She's still the same girl

 

So it's my 71st birthday in a few days and my best friend Ann came to visit me. It was a visit of mutual tears and laughter and reminiscing about days of the past.

We have been friends since we were 11 years old and as we sipped our tea and coffee we joked about how 61 years of friendship has outlasted most marriages these days...

A new grandmother, Ann lamented how she hates being old and wonders if she will even live to see her grandbaby turn 21... and we cried.

We cried that I don't think I will be here when her next grandbaby is born and that the shawl I am making for her daughter might not get to her if I don't finish it soon. I want her to have one for her other daughter's future baby like the first one has..

We laughed about things that happened at school, and cried about trials we both had during our 71 years of life. And we nearly choked on our coffees laughing about the agonies of aging but how the alternative didn't look too promising either! 

Our emotions were rollercoasting madly, but then there was a lot of reminiscing and the viscitudes of life were a tad sporadic over 61 years of reliving those days...

We talked about God's answers to particular prayers we had petitioned God for in our families and we recommitted those people to Him...And we thanked God for our friendship. 

In parting, we realised how blessed we are to have a true close friend and we marvelled that 5 hours had passed in the visit that went quickly, and we exclaimed that we had had a very fun afternoon.

As I saw Ann off and she smiled and waved as she drove away, I had a flash back of the young girl I used to study with. A few changes in appearance for sure, but she's till the same dear girl I grew up with...

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.-  Proverbs 18:24

Nostalgia and regrets

As a great-grandmother, I know the depth of nostalgia and regrets' bite. My mothering days are gone and I regret the many times I was not there for my children due to prolonged hospitalisation due to spinal problems. 

Some regrets come from being so busy with the running of the home that I didn't have time to play much with my children.

I think it's so easy to overlook people in our busyness in this fast world. Even our husbands, and particularly our babies. 

The time flies and the infant in the crib is suddenly a young adult and driving. Or having babies of their own.

If we don't stop to smell the roses along life's path, or take the time to actually enjoy the people in our life, then when we finally come to a stop, we will have nothing but regrets. 

Pictures of those days are lovely, but they do not replace the living in those days. In fact, if the memories aren't there, those pictures can make the nostalgia worse.

Have no regrets in the future by enjoying those around you and try not to allow the vissitudes of life to rob you of quality time with those you love.

Jesus said that each day brings its own worries and that worrying or fussing won't change much. 

Love your family now. Nostalgia is very real with regrets coming a close second...

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Only precious to us

Have you wondered why old ladies are always talking about the past, boring you with endless stories of  their family? Every birthday, Nana or Grandma recounts the birth of your father or uncle or mother? or even you. 

Are you bored with hearing about how hard life was in the Depression of the 30's and how they never had many labour saving devices and appliances like we do now? How about when they had cash in their purse or wallet, and plastic cards were unheard of..

As an older woman nearly 70, I do exactly that, I know I do. Every birthday I find myself telling my adult children about their birth, weight, length, good looks and how much I love them.

I often reminisce about their childhood and our homes and life back in the day. Sometimes they don't even try to hide the fact that I am boring them. Yet to me, talking of these things comes as naturally as breathing air.

It's never a productive day if I find myself culling double ups of my online photos. I spend so much time reliving bygone days and sometimes it actually depresses me. Nostalgia can do that.

Why does it depress you? you ask. It depresses me because a lot of the people in the photos have passed. Some family in pictures- mainly cousins- no longer keep in touch in spite of me reaching out via FaceBook. They simply aren't interested in being a family anymore.

I relive certain times and wish I had or hadn't done something or other, knowing that such thinking is futile  because we did the best we could with what we had at the time. It has to be enough to know that.

It hurts me to see pictures of happier days when I babysat grandchildren and those same grandchildren now grown, don't bother to ring me or call in. Yes, yes, I know they have busy lives, but I did too back then and I still found time for them.

It is sad when I am not even invited to theirs or my grandchildren's birthday parties, having been the organiser and host of so many of them for them and their friends at their birthdays. But like an old shoe, I have been cast off to be forgotten.

It doesn't help when one gives their children their baby albums and Infant Welfare Record Books, with locks of hair and tiny wrist band from the hospital- only to find they have been thrown out and not cherished like you did for many many years. 

Precious memories are all we really have, us old ladies. The saddest thing of all is discovering that they are only precious to us.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. Psalm 71.9