Grand Elf Christmas Pageant

Posted on 16/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

With each passing year, I love little kids more. Not that I didn’t love my kids, but they were brats at times. Now, I can walk away from all the brattiness. It’s fun to watch them when they are at their best. It also gives me great pleasure to watch revenge being dispensed upon my own progeny.

Last night, Grandma Peggy and I went to watch Grand Elves 3 and 5 perform. Grand Elf 3 is in the school band, while his little sister, Grand Elf 5,  is in the first grade choir. They were great. The band reminded me of the scene from Music Man where Professor Harold Hill begins to conduct the kids with their new instruments. “Think kids, think.” Half of the band members were new to their instruments. The conductor/music teacher, proudly announced that they had been taking lessons for six weeks. Just as in Music Man, when the kids began playing, the parents began to swoon and had visions of their kid in Carnegie Hall.

I was pleased when the older kids re-enacted the tribulations of Mary and Joseph on Christmas Eve complete with a rejection at the Inn. This evening  is one that will  linger in my memory, and will be good for a few private conversations with their grandmother.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Filed under: Characters I knew, family, grief, Memories, Music, religion, Tree of Life, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The Tree of Life Keeps Giving

Posted on 11/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

It might be my imagination, but this year I sense a spirit of caring that prevails across the country. Times are tough and people are out of work. I hear that a lot. It is what makes those who are working care for those who aren’t working. People not only care, they are giving from their hearts. I see Giving Trees at church, and at the Township Hall. I see people stuffing dollar bills into canisters at check out counters, I see people standing in front of super-markets with collection cans. Most are collecting for food. There are coat collection drives, toys for tots, and the list grows as the need increases. We are a giving nation, and conditions warrant taking care of those who are suffering, and I see people giving from their hearts.

Yes, Uncle does help, but only by placing a mortgage on the kids they help. Imagine if you were giving a gift to someone, but you made them sign a paper to pay it back with interest?  Uncle takes a big cut to keep high paid government workers voting his way.

Couldn’t we do better by ourselves?  Couldn’t private organizations do a better, more efficient job of taking care of those in need than Uncle? Yes we can, and we do.

Related Articles

Filed under: Conservative, economy, family, Government, liberals, Motivation, religion, Society, Tree of Life | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Christmas Stories

Posted on 10/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Thank you for reading my story Santa is Missing, and for all the complimentary comments. I truly appreciate your  kind words. If you missed a chapter or want to start from the beginning, just click here: Santa is Missing. All ten chapters are linked and indexed for your convenience.

For new readers, who have not had the opportunity to read the 2009 story titled The Gift, I am publishing a completely revised version this year. The first part of eight begins on December 16, and will run daily to completion near Christmas eve.

I liked The Gift because it challenged me to express my personal views on Christmas and God.  If you wish to read a simple warm story about an angel who decides to give the Boss a gift for Christmas The Gift is for you. I hope you take my challenge and read it. I also hope it leaves you with a warm glow in your heart about Jesus Christ and Christmas.

Filed under: Birds, Cartoons, children's writers, family, Memories, religion, Santa is Missing, THE GIFT-2010 Edition, Tree of Life, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Life is a Party

Posted on 07/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

I received the following  piece of wisdom from an e-mail friend. It is a beautiful philosophy of life by Ann Wells of the  Los Angeles Times. The link below takes you to the original story from which it was extracted. I thank Ms Wells for writing this beautiful perspective on enjoying life’s moments.  Her  inspiration came while reflecting on her  sister’s death.

*The last line says it all. *

Dear Bertha,

. . . I’m reading more and dusting less. I’m sitting in the yard and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the  garden. I’m spending more time with my family and friends and less time working.

Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experiences to savor, not to endure. I’m trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them.

I’m not “saving” anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special event such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, or the first Amaryllis blossom.

I wear my good blazer to the market. My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries. I’m not saving my good perfume for special parties, but wearing it for clerks in the hardware store and tellers at the bank.

“Someday” and “one of these days” are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it’s worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now

I’m not sure what others would’ve done had they known they wouldn’t be here for the tomorrow that we all take for granted. I think they would have called family members and a few close friends. They might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to think they would have gone out for a Chinese dinner or for whatever their favorite food was.

I’m guessing; I’ll never know.

It’s those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew my hours were limited. Angry because I hadn’t written certain letters that I intended to write one of these days. Angry and sorry that I didn’t tell my husband and parents often enough how much I truly love them. I’m trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, tell myself that it is special.

Every day, every minute, every breath truly is a gift from God.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance.

“Good Night Mrs. Callabash.”

Related Articles

Filed under: Characters I knew, family, grief, Memories, Motivation, Tree of Life, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Life Evolves With the Tree

Posted on 04/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Life moves ahead and the Tree of Life does too. It is not a static entity. My Tree of Life grew each year, and is still growing this year. The adornments that hung from her branches evolved yearly. At  first it was just birds, like the Navaho rug design. Then it moved to the bird house ornaments made by the grand elves. The next year, the bird houses had birds perched at the openings.

The original tree was green, but the ornamental birds didn’t show off very well. The green tree morphed and became white. The original multi-colored lights morphed into clear. This year, a few red bulbs are mixed in to make it pop more. The first flowers were simple red poinsettia placed randomly around her boughs. They looked so good they migrated to become the tree topper. The next year the poinsettia changed to pink with red roses mixed between.  The bouquet at the top became a focus, and soon there were lilies, baby’s breath, roses, poinsettia, carnations, iris, and even hydrangea.

Christmas is not Christmas without poinsettia. Every year growers introduce new colors and invent new ways to add sparkle and pizzaz to the flower. The bracts are sprinkled with glitter, dyed, and painted to make them unique and  colorful. Every year, I see a new artificial poinsettia that out does the last year’s prize. Usually, I buy a bunch of a new one that catches my eye and add it to the Tree. This year however, Grandma Peggy found something which is outstanding. They are boughs of  a simple leafy plant that resembles schefflera covered in red glitter.

One year a friend visited China, and brought me some Panda book marks. Each Panda is made of colored  paper that is hand cut and glued to a flat piece of bamboo.The Panda is a life form and has found a home place on the Tree. The same happened with butterflies. We found them while touring shops in Saugatuck, Michigan

The Tree of Life moves forward with new additions and some deletions every year making it a unique representation of our own lives.

My tree took a seven-year nap, and has now come back to remind me that life goes on even if circumstances change drastically.

Related Articles

Filed under: Birds, family, Garden, grief, Memories, Tree of Life, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »