My parents met at a church youth group in Southern California in 1949. They were married in 1953 when my dad was on leave from Fort Ord, California.  He had just finished basic training. He was later stationed in Germany during the Korean conflict.

My mom’s parents lived with us about half of the year.  During the other half of the year they would visit family in Mexico. The trips to Mexico occurred regularly until my grandfather had a change in health and could no longer travel.

I was accustomed to having three generations in the household.  We used to say the family consisted of my parents, grandparents, six kids and a dog (or two).

I happen to be the fourth of the six of us. As you might imaging we had a very active family. Like any home we had our ups and downs. That being said it was generally noisy, hectic and happy.

When I was in high school someone gave me a very large postcard in honor of my family. It said: “Welcome to the House of Perpetual Commotion.”

It was perfect.   We displayed the postcard proudly for years.  Everyone who saw it agreed that it fit!

The photos below were taken on the last Thanksgiving that was spent in the house.  The family had grown to include daughters and sons-in-law plus grandkids.

The children in the last photo are grown.  Some of them now have children of their own.

I know this is just a small glimpse of my family and its history.   My walk down memory lane brought back a lot of fond memories.  I had a good laugh thinking about ideas for future stories.

I hope it also causes you to take  your own stroll and to recount times that you can remember fondly.

The WordPress Topic of the week is Regret.  Admittedly, it wasn’t a topic I really wanted to pursue.  The way I see it, why look back?  No need to dwell on shoulda’, woulda’, coulda’.  I decided a while ago that it was more important to move forward than dwell on the past.  Always easier said than done, isn’t it?

A few years ago I made the decision to stop playing music.  When I say that I stopped playing, I don’t just mean that I stopped playing publicly; I stopped playing.  The music inside me went quiet.

Life was pretty hectic at the time. I needed to balance out a few things.  It was hard at first, but I knew it was the right decision.  No regrets.

I think there may be times when Al would want to hear me play music and sing a bit more.  I did pluck out a few songs recently as you can see in my Peaceful 2 post.  Perhaps the fact that I’ve mentioned this a couple of times in posts means it’s time to start exploring this again.  Hmmm…ya think?

I know I’ll enjoy reconnecting with old friends…a 12 string and a few six string acoustic guitars.  They’ve come along way with me.  We’ll make some rich sounds.  I suspect it won’t be too much longer.  I don’t have the tug to sing into a mike at the moment, at least not right now.  No regrets there, either!

Top photo – My sis’ wedding…was it really that long ago?

Bottom photo – A bit more recent.  Taking a break from rehearsing.

Coach I’m ready!  I can do it!  They don’t scare me!

I have five siblings.  Here is my brother wearing big brother’s little league uniform.  He has a very determined look on his face – he’s ready to play with the big guys!

‘nuff said!

Timeframe: mid – 1960’s.

Cobbie69 suggested the theme Waiting as the weekly photo challenge.   What a great idea!

I went to the family archive and found this photo of my grandmother celebrating her 86th birthday.  The little cutie who is waiting in anticipation of a birthday song and a piece of cake is my niece.  She is now a lovely young lady, so this picture is recent but not that recent.

I suspect my grandmother asked her to help blow out the candles.  I’m sure my niece could hardly wait for the song to finish.

In looking through the photo archive I found some additional photos for future posts.  I guess you can say my discovery also fits the theme because I can hardly wait to use them!

p. s. To Gerry aka  Cobbie69 – Thanks for a great theme suggestion!

Last month I wrote a post called Peaceful.  I was appreciative and humbled by the replies; one from “Anonymous” stayed with me.  I mentioned I would follow up on a reply.  Due to a business trip and slight illness I hadn’t been able to complete that reply until now.

I hope Anonymous reads this.  Since the comments weren’t private, I’ll re-post portions here.

“… I ‘get’ the peace in this room. Oh man I get it. It’s inspiring and uplifting. And gentle movement. Your daughter’s inner world, is precious.”

Thank-you.  Many people don’t see her personality, or recognize how important a sense of order is to her.  I’m speaking of her internal order.  The order she brings to the space she creates.  We all want this to some degree.  She’s no different.

“Would you take in an online daughter of 30ish, an orphan from a terrible childhood? I wish somebody would…”

You, too, are precious.  I say that sincerely.  We all have uphill climbs in our lives; some have more challenges than others.

Years ago (probably when I was around your age!) a mentor said there are times when we feel like we don’t have any skin  Think about that. When we have a tiny cut we feel stung. Can you imagine what it would be like to have no skin at all? Somehow I suspect you can.

“Thank you very much for your post. You have no idea how much it reached me. Your daughter has inspired me to go on another day.”

This touched me deeply.  …very telling about you.  My daughter can be a real teacher once people get to know her.  She had taught me so much.

There are times when we all have to dig deep.  I mean really deep.

Someone told me I live everyday in a place where most people only glance. I imagine you understand this. One reason for this is to face your challenges, not deny them, then move through them and past them.  From there you can journey to a place of peace.  Truly. You have to be willing to take that walk.

Your reply to my post was lovely, honest and appreciated.  As I replied previously:

There’s a saying that during tough times you should take one day at a time. I think it’s often shorter. Take one moment at a time…one breath at a time.

We all have to find a safe place within our own world, within ourselves. Part of the journey with my daughter is to know this and to continually learn this.

It takes courage to reach out to someone when you’re in pain.  I hope you’ll reach out to people nearby who can support you. The journey starts with a first step.

Please stay strong and take one breath at a time.

I hope you’ll return to this post and drop me a line.

*If anyone else has words of encouragement for Anonymous, please feel free to leave those here.

My father was stationed in Germany during the Korean conflict.  It is the hope of any soldier who is stationed far from home to be able to be back in the arms of loved ones.  One can only imagine how this hope and yearning is particularly heightened during holidays.

I don’t know that my father is writing to my mother, but it would be nice to imagine.  “Hoping all is well.  Hoping to see you soon.”

My father was overseas when my mother was expecting my oldest brother.  An expectant mother…full of hopes for her child…and full of hope for her loved one to return safely.

Parents hoping for the safe return of their son.

*Thank-you to all the men and women serving our country, with hopes for your safe return.*

- Best wishes from the wife of a retired sky watcher.

I received a surprise today about my blog!  I was nominated for, and gladly accept the Candle Lighter Award created by Kate Kresse.  Here is a link to Kate’s blog where she explains more about this award.
http://believeanyway.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/creation-of-new-blog-award-the-candle-lighter-award/

Thank-you, Kate!

Take a moment to give someone support.  Be encouraging.  Edify…not only when you blog, but as often as you can…every day.

My maternal grandmother at the beach.  The 1920’s…I love the simplicity of what she’s wearing.  At that time many of the gadgets we now take for granted didn’t exist.  A reminder that some of the things we think are simple were considered marvels at the time.

This is one my favorite pictures of my maternal grandfather. He’s enjoying a book in the backyard of the house where I grew up. Nothing fancy, just a basic lawn chair and some sunshine. It brings back some great memories of simpler times.

My paternal grandfather.  The timeframe is probably the late 1920’s, maybe the early 1930’s.   Those in my family who have a musical bent inherited this from him.  He made complicated music sound so simple.  I can close my eyes and still hear it.

I absolutely love this picture of my paternal grandmother. She looks so lovely with her simple white hat.

Forward to this weekend.  A plant that I’ve had for a few years bloomed this week. I had no idea it would flower! My grandmothers would laugh as they knew how to keep a garden!  One simple elegant flower just made my morning and made me think of my grandparents.

I made a simple cup of tea as I usually do.  It’s been good to reminisce about simple things and simpler times.

Thank-you everyone for your comments on my previous post Peaceful.  I am very grateful for all the comments and support.  I also discovered how diverse and talented all of you are as I got to explore your posts!

This is my view of peaceful…or one of them.  It had been a while since I’ve strummed and picked a few chords.  I took a break for a number of reasons.  Recently I felt a stirring.  I knew I needed to play again.  Whenever I run into certain people they say to me, “Don’t stop singing…please…don’t stop.”  It’s part of who I am…and it is one thing that beings me peace.

I also enjoyed watching my husband as he relaxed and listened.  I know he’s missed this as well.

Peaceful…

p. s.  On a different note (no pun intended!) I admit I’m also posting a similar photo to Cathy’s Crochet Corner as the fingerless gloves are a recent creation.   It was fun to test them out while I was playing.  Enjoy!

Peaceful…Through my daughter’s eyes…

I thought about this for a while.  There are some photos I’ll probably post later that are more related to my own view of this.  In the meantime, I kept coming back to the way my daughter expresses herself.

Since my daughter is not verbal, I don’t really know how she would define “peaceful.”  As I was considering this I began to think about the way she views the world.  Like many people with autism, she is compulsive about the way her belongings are ordered.  It’s important for everything to be in a particular place.  This makes her calm.  Perhaps you can say she’s at peace.

The front part of our house is her domain.  Even though she is a teenager, the space consists of stuffed animals, bins with lots of small toys, crayons, inflatables of all sizes and a brightly colored mat where she hangs out.

Her best pal is a giant stuffed gorilla named Nejo.  It’s short for conejo, rabbit in Spanish.  He got this name because he looks like the small gorilla my grandmother gave Mija.  My grandmother was in her nineties; her eyesight was failing.  She kept saying to give the conejo to the baby.  We finally realized she was talking about the little stuffed gorilla a volunteer in the nursing home gave her.

When Mija was smaller she would pounce against him, or lean against him when she watched TV.

At the moment Nejo lies on the floor with a toy on top of him.  We don’t know why the toy is there except that it makes Mija happy.  That’s what counts.  I wouldn’t dream of moving it.  For some reason this toy and Nejo belong together.

Mija orders the world in ways that don’t always make sense to me.  That’s okay.  It’s her world and it’s important that I learn to live in there with her.  Too often she is asked to live in ours.  That isn’t always easy for her.

When Nejo and all the other stuffed animals and toys are in their place my daughter is content.  She could spend hours “fixing” everything if so inclined.

The picture at the start of this post is one of the piles of stuffed animals that she arranges and rearranges until they are just so.  This set sits on the floor between the toy bins.  Across the room she also has inflatable beach balls and a pile of crayons that she doesn’t use too much any more…but don’t try to move them!  She enjoys the pile just where it is…

It’s her space, her world.  She put everything in it’s place the way she thinks it should be.

…and that is fine with us…it is the way it is meant to be.