My mother has been gone for almost 6 years...but I still think about her each and every day.
I miss her...
I wish she was here to see my children grow up and become such great people. I wish she could watch The Cutest Boy in the World play sports (yay! Lacrosse season started today!) and see Ke$ha Barbie's photography.
I wish she was here to talk to. So she could tell me things are good...that I was once a teenager like Ke$ha Barbie and I survived (and so did she) and how to make her spaghetti sauce that was ah-may-zing...
I wish she was here to see me wear her dress...the dress I once refused to wear.
I have this gorgeous friend. I'll call her "Bulletgirl". There is a reason for the name---she makes jewelry from bullets and that is her company name. It is pretty amazing stuff...here's a link:
http://www.bulletgirl.com/
She's really what I would call a "hot" chick. Gorgeous. Sexy. Stunning.
She once weighed 95 pounds more than she does now.
So I saw her last night and met her mother.
Equally gorgeous...equally stunning...equally sexy.
We were showing each other our "fat" pictures. Suffice it to say that mine were "worse" but hers were pretty bad. I didn't recognize her.
As we were looking at photos on our phones, I told her that I also had one of those "really gorgeous" moms. We both rolled our eyes.
It is hard to have a stunning creature as your mother.
And when you are fat and you have a thin mom who looks like a movie star it is that much harder.
So we were comparing notes as to how difficult that was and how we often felt like people would look at us and look at our moms and wonder "what happened?".
Or would say "wouldn't she be so pretty if she was just THINNER?"
I think I mentioned that when I told GOTT that I was going to lose weight because I wanted to be beautiful, he said "but you ARE beautiful" (that WAS the right answer...ding ding ding ding!).
But few people see that when you are overweight...they just see the fat.
And when you have a pretty mommy, they see you as fat and some sort of failure because you don't live up to the beauty that your mother posseses.
So as I looked at Bulletgirl and her gorgeous mom (who frankly could easily pass as her sister...my mom was that way too), I was happy for both of them...but not because they are both fit, trim and beautiful (they really are) but because I could see the INNER beauty in both of them.
I met Bulletgirl last fall because her son played on GOTTSON's football team. And then we bonded at GOTT and GOTTESS' Halloween party. She saw me on Saturday and asked GOTTESS if that was indeed me when she saw me (I'm 30 pounds lighter than the last time).
You know when you meet someone and you just "click"...well, that is me and Bulletgirl. It is not just the weight thing...it is a "click" thing.
I'm glad she's my friend...
And I love having someone who understands when I say things about my mom.
My mom was stunning...gorgeous...looked like a sister not a mom...
When she took me to A&M for orientation, SHE got asked out on a date...not me...her! The guy thought she was a grad student.
Sheesh...
My mom was one of those women who you just LOOKED at when she walked into the room.
She took good care of herself.
Her plastic surgeon misses her almost as much as I do...
But it wasn't just the face lifts and botox...she walked every day and worked out...she stayed fit and healthy.
I must have been a bit of a disappointment to her in that I let myself go and didn't work at it.
I once asked her if she was ashamed.
She said she wasn't...
but I wondered if she was just hiding the fact that every time she looked at my overweight self she wondered why I couldn't control my eating better.
I'm older now and my kids are older and now I "get it" that in a mother's eyes, we are all perfect. I know now that she probably wasn't as disappointed as I thought she was.
I often wish I had my mother's beauty...her sense of style...her ability to accessorize...her taste.
I got some of it but not all of it.
I often like to joke that I wish God had given me my mother's thin thighs and my father's thick hair. I got the opposite. I have my mother's thin hair and my father's thick thighs. Ke$ha Barbie got the right combination...her hair is a glory and her thighs are perfect.
We all have beautiful mothers...they are the most beautiful women in the world. Mine happened to have the kind of beauty that most people consider to be exceptional...but I cannot name a friend among mine that doesn't have a beautiful, beautiful mother...
I miss my beautiful mother...and I wish she was here...
I'm happy I have Bulletgirl to sympathize with when it comes to the "hot mama" department. And I am happy I have her to talk about how it feels to lose so much weight. And when she said last night that she doesn't have many photos of herself as a fat person because she "hid from the camera" I can sympathize. She also said that she often felt like she wanted to disappear...I get that. I'm happy to have her to talk about THOSE things with...
But mostly I'm happy to have her as a friend. A beautiful hot, sexy friend...who makes some pretty cool jewelry...
Inspiration Song: "Mamma Mia"...by ABBA! The version from the "Mamma Mia" soundtrack is pretty awesome too. I have always loved that song...
Bye Darlings...go and hug your gorgeous mother if you are still lucky enough to have her...
Showing posts with label Mom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mom. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, August 23, 2010
Dress You Up
I went shopping today...for some more workout clothes...I can't believe I can actually buy some IN A STORE and not online from the fat chick websites.
I bought some tops the other day from Lucy. A friend told me about Lucy so I checked out the website (because I was too lazy to drive to Highland Village, not because of size! yea!) and bought a few things.
They fit...
If you want some nice workout gear that has a great fit, a long length in tops (I like that for spin), and actually makes you look BETTER when you put it on (vs. looking like a squashed sack of potatoes), try Lucy...
But today I headed to Academy and picked up a couple of new pairs of compression shorts for cycle (I don't care for the padded bike shorts) and some new t-shirts because the tents I am wearing are starting to be...tents...
It felt good even though I was buying an XL...at least it wasn't a 2X or 3X...it's been a while since I could fit an XL.
I slid into a smaller t-shirt last night too...that felt GREAT!
Tomorrow I am sitting in while GOTT and TTG audition 8th graders for the fall musical. I watch and tell them if I can make a scrawny 8th grader look like a princess. GOTT is considering 2 shows...one will be easy...the other terrifies me. I won't say what they are lest I jinx myself (trust me, I am really pulling for one because I have done it before) but the challenge of the scary one does offset the terror...a bit...
Costuming children is something I have found that I really enjoy. I love the challenge of getting 70-80 kids into costumes and having them all look good enough to make their mamas proud.
In the fall of 2004 I was sorting some stuff in the Fine Arts Center and I was watching GOTT and TTG work on a set design for a Christmas show with a Victorian theme. The set looked...ok...but it needed something. It needed a woman's touch. As married men whose wives probably buy a lot of the decor, I knew that they were missing some stuff...greenery and ribbons and wreaths and candelabra.
So I asked, "can I dress up the set a bit? I can help...I watch a lot of "Trading Spaces"! And I worked on sets for our Junior League Children's Theater!!!!"
They said "go for it!". Little did they know what they were getting into. 5 1/2 years later they haven't told me to go away...yet...
I went home...and I went for it.
I came back with ribbon, garland, wreaths, and some fancy cording.
When I got to the stage a young man, who I love dearly dearly dearly, was sitting on the stage. He watched me work.
Then he said: "Hi, I'm BF and I am your neighbor. I see you driving down the street. I am SF's brother. Does Mr. GOTT and Mr. TTG know you are doing this? Because it looks A LOT better..."
That boy, who is now a man and a sophomore at a prestigious college, earned the right to one of my kidneys (should he so need one) with that speech. I love love love him...he went on to be a lead in our spring show that year ("The Music Man") and sang a song called "Shapoopi"...you have to love someone who, at age 14, will get on stage and sing something called Shapoopi.
So GOTT and TTG come and see my work...and like the god he is, GOTT pronounced "it was good"...(and so ends the lesson...LOL).
So come spring of 2005 I was looking for something to do and I asked GOTT if I could help. He asked if I would be willing to costume "The Music Man"...I said "yes" because I was desperate to get close to his genius and soak it up and learn from him. I also did it so I would do something more with my day than shop...at least this way if I was shopping, I was doing it with someone else's money. I didn't really know what the heck I was doing but I thought I could learn as I went.
Saying "yes" that day changed my life.
I gained a friend (GOTT) who I love as much as a woman can love another man who is not her husband, son, or brother. He is my brother...I love love love him.
TTG is also a close friend who I love love love...and his humor and insight into the Lord always makes me glad I can say he is my friend.
I've spoken of my love for them before...but I can never get enough of learning from them and working with them. I could tell you stories...but they would kill me. Suffice it to say that I may not get paid in $$$ for what I do but they repay me in good times and fun...and I know they appreciate what I do to help them with the shows.
And they are really glad that I have a black belt in shopping so they don't have to do it.
But the other thing that saying "yes" that day was to save me...
Because I was saved by a group of 78 8th grade kids.
My mother died in April of 2005. The show was just a few weeks away. I had done about 60% of the costuming when she passed, but I still had a lot to do. I can't sew anything to save my life but I am really good at borrowing and eBay, so I had gathered most of what we needed, I just needed to fit everyone and jazz it up.
Losing my mother was the most devastating event of my life. Not going to talk about it right now....
But I got pretty good at having a pity party for myself in the days after her funeral and I took to my bed. And I really just wanted to stay there.
And after a couple of days, as I was laying there railing at God for taking my mother from me, He told me to get out of that bed and take care of those children. I had 78 kids that needed me...and 2 men...and a husband, and 2 children who did not need to watch their mother spend her days in bed.
So I got up.
And I took a shower.
And I put on some sweats...brushed my wet hair...and without make-up I went to the school.
I forgot that on that particular day the kids did not have drama class but were in religion and were listening to the school chaplain as they sat in the Fine Arts Center. So I snuck into the back and sat down on a table while I tried to figure out how to sneak backstage and check out the mess of costumes that I had abandoned 10or so days before.
One of them saw me. My precious Lovely Lauren.
She told Father W that I was in the back and could she go and hug me.
He said "yes".
She came...and trailing her was the class...
Lots of tears...lots of tears now as I remember them coming to me...
My Big Ben, a precious HUGE child, wrapped me in his arms and I sobbed quite a lot all over his uniform. To this day I get the BEST hugs from him. I would give him a kidney too...
I told them I was "back" and that I would return the next day.
I found GOTT and told him I was ready to work. He was sweet and gentle and urged me to keep busy.
Soon I was back in the groove and those kids brought me back.
And they looked awesome on stage.
And when I see any of them to this day I always thank them for giving me a reason to do something for them and not just feel sorry for myself.
I don't get paid for what I do but when a teenager runs screaming across a crowded room to throw himself in your arms, I get paid pretty well...very well...extremely well.
A friend told me the other day that she and her son can directly credit the fact that her son is student body president at a prestigious high school in town to the fact that he was in the 8th grade musical. He thanks GOTT for casting him and letting him express himself on stage because it gave him courage and a belief in himself. He credits me with dressing him up and telling him he looked good and whispering encouragement to him while I got him in his costumes. He is a great kid...and he gets a kidney...
I'm running out of kidneys...I hope only one of them ever needs one.
I've costumed everything from "The Sound of Music" to "Cinderella" to "Macbeth". I love seeing the kids on stage...I cry...
Last spring I was treated to a truly magical moment during our production of Cinderella.
Our Cinderella, let's call her Cindy, had gone out and bought a dress without letting me take a look at what she was purchasing. It was the one thing I asked of her---do not get a ball gown without me. But she did.
It was dreckitude. Well, maybe not dreckitude...but it was a hot mess that only a 14year old girl could love. It was a fluffy confection of TEAL (I don't know about you but thanks to Disney, in my brain Cinderella should wear a baby blue dress) with swirly hem and looked like a tutu.
Not exactly in line with my Renaissance style vision.
A friend very very very sweetly loaned us a stunning stunning stunning dress that belonged to her daughter. I loved my friend before this, but with this little act of kindness she sealed the deal. She gets a kidney.
The dress had been made for another production of Cinderella. It was the "right" blue. It was fluffy and it SPARKLED with jewels. It was absolutely perfect. I love love love that dress.
Cindy sees the dress on the mannequin that my friend brought it on and asks if she can try it on.
I send up a prayer of thanks to the Lord.
We get into the dressing room and I slip the gown over her head.
Before I zip her up I pray again;" Dear Lord, I have been a good girl. I have made 20 trips to pick out costumes at Performing Arts Supply with children and worked their fittings and helped them all pick out ballgowns and court costumes. The teal thing is a hot mess. Please let this dress fit!"
I grasped the zipper.
It slid up....perfectly
The dress was made for her figure.
She. Looked. Perfect.
She stepped onto the stage in the dress and everyone in the room (a class of 5th graders and some adults) froze. And then applauded.
I didn't find this dress...it found me...and I love love love my friend for letting us use it. I am more than a little obsessed with this dress.
But Cindy liked her other dress too. And we had some tearful conversations about it but she understood that my word was the final one and I wanted her in the sparkly blue dress...not the teal hot mess.
But she couldn't see herself as we saw her.
But on opening night, that magical moment happened.
It was the ballroom scene. When the Prince first sees Cinderella (Rogers and Hammerstein version) at the top of the stairs. GOTT lit the scene perfectly. Everyone was frozen on stage except for Cinderella who was bathed in blue light and the rest of the stage was dark. She was sparkling up there. She took my breath away.
And from the audience comes the voice of a small child:
"Look! It's Cinderella!" (really more like "Wook! It's Cin-da-wella!")
The audience burst into laughter and applause.
I burst into tears.
I resisted the urge to run to the sound booth and ask GOTT how much he loved me at that moment...
It worked...I helped to make a moment happen. A powerful and very special moment. With some help from my friend and her dress...and of course GOTT and that incredible lighting and staging.
But I put her in the dress...and it zipped---although it DIDN'T zip in the earlier scene because she ran out of the dressing room before I could calm her down. In 14 previous shows I had never sent a child out "undone". But that time she ran on stage and squirmed her way into getting the zipper up before Fairy Godmother sang "Impossible".
I will savor that moment (the "It's Cindawella" moment, not the unzipped one!) for a long time.
Only one other time have I had a serious wardrobe malfunction. Sound of Music. One short Von Trapp boy. One tall Von Trapp boy. In a quick change the short boy grabbed the tall boy's leiderhosen shorts. So tall boy was forced to put on short boy's pants. I didn't see it...I was dressing "Maria" and some Von Trapp girls.
I'm waiting for them to come back off stage (it was a 2 minute scene) when the child who was stage manager informed me that GOTT wished to speak to me on the headset. I got on and said "what's up, honey?"
He answers: "why does D look weird?"
I say "I don't know...does he?"
he says "look on stage"
So I do...and see D's (tall boy) boxers coming out the bottom of the shorts while P (short boy) is drowning in his.
My answer to GOTT "OMG! Sorry!"
and then I fell on the floor laughing until they came off stage...and clamped my hand over D's mouth so he wouldn't yell at P for putting on his pants.
I separated their changing areas at intermission...and it never happened again.
So you see, wardrobe malfunctions happen (especially when working with 14 year olds) but no one has seen a nipple.
Although my hands have almost made it beyond the curtain as I zip someone up.
And I have stripped many a young man (since I can't let an 8th grade girl help a boy to change clothes and the boys usually won't help another dude), and I have even put tights on a boy (who informed me that his mama said that he was just to think of me as his extra mama and he does), and I have laced up bodices until my nails break. And I love it and I love the kids.
I've worked with GOTT on 15 shows as costumer...and an additional show as his asst. director. I will do it until he throws me out the door or fires me...but it is hard to fire someone who is not paid so he will just have to toss me.
So tomorrow we embark on number 16. And I will dress the kids up and get paid in hugs and kisses and children who years later will scream my name from across the room and come running.
It's a pretty good way to make a living...
Inspiration Song: "Dress You Up" by Madonna
bye darlings...
I bought some tops the other day from Lucy. A friend told me about Lucy so I checked out the website (because I was too lazy to drive to Highland Village, not because of size! yea!) and bought a few things.
They fit...
If you want some nice workout gear that has a great fit, a long length in tops (I like that for spin), and actually makes you look BETTER when you put it on (vs. looking like a squashed sack of potatoes), try Lucy...
But today I headed to Academy and picked up a couple of new pairs of compression shorts for cycle (I don't care for the padded bike shorts) and some new t-shirts because the tents I am wearing are starting to be...tents...
It felt good even though I was buying an XL...at least it wasn't a 2X or 3X...it's been a while since I could fit an XL.
I slid into a smaller t-shirt last night too...that felt GREAT!
Tomorrow I am sitting in while GOTT and TTG audition 8th graders for the fall musical. I watch and tell them if I can make a scrawny 8th grader look like a princess. GOTT is considering 2 shows...one will be easy...the other terrifies me. I won't say what they are lest I jinx myself (trust me, I am really pulling for one because I have done it before) but the challenge of the scary one does offset the terror...a bit...
Costuming children is something I have found that I really enjoy. I love the challenge of getting 70-80 kids into costumes and having them all look good enough to make their mamas proud.
In the fall of 2004 I was sorting some stuff in the Fine Arts Center and I was watching GOTT and TTG work on a set design for a Christmas show with a Victorian theme. The set looked...ok...but it needed something. It needed a woman's touch. As married men whose wives probably buy a lot of the decor, I knew that they were missing some stuff...greenery and ribbons and wreaths and candelabra.
So I asked, "can I dress up the set a bit? I can help...I watch a lot of "Trading Spaces"! And I worked on sets for our Junior League Children's Theater!!!!"
They said "go for it!". Little did they know what they were getting into. 5 1/2 years later they haven't told me to go away...yet...
I went home...and I went for it.
I came back with ribbon, garland, wreaths, and some fancy cording.
When I got to the stage a young man, who I love dearly dearly dearly, was sitting on the stage. He watched me work.
Then he said: "Hi, I'm BF and I am your neighbor. I see you driving down the street. I am SF's brother. Does Mr. GOTT and Mr. TTG know you are doing this? Because it looks A LOT better..."
That boy, who is now a man and a sophomore at a prestigious college, earned the right to one of my kidneys (should he so need one) with that speech. I love love love him...he went on to be a lead in our spring show that year ("The Music Man") and sang a song called "Shapoopi"...you have to love someone who, at age 14, will get on stage and sing something called Shapoopi.
So GOTT and TTG come and see my work...and like the god he is, GOTT pronounced "it was good"...(and so ends the lesson...LOL).
So come spring of 2005 I was looking for something to do and I asked GOTT if I could help. He asked if I would be willing to costume "The Music Man"...I said "yes" because I was desperate to get close to his genius and soak it up and learn from him. I also did it so I would do something more with my day than shop...at least this way if I was shopping, I was doing it with someone else's money. I didn't really know what the heck I was doing but I thought I could learn as I went.
Saying "yes" that day changed my life.
I gained a friend (GOTT) who I love as much as a woman can love another man who is not her husband, son, or brother. He is my brother...I love love love him.
TTG is also a close friend who I love love love...and his humor and insight into the Lord always makes me glad I can say he is my friend.
I've spoken of my love for them before...but I can never get enough of learning from them and working with them. I could tell you stories...but they would kill me. Suffice it to say that I may not get paid in $$$ for what I do but they repay me in good times and fun...and I know they appreciate what I do to help them with the shows.
And they are really glad that I have a black belt in shopping so they don't have to do it.
But the other thing that saying "yes" that day was to save me...
Because I was saved by a group of 78 8th grade kids.
My mother died in April of 2005. The show was just a few weeks away. I had done about 60% of the costuming when she passed, but I still had a lot to do. I can't sew anything to save my life but I am really good at borrowing and eBay, so I had gathered most of what we needed, I just needed to fit everyone and jazz it up.
Losing my mother was the most devastating event of my life. Not going to talk about it right now....
But I got pretty good at having a pity party for myself in the days after her funeral and I took to my bed. And I really just wanted to stay there.
And after a couple of days, as I was laying there railing at God for taking my mother from me, He told me to get out of that bed and take care of those children. I had 78 kids that needed me...and 2 men...and a husband, and 2 children who did not need to watch their mother spend her days in bed.
So I got up.
And I took a shower.
And I put on some sweats...brushed my wet hair...and without make-up I went to the school.
I forgot that on that particular day the kids did not have drama class but were in religion and were listening to the school chaplain as they sat in the Fine Arts Center. So I snuck into the back and sat down on a table while I tried to figure out how to sneak backstage and check out the mess of costumes that I had abandoned 10or so days before.
One of them saw me. My precious Lovely Lauren.
She told Father W that I was in the back and could she go and hug me.
He said "yes".
She came...and trailing her was the class...
Lots of tears...lots of tears now as I remember them coming to me...
My Big Ben, a precious HUGE child, wrapped me in his arms and I sobbed quite a lot all over his uniform. To this day I get the BEST hugs from him. I would give him a kidney too...
I told them I was "back" and that I would return the next day.
I found GOTT and told him I was ready to work. He was sweet and gentle and urged me to keep busy.
Soon I was back in the groove and those kids brought me back.
And they looked awesome on stage.
And when I see any of them to this day I always thank them for giving me a reason to do something for them and not just feel sorry for myself.
I don't get paid for what I do but when a teenager runs screaming across a crowded room to throw himself in your arms, I get paid pretty well...very well...extremely well.
A friend told me the other day that she and her son can directly credit the fact that her son is student body president at a prestigious high school in town to the fact that he was in the 8th grade musical. He thanks GOTT for casting him and letting him express himself on stage because it gave him courage and a belief in himself. He credits me with dressing him up and telling him he looked good and whispering encouragement to him while I got him in his costumes. He is a great kid...and he gets a kidney...
I'm running out of kidneys...I hope only one of them ever needs one.
I've costumed everything from "The Sound of Music" to "Cinderella" to "Macbeth". I love seeing the kids on stage...I cry...
Last spring I was treated to a truly magical moment during our production of Cinderella.
Our Cinderella, let's call her Cindy, had gone out and bought a dress without letting me take a look at what she was purchasing. It was the one thing I asked of her---do not get a ball gown without me. But she did.
It was dreckitude. Well, maybe not dreckitude...but it was a hot mess that only a 14year old girl could love. It was a fluffy confection of TEAL (I don't know about you but thanks to Disney, in my brain Cinderella should wear a baby blue dress) with swirly hem and looked like a tutu.
Not exactly in line with my Renaissance style vision.
A friend very very very sweetly loaned us a stunning stunning stunning dress that belonged to her daughter. I loved my friend before this, but with this little act of kindness she sealed the deal. She gets a kidney.
The dress had been made for another production of Cinderella. It was the "right" blue. It was fluffy and it SPARKLED with jewels. It was absolutely perfect. I love love love that dress.
Cindy sees the dress on the mannequin that my friend brought it on and asks if she can try it on.
I send up a prayer of thanks to the Lord.
We get into the dressing room and I slip the gown over her head.
Before I zip her up I pray again;" Dear Lord, I have been a good girl. I have made 20 trips to pick out costumes at Performing Arts Supply with children and worked their fittings and helped them all pick out ballgowns and court costumes. The teal thing is a hot mess. Please let this dress fit!"
I grasped the zipper.
It slid up....perfectly
The dress was made for her figure.
She. Looked. Perfect.
She stepped onto the stage in the dress and everyone in the room (a class of 5th graders and some adults) froze. And then applauded.
I didn't find this dress...it found me...and I love love love my friend for letting us use it. I am more than a little obsessed with this dress.
But Cindy liked her other dress too. And we had some tearful conversations about it but she understood that my word was the final one and I wanted her in the sparkly blue dress...not the teal hot mess.
But she couldn't see herself as we saw her.
But on opening night, that magical moment happened.
It was the ballroom scene. When the Prince first sees Cinderella (Rogers and Hammerstein version) at the top of the stairs. GOTT lit the scene perfectly. Everyone was frozen on stage except for Cinderella who was bathed in blue light and the rest of the stage was dark. She was sparkling up there. She took my breath away.
And from the audience comes the voice of a small child:
"Look! It's Cinderella!" (really more like "Wook! It's Cin-da-wella!")
The audience burst into laughter and applause.
I burst into tears.
I resisted the urge to run to the sound booth and ask GOTT how much he loved me at that moment...
It worked...I helped to make a moment happen. A powerful and very special moment. With some help from my friend and her dress...and of course GOTT and that incredible lighting and staging.
But I put her in the dress...and it zipped---although it DIDN'T zip in the earlier scene because she ran out of the dressing room before I could calm her down. In 14 previous shows I had never sent a child out "undone". But that time she ran on stage and squirmed her way into getting the zipper up before Fairy Godmother sang "Impossible".
I will savor that moment (the "It's Cindawella" moment, not the unzipped one!) for a long time.
Only one other time have I had a serious wardrobe malfunction. Sound of Music. One short Von Trapp boy. One tall Von Trapp boy. In a quick change the short boy grabbed the tall boy's leiderhosen shorts. So tall boy was forced to put on short boy's pants. I didn't see it...I was dressing "Maria" and some Von Trapp girls.
I'm waiting for them to come back off stage (it was a 2 minute scene) when the child who was stage manager informed me that GOTT wished to speak to me on the headset. I got on and said "what's up, honey?"
He answers: "why does D look weird?"
I say "I don't know...does he?"
he says "look on stage"
So I do...and see D's (tall boy) boxers coming out the bottom of the shorts while P (short boy) is drowning in his.
My answer to GOTT "OMG! Sorry!"
and then I fell on the floor laughing until they came off stage...and clamped my hand over D's mouth so he wouldn't yell at P for putting on his pants.
I separated their changing areas at intermission...and it never happened again.
So you see, wardrobe malfunctions happen (especially when working with 14 year olds) but no one has seen a nipple.
Although my hands have almost made it beyond the curtain as I zip someone up.
And I have stripped many a young man (since I can't let an 8th grade girl help a boy to change clothes and the boys usually won't help another dude), and I have even put tights on a boy (who informed me that his mama said that he was just to think of me as his extra mama and he does), and I have laced up bodices until my nails break. And I love it and I love the kids.
I've worked with GOTT on 15 shows as costumer...and an additional show as his asst. director. I will do it until he throws me out the door or fires me...but it is hard to fire someone who is not paid so he will just have to toss me.
So tomorrow we embark on number 16. And I will dress the kids up and get paid in hugs and kisses and children who years later will scream my name from across the room and come running.
It's a pretty good way to make a living...
Inspiration Song: "Dress You Up" by Madonna
bye darlings...
Thursday, June 10, 2010
No Air/I'm Still Standing
No sleep
No energy
No speed
No strength
No air
That's how I felt this morning when I woke up...I really didn't sleep well last night...I didn't fall asleep until VERY late so I only got a little over 4 hours of sleep. I was laying in bed but sleep wouldn't come...I even tried to bore myself to sleep---let me put it to you this way, I was watching "Showgirls" on the movie channel. Yes, THAT "Showgirls"...the really awful, horribly acted, stink bomb of a 1995 movie. And even that didn't help me get to sleep...I kept thinking that I would feel tired and want to turn the train wreck off of the tv but I kept watching every badly acted second of it and wondered how the same director and writer of Basic Instinct could go so horribly wrong...and I remembered that I hated it when I saw it the first time.
So I woke up tired and cranky and not feeling like a workout this morning but I had a date with Fitness Goddess and it was too late to cancel...
No sleep = no energy = no speed or strength = no air
In other words, I had to work really really hard to get myself to the aerobic state...and I kept yawning on each weight machine...so I worked out, but I didn't really WORK out...
Today would have been my mother's 66th birthday so that is perhaps the source of some of all of this...this is the 5th time I have celebrated her birthday without her. Lucky for me this year I got to do some celebrating and had a wonderful lunch with my daughter and my dear aunt...we had fun at Carrabbas (have the snapper with the balsamic vinegar/tomato sauce) and laughed and we were happy to remember her. My other aunt called in the middle of lunch to share that she had put her precious kitty to sleep (cancer) so my heart went out to her as we were lucky enough to all be together and she is in California...albeit with her totally adorable son!
So I am going to take the lazy way out on this blog tonight and finish with my mother's eulogy that I wrote 5 years ago. I feel that the best way to celebrate her life is to share the lessons I learned from her. When she died, despite my overwhelming grief and utter disbelief that I had lost her, I guess my brain unhinged with the trauma of it all and when the priest asked me who was going to eulogize her, I told him I was...
Now any of you who REALLY know me know that I love me an audience as much as any wannabe stage star, but speaking about something emotional in public reduces me not to tears, but to full-on sobs. So after I uttered the terrifying words "I am going to do it", I realized that I HAD to do it as the last act of love for my mother. So somewhere in a sleep-deprived, grief-stricken state I wrote the eulogy...I think it was 2 am...but I had mulled it over and decided that I learned so much from her that I wanted to share it with everyone else.
My mother was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, but for all of her outer beauty (which she did spend some $$$ on...her plastic surgeon misses her too), her inner beauty was the best part of her. I miss her every second of every day...
But 5 years later I cannot allow the fact that I miss her like crazy to continue to be an excuse to not take better care of myself...to not love myself...to not care for myself the way she cared for me...to not care for myself the way she cared for herself (drawing the line at the facelifts here, but I do enjoy every sample of night cream that Sephora will throw at me).
I had the wind knocked out of me with her loss...no air...
But I'm still standing...
(iTunes note: "No Air"---Glee version...great for a climb...that oldie, but goodie "Im Still Standing" by Elton John is a great way to finish a workout and be proud of yourself)
Bye Darlings...Sorry this is so long...here is the eulogy...learn something from the amazing Deborah Dembski Shelton:
Today we honor my mother, celebrate her life, mourn her death, and rejoice that she continues to grow in Christ. I gave some thought about what to say, and if I even could say anything---for those of you who know me know that I am seldom unemotional and easily give in to tears. But I will try my best today to do this for my mother because I know she would want me to. And heaven knows, I do love an audience, especially a captive one…and we have full house today…
When I was trying to decide what to say, what message to give, how to best honor her, so many thoughts and ideas came to me. I could speak about her past and give you a boring history of her life…not that her life was boring, but rather just me droning on and on about what she did. We have been to life celebrations like that and about the time that the speaker gets to the high school years of the deceased, we are often nodding off. I also thought about telling you just about what a great daughter, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend she was---but we all know that about her. You couldn’t speak to her without her mentioning her children, grandchildren, or family. Many of you know us and our children by name even if you have never seen our faces because she talked so much about us.
I thought about sending you all a message of peace, love, and our resurrection through Jesus Christ, but I think Father John had that covered and did it much more eloquently and elegantly than I ever could.
So, after some thought and prayer, and talking with my Aunt Jane, and a hope that I will be doing the right thing, I have decided to ask you all to do some things to honor her. I think it is the right thing to do, and I hope you all will do these things in her honor and memory---and it will please her greatly.
Not to steal any thunder from David Letterman, but I would now like to present to you the 10 things you can do to honor Debbie. I will borrow from his style and count backwards down to one, ending with the 2 things she would think are the most important.
Number 10---Cook with butter! My mother was a fabulous cook…she learned from her father who was also a great cook. She rarely produced a dish that wasn’t incredible tasting. She ate a healthy diet and enjoyed good food, but when she cooked, she cooked with butter. Most of our holiday meals centered on her delicious food and she didn’t skimp on the good stuff. So when you do anything in life, and not just when you cook…don’t skimp on the good stuff…make everything you do full fat, whole hog, and ignore the calories.
Number 9--- travel first class and see this world. It’s not always feasible to fly first class, but why not give up some of those frequent flyer points and get to your destination in a little more comfort? My mother always tried to do that…and she was always more comfortable for doing so. She loved to travel. She loved to go and see my brother Beto and his family in Africa----it’s a magnificent country and she loved to be there. She loved New York City---we traveled twice there with Camiel but she made many trips there and she never tired of the city. She took ordinary vacations to ordinary places but she also loved to travel to exotic and fun places like Hawaii, Bermuda, Egypt, and Europe. Even when she visited my sister Katie and her family in Fort Worth she turned it into a vacation. She loved to go places---whether she was traveling with her children or with friends. We took so many fabulous trips together and I know that I will miss having her as my favorite traveling companion. So get out there and see this world…and send my mother a postcard in a prayer.
Number 8---Sleep on a lot of soft pillows. My mother’s bed was a soft, safe haven for my children and my sibling’s children…all the grandchildren have slept in Nona’s great big bed, surrounded by all of her soft pillows. Sometimes our entire family would pile into her bed. My mother had guest rooms but my sister Susan would always sleep in her bed when she came to visit because Mom’s bed was the best. Everyone who was at her house at some point would find themself lounging about on my mother’s bed. My mother made bed-making into an art form. Her pillows were soft and plentiful and her sheets were luxurious. But translating that to real life, what she did was to create comfort around herself. We can all honor her by splurging on the creature comforts in our home and create that safe, soft haven that welcomes us.
Number 7---take more pictures. My mother took more photos than anyone I knew---she also managed to display them all. If you were at the funeral home yesterday you saw just a smidgen of the photos she had. And if you were there yesterday I sincerely hope you saw the marvelous video that my Aunt Gayle put together with some of Mom’s photos. She loved photos of friends and family and usually had her photos to the developer within hours of taking them. Take photos and share them with everyone. There is no greater artwork in this world than the human face.
Number 6---Keep a clean house. I have failed miserably at this…she was such a tidy house keeper and I am nothing but a mess…never dirty, just messy. Her home was ready for “Better Homes and Gardens” to come and photograph it at any moment. When her father died she took on keeping the house to help my grandmother out when she went back to work. I was told a story about her neat-nick ways that makes me laugh. Back in the early 60’s, when my mother and her siblings were young, my Uncle Phil was home relaxing. Suddenly my Uncle Steve ran through the house yelling “Run for your lives!” and raced out of the house. My Uncle John soon followed suit and jumped out the window. The next thing that Phil saw was my mother making a mad dash through the house and she forced Phil, along with Jane, Gayle and the others, out of the house. When my grandmother came home she found 5 of her 6 children waiting on the front porch, locked out of the house. It seems that my mother had done her cleaning and they weren’t allowed back in---no matter what. Her housekeeping skills continued on to her adult life. She had a maid that had absolutely nothing to do. She threw out her clutter and kept things so organized. Her closet is a work of art. She never had to worry that her house wasn’t tidy enough for anyone to drop on by. Speaking of which, that brings up:
Number 5----Throw more parties! My mother was the hostess with the mostest. Martha Stewart had nothing on her. She gave great parties. She was the social director for whatever community she lived in. When I was young I can remember sitting with my sisters and brother and watching all of my Mom and Dad’s friends come in to the parties they gave. They had fabulous parties…costume parties, hunting parties, dancing parties, teas, casino parties, bridge parties and benefit parties. They entertained heads of state and heads of the school. We loved to watch her get dressed for a party and always were amazed that she could look so beautiful each and every time. Our home was the gathering place for the web of friends that she had in Kingsville. I remember Sunday afternoons spent with our family friends coming by---the kids stayed in the pool until we were long past the prune stage, the dads would stand around and drink beer until it was time to watch Peyton cook the burgers, and the moms would lay in their chairs sunning themselves while wearing curlers in the hair covered by a silly cap or bandana. Why those women lounged in the sun in hair curlers is beyond me, but I can still see that group of people at my house as if it was yesterday. She could even turn a hairdressing adventure into a party. In the early 70’s I remember her friends showing up, armed with home “frost your hair” kits, Lancer’s Rose wine, and cigarettes for those who smoked. The would seat themselves around my mother’s long vanity area and pull each other’s hair through the frosting caps…all the while yakking and drinking wine. As the evening wore on my sister Noel and I became hot commodities because we could pull the hair through the caps for them when they got a little too tipsy to do it right. They would emerge a few hours later, full of wine, full of fun, with head’s full of frosted hair---they all looked a little like Bea Arthur in her “Maude” days…and my mother was their queen. Those were some of the greatest times of my life, and I think my siblings will agree. Most of the best times were never a planned thing…it was just that everyone knew that our family and my mother would welcome everyone and no one had to put much thought to it. Have a party---we are, because she would want us to!
Number 4----Support education. It was so important to my mother that we got an education. I know the day my sister Sarita graduated was one of the proudest days of her life. My graduation from A&M was a triumph for both of us because she never went to college. Her siblings went to various universities and she was proud of their accomplishments. She tried to give us the best education possible. While in Kingsville she sent us to an amazing Episcopal school. When the time came to educate my own children I feel so blessed that I too found an amazing Episcopal school for my children. I use what she did for us as a blueprint for how to raise my own children and I was pleased that I can give such a wonderful educational gift to them. My mother loved going to St. Francis and seeing her grandchildren perform, or attending grandparent day, or even just picking them up in the carpool line. She so believed in the school that she participated in the school’s capital campaign and regularly gave to the Annual Giving program. But her dedication to good education didn’t stop with her grandchildren’s school----she gave scholarships to A&M, helped build on to our school when we were children, and she helped out with various projects at Texas A&I when she lived in Kingsville. So give to the school of your choice and support it well, she would really like that.
Number 3--- Drink more water and exercise more. Was there ever a time that we didn’t see her drinking water? She never ordered anything in a restaurant but water. She was a connoisseur of water and she drank it by the gallon. She always had a bottle of water and kept several pitchers of it in her fridge. It’s good for you and won’t interrupt your sleep…so toast her with your next glass and drink it more often. And get out there and work out! My mother loved to exercise…she was in amazing shape and she worked hard at it. She loved to walk with her friends in the morning and she also loved going to the Houstonian to work out. She enjoyed trying all kinds of classes but usually stuck to her walks with friends when the weather was nice. I know that she managed to get many of you out of the house to walk with her and I only wish she had made me do so more often with her---then I might fit into more of her gorgeous clothes! Take care of your health---she would want you to.
Number 2---Go to church. My mother loved coming to St. Michael’s. She loved this church and she loved the Catholic Church. She often walked to mass from her house so that she could exercise both her body and her spirit. She loved her faith and she clung to it. She loved Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and God. She prayed for all of us…so let us all remember her in our prayers and thank God for her life because He did such good work when he created her.
Number 1---love your family, spoil your children, but ridiculously spoil your grandchildren. My mother was the most beautiful and wonderful mother a person could have. She did the best she could after the divorce and I think we all turned out pretty well. But where she really shined was in the “grandmother department’. Nona, as the grandkids call her, was the best grandmother a child could have. She spoiled them rotten and loved them with the fiercest of loves. She taught them so many things and she could spend hours listing their virtues to anyone who would listen. She was devoted to her mother and she loved her brothers and sisters so very much. She was the oldest child and was their second mother since some of them are much younger than she was. Her family, children, siblings, and mother and grandchildren were the light in her life…and she was such a strong light in ours. We will all be a little dimmer without her to shine on.
In closing I want to finish with a story of how all of this got put into perspective for me. Over the last few days I have been told so many things and been given much sympathy and advice. But the true meaning of how I, and those of us who loved her, are to carry on were best expressed by Connally Dull. Connally is the sweet 3 year old daughter of my good friends Christy and John Dull. I left the Dulls, Connally, and her 2 sisters at my house to go and sign the papers to release my mother’s body to the funeral home. The Dulls said they would stay to answer the phone and the door while George and I were gone. When I stepped back into the house I began to cry once again. Connally looked up at me with her beautiful big eyes and opened her sweet mouth and said “Why you crying? Your mommy in HEAVEN!” I couldn’t have said it better myself…Sometimes it takes a child to put things in perspective.
I love you all…
No energy
No speed
No strength
No air
That's how I felt this morning when I woke up...I really didn't sleep well last night...I didn't fall asleep until VERY late so I only got a little over 4 hours of sleep. I was laying in bed but sleep wouldn't come...I even tried to bore myself to sleep---let me put it to you this way, I was watching "Showgirls" on the movie channel. Yes, THAT "Showgirls"...the really awful, horribly acted, stink bomb of a 1995 movie. And even that didn't help me get to sleep...I kept thinking that I would feel tired and want to turn the train wreck off of the tv but I kept watching every badly acted second of it and wondered how the same director and writer of Basic Instinct could go so horribly wrong...and I remembered that I hated it when I saw it the first time.
So I woke up tired and cranky and not feeling like a workout this morning but I had a date with Fitness Goddess and it was too late to cancel...
No sleep = no energy = no speed or strength = no air
In other words, I had to work really really hard to get myself to the aerobic state...and I kept yawning on each weight machine...so I worked out, but I didn't really WORK out...
Today would have been my mother's 66th birthday so that is perhaps the source of some of all of this...this is the 5th time I have celebrated her birthday without her. Lucky for me this year I got to do some celebrating and had a wonderful lunch with my daughter and my dear aunt...we had fun at Carrabbas (have the snapper with the balsamic vinegar/tomato sauce) and laughed and we were happy to remember her. My other aunt called in the middle of lunch to share that she had put her precious kitty to sleep (cancer) so my heart went out to her as we were lucky enough to all be together and she is in California...albeit with her totally adorable son!
So I am going to take the lazy way out on this blog tonight and finish with my mother's eulogy that I wrote 5 years ago. I feel that the best way to celebrate her life is to share the lessons I learned from her. When she died, despite my overwhelming grief and utter disbelief that I had lost her, I guess my brain unhinged with the trauma of it all and when the priest asked me who was going to eulogize her, I told him I was...
Now any of you who REALLY know me know that I love me an audience as much as any wannabe stage star, but speaking about something emotional in public reduces me not to tears, but to full-on sobs. So after I uttered the terrifying words "I am going to do it", I realized that I HAD to do it as the last act of love for my mother. So somewhere in a sleep-deprived, grief-stricken state I wrote the eulogy...I think it was 2 am...but I had mulled it over and decided that I learned so much from her that I wanted to share it with everyone else.
My mother was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, but for all of her outer beauty (which she did spend some $$$ on...her plastic surgeon misses her too), her inner beauty was the best part of her. I miss her every second of every day...
But 5 years later I cannot allow the fact that I miss her like crazy to continue to be an excuse to not take better care of myself...to not love myself...to not care for myself the way she cared for me...to not care for myself the way she cared for herself (drawing the line at the facelifts here, but I do enjoy every sample of night cream that Sephora will throw at me).
I had the wind knocked out of me with her loss...no air...
But I'm still standing...
(iTunes note: "No Air"---Glee version...great for a climb...that oldie, but goodie "Im Still Standing" by Elton John is a great way to finish a workout and be proud of yourself)
Bye Darlings...Sorry this is so long...here is the eulogy...learn something from the amazing Deborah Dembski Shelton:
Today we honor my mother, celebrate her life, mourn her death, and rejoice that she continues to grow in Christ. I gave some thought about what to say, and if I even could say anything---for those of you who know me know that I am seldom unemotional and easily give in to tears. But I will try my best today to do this for my mother because I know she would want me to. And heaven knows, I do love an audience, especially a captive one…and we have full house today…
When I was trying to decide what to say, what message to give, how to best honor her, so many thoughts and ideas came to me. I could speak about her past and give you a boring history of her life…not that her life was boring, but rather just me droning on and on about what she did. We have been to life celebrations like that and about the time that the speaker gets to the high school years of the deceased, we are often nodding off. I also thought about telling you just about what a great daughter, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend she was---but we all know that about her. You couldn’t speak to her without her mentioning her children, grandchildren, or family. Many of you know us and our children by name even if you have never seen our faces because she talked so much about us.
I thought about sending you all a message of peace, love, and our resurrection through Jesus Christ, but I think Father John had that covered and did it much more eloquently and elegantly than I ever could.
So, after some thought and prayer, and talking with my Aunt Jane, and a hope that I will be doing the right thing, I have decided to ask you all to do some things to honor her. I think it is the right thing to do, and I hope you all will do these things in her honor and memory---and it will please her greatly.
Not to steal any thunder from David Letterman, but I would now like to present to you the 10 things you can do to honor Debbie. I will borrow from his style and count backwards down to one, ending with the 2 things she would think are the most important.
Number 10---Cook with butter! My mother was a fabulous cook…she learned from her father who was also a great cook. She rarely produced a dish that wasn’t incredible tasting. She ate a healthy diet and enjoyed good food, but when she cooked, she cooked with butter. Most of our holiday meals centered on her delicious food and she didn’t skimp on the good stuff. So when you do anything in life, and not just when you cook…don’t skimp on the good stuff…make everything you do full fat, whole hog, and ignore the calories.
Number 9--- travel first class and see this world. It’s not always feasible to fly first class, but why not give up some of those frequent flyer points and get to your destination in a little more comfort? My mother always tried to do that…and she was always more comfortable for doing so. She loved to travel. She loved to go and see my brother Beto and his family in Africa----it’s a magnificent country and she loved to be there. She loved New York City---we traveled twice there with Camiel but she made many trips there and she never tired of the city. She took ordinary vacations to ordinary places but she also loved to travel to exotic and fun places like Hawaii, Bermuda, Egypt, and Europe. Even when she visited my sister Katie and her family in Fort Worth she turned it into a vacation. She loved to go places---whether she was traveling with her children or with friends. We took so many fabulous trips together and I know that I will miss having her as my favorite traveling companion. So get out there and see this world…and send my mother a postcard in a prayer.
Number 8---Sleep on a lot of soft pillows. My mother’s bed was a soft, safe haven for my children and my sibling’s children…all the grandchildren have slept in Nona’s great big bed, surrounded by all of her soft pillows. Sometimes our entire family would pile into her bed. My mother had guest rooms but my sister Susan would always sleep in her bed when she came to visit because Mom’s bed was the best. Everyone who was at her house at some point would find themself lounging about on my mother’s bed. My mother made bed-making into an art form. Her pillows were soft and plentiful and her sheets were luxurious. But translating that to real life, what she did was to create comfort around herself. We can all honor her by splurging on the creature comforts in our home and create that safe, soft haven that welcomes us.
Number 7---take more pictures. My mother took more photos than anyone I knew---she also managed to display them all. If you were at the funeral home yesterday you saw just a smidgen of the photos she had. And if you were there yesterday I sincerely hope you saw the marvelous video that my Aunt Gayle put together with some of Mom’s photos. She loved photos of friends and family and usually had her photos to the developer within hours of taking them. Take photos and share them with everyone. There is no greater artwork in this world than the human face.
Number 6---Keep a clean house. I have failed miserably at this…she was such a tidy house keeper and I am nothing but a mess…never dirty, just messy. Her home was ready for “Better Homes and Gardens” to come and photograph it at any moment. When her father died she took on keeping the house to help my grandmother out when she went back to work. I was told a story about her neat-nick ways that makes me laugh. Back in the early 60’s, when my mother and her siblings were young, my Uncle Phil was home relaxing. Suddenly my Uncle Steve ran through the house yelling “Run for your lives!” and raced out of the house. My Uncle John soon followed suit and jumped out the window. The next thing that Phil saw was my mother making a mad dash through the house and she forced Phil, along with Jane, Gayle and the others, out of the house. When my grandmother came home she found 5 of her 6 children waiting on the front porch, locked out of the house. It seems that my mother had done her cleaning and they weren’t allowed back in---no matter what. Her housekeeping skills continued on to her adult life. She had a maid that had absolutely nothing to do. She threw out her clutter and kept things so organized. Her closet is a work of art. She never had to worry that her house wasn’t tidy enough for anyone to drop on by. Speaking of which, that brings up:
Number 5----Throw more parties! My mother was the hostess with the mostest. Martha Stewart had nothing on her. She gave great parties. She was the social director for whatever community she lived in. When I was young I can remember sitting with my sisters and brother and watching all of my Mom and Dad’s friends come in to the parties they gave. They had fabulous parties…costume parties, hunting parties, dancing parties, teas, casino parties, bridge parties and benefit parties. They entertained heads of state and heads of the school. We loved to watch her get dressed for a party and always were amazed that she could look so beautiful each and every time. Our home was the gathering place for the web of friends that she had in Kingsville. I remember Sunday afternoons spent with our family friends coming by---the kids stayed in the pool until we were long past the prune stage, the dads would stand around and drink beer until it was time to watch Peyton cook the burgers, and the moms would lay in their chairs sunning themselves while wearing curlers in the hair covered by a silly cap or bandana. Why those women lounged in the sun in hair curlers is beyond me, but I can still see that group of people at my house as if it was yesterday. She could even turn a hairdressing adventure into a party. In the early 70’s I remember her friends showing up, armed with home “frost your hair” kits, Lancer’s Rose wine, and cigarettes for those who smoked. The would seat themselves around my mother’s long vanity area and pull each other’s hair through the frosting caps…all the while yakking and drinking wine. As the evening wore on my sister Noel and I became hot commodities because we could pull the hair through the caps for them when they got a little too tipsy to do it right. They would emerge a few hours later, full of wine, full of fun, with head’s full of frosted hair---they all looked a little like Bea Arthur in her “Maude” days…and my mother was their queen. Those were some of the greatest times of my life, and I think my siblings will agree. Most of the best times were never a planned thing…it was just that everyone knew that our family and my mother would welcome everyone and no one had to put much thought to it. Have a party---we are, because she would want us to!
Number 4----Support education. It was so important to my mother that we got an education. I know the day my sister Sarita graduated was one of the proudest days of her life. My graduation from A&M was a triumph for both of us because she never went to college. Her siblings went to various universities and she was proud of their accomplishments. She tried to give us the best education possible. While in Kingsville she sent us to an amazing Episcopal school. When the time came to educate my own children I feel so blessed that I too found an amazing Episcopal school for my children. I use what she did for us as a blueprint for how to raise my own children and I was pleased that I can give such a wonderful educational gift to them. My mother loved going to St. Francis and seeing her grandchildren perform, or attending grandparent day, or even just picking them up in the carpool line. She so believed in the school that she participated in the school’s capital campaign and regularly gave to the Annual Giving program. But her dedication to good education didn’t stop with her grandchildren’s school----she gave scholarships to A&M, helped build on to our school when we were children, and she helped out with various projects at Texas A&I when she lived in Kingsville. So give to the school of your choice and support it well, she would really like that.
Number 3--- Drink more water and exercise more. Was there ever a time that we didn’t see her drinking water? She never ordered anything in a restaurant but water. She was a connoisseur of water and she drank it by the gallon. She always had a bottle of water and kept several pitchers of it in her fridge. It’s good for you and won’t interrupt your sleep…so toast her with your next glass and drink it more often. And get out there and work out! My mother loved to exercise…she was in amazing shape and she worked hard at it. She loved to walk with her friends in the morning and she also loved going to the Houstonian to work out. She enjoyed trying all kinds of classes but usually stuck to her walks with friends when the weather was nice. I know that she managed to get many of you out of the house to walk with her and I only wish she had made me do so more often with her---then I might fit into more of her gorgeous clothes! Take care of your health---she would want you to.
Number 2---Go to church. My mother loved coming to St. Michael’s. She loved this church and she loved the Catholic Church. She often walked to mass from her house so that she could exercise both her body and her spirit. She loved her faith and she clung to it. She loved Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and God. She prayed for all of us…so let us all remember her in our prayers and thank God for her life because He did such good work when he created her.
Number 1---love your family, spoil your children, but ridiculously spoil your grandchildren. My mother was the most beautiful and wonderful mother a person could have. She did the best she could after the divorce and I think we all turned out pretty well. But where she really shined was in the “grandmother department’. Nona, as the grandkids call her, was the best grandmother a child could have. She spoiled them rotten and loved them with the fiercest of loves. She taught them so many things and she could spend hours listing their virtues to anyone who would listen. She was devoted to her mother and she loved her brothers and sisters so very much. She was the oldest child and was their second mother since some of them are much younger than she was. Her family, children, siblings, and mother and grandchildren were the light in her life…and she was such a strong light in ours. We will all be a little dimmer without her to shine on.
In closing I want to finish with a story of how all of this got put into perspective for me. Over the last few days I have been told so many things and been given much sympathy and advice. But the true meaning of how I, and those of us who loved her, are to carry on were best expressed by Connally Dull. Connally is the sweet 3 year old daughter of my good friends Christy and John Dull. I left the Dulls, Connally, and her 2 sisters at my house to go and sign the papers to release my mother’s body to the funeral home. The Dulls said they would stay to answer the phone and the door while George and I were gone. When I stepped back into the house I began to cry once again. Connally looked up at me with her beautiful big eyes and opened her sweet mouth and said “Why you crying? Your mommy in HEAVEN!” I couldn’t have said it better myself…Sometimes it takes a child to put things in perspective.
I love you all…
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