Does life ever give you lemons? Have you ever thought about the trials you are going through or have gone through? Do you say to yourself, “Why me”, or do you look on the positive side and say, “what am I going to learn from this?” People deal with life’s lemons in many different ways.
My sweet, sweet sister Annette was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This isn’t her first round of cancer, as she is a breast cancer survivor of many, many, many years, but this is a different, maybe scarier form of cancer. Within days of the diagnosis, she was given the good news, that she was a candidate for a surgery that is only given to people who have the right markers. There is a specialist here in Salt Lake City that does this specialized surgery. How lucky we are to live here. Annette went through the long 8 hour surgery and came out with a great positive outcome. Yes she does have to do 6 months of chemo, but she has a very positive outlook on life. My sister is a a HUGE example in my life. She is a HUGE example in her grandchildren’s life, in her great-grandchildren’s life. She is known as “the grandma down the hill”, “the grandma with the smarties in her purse”. How she is LOVED by her children, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins. She is a shining light, and a friend to everyone. She has Christlike qualities that I want to exemplify in my life. I look up to her for her unselfish love. She is an amazing artist with her oil paintings, a great alto singer and the perfect sister. We have many more years to laugh, share good books, sew, quilt, and party. Your positive outlook is an inspiration to everyone.
So, when life gives you lemons, squeeze out the juice, add a little sugar, a little water, and a lot of love and pass the lemonade around.
Have you ever had a heart to heart with your grandchildren? We spent Saturday trick-or treating at the zoo with all of my grandchildren. Each one so special with their own personalities that shine. After continually telling some of them several times to “stay by us or you are going to get lost”, I decided to explain to my little 4 year old grandson how important it is to stay by us. I explained to him that we are going on a vacation to Disneyland and that if he doesn’t stay by us, he will get lost. His response was “why”? WHY is a big word in children’s vocabularies and we need to take the time to explain to them. “Just because” isn’t a good enough answer. I knew I needed a good explanation. I asked him to look at me in the face, so I knew he was listening. I let him know that Disneyland is a big, big place with so many things to see and do, and so many people there, that we wouldn’t be able to see him or his cousins in the crowd of people if they didn’t hold our hands. I told him that I was going to bring a child leash that attached to my wrist and then attached to his wrist so he couldn’t wander too far away. His response was “how about we put them on our legs”. To which I replied, “I will fall down and break my nose”. His response was priceless. “I will hold your hand”. BINGO. I accomplished what I set out to accomplish. The importance of staying close and helping each other. I will be taking the child leash with me, and I will put it on our legs, and I’m sure our wrists too. I love that they say what comes to their minds. They don’t need to think about their response, it just comes out of their mouths naturally. I love to listen to their little conversations between the cousins. The innocence they portray. As their Grandma, Paypams, or Muck, I want them to know that I will always be their to listen to them at any time, and in any place.