To be ungrateful is sinful. It is a failure to repay a moral debt. There are degrees of ungratefulness. The first degree is to neglect to return a favor. The second degree is to take no notice of the favor. The lowest degree in ingratitude is to fail even to admit to one's self that a favor has been given. We are all familiar with ungrateful people--people who accept favors as if they were theirs by right, people who never thank anyone for favors, and people who never return a favor. … [Read more...]
Feb 28, 2013
Candy Wrappers, Napkins and Banana Peels
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Life with an adult with Down Syndrome is interesting. I always thought I knew my brother in law, Carlton, but until I actually lived with him for 6 months I did not have a clue. Not that I got it all figured out after 6 months of living with him but I do understand a lot more than I did before and that is a good thing. We had to have some regular maintainance done on the house and so the HVAC guy came to check things out. Chris mentioned that the upstairs was always really warm and … [Read more...]
Aug 20, 2012
Hope = Glass Half Full
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School is starting everywhere and I have an assignment. Miranda from Scattering Moments wrote an amazing blog post about hope. As it turns out it is part of a bigger thing going on in the blogosphere where some tagging is going on. She tagged me. I am trying to rise to the challenge though there is no way I will ever be able to come close to touching her story of hope---I offer you my own perspective. Hope is both a verb and a noun which should tell you something about the word … [Read more...]
Aug 9, 2012
Baking and Painting
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Some of you know that we have Chris's brother, Carlton, with us for a couple of weeks. 13 days to be exact according to him. He is a numbers guy. Ask him when his birthday is in the next couple of years and he can tell you what day of the week it falls on. Christmas---same thing. Last night he was reciting all the birthdays and anniversaries in the family. He usually gets them right and if he is off he kind of has a hard time admitting it. :-) I am trying to keep him happy … [Read more...]
Aug 5, 2012
Back to (My Altered) Reality
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I would have to say this has been a very bizarre and busy month. My life of late has been fairly routine and predictable. Then summer hit and it has been basically non stop travel and weirdness. Not all weirdness is bad, trust me. I like the unpredictable at times and I like new things and adventures. It broadens me (as if I needed broadened anymore after all the fabulous food I have had on vacations as of late). Two weeks ago is kind of a blur. Return from China had me a bit out … [Read more...]
Apr 19, 2012
Storage Units and Birthday Bashes
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It's official. We are some of "those people" who are renting a storage unit! Yikes. How did we get there? Quite simply put---we got there because Chris's dad's house in Ohio has sold and we don't have time to UHaul our treasures across the country right now. Whew. We had an exhausting but productive weekend and I wanted to share a bit of our adventures. Chris and I went and secured said storage unit on Saturday morning. Great owner and great conversation. I quipped to her that … [Read more...]
Mar 8, 2012
Move Over, Mom!
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The following is a selection from a collection of memories that I am working on that include stories and thoughts of family and life experiences. This one is about my brother in law, Carlton, who has Down Syndrome. I would love to hear what you think. It is never easy to lose a loved one. There are just so many emotions that come into play when grief is encountered. Everyone handles it in their own way and most importantly--in their own time. I do not think that anyone can say "you need … [Read more...]
Jan 8, 2012
Is It Still Christmas?
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Yesterday I was very excited because we were finally getting to celebrate Christmas with Chris's side of the family! Yippee! There just was not time before Christmas and with getting Carlton all moved to his new home with Chris's sister and family it was just too much. So we opted for yesterday. It was a little difficult to celebrate in the house with so many memories of Christmases past but all in all I think we did okay. Carlton has settled into the the groove mostly in the new place … [Read more...]
Dec 17, 2011
Transitions Are Never Easy
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Are you ready??? For the week?? For Christmas?? I am happy to say that I think that I am! I "said" I would downsize it all this year since we are kind of in transition. But as usual I lied. Since we are going to be in Florida for the actual celebration I shipped all our packages to our eldest son's place in Jacksonville Beach. UPS tracking told me that all 4 gigantic boxes arrived last night. Never mind that I sent yet another one out yesterday. Now that one included the … [Read more...]
A Special Day for a Special Guy
Today is a special day! It is World Down Syndrome Day 2013 and today I celebrate my brother in law, Carlton! Carlton is such a joy to our family and over the past several years, especially, I have shared on my blog many things about how Carlton has enriched our lives. We had the privilege to live with him for about 7 months and it was an adventure beyond my wildest dreams at times but one that I would never trade in the world. One of my favorite things was waking up to his morning … [Read more...]