Tag Archives: Grandbaby

You, Me, & Us

August 14, 2023 By in Lightning Juice Tags: , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Today marks thirty years of marriage for me and William. As we talked about the time we’ve been together, we realized that we’ve spent more years as a couple than as singles. That alone is a huge blessing. Will is fond of saying that marriages lasting as long as ours are rare these days, and I would have to agree.

I love our life together, the home we made, the marriage we built. I enjoy memories as landmarks in time. And sometimes, I tally our years together a little differently than just marking days on a calendar.

Such as all the houses we’ve lived in. One. We started in this house, and God willing, we’re going to finish here, which is quite fine with both of us because we hate moving. Our little home has always been the right size for everything we needed. Sometimes it was just the two of us, and other times we packed our tiny home with friends and family. In either case, we experienced true joy.

I could also count the children in our life. Again, one. But what a son he is. We waited seven years for him, but he was worth it. He spent a little over twenty years with us during our walk toward thirty. Fortunately, he lives close enough to pop in for a visit. Mostly when he needs to use the washer and dryer and occasionally for food.

Then there’s our one grandbaby. He’s a sweet, little fella who starts kindergarten in a couple days. No, he’s not the child of our only son, but he couldn’t belong to us any more even if he had been born into our family. That fact is not up for dispute.

I suppose we could add up our time together with all the pets we’ve loved. Three dogs, eighteen cats, twenty-two parakeets, two rabbits, twenty-one tanks of fish, and two bowls with bettas. I also think of the wild birds we feed as ours, and recently, I’ve been feeding stray guinea fowl. I still don’t have a horse.

Will and I never stray too far from home. We tell people that we’re stay-cationers. Our idea of vacation is eating out every evening and sleeping in our own beds every night. Sprinkle in zero responsibilities (except for feeding whatever pet(s) we own in the moment), long drives, coffee shops, ice cream shops, what we like to call retail therapy, and that’s just about as perfect as a vacation can get for us.

While Will’s passion has always been fishing, I never got the hang of it. Instead of him wasting his time untangling my line, I take a lawn chair and book because reading is my passion. We realized that it wasn’t about doing what the other person liked. It was about simply being in each other’s presence.

We’ve definitely grown spiritually. Our walk with Adonai is so much more than we ever thought it could be when we first dipped our toe in the well of faith. There were some serious battles, but they made us the strong people we are today. It’ll be interesting to see what Adonai has in store for us next.

One thing I can honestly say about being married to Will for thirty years is that our marriage never lost its sense of excitement and wonder. I’m just as happy to be doing life with him today as I was the day I said, “I do.” I made a promise to him all those years ago that if he came along with me as an equal partner that I’d do everything I could to make life an exciting ride. I’m looking forward to making sure our next thirty years are just as good if not better.

Writing Exercises

August 15, 2022 By in Writing Advice, Writing Toolbox Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments

Writing books are replete with exercises meant to jumpstart your creativity. Even authors who write their memoirs can’t seem to resist mentioning the exercise that helped them. Whether the exercise is meant to focus your concentration or crowbar you out of a slump, I find writing exercises to be, well . . . tedious and annoying.

I remember a daily exercise where for one minute I wrote down the first ten things that came to mind. Then, no matter what the third thing was (or maybe it was the seventh), I spent another ten minutes writing about it.

I don’t know about you, but first thing in the morning my mind is creating a to-do list for the rest of the day, sometimes the week. My list often included thoughts such as take something out of the freezer for dinner, clean the litter box, and wash a load of jeans. Not exactly ideas worthy of ten minutes elucidation.

Needless to say, and yet I’m going to, I quickly tired of the exercise and abandoned it faster than a Spanx bodysuit in the women’s dressing room.

Now this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t try an exercise or two, and maybe they really have worked for someone, in which case I’d love to hear from you about the exercise and who suggested it. Don’t forget to include your results.

I have chosen a different approach to keep myself writing while larger works, like my novels and blog posts, swirl about my mind waiting to crystalize into something I can put on the page. For example, yesterday I left the laptop, pencils, and notebooks behind to spend the day with my grandbaby, Jacob. My writing flourished from the exercise.

I started by creating memories that don’t have to be edited because they’re already perfect, and now I can accurately describe a four-year-old’s laughter. It is pure sunshine. Then there are his little hands, more delicate than a bird’s wing and softer than a baby rabbit. Don’t forget his rubber band arms that he throws around my neck and noodle legs that he uses to run like a frisky colt.

And then there are his eyes, the color of melted chocolate; his eyebrows, pencil-thin and able to move independently of each other to express an array of emotions; or his knees, dappled blue and purple with a plethora of bruises.

His voice babbles like a little stream and makes about as much sense, his toes look like pink corn niblets, and his sweet head smells like warm grass.

So you see, I did write yesterday. I worked on description because there was way too much dialog to capture and most of it was delivered between fits of giggles and squealing. We do love a good game of tickle. Maybe I’ll recall this and use it in a story someday, maybe not. It really doesn’t matter as long as I keep at my writing.

Today, when Jacob is en route to his home in another state, I’ll return to the laptop, pencils, and notebooks. If I’m lucky, what I write then will be as perfect as what I wrote when I was with him.