Nov / Dec 2024

 Dear Family and Friends, Nov/Dec 2024

November was already letting us know that fall was almost over with its colorful leaves falling to the ground and the weather changing to cold and Christmas decorations beginning to appear on homes.  Before long it may even begin to snow and change everything into a wonderland of beauty.  We learn to appreciate and enjoy all of the beautiful seasons of the year.  A few of True’s orchids are still blooming but most of them had been cut back for the winter before she left.  Linda is keeping them watered as part of her ‘take over’ job while True is gone.  Between her part-time job, caring for her own home, her animals and other commitments, Linda does well managing to come when she can to take care of my house and my needs. 

 

Oh, and bless her big, loving heart, Linda added to her duties when she found two little newborn kittens at her workplace which had been abandoned by the mother cat. She carefully wrapped them up and took them home to see if she could feed them and keep them alive.  With an eye-dropper she kept up with their feedings, but one was not able to make it.  The other one seems to have prospered by her tender loving care, and is now almost a month old.  I saw the two little newborns when she came here to clean and brought them with her to continue with their feedings.  She loves to show me pictures of the little one’s growth.  Because he showed such strength in surviving, Linda named him “Rocky.”  Despite having a dog and three cats of her own she decided keep this one too. Linda asked Melissa and her daughter, who seem to know all about cats and their care, to help cat-sit him from time to time.

I was glad when the town had a clothing event where everything was priced at $2.00 and then just a week later the Church had its own clothing event where everything was FREE!  It was a clothes ‘swap’ where you were to bring something and then to take something home.  That was great because you were able to deplete your closet and then fill it with something different.  It was well-planned - everything was hanging or segregated into groups on numerous tables according to types and sizes.  Besides clothes, there were also household items, decorations, and even good used toys for children.  Linda and I had a good time, got some nice things, and best of all, spent some time there together, but no money!

I’m so thankful that I am doing so well.  I went for my 6 month check up and to get a flu shot at my doctor’s office and he agreed that if I have no serious illness nor terrible fall in the next three years, I should easily be able to make it to 100 years, because my heart and all my other vital organs are doing just fine.  That’s good news, and I am so thankful for it.  But growing old does bring with it certain other maladies that are not on the inside and I call them my “outer INs”: IN-continance and IN-somnia, both of which make life a little less enjoyable than I would like, but since there’s nothing much you can do about them, I just live with the annoyances and go on with my life and not worry about it,  Thankfully, however, I’ve never been bothered by IN-digestion!

Despite my little woes I still attend church regularly and other activities monthly, like DUP meetings, RS Ladies Luncheons, and potlucks here at the Park and elsewhere, which are always very enjoyable.  Linda usually supplies the transportation, but others I call upon seem willing to help.  I miss having True around, but with Linda’s help and Diane supplying me with meals I’m doing just fine.  I really appreciate the various sisters of the Redwood Ward stepping in with meals when needed, so there’s no chance of me ever going hungry.  I know they will all be blessed for their selfless service.  In fact, there have been so many luscious meals provided that I am gaining weight and have acquired a little belly now.  Doggone it!  And I still have some of the leftovers from our own Thanksgiving meal that need to be eaten up too.  So needless to say I’m not lacking for food.

I've been using things from the box dropped off a few weeks ago by an unknown neighbor and meant especially for this occasion, plus other items necessary for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that were brought by Linda and her daughter Naomi. The two of them prepared a very scrumptious meal with all the trimmings.  And with big meals there are always leftovers to be enjoyed later.  The rest of our afternoon was spent playing Tile Rummy until it began to get dark.  I always enjoy that game!

 A few days after Thanksgiving I was able to celebrate my 97th birthday on Sunday Dec 1st. I was surprised and embarrassed when the Bishop announced from the pulpit at the beginning of our worship service that Sister Stevenson was having her birthday today, and at 97 is the oldest member of our ward.  Wow!  I certainly didn’t expect that.  And Bro. Nelson, the teacher of our Sunday School class, also made note of it by expressing his congratulations before starting the lesson.  That was all very nice, but I felt sort of self-conscious about being put in the spotlight like that.  

I do appreciate however all the well-wishes and expressions of love from so many of my friends and family members.  In addition to the many lovely cards I received, there were several phone calls.  One from my sister Carol in Utah, another from my son Dan and his wife Cathy in Hawaii, but the one that surprised me most was from Dan’s son Korey who is in the Air Force with a family of a wife, two sons and a daughter in Japan.  I haven’t had much contact with them, so I was delighted to have Korey call from Japan (19 hours ahead difference in time) to wish me a happy birthday!  I was just overjoyed to hear his voice and know that his family is finally with him, they were able to sell their house in Idaho, and his assignment in Japan has been extended for several more years.  It was so good to hear from Korey.  I guess instead of writing all the time I should probably do more calling myself.

I didn’t receive much in the way of actual presents, but I did receive one gift that I used almost immediately.  It was a small, soft, fleecy robe that was so nice when the heat pump stopped working. The room temperature dropped down to 54 degrees, and I was freezing.  Before Thanksgiving I'd called about an awful noise that was coming from the heat pump, but because of the long holiday weekend no one would be available to respond until Monday.  But when it started pumping out cold air on Sunday, I called first thing Monday morning and told them I had to have someone come as quickly as possible. Even in my robe, I was still freezing.  Fortunately, someone did come at about noon, fixed the problem and I had blessed heat coming into the home again in just a few minutes.  I was actually amazed and thanked him for his early arrival and how quickly everything was back to normal.  I was so happy to be warm again.  We take our conveniences for granted until something like that happens, don’t we?

  

I haven’t got Christmas things up yet because I had to call True to find out where they are stored, and Linda hasn’t been able to come and retrieve them for me because of her tight work schedule.  She’s been feeling kinda under the weather too, but still goes to work and comes here when she can.  She is such a trooper!  I didn't wait to retrieve the nativity scenes I wanted to share. I removed my Sallman’s Head of Christ portrait from its place on the wall, and took it to the annual Nativity Festival being held at the stake center.  But because the wide tape that is around the outer edge of the frame on the reverse side of the picture is torn and coming loose (it looked terrible), I thought maybe I shouldn’t even share it at all this year, but wait until it was in better shape for showing.

Luckily, with the expert help of my dear friend and neighbor on Leonard Rd, Debbie Barr, she was able to successfully remove the old, crumbling tape and replace it with a smaller, much nicer looking masking tape. So we were able to display it after all.  But as it always happens, only one side was able to be seen.  I enjoy sharing that unique bit of artwork, but in order to fully appreciate it you must be able to see both sides of the picture, because the front looks like a painting, but the back assures you that it was definitely stitched.  But how?  Nobody knows!

Because it is so unique, since it was created by Maria Teressa Maldonado of Saltillo, Mexico who presented to me at the close of my 2-year mission to Mexico in Sept. of 1952, It has always been a very treasured possession of mine.  But I kick myself time and time again for not getting her to show me exactly how she was able to to create such a masterpiece.  And the marvel of it is, that after I gave her a small well-known picture to go by, she sent me to buy various colors of ‘embroidery’ threads that would be needed to complete the project, evidently on some kind of a machine, but certainly not the treadle sewing machine I noticed in her front room.  Or could it be?  No! Not possible!

  

I never saw her again until the day two months later when she handed me a rolled up piece of satin material that contained this nice, large, intricately duplicated picture of Christ.  Uncanny!  It was oh-so expertly done and beautiful!   I always include this detailed information about the embroidery each time I display it, to help the viewer realize the uniqueness of seeing both sides of the picture that was somehow stitched onto a piece of satin material long ago, and now is between two pieces of glass in a frame for all to enjoy.  You can see it for yourself when you visit me!

It is nice to see Christ’s likeness in a picture, but much better to feel his presence in your life and know he is guiding you down that ‘covenant path.’   And that is what Christmas is all about.  So may we each spread the Good News of his birth, his teachings and his love to everyone with whom we come in contact.  And during this festive season and into the new year, may we keep a smile on our face and spread the joy of the gospel everywhere we go.  I usually like to spread a little joy by sharing my holiday puzzles.  They are traditional ones associated with Christmas that I created many years ago, but still fun to do.  And in lieu of sending each of you an additional card, I’d like to use this as my Christmas card to everyone on the email list. I'll say here what I’d say in a card, and that is that I love you and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year.  And I say it with all my heart.     

Love,  Marie