Don't Be Alarmed... Step Away from the Bag!

A few weeks ago I was most blessed to travel to the Boston area with our  youngest daughter, Jaime. This trip was Jaime's gift to me for my birthday!  We spent the first day in Lexington / Concord, and on the second day we took the train into downtown Boston to walk the Freedom Trail.  We were not aware when we ventured out that morning that we would be sharing Boston with over 2 million Bruin fans, who had all come to town to watch the Stanley Cup parade and celebrate with their team! This made visiting the historic sites easy as most of the people were in town for the Bruins!

We had enjoyed a great day together and we were coming to the end of the trail with only two more major stops to make. It was hot and we had been walking since about 10: 30 and it was now about 4:00 in the afternoon. 
We arrived at the USS Constitution and couldn't decide if we wanted to actually go on the boat and go through security or just look at it from the pier.  After a few minutes we walked to the end of the pier and took pictures of the beautiful Boston skyline. About this time we start to hear a loud, high pitched alarm. We thought it odd that no one seemed upset by the sound but kept doing whatever they were already involved with. 

We decided to go on the boat and so we were willing to go through the tight security.  We showed our picture ids, put our purses and camera bags on the x-ray belt and walked through the metal detector. All seemed fine and we were cleared. The last member of security who checked my id said he wondered what the alarm was about but sent us through.

When we arrived in the visitor center, we first went to the restrooms and then planned to tour the visitor center to learn more about the USS Constitution. However, all too soon a young man approached me. He was obviously an employee of the visitor center.  " Excuse me, Mam, I think your bag is making a noise." I told him that it wasn't me and that my daughter and I had heard the sound outside, through security, in the restroom - and well just  everywhere! He said, " Mam, It has been a long day and I don't have the authority to go through your bag - but your bag is making the sound."  I became slightly indignant and told Jaime to take him outside and show him that the noise was OUTSIDE too and in fact EVERYWHERE!  I sat down near the door and Jaime and the young man went outside!

A minute or two later they returned. Jaime,  no doubt mortified by now, looked at me and said, "Mom - it has to be you- the noise is NOT outside NOW!" So then the young man looks at me and says, " Mam, is it your LIFE ALERT?" I said, "Son, I may be old, but I am NOT THAT OLD!" I start digging through my camera bag and there at the very bottom was - the personal alarm and whistle that I carry when I travel alone.I had forgotten that I even had it with me. I have never used it - and the alarm cord has never come out before!! 

I started laughing so hard ... by now we had quite a crowd of people around us who thought that either I was some crazy terrorist out to destroy the USS Constitution - or just a pathetic old person!  One of the joys of getting older is that we do not find things like this to be very alarming! :)   I don't think I even apologized to the poor kid! I did apologize to Jaime!  " Don't be alarmed Jaime, your mother is just getting old!" :)

Along the Way...

Recently, I learned a valuable lesson about doing things when you first think to do them. For four years I drove past an old one-room school house -thinking each time I really need to take a picture of that building. Imagine my heartbeak when I drove by a few weeks ago and saw that a giant oak tree had fallen and destroyed the old school! So yesterday while driving home from the beach, I took the time to stop and take pictures of the things that caught my eye! 

 

 The Old South still lives in Eastern North Carolina! Yesterday on the way home from the beach I stopped and took a few pictures of things that caught my attention! This plantation house was the first stop ... along the way... somewhere near Maysville, NC

 Harvest is near! This barn is located just outside of Trenton, NC

Oh the stories this old house could tell. Located in Trenton, NC - the old house no doubt holds the stories of many lives. I could spend hours thinking about the people who lived there.

NC A Place to Call Home: There she was with a pink and white flowing twirly little dress in the parking lot of Sam's...

NC A Place to Call Home: There she was with a pink and white flowing twirly little dress in the parking lot of Sam's...

Resurrection in May by Lisa Samson

Once again a Lisa Samson novel has completely captivated me.  I invite you to read the latest of Samson's fine works.

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There she was with a pink and white flowing twirly little dress in the parking lot of Sam's...

holding tightly to her mother's hand, barefoot on hot pavement. The child could not have been more than six or seven. A closer look revealed a slightly rumpled dress and hair only slightly less red than her mother's. The young mom, in her early twenties, held the girl by one hand and a small clear plastic box with the other. In the box were small resealable bags with peanuts still in the shells.  "Mammm" she called out to me. "Yes?"  "Mammm, we are trying to get some money for some groceries, would you be willin to buy some peanuts?'  I gave her a few dollars and told her I did not need the peanuts and wished them well . She thanked me and headed the other way with the little girl in tow.  I was clearly rattled as I headed to the entrance to meet my own daughter inside.  As I returned to my car about 15 minutes later I looked for the pair. I wanted to take them shopping or bring them  home or both. But I could not find them in the lot. I do not know if the mom truly just needed the money for groceries or if she was going to use the money for something else. How she was going to use the money was not important, what was important was the fact that she was there in the parking lot with her daughter in hand asking strangers for money.   I wanted to do more, to help more but a plan did not come together at once and then when I had at least the beginnings of a plan, they were gone.  I don't know if they will eat tonight or where they will sleep. I pray that she sold enough peanuts to at least provide food for them for today.  I pray that someone else responded more quickly than me and that the pair will get a new start.  God please protect the little red-headed pair.

Peace for the Journey by Elaine Olsen

I invite you to watch the trailer for this beautiful new book released only today by writer Elaine Olsen! Elaine is the mom of a former student and her dear son contacted me today to tell me about the book! I cannot wait to read Peace for the Journey!

The Summer of '78

The center  of our great nation is not the place one always wants to visit in the summer and yet that summer a trip to visit family in Texas and Colorado seemed like the right thing to do. Traveling for weeks and long distances with two small children can be taxing to any parent but on this trip  I was not feeling well and the visits remain a blur in my memory!  While visiting in the Dallas area my illness was compounded with a terrible uti and I remembered that we had a friend from Bible college days who was now a doctor in the area. What I did not know was that the physican friend was a pathologist and so perhaps began what would later seem as foreshadowing in the story. It seems that even pathologists can write scrips and so I was able to obtain an antibiotic so that the trip might continue.  I know we visited a brother in law in Texas and a sister in law and her family in Colorado, but where else and who else we saw will forever remain locked away in the back of my brain somewhere.  

Upon returning home to the city of Chicago-life quickly fell back into a sense of normal for a few days.  I still had the remants of an upper respiratory infection that I could not shake  and traces of the earlier uti that the medicine had helped ,for awhile , had reappeared.  I vaguely remember being at a church league baseball game and sitting outside at sundown, thinking that I was much sicker than symptoms seemed to indicate.  The role of pastor's wife or in this case assistant pastor's wife was one that demanded mostly my presence at everything and my illness was no excuse to stay away from church services or functions. So I kept dragging myself and my two little girls to all the events of the week.

Returning to my two-night-a-week job as a nurse's assistant for a wealthy North Shore family was in some ways relaxing  from a stress filled home and  hours of relief from the demands of mothering a three year old daughter and a eighteen month old daughter. It was decent pay for the time and it was 12 hours worked twice a week that seemed the easiest to be away. I worked from 7 pm until 7 am usually on Tuesday and Thursday nights... the nights most often void of church services or activities. This was also the time that the girls were usually asleep and so not to much work for their father. On my first night back at work, the other nurse I worked with noticed that I looked sick and sent me to bed once our patient was asleep for the night. 

When I awoke the next morning the first thing I sensed was that the outside of my hands and feet were numb. I tried to shake the numbness away thinking that my hands and feet were asleep as though I had slept in a strange position causing them to fall asleep. When the numbness did not go away I thought that maybe I had pinched a nerve.  By Thursday of that week the numbness had spread to my face and I was getting concerned.  It was as though the face had been given novacaine like the dentist might give for a  filling. Afraid to return to my patient because I thought that I might be carrying a contagious disease I visited a family doctor who assured me that I was a tired pastor's wife and mother and that there was nothing to worry about!  I returned to work and woke up on Friday morning feeling  more numb and as though my limbs weighed hundreds of pounds. I was becoming more fearful by the hour...   to be edited and continued