Since I've mentioned this blog in my Christmas cards, it's definitely time for an update! I intend to write more often . . .
Today I'm staying with my grandmother, who is 94. She lives with my aunt and family near Farmington, New Mexico, about 70 miles from Bayfield. We are watching The Sound of Music and drinking coffee. Grandma doesn't get out much anymore, but she enjoys company and is able to get around well at home. Just this fall she has begun to walk with a cane. I am glad to be able to stay with her when my aunt visits her own grandchildren in Oklahoma.
Until the fall of 2003, Grandma lived alone in a two-story house in Portales, New Mexico. She has been very independent since she was widowed in 1984, but became less and less able to do things like driving and cooking. She had spent occasional wnters with my aunt, and she knows a lot of people in this community because she was a first-grade teacher here until she retired.
Grandma and Granddad had five children, the oldest of whom is my father. They were both educators in New Mexico, beginning their careers in the 1930s and teaching in various districts until the 1970s. When they retired, they moved first to Mancos, Colorado, then to Roswell, New Mexico, to be near another of their children. They moved to Portales, where they had lived in the 1950s and home to several of their grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, not long before Granddad died.
My grandparents were both very creative people--she loved to sew and he enjoyed woodworking. Almost all of their children have lived in houses with their own families that Granddad built. Grandma was a talented pianist, but doesn't play anymore. All of their children play at least one instrument and they all love to sing. The three institutions that formed the foundation of my grandparents' lives were family, school and church. Their faith informed all that they did, and they set powerful examples for us of service and commitment to God, to each other and to the communities they lived in.
I think of my family as "normal," whatever that means, but I realize more and more that it is unusual. Divorce has been rare; as far as I know, no one has spent any time in incarceration; we have been spared tragedies that many families face. I believe that our secret is that commitment to God and to each other, that determination to stick together no matter what comes our way.
My cousin made a CD for us as his Christmas present this year. On it, he introduces each song he sings by saying who it reminds him of and why--over and over again, he mentions the faith and determination of various family members who have come through challenges with cheerfulness and renewed joie de vivre. It's not that we are happy all the time, and often it comes down to simply choosing to be positive, not so much because we feel like it but because it is how we have been taught to react.
In the movie, Maria teaches the children to think about their favorite things when they are afraid. At the end of the movie, the situation was terrifying, but having learned to mantain a positive outlook while confronting a brutal reality helped make a creative escape possible. Being realistic is very different from being negative; being negative makes a difficult reality even more difficult to face. The "what ifs" visit all of us sometimes, but we don't have to let them move in and take over! Faith helps us look past the "what ifs" and imagine the possibility that a difficulty won't last forever.
So--our movie is over and it's time to make another pot of coffee. What are you doing today? Let me know! It's a privilege to still have a Grandma to spend a few days with, and it's a privilege to tell you about her, too. I'm still figuring out the finer points of blogging, so look for improvements in the near future!
Today I'm staying with my grandmother, who is 94. She lives with my aunt and family near Farmington, New Mexico, about 70 miles from Bayfield. We are watching The Sound of Music and drinking coffee. Grandma doesn't get out much anymore, but she enjoys company and is able to get around well at home. Just this fall she has begun to walk with a cane. I am glad to be able to stay with her when my aunt visits her own grandchildren in Oklahoma.
Until the fall of 2003, Grandma lived alone in a two-story house in Portales, New Mexico. She has been very independent since she was widowed in 1984, but became less and less able to do things like driving and cooking. She had spent occasional wnters with my aunt, and she knows a lot of people in this community because she was a first-grade teacher here until she retired.
Grandma and Granddad had five children, the oldest of whom is my father. They were both educators in New Mexico, beginning their careers in the 1930s and teaching in various districts until the 1970s. When they retired, they moved first to Mancos, Colorado, then to Roswell, New Mexico, to be near another of their children. They moved to Portales, where they had lived in the 1950s and home to several of their grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, not long before Granddad died.
My grandparents were both very creative people--she loved to sew and he enjoyed woodworking. Almost all of their children have lived in houses with their own families that Granddad built. Grandma was a talented pianist, but doesn't play anymore. All of their children play at least one instrument and they all love to sing. The three institutions that formed the foundation of my grandparents' lives were family, school and church. Their faith informed all that they did, and they set powerful examples for us of service and commitment to God, to each other and to the communities they lived in.
I think of my family as "normal," whatever that means, but I realize more and more that it is unusual. Divorce has been rare; as far as I know, no one has spent any time in incarceration; we have been spared tragedies that many families face. I believe that our secret is that commitment to God and to each other, that determination to stick together no matter what comes our way.
My cousin made a CD for us as his Christmas present this year. On it, he introduces each song he sings by saying who it reminds him of and why--over and over again, he mentions the faith and determination of various family members who have come through challenges with cheerfulness and renewed joie de vivre. It's not that we are happy all the time, and often it comes down to simply choosing to be positive, not so much because we feel like it but because it is how we have been taught to react.
In the movie, Maria teaches the children to think about their favorite things when they are afraid. At the end of the movie, the situation was terrifying, but having learned to mantain a positive outlook while confronting a brutal reality helped make a creative escape possible. Being realistic is very different from being negative; being negative makes a difficult reality even more difficult to face. The "what ifs" visit all of us sometimes, but we don't have to let them move in and take over! Faith helps us look past the "what ifs" and imagine the possibility that a difficulty won't last forever.
So--our movie is over and it's time to make another pot of coffee. What are you doing today? Let me know! It's a privilege to still have a Grandma to spend a few days with, and it's a privilege to tell you about her, too. I'm still figuring out the finer points of blogging, so look for improvements in the near future!
posted by The View From Here | 8:45 AM
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