WEDDING BELLS

Wedding bells will ring this week-end when my 88-year-old cousin Mary Joyce Johnson is joined in matrimony with her 90-year-old sweetheart Elwood Ferrell.  The double-ring wedding ceremony will take place at the Blooming Grove Church of Christ at 5:00 PM Sunday, with a reception immediately following in the Fellowship Room of the church..

When Mary Joyce called me a few minutes ago to tell me the good news, the happiness in her voice made her sound more like an 18-year-old than an 88-year-old.  The invitations and wedding announcements are being sent by word of mouth rather than by the traditional engraved or printed form...because, you see, the decision to go forward with the marriage was just made earlier this week.

Mary Joyce told me that when they went to the county court house today to get the marriage license, they created quite a storm.  Imagine...a 90-year-old and an 88-year-old applying for a license to get married! Several people took pictures of the happy couple, and Mary Joyce promised she'd send me a picture of Elwood signing the marriage license application.

Refreshments at the wedding reception will be provided by the members of Mary Joyce's Young at Heart Club.

Young at heart.  We hear that expression used frequently, but in this case, it is a reality. Mary Joyce and Elwood only recently rekindled their pre-World War II relationship.  (See my earlier post dated October 23, 2012, for the first half of this story.)  If they had listened to some of their children or some of the care-givers at Elwood's retirement home, they would have resigned themselves to behaving like other "old people."  But Mary Joyce and Elwood are not like other "old people."  They figure that they deserve to spend whatever time they have left on this good earth together.  I say, good for them!

My only regret is that I won't be able to attend the wedding.

                                                                                                 
                                                     

My Own Gratitude Log Blog

                                                                           
Less than a week from now we will be celebrating Thanksgiving, and I've noticed that many of my Facebook friends have been posting daily comments about aspects of their lives for which they are thankful. Not wanting to go entirely public with my own gratitude log, I've decided to post my thoughts here.  Please note that my list is not in any particular order of importance, but rather an off-the top-of- my-head stream of consciousness (that's redundant, I know).  Also, I may add to my list from time to time.

I am thankful for. . .

. . . my amazing husband of almost fifty years (my soul-mate through thick and thin, good times and bad).

. . . my truly remarkable thirty-year-old son (our gift from God when we least expected it).

. . . my overall excellent health at age sixty-nine (no medical problems and no daily prescriptions).

. . . being born in a free and prosperous country.

. . . growing up in a home in which I knew beyond a doubt that I was loved.

. . . having the opportunity to pursue a college education.

. . . being able to become a teacher and enjoying that profession for over twenty years.

. . . my glass-half-full attitude about life.

. . . my kind and gentle father.

. . . my loving and supporting mother.

. . . growing up in the 50s, when life was simpler and the music was a lot better than it is today.

. . . having re-connected with the Moores, my mother's side of the family.

. . . having a younger brother that I'm close to.

. . . friends that have come and gone over the years, but mostly for the ones that I enjoy today.

. . . locating and re-connecting with my long lost forty-something nephew.

. . . having a "sousin" (that's a coined word for my first cousin who is more like a sister to me).

. . . my son's sweet girlfriend.

. . . the fact that winter lasts only six months in Wisconsin!

. . . the opportunity to travel the world (France, England, Ireland, and Italy . . . so far!)

. . . having discovered yoga.

. . . having developed an interest in afternoon tea and scone-baking.

. . . being a native of Texas (and holding out hope that we'll move back there some day).

. . . the beautiful sunsets on Lake Sherwood.

                                                                         

Post-Election Depression

That's it!  I'm done! As a confirmed political junkie for the past nine years, I have finally made the decision to cut the cord!

No more

No more

                                                                                   
                   
No more

                                                                   

And, no more

                                                     

When I think of how much time and energy I have wasted keeping up with all the political pollution, it makes me heart-sick!

Let's see, I'd usually start my day by checking my inbox and reading all the forwarded anti-Obama articles and political cartoons.  (I'd even forward a few my self to like-minded souls.)  Then, I'd read USA Today online, where most of the paper was devoted to poll results (and the absence of Benghazi news).  While I got dressed and put on my make-up or if I was going anywhere in the car by myself, I was tuned into 99.9 FM, the local Fox affiliate radio station out of Wausau, and listened to Jerry Bader give us his take on how the election was shaping up.  This was just a time-killer until the main event...Rush Limbaugh.  Then, of course, our evening entertainment consisted of a solid diet of Fox News:  Bill O'Reilly (I really can't stand this arrogant, verbally abusive man!), Shawn Hannity (he's really turned into a rude pit-bull!), and Greta Van Susteren (basically a re-hash of all the "news flashes" that we'd already heard).

I threatened to become apolitical after the 2008 election, but after last night's sad and disappointing election results, I am now adamant about divorcing myself from anything to to with politics.  I will not watch BHO on TV or listen to any pundits rant and rave about him.  I will not listen to any of the president's press conferences, nor will I listen to any more State of the Union Addresses.  I don't want to know how he's continuing on his mission of fundamentally changing this county into a socialist nation.  I don't want to see any pictures of him smirking and Cheshire-grinning.  I don't want to see Michelle or the two daughters.  I don't want to know!

Instead I will get back to what I used to do before I became so infected with the political bug....I will catch up on my fiction reading and devote more time to creative projects that I have on my mental to-do list.  I will walk on the treadmill and listen to music on my iPod to drown out the sounds of Fox News coming from the other room.

I have deleted CNN and Fox News from my iPad.  I'm still debating about whether to delete USA Today from my laptop and my iPad.

For once, I think that ignorance may just be BLISS!