Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I shall die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I shall die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
--Classic Children’s Prayer from the 18th century.
If I should die before I wake
I want to be buried in the fetal position—
Very comforting,
I thought last night
As I was turning in my sleep.
I’m not comfortable very long
Lying on my back.
(Especially when Amy is out of town
And Pancake is sleeping at my feet.)
For the viewing, if there be one,
 |
| Pancake sleeping at the bottom of my bed where my feet should be if I were lying on my back. |
I could be stretched out appropriately;
But when they put me in the cardboard casket,
(Returning the rental one to the mortuary)
It would be square.
That wouldn’t be difficult, would it?
Cardboard is both cheap and flexible.
Rigor mortis could be a problem.
I’ll leave that up to the mortician.
But NO EMBALMING.
I think it was Amy Jayne who told us about
Cardboard Caskets and thrifty funerals.
I agree.
And should I live for other days,
I pray that God will guide my ways.
Amen
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS
As I ride my trike around the neighborhood
As I ride my trike around the neighborhood
Next to ours,
If I see a home for sale,
I think: Someone is getting a divorce.
Ten years ago, I would have thought:
Someone got a promotion and the family
is moving to a new exciting location.
*
It seems a little strange,
But I see more men than women
Working in flower beds.
More women than men are mowing lawns.
Women pruning hedges.
One woman was operating a heavy electric hedger
While her husband daintily raked.
What is going on?
*
During the day,
If I have time to sleep,
I’m sleepy.
If I don’t have time to sleep;
I’m not sleepy.
*
Generally I don’t see myself as dying immediately;
Even considering my abundant age.
But any little thing goes wrong
--bleeding, dizziness, numbness, pain, Staph—
I’m right on the register to die today.
A subtle reminder that we do not
Control our ultimate destiny.
*
Our computers display random photos slide shows
When not in use.
What I hate about seeing those pictures everyday:
#1 – A reminder we are still wearing the same clothes
we were wearing 5-10, even 15 years ago.
I thought they were new.
#2 – How quickly time flies.
Look how the grandchildren have grown!
Not to mention how everyone
Else has aged.
Nostalgia for the good ole days.
Less troubles.
More togetherness.
*
Coming out of church,
Carol asked if I wanted to see a picture of Shelli.
Jeanne’s old friend.
Looking for the picture of Shelli,
She ran across one of Scott.
Scott was the missionary we ran into on Red Square in Russia.
“He’s been a bishop for 4-1/2 years,” Carol brags.
Wasn’t that just yesterday?
I wouldn’t have recognized Shelli.
She’s middle-aged now.
“She colors her hair.
She lives in fear she’ll be grey like me,” Carol laughs.
“She got laid off at Kiffer.
She’s now working in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
A neurobiologist,
But she’s not getting enough hours.”
“What about her husband?”
“Oh, he doesn’t work.
He’s bi-polar.
Shelli’s had a hard life,
A very hard life.”
At least she comes home,
I reflect.
*
THE WORLD’S STUPIDEST CONVERSATION
Five miles out, on way home from St. George,
I realize I don’t have my cell phone.
“I never did find my phone,”
I say to my husband.
“Where is it?” he asks.
DUH
“Call it,”
he suggests.
“I don’t have a phone.”
DUH
“Get me to call it.”
“Is it going to be in the ice chest?”
(only baggage in cab)
DUH
Luckily, it was in the trunk
Packed in the side pocket of my suitcase.
DUH
We didn’t have to go back.
Probably couldn’t have found our way.
DUH
*
Leaving St. George
It is 104 degrees.
Arriving in Cedar City,
Only 86 blessed degrees.
*
At the service station
Where we buy natural gas
There is a pickup pulling a big boat,
Reminding me of watching our neighbors
Pull out in their big rig
For a day on the lake
Or a week at Lake Powell.
I loved our houseboat on Lake Powell
For the 20 or more years we were part owners;
But I truly feel sorry for speedboat owners
Who have to spend a day
In the sun and wind
fighting bumps and boredom
Riding round and round the lake.
*
We are almost to Fillmore; halfway.
“IF”
I tell my husband,
“I had forgotten the ice packs for my knees,
I’d insist we go back.”
They make it possible for me to sleep at night
Relatively pain-free.
He laughs.
He knows it’s the first thing I pack.
I may forget my cell phone;
I may forget my clothes, Kindle, or toothbrush;
But I will not forget my $100/each knee ice packs.
My salvation.
*
We had planned a Five-Sisters-Reunion
For this week
Until last minute one sister
Booked a flight to
See her son and family in Georgia.
“Well, if we had had the Sisters Retreat
it would all be over now.
So what’s the difference?”
I muse.
“Well, you could have had fun
instead of boredom,”
my husband suggests.
Sometimes in the twilight of our lives,
Boredom is not bad.
Yet forever,
In my heart,
I will miss the week with my sisters.
*
Speaking of broken hearts,
I was talking about a movie we saw last night.
Bright Star,
The love story of the poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne.
Keats died at the tender age of 25
Before he knew he would be
Considered one of the greatest romantic
and most beloved English poet ever.
“How refreshing,”
I comment,
“to see them touching hands,
gently kissing,
to express their love. . .”
“Which makes me jealous. . .”
Ed interjects.
Life isn’t fair, is it?
More than any other scripture,
The one I quoted in my high school graduation talk
More than 57 years ago,
Comes to mind several times each day:
Peace I leave with you,
My peace I give unto you.
Not as the world giveth
Give I unto you.
I should remember to quote
the last two important lines:
I should remember to quote
the last two important lines:
Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27
Another refrain
Another refrain
I repeat obsessively:
We may not know
We cannot know
What pains He had to bear
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.
Solace.
There Is a Green Hill Far Away
Chorus:
Oh, dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him too;
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.
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