What a treat it was to be in the company of so many like-minded people. There was an Adoration chapel! There was an exhibit hall full of companies marketing products to Catholics-- book sellers, statues, Catholic devotional items. children's items....The day started with Mass and the rosary!

It was so wonderful to put faces to names. There was grace! There was a positive, warm, friendly spirit about the entire event.

The articles I've shared on social media, the zoom get-togethers, the faces are now assigned to the writer.

Fantastic experience. If you are a Catholic writer I highly recommend attending next year.