Making memories and carrying on tradition

The other night I was taking my son to meet up with his girlfriend. When I got to our usual meeting place her aunt pulled in to pick him up. I went over to speak to her and she told me that on the way to meet us she asked her niece who she was dating. She told her and said his sister is Kailee and his other sister is Jess. The aunt replied "tell me who her Momma is - that's who I will know." She told her who I was and she said - "Oh yes - now HER I know."
I got to thinking about that conversation coming down off the mountain and thought that is just one of the many great things about living in a small community. Chances are, unless you are a "transplant" in the area with no ties to anyone, then usually everyone knows you or has heard of you. It's [usually] a great thing to be able to relate to who the boy or girl is that your child is dating or running around with if you have someone to associate them with. All the kids that come to my house either belong to someone that I graduated with or someone that I met in school or someone who went to school with my siblings. Knowing who the parents are for the most part insures a little more security and a little less worry for your child to be associated with them; because more than likely they have inherited their parent's traits.
That same night I stopped at the local convenient store located in the town of Tellico. When I walked in there were two boys sitting at the table decked out, head to toe, in camouflage. One of the boys happened to be my boss's grandson. I threw up my hand and asked them "what are you all huntin' tonight?" [well in the south I could almost answer my own question, but I know how they like to have bragging rights to their plans and the results of the hunt. So I let them answer themselves.]
After I left there and headed home I continued on with my thoughts about the small community that I live in. I thought about the boys and wondered between the two of them how many years of tradition had been carried on by their fathers, uncles and grandfathers that had shaped these boys into experienced hunters starting at a very early age I'm sure. Trust me when you living in the south it means that the only thing more important than the local high school sporting events is the need to hunt or fish. When a boy (and some times a girl) starts to walk and talk they have already learned what hunting and fishing is about because they heard so many stories about it - beginning probably when they were in the womb!
I love driving down the country back roads and passing all the young teenagers in their pick-up trucks with their dog boxes in the back. To me that means that tradition still lives on and those boys are carrying on that torch for hunting and will pass it down to their children in a few years.
It seems like the older that I get, the more I focus on the simpler things that life has to offer. The future, while it is important, doesn't always seem to be the main topic of my attention. I seem to dwell more on the past and the memories that are associated with the things and the people that cross my path now. I look at these kids who run around with my own children and I can't help but smile thinking of the times I spent with one or both of their parents and the memories that we mutually share as adults from all those years ago.
I allow my children a little more freedom than I was probably allowed growing up, and some times more than the teenager that lives down the street. But when I look at these kids that infiltrate my home quite often, I look at them and my own children and I see me many years ago. So when I see them laughing and plotting out their plans I giggle to myself because I know that one day in not so many years their children will be doing the same things with each other....making memories and carrying on tradition.

Showing the respect...because you should

When I took my granddaughter to her first ballgame she was probably a year old. But nevertheless when the National Anthem was sung I put her little hand over her heart and told her to be very quiet. Although she had no idea what she was doing – every game after that her Mommy and I followed the same suit and at 2½ she does it as soon as the music starts. Now she probably doesn’t know still why she does that, but it has been instilled in her that this is what you “should do”. I did the same with my children and they weren’t much older than my granddaughter when that song rendered the same reaction to them.

I stand at ballgames now and I watch these kids that are teenagers who stand and giggle and are completely oblivious to what they meaning of that song is and the sacrifices are that were made because of what that song stands for. I blame the parents for that, for the fact that they had no more respect for the countless lives lost protecting this country than to take a moment and instill in their children the reverence that should be allowed when we stand to our feet and face that flag.

When Francis Scott Key wrote the National Anthem it was during the Battle of Baltimore at Fort McHenry. The enemy was determined to bring down the flag that stood there representing America. They bombed the area repeatedly and Mr. Key couldn’t comprehend how in the world that the flag pole supporting that flag remained standing through all of that. After it was over and there were only remnants of buildings left he journeyed to where the flag pole stood. When he walked inside what was left of the building it was then that he saw countless soldier’s bodies surrounding the flag pole and giving it the strength to stand as the enemy tried to take it down…and failed. It was then that he went and wrote our National Anthem.

So when I see grown adults and children (the age to know better) not standing there in reverence when that song is sung I get so upset. I have been to hundreds and hundreds of events where that song was sung. EVERY time my eyes fill with tears and my heart wants to burst with pride, because I know what that song means; I know what that flag stands for and I know how many lives were lost because of it.

What really saddens me the most is that in this melting pot of a country that we live in, that has so many different nationalities living here together, I will often see someone who came here for a better life paying more attention and giving more respect during the National Anthem than the man or woman standing beside them that has lived here their whole life. I can’t help but wonder where along the way that some Americans quit being proud of the Flag and what it means.

My greatest passions are my Lord, my family and America. I feel a distinct honor and privilege to be cloaked under that Flag, because it represents something about each of those passions; and I will always be thankful for the Veterans who have protected her through the years and those that unselfishly gave their lives because of their passion to stand up for what that flag stands for.

So not just today – on their special day – but every chance you get – when you see a Veteran thank him or her. Let them know that you appreciate what they have done. And the next time you are somewhere that the National Anthem is being played and that Flag is being saluted – remember that the man or woman standing next to you may very well be one of those that lost someone fighting for you to stand there and listen – or perhaps even fought themselves. Let them know that it wasn’t in vain.

Seeing love through the eyes of a child

One thing about me that those that are close to me know is that I am a sucker for romance. I’m all about those sappy love stories on the Hallmark channel, my eyes tear up when I watch an elderly couple still holding hands and I get all giddy and beside myself when the guy wins the girl’s heart at the end of a movie and they live happily ever after. I'm an old fashioned girl that still loves the thought of being "courted".

I’m not sure if romance is an emotion that you are born with or if it’s just a trait that you inherit somewhere along the way in life. Regardless of how it was obtained I am glad that I am that way.

There’s more to romance though than just the flowers and kissing the rain kind of things. I think romance is what warms the heart to make you appreciate little things. Sunday morning I was watching my pastor’s son who is 4. He was standing in front of me next to a pretty little girl who stood about 6 inches taller than him and was as cute as a speckled pup underneath a red wagon. He would look up at her and just watch her as she was oblivious to his affection in his eyes as she listened to the music. Then he would just put his little arm around her waist and lay his little blonde head against her shoulder. I couldn’t help but grin watching him just admire her without any words even being spoken. Earlier we were in the choir and I was holding my granddaughter who is 2 ½. Well she has taken to the pastor’s younger son who is an adorable blonde haired boy that is not much older than her. They would play hide and seek with each other hiding behind mine and his mommy’s necks and playfully grin at each other. I remember when asked why she tried to kiss him at their house one day she said “but I wuv him”. And she dearly does as it's obvious in her little grin when she sees him. He of course reciprocates and it’s just so darn cute.

I was thinking about these little displays of affection that these kids who are unaware of what romance even means and it dawned on me that they are the perfect example of what we lose as we grow older and become involved in relationships. They have this sense of admiration in the opposite sex that is innocence in its purest form. They are simply content with just exchanging playful grins and chasing each other around the church or outside. When we get older those things lose importance and they are replaced with the constant need and desire to try to impress each other with things that aren’t nearly as important.

When we are children we get all giddy over little notes passed between our friends over to the object of our affection with the check yes or no if you like me boxes. And if he or she checks the “yes” boxes then we were perfectly content with that and it was enough to manifest visions of the fairy tale wedding that would follow one day.

Later in life we become more complex and require things much more complicated to appease our desire for romance. Now don’t get me wrong – I am all about candlelit dinners, slow dancing to “You Look Wonderful Tonight” and cards for no reason. I think those things are wonderful, but it’s those little things that we become complacent with doing without when we get older that really makes me kind of sad. I suppose what I’m trying to convey is that – as simple as a little smile is between two people that have feelings for each other it’s really one of the most important things in a relationship. Because if you can look at each other and have that desire to simply smile because of the other person then that means your heart is happy and that’s what a relationship should be about.

It’s kind of ironic I suppose that as adults we are supposed to teach our children and other children the important lessons in life. But this time I was the one who learned a lesson from two little blonde haired preacher’s sons and a 2 ½ year little girl.