Take Care,

I was typing an email to a friend the other day and I paused at the end, trying to decide what I wanted to put as my saluation before typing my name at the end of the message. It was someone I don't correspond with more the a few times a year, so I wanted to make sure I said something that got my heartfelt feelings across. I decided "Take Care" would be appropriate. This is the salutation I like to use when I don't want to use the standard "sincerely" or "very truly yours." To me, they have been so overused that they have become a formality. For some reason, I got to thinking about those two words "Take Care". Lately, I find myself worrying about the world we are living in. People are so busy that no one seems to be "taking care." I also worry about the economy and how it's effecting the people of our country. People are losing their jobs, losing their homes, losing their families and even their pets because of these financially difficult and unpredictable times. I got to thinking, what can I do to help? What can we do to help? And it was in this moment that those two words "Take Care" came to the front of my mind. What we can do and what we need to do is to "TAKE CARE". Take care of ourselves and take care of each other. If we all reached out to help someone, whether it's a family member, a friend, a stranger, a child, or even an animal, we could make it through these tough times a little easier, sharing the burdens with each other. If we all carried a little more of the load, it wouldn't be so hard for those whose loads have become too heavy for them to bear. As a parent, I always try to remind myself that it's easy to be a good parent when your kids are doing well, but if your a good parent when your kids are not doing well - that's when it counts. That is when you will know if you are a good parent or not! By the same token, it's easy to be a good husband/wife, brother/sister, neighbor/friend, employee/employer...when everything is going well. It's who you are when things get tough that really matters. Well these are the toughest times I've seen in my 40 years and I am very concerned for us all. We need to take action. We need to look beyond ourselves and see the need of others around us. Look and really See! If we all reach out and do just a little more than our share, maybe it will be enough. Now is the time to make a difference. Now is the time to be that change. My hope is that we will all take action and TAKE CARE! No act is too small. Take Care, please, take care...It's our only hope. Two words say it all.

Scrambled Eggs

When my mother was a little girl, probably around ten years old, which by today’s standards is no longer a little girl in the sense that is was back then, she liked to play dolls with her girlfriend. She said they would play house in an old shed and pretend they were the mothers and their dolls were their babies. She recalled finding empty crates to use for their dolls cribs. Sadly, today very few ten year olds play with dolls. They are dancing, singing and dressing up like the latest pop star being pushed on them via television, radio and the media.
One warm summer day while visiting my mother we were sitting outside, as we did on many occasions when the weather would allow it, I was recalling a flower that grew wild at the end of the street I grew up on. I would often pick one or two on a walk around the block. They were tiny yellow and white flowers atop tall, thin, green stems. If you squeezed them on the sides of the flower it would open up like a mouth. I used to pretend the flower could talk, like a ventriloquist’s dummy. I never cared to know the name of this flower. As a child a flower was just a flower. I looked at it and saw the pretty colors and wondered what it smelled like, what it could do, thinking it must have a purpose. As an adult, I have learned to put a name to or classify everything. As if doing so will somehow make sense of it when in reality it only eliminates the simple joy of its wonder. Yet, my need to do this has caused me to learn that these interesting little flowers are known as Snapdragons.
When it was time to feed their baby dolls they would pick the tiny yellow and white flowers, plucking them from their stems. Once they collected enough they would fill a bowl and feed them to their babies pretending they were scrambled eggs.
It was such a simple idea and recalling it brought a childlike smile to my mothers face and warmth in her eyes. I too was touched just by the thought of it. This, I thought, is the kind of childhood I want for my children. This is the kind of simple pleasures I long to know in my own life. A life full of simplicity and all that it beholds is available to us all. Innocence in its purest form can still be found all around us.
Let this be a reminded to us all to try to find some scrambled eggs and fill our bowl each day.

Happy Mother's Day - May 11, 2008

Mother's Flowers

In my mother's yard flowers grow front to back and everywhere in between

There are very few areas of soil, where soil can actually be seen

Pansies, petunias, carnations to name just a few

In every shape and size, every imaginable hue

That day I saw just flowers

Looking back now it's clear to me

That the beauty of those flowers

Was my mother's heart, you see

An outward expression for the world to see

The love that she has inside

A love so great, so deep and true

Yet so easy for her to hide

The care and attention required to keep those beautiful flowers alive

Reflect of her nurturing qualities

Her commitment, her patience and pride

So next time I see a garden I'll look beyond what my eyes only see

For behind it there may be more beauty

then just the flower or the bee...

Copyright ©2008 Penelope Joan Reola

I wrote this poem for my mother many years ago. It is still as true today as the day I wrote it. My mother and father have already put many hours into their yard and gardens and it shows. Everything is alive, growing and changing everyday. I love to see the pride in their eyes and joy on their faces when I stop by and they insist on showing me their work. You can always find the birds eating or bathing in the area of the yard dad has arranged for them. The squirrels have made homes in two of the bird houses. They even had babies and my parents got to see them bring their babies out of the house when it was time for them to move out on their own. It's a very peaceful place with just the right amount of sunshine, shade and tender loving care. I consider myself very fortunate and blessed to be able to call this place "Home". My mother always reminds me, when I tell her how much I can't wait for my yard to look as beautiful as hers, that it wasn't so long ago that it didn't look this way. She remembers the worn out areas where her kids would play that my dad could never get grass to grown on. She tells me that someday when my yard is as beautiful as hers I will wish for the days when it was overrun with my children playing. I know she is right. So for now, I am happy to just sit by her side in her beautiful garden talking, watch my kids do cartwheels or have a catch and soak up all the wisdom she can share. For this time, too, will pass far to quickly.

Ferdinand the Bull

Have you ever heard the story of Ferdinand the Bull? It's one of my favorites. When I was a child my parents had it on an album and I would listen to it often in my room on our record player. Please watch the video to the end. It's such a sweet story. It makes me think of two things, mainly. One, I can identify with Ferdinand's feelings of content and his ability to find pure joy in the simple wonders of life. Two, I really need that Bee to come along once in awhile to get me going. I see myself and my son, Tyler, in Ferdinand. I believe we are all who we are, call it spirit or soul, from the day we are born. Some of us just take longer to figure it out then others. There is peace in that knowing and understanding of ourselves and others and I will continue towards that truth in my life.

So, for those of us who need a little push now and then to get out of our comfort zone, I suggest visualizing Ferdinand and the Bee to give you the ZAP you need to get going.

Here it is...and enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGTVRbpAuRo