Skip to main content

if I could

My Grandmother never learned how to drive. After my Grandfather passed away, she had to rely on her children and grandchildren to get places. As a working teenager, it was a little frustrating that when I did make time to see her, all she wanted me to do was drive her places, often long distances, to see people and do things. As an adult looking back, I now understand how little freedom she had and how important those visits were to her. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate my visit, me skipping activities with friends or using a vacation day to come see her; it was simply that my (or others) visit was a small window of opportunity to do something.

I was reminded of that today. A weekly volunteer who comes in to help at work was talking about another lady who would love to come work and do things, but has no way to come. It made me sad to hear that, and made me wish we had the freedom to leave work and go pick her up and take her home.

I like to think that if I could go back in time with the knowledge I have now, that I would schedule regular visits, like every other week, to see my Grandmother and take her places. And yet I think about how frantic my lifes is now, and how seldom it seems I have free time. Would it really be any different today?
Labels:

Comments

Lydia said…
Totally off the subject of your post (I do that a lot)...what is the Dreamweaver book?

Tell Bobby thanks for watching the girls Sunday morning while Rich came back home to pick me and the boys up. We now have a new battery in the van:)
March 22, 2009 at 7:56 PM
Monica said…
Dreamweaver is an Adobe software that creates web pages. I had an introductory class before I graduated from Wake Tech, but have never done anything else with it. When I had to upgrade all my Adobe Software in January, I was able to get a discount off the instruction books, so I'm hoping to both freshen up and learn the Dreamweaver software better. There's 11 chapters in the book, but each one comes with a lesson and exercises to do.
March 22, 2009 at 8:59 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

things we do for love

Saturday we had a baby shower for Bobby's niece. As I was making the mints, Bobby asked what else was on the menu. After I recited off the litany of items, he responded with "No peanut butter?! This shower is for Hannah! What's she going to eat?" (Hannah has had stomach problems over the years and has been unable to tolerate many foods, but peanut butter has been her staple.) Despite my assurances that she would enjoy the foods we were having, he was adamant that I needed to make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for the shower. Even though I protested that NOBODY took that to a shower, he persisted, and informed me I could make them dainty with my little cutter. And so I did. To my surprise all but 3 were eaten. Who'd a thunk it?
9 comments
Read more

perspectives

A few years ago after a Bible study a lot of the group continued to sit and talk and simply relax. One of the ladies felt like she was being mistreated by her boss. She was always given extra tasks or asked to assume responsibilities that no one else was asked to do. She felt it was unfair. As she was listing off some of the extras (she worked in a cafe for a plant), I was in flashback mode. My last year of college I was a shift manager at a fast food place. One of my many duties was to ensure that certain cleaning jobs (extra duties) was assigned and done properly. We were inspected by company headquarters once a quarter, and 3 of their 4 visits was ALWAYS a surprise visit. When I handed out those extra assignments, I had three things in mind: Who will do this job without making a bigger mess? Who can quickly do this job so we don't impede serving customers? Who will do this without the most drama? In essence, I wanted the best person for the job. Use the teenager who griped and c...
Post a Comment
Read more

fun...funny houses

 We saw the above house in Pittsboro while on our way to the mountains. It was the strangest house I've ever seen. Evidently this isn't a modification, for Bobby remembers thinking it funny as a child. Evidently a governor lived here at one point. I think the sign said it's now a Masonic lodge. And if seeing one funny house wasn't enough, the latest issue of This Old House had a link to their website that had several galleries of funny (or strange houses). Here's my favorites from their collection:   Szymbark , Poland  This just makes me laugh, and I would love to visit this house in person. Created by a designer who wanted to demonstrate "wrong-doings against humanity".  Visitors have stood in line for as long as 6 hours to tour the house, and many come out feeling "sea-sick".     Kalambaka, Greece... This 1,000 foot cliff drop has housed monastaries since the 11th century. Six of them are open to the public, " assuming, of course, th...
1 comment
Read more