And You Thought My Words Were Gone....

You have probably noticed—if you remembered to drop by at all—that this blog has been silent for a VERY long time.

 Yes.

 And No, I am NOT going to itemize all the things that have happened since I whined about these restless legs back in my September post…… even though I assure you it is a most legitimate whine. Generally, I just live with it. Mostly.

But, I do have a word or two of my own for you and I found a quote I am excited to share with you. I hope it blesses your day.

First, my own SHORT words. I don’t know if any of you stumbled across my NEW blog I spent months creating. I started it when I turned SEVENTY-FIVE years OLD last year. I was DETERMINED to keep a stiff upper lip, a smile on those lips, and a happy glint in my eyes as I grew older and older. I named my new blog: Finishing Life Gracefully. Yes. I WOULD be a GRACEFUL and LOVELY and ADORABLE old woman.

You can access the blog here. Probably.  http://finishinglifegracefully.blogspot.com/

 Okay. Did you go read my positive and exciting words about giving thanks and being grateful and living out my last days GRACEFULLY?

Well. I have THREE little words for you :

 Old Age STINKS.

And, old age can catch you by surprise. And GRACEFUL went out the window about 12 weeks ago. Most days, I am NOT a very nice woman.

Enough negative????????????????

 Good. Now to words that will perhaps inspire you and make all things better.

 Yesterday, I found a quote on Hope Clark’s blog. She is a writer and she blogs about writers and writing. Like many of us, she did many things in her life before she began writing “out in the open.” She has always written but, like many of us in our early years, she wrote secretly. You can read her complete blog for January 31, 2013 here http://hopeclark.blogspot.com if you like. She is a fun read!

But first, come into the scene with me:

I’m tired. I’m in pain. I’ve had a hard day. I’ll be SEVENTY-SIX years old in about three weeks. I open her e-mail that contains her blog and commence reading.

Hope Clark, the expert on writers and writing, happily gives me several points to ponder and then tells me to stop pondering and get to writing.

THEN she stops preaching and goes to meddling when she quotes George Eliot. ----You do know who George is--- right? George was actually Mary Anne Evans (November 11, 1819 – December 22, 1880), an English novelist and a leading writer of the Victorian era. She chose a pen name to ensure her works would be taken seriously. Of course, today’s sources from Google debate whether Ms/Mr.Eliot actually said this or not. I suggest we just accept it as a quote worth considering and go from there?????

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

 Hummmmm. Well . . . . . Maybe so. Maybe not.

 However, I promise you that Hope Clark’s personal comment is EXCELLENT:

“Don't worry about what might have been or what you neglected to take advantage of. As long as you are breathing, you are still on your journey.”

 And we just can’t stop there. As long as I am doing my best to find the BEST in life, especially in these time of sickness, hospitals, having to depend on another person to meet every one of my needs, and medications that make one crazy beyond belief..

it was great fun to discover Marcus Tullius Cicero. WHO  ????, you ask.

Marcus was a Roman politician, lawyer, and orator who lived from 106 BC to 43 BC… according to one source on Google. Among other achievements, Marcus was a philosopher which means my grandson John is probably one of his friends. Anyway. He is supposed to have said:

“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.”

Sort of like today. Huh???????????????

But wait!! He ALSO said--- now pay attention. This is worthy:

 “Where there’s life, there’s hope.”

I can hang my hat on that one!! Because I know Jesus Christ and because I have very recently knocked loudly at death’s door and then I was given the opportunity to come home to hug my human loved ones, there IS HOPE.

Of course, I saved a goodie for last. If you don’t find substance and joy and delight in this quote, just go back to your computer game and leave the living to the rest of us who cut herbs and underline important things in books.

“If you have a garden and a library,

you have everything you need.”

Thank you Mr. Cicero. I WILL keep my hope alive to plant my spring garden this year.

 Thank YOU, Hope Clark for pushing me to put words on the pages of my computer screen, even when I think I have no words.

 

THANK YOU…. to all of you who have kept in touch, checked on me and my family, sent cards, written e-mails, telephoned, and prayed through all this long three months. You have provided much joy and I have real hope that my health will return with vim, vigor, and vitality very SOON.

          Blessings,
               Liz