Sentimental Things

My cat, Stormy, taught me a valuable lessons years ago, which I hope to never forget.

I had a desire to own a hand-made Amish quilt for many years.  Finally, once I’d saved enough money and was on the East Coast for a business trip, I splurged and bought it.  I should have built a shrine for it because I nearly worshipped that quilt.  It was the single most expensive thing I had ever purchased, save for a car.  I spread it across my bed with great pride and even just a glimpse of it made me smile.  Unless, of course, the glimpse included my cat Stormy, sleeping on it.  Cat hair was a blemish I would not tolerate.

Each day, when I left for work, I covered the quilt with a sheet, just to protect it, because I knew Stormy would be curled up near the pillow when I got home.  It was a solution that worked fine, until the day I forgot to put the sheet over the quilt.  When I came home and saw Stormy lying directly on the quilt, I panicked and quickly lifted him off. He had just woken up and hadn’t done his obligatory clawing into the bedding routine, so when I snatched him away, his claw were out and snagged my quilt.  I was devastated.  This was a blemish that wouldn’t wash out, as the cat hair could.

Each following day as I made my bed, I stared at that snag in the quilt and my heart sank.  I was so mad at myself for forgetting the sheet and mad at Stormy for wrecking the quilt.  Then soon afterwards, Stormy came down with cancer and died.  I loved that cat, in spite of his little annoyances.  I’d had him for fifteen years and I truly grieved his loss. 

The day after he died, when I made my bed and my eyes fell on that snag in the quilt, I cried.  Not because there was now a flaw in my precious Amish quilt, but because it was really the only tangible evidence I now had of having Stormy in my life for all those years.  Instead of thinking of that snag as a flaw, I now saw it as a treasure.  A hard and fast daily reminder of my precious kitty.  The quilt had became sentimental and far more meaningful to me BECAUSE of the snag, and I treasured it all the more.

I applied that lesson many times over in the years following.  After Kaleb was born, many things in our house were broken.  I got out the glue and smiled.  I thought of the future and that one day, he’ll be grown and gone, but I’ll still have the crack in the whatever as a reminder that he was once a blonde haired little two year old breaking my things.  I just had to let go of the idea of everything being nice and realize all our “stuff” is just that, and no one says it has to be perfect.

So this week, I’ve been praying earnestly for my step-niece to find some funding to pay for her second semester of college.  She was more than a few thousand short and she asked if we’d co-sign a loan for her.  Kory wouldn’t agree to it, mostly because of the outrageous interest rates, but my heart was all about helping her.  The very day I spent a great deal of time talking to God about that situation and asking how in the world we can help, since all our money is ear-marked for different things in our life and it seemed we didn’t have a dollar to spare, He came up with a creative solution. 

I was driving Kaleb to a meeting in our Lexus, and I got rear-ended.  It was a low-speed impact so no one got hurt but the back end of the car got pretty roughed up.  Thankfully, the lights still worked, the trunk opened and closed and the driver had insurance, so now we’ll be getting some unexpected money soon in order to fix the car – or not.  Kory says he can buy parts from the junkyard to fix the worst of it and he already popped out the biggest ding by hooking a chain around a tree, attaching a hook to the open trunk and having me drive forward.  It allowed the trunk to close better and it’s a good enough fix for me, especially since Kory agreed to give whatever money we get from the insurance company to my step-niece to help her with college tuition.  I couldn’t be more pleased.  The car has over 293,000 miles on it so putting money into it at this point seemed insane, anyway.

After Kaleb looked at the damage on the car, knowing we aren’t going to get it fixed and we’d be driving around in a less than perfect Lexus, he said, “Now I suppose this car is going to have special meaning, too?”  And I said, “Yep.”  And every time I look at the ding in the backend I’ll smile and thank God for how he helped us help my niece.  Hallelujah!

Another Season Ends

I think Thursday was the last glorious day of Autumn as the wind and rain have pretty much devastated all the color in the trees around our house.  Lucky for me, I spent that gorgeous sunny day down in Seattle with one of my most favorite people on the planet – Janet Johnson.

It was a bittersweet day, since it was the first anniversary of the death of her only child, JaRon.  We visited the hospice center in Kirkland where she spent her last days.  Ironically, a good friend of ours was the architect twenty years ago that designed that building, and Kory was on the crew that built it.  It’s a beautiful place and I was glad to be with Janet as she relived the memories and fought back the tears.

On our way over to the columbarium in Seattle where JaRon’s ashes are kept, we took a spontaneous drive through the Arboretum and then stopped at the Japanese Garden – a place neither of us had ever been to.   We were treated to nothing but eye candy while we were there – with blue sky and fall colors filling our peripheral vision from every angle.  It was breathtaking and it helped soothe our soul from the sadness of the day.  We could have lingered for hours but Janet wanted me to see where JaRon’s remains are at because she also wanted to show me where she will be when her day comes, since they are in the same place.

It’s strange, planning for death, but also comforting, too.  We are all going to die someday and I certainly don’t want my last few thoughts to be “I should have…”, so I’ve gotten everything planned out myself, right down to writing my own obit and designing my headstone.  I guess you could say I’ll be controlling people from the grave, but it sure takes a lot of guesswork out of things for those that are left behind to wonder what in the world I would have liked.  It’s the same for Janet.  I sure hope she’s not leaving anytime soon, however, as she’s my spiritual rock and the best prayer warrior I know.

This has been a delightfully normal week in regards to other aspects of our lives.  Kaleb is giving us “the business” from time to time and had to have a few consequences for his defiance, but I guess that will become the “new normal” as the teenage years are soon upon us.

I got an e-mail about a week ago from a guy I didn’t know in California.  He asked to hire me to do some genealogy research for him on his Norwegian grandfather.  I recognized his last name and as it turns out, he is a first cousin to the husband of my mom’s first cousin in North Dakota.  They don’t even know each other.  Small world.  So the work I did for him, helped an extended family member as well, which was kind of funny.  I couldn’t believe how quickly I was able to track down nearly all branches of his family back to the early 1700s.  It was nice to feel productive.  Turns out, someone else I’d done family research work for knew him and recommended me.  I really should charge money for this, but as it is, it feeds my addiction and gives me a reason to stay up late and hunt for the dead.  It’s a cheap thrill and I’m getting good at it.  It’s nice to know I’m good at something.

The Glories of Autumn

I’m thankful God gives us these glorious days of Autumn, full of color and crisp air, sunshine and the final fruits of the harvest just to lift our spirits before the gray and barren days of winter set in.  I’ve so been enjoying watching the leaves turn color and fall to the ground.  Our own driveway has taken my breath away a few times when the late afternoon light filters in through the remaining golden leaves.  I so wish this season lasted longer.

One windy day last week it looked like it was snowing in our yard, but it was just all the cedar droppings from the trees around us, falling down in a magnificant shade of burnt orange.  It wasn’t so fun to rake up, but it did give me an excuse to go outside for a while.  Unfortunately, no sunshine hits our house now, and won’t again for several months, so we need to leave in order to get a dose of Vitamin D.  It’s a good thing we have a nice view to take our mind off the lack of sunshine in the winter, otherwise I’m sure I couldn’t bear it.

Kory’s been building daily fires in the downstairs woodstove trying to keep the house warm without using the diesel furnace.  Our new fireplace inserts arrives next week.  The new tile over the hearth was set last week and I can’t wait for the new look to arrive in our living room.  Once I get things the way I like them, I’m not much for changing them, but I’ve never liked the looks of the fireplace, so now the room will feel complete and a bit cozier.  After 13 years, the room probably needs a paint job, but I’m still happy with the way it is. 

It’s funny, this house still feels like we just moved in with projects still waiting to get done.  Our van we bought in 2006 feels new to me, too.  I’m not sure when things are supposed to feel old or worn out.  Perhaps my body will feel that way before anything materialistic that we own does.  I’m just thankful for what we have and each day that we now count as “normal.”

I’ve been thrilled lately to be in a routine and working on my to-do list again.  I’ve gotten all my Christmas gifts wrapped and Kaleb’s birthday scheduled out.  I realized I haven’t had much time for future planning lately, since I’ve been operating in a “just in time” kind of mode where I’m flying by the seat of my pants each and every day.  It’s been nice this last week or so to have some quiet time and plan out a few things.  In fact, it feels downright luxurious.   I’m not in panic mode on anything, Kaleb’s school work is on a nice pace and Kory is keeping himself busy volunteering his carpentry skills at church and a few other local charities.  I’ve even been able to do some meal planning, visiting with friends and do genealogy research for a few folks.  I’m promising myself not to get bored.  After six months this year of a crazy busy life, these days of “normal” feel pretty darn good.

Dryer Season

The other day, when Kaleb reached for a fresh towel after a shower, he said with a great sense of satisfaction in his voice, “Awwww… dryer season.”  I had to ask what he meant.  “The towels are finally soft again because they’ve been dried in the dryer.” 

All summer long I hang out our laundry – rain or shine.  We have a covered porch so even if it’s damp outside, the laundry is hanging around somewhere, trying to get dry.

I will admit, I don’t much care for the crunch of a wind blown bath towel, but the bed sheets are another story.  I love the fresh air smell and feel once they’ve been hanging on the line to dry.  The towels are another story.

The other thing Kaleb loves about “Dryer Season” as he calls it, is that he curls up on our bed as I’m bringing out a fresh load from the dryer so I will dump all the warm clothes on top of him.  I’ve been doing that since he could walk.  He loves being under a pile of warm clothes and he stays in that little cocoon as long as he possibly can.

We may not be a family that looks forward to Fall with great anticipation because it ushers in the arrival of hunting season, but we do know when Fall arrives without stepping a foot outside, just by the feel of the bath towels against our skin.  Dryer Season is upon us.