The Splattered Platter

"I think of you when I make fudge and place it on a platter;

 Remember when I served your fudge and how that plate did splatter."

For daddy - Father's Day 1982

It's a well-known fact in our circle of family and friends.  My daddy loved to make fudge and people raved about how good it was.

I'll always remember a Sunday afternoon when I was three.  We had company and daddy went into the kitchen and made a batch of fudge.  Little Miss Prisspot me thought I should be the one who served the candy. I insisted on carrying the glass plate into the living room where they were visiting.

To this day I can still hear the sound of the plate as it hit the floor and splattered into many pieces.

My Father's Day gift to daddy in 1982 was a poem.  It included the things in my life that made me thnk of him - buying crayons and toothpaste (items he thought I needed way too often) and the day my stubbornness was the cause of ruining not just a platter but a good batch of candy.

35 years later one word stands out  - that word is splatter.

Just a few weeks after I had written that Father's Day message, daddy and I sat on the swing on our family's back porch.

This time it was my heart that was splattered.

My children and I were moving to Florida.  It was a very strange and painful time. I had been convinced that I could fix what was broken.  I was shattered.  I had failed. I felt like that broken plate and ruined fudge was a metaphor of my life.

I don't remember daddy's reaction when I broke that plate as a three-year-old.  I just remember how I felt when it happened.  I do remember daddy's reaction that afternoon in the swing.  He just kept saying, "Everything's gonna be all right," encouraging me that I was going to survive.

A glass platter has to be replaced.  Fortunately, a broken spirit can be repaired. Love and friendship, financial assistances and much tender loving care was offered That and the faith that had been instilled in me as a child were the tools for survival.  And today I can look back over those 35 years and see not just survival but success.

You would think I learned my lesson.  Yet still, sometimes I am just sure that I have everything under control only to be met with one of those crash and burn experiences.  AND even though my daddy is no longer with us physically, I am always calmed and encouraged when I am sure I hear

"Everything's gonna be all right!"

May your life be filled with enough sunshine

to make you appreciate the shadows

Flag Day 2017

This is my cousin, Reta Weitzel Gilmore, celebrating Flag Day in about 1966.  She said she thought the celebration was for her mother's birthday.  I have promised not to say how old her mother would have been that year because I do not want you to "do the math."

In my mind's eye, I can see a picture of her mother at my 3rd birthday.  Her mother would have been 13 that year.

Oh me, I 'm telling you more than she wants you to know.

Okay - let me tell you what I want you to know.

Pauline Elizabeth Nesmith Weitzel is my mother's youngest sister.  My mother is 14 years her senior, and there are three sisters between them.  My parents married when Aunt Beth was still a little girl and when Ellie Capp and I were born, she became what we now think of as our older sister.

This is Aunt Beth.
She has always "been there for me".
Through my growing up years - although she was away -marrying Uncle Bill when I was 10, when I came back to Jacksonville in 1982 - still away - I think she lived in Chicago then but would soon move to Oklahoma - to the last 15 or so years now living in Florida.  And as my mother ages, she is a great support!

When I am sad, she makes me laugh. When I am angry, she suggests the other side.  When I am unsure of myself, she restores  my confidence.
When she goes on a journey, she offers the use of her car. When I need to relax, she shares "her" beach. When I can't decide what to wear - she suggests an accessory.

My mother and I share a commonality.  We both got a sibling when we were 14 years of age.  And my sibling (Lester) and Aunt Beth share a commonality.  They both got a niece when they were 10.  I have since that time (45+ a few months later) felt that was a dear thing for Lester and Aunt Beth to share and I have believed that my Becca is blessed to have Lester for an uncle...

Just as I am blessed to have Pauline Elizabeth Nesmith Weitzel (and is that not the most charming name?) to be my aunt.  Happy Birthday,  PEN.

May your life be filled with enough sunshine

to make you appreciate the shadows

Can't do a thing with my hair

Sue's hair

"Would you let me take a picture of the back of your hair?" 
I was surprised and complimented when my friend, Sue, wanted to show her hairdresser how she wanted her hair to look.

Paula's hair

Several weeks later, I was happy to see her new cut and perm.

I sometimes tease (sort of) and say I can always make it about me.

So you won't be surprised to read that this made me think about my hair. Do I need a hair cut earlier than I had planned?  Should I have colored my hair all those years ago when the silver started to show up ... and why isn't my hair as shiny as it used to be.

And then I wondered - am I vain about my hair?  It really didn't take a lot of wondering.  

Yes, I am.

Hum - maybe I should check out some scriptures.  There are many.   From the importance of long hair (I'm much too short for long hair) to the idea that it is disgraceful for a wife to go out without her head covered (since I am not a wife, that certainly does not apply) to the one that makes the most sense to me - about not letting the adorning of oneself  be what is important.  

UH - got me!

Or maybe the one I  like the LEAST:  "Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life" Proverbs 16:31.

I remember that add - "Hate that gray, wash it away" which I have never done. However, I'm not positive that there's any crown of glory, much less a righteous life, but I do think that is a goal worthy to strive for.

I am complimented that Sue wanted to copy my hair.  And one of the things her compliment did for me was make me aware that I should make an effort that my hair look nice all the time.

If my hair - so much more my whole person - and not just how I look but how I act.  All of these ponderings brought to mind a song from my teens - Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.  

A great goal!  

PS We are celebrating Sue's birthday this week -- Happy birthday,  to my favorite "Georgia Peach"!  

May your life be filled with enough sunshine

to make you appreciate the shadows