my kids make me smile.
Youngest Son called this afternoon. Their family Beagle had passed on earlier this year and they all are ready for another dog. He had found a rescue group that had puppies so he had filled out the paperwork and sent in the processing fee. He said he liked this particular group because they put their rescues into foster homes rather than keeping them penned up. There was a little Corgi cross puppy there and Son wanted to know if I knew anything about the breed. Sadly, I know nothing. He wanted me to go online and take a look at the picture of the pup, so I did. Cuter than a bug's ear, he is. I don't know if this is the one they will get, but puppies always make me smile.
Then this afternoon Oldest Son stopped by to bring me my mail. And a slice of rhubarb pie. It took every ounce of willpower I had to wait until after supper to eat it. I don't think I have had rhubarb pie since I was a kid. Sure brought back memories of the pies Mother made. It was worth the wait.
I guess it doesn't take much to un-grump me.....a puppy picture and a piece of pie. It's more than that, though. Youngest Son was telling me about an incident with one of the landscaping crews he manages. They noticed something wrong at one of the townhouse complexes where they were working on the shrubs around the home. I won't go into detail here, but it was unusual enough so that one of the crew called the police. Turns out the old man who lived in that townhouse had died maybe a month earlier. Nobody knew and apparently nobody missed him.
I don't see or talk to my kids every day. They all are working and they all are busy with their own lives. But it is reassuring to know that not more than a day or so would go by before one of them would check to see why I didn't answer my phone. And that knowledge tends to make a case of the grumpies disappear probably quicker than puppies or rhubarb pie do. :)
The Last Gasps...
5 hours ago
Rhubarb pie - oh, my! I can taste it already! You have more will power than I do!
ReplyDeleteSo sad someone passed away and no one knew or cared to check up on him. Surprised the mailman didn't notify the police when his mail wasn't collected.
Chickenmom...That pie was so good! Had Son brought it earlier in the day rather than an hour before supper, I would have downed it immediately. Most times I go by "Life is short. Eat dessert first."
ReplyDeleteI found it sad, too, that nobody cared enough to check up on that old man. I think that country folks usually know their neighbors and somebody would have noticed something was wrong, but it seems like here in the city, people just go about their business and don't even know their neighbors. Some time back there was a two week period when I didn't get my mail. The mailbox was crammed full but the mailman took no notice. Guess nobody wants to get involved.
Even a conversation with the younger set usually has an uplifting effect.
ReplyDeleteGorges...It sure does. I especially love it when they let me know what is going on in their lives. But the best part is when they stop in or call and tell me they are checking up on me to make sure I am OK. Doesn't get any better than that.
ReplyDeleteThat business with the old man happens here a good bit. Some old couple will have lived in the same house way back in the woods, along a possum trail, for sixty years. Then one of them dies, and the survivor lives alone. Then he or she dies, and nobody notices. Family has all moved away, no neighbors....
ReplyDeleteHarry...When I was still dealing with the general public, I would hear the old ones complain that their children never called them, never went to visit them. Could be that the old man was the last of his immediate family. Or it could be his kids were just "too busy" to call. Whatever the reason, it is sad that this man came to the end of his life and nobody knew for a month. It seems like the way families once were - where they got together regularly and the younger ones looked after the old - has fallen by the wayside along with other of our values. With a few exceptions, my family being one of them, I think you in the South have a much better grasp on the importance of family ties.
ReplyDelete"Rhubarb pie" makes me smile. Every week, I repeat: "Life is short; eat dessert first."
ReplyDeleteI just love rhubarb but live too far south to grow it.
Linda...I didn't know you couldn't grow rhubarb where you live. Here in the north it grows nearly everywhere. I have to go along with your "Eat dessert first." But then, I was raised by a Dad who fed his grandchildren chocolate milk shakes for breakfast. :)
ReplyDeleteyes RB pie is so good! love that your kids check in regular like!
ReplyDeleteMary...Rhubarb pie is one of those foods that transports me back to my childhood.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was first widowed, the kids were kind of sneaky about calling to check on me, like they didn't want me to know that's what they were doing. Now they just flat out say that's why they are calling. :) It is reassuring to know that's what they are doing.