No More UN's

My inclination is to be pretty hard on myself.   I know for a fact that I am not alone in this.  Most of us have bruises from the times we beat up on ourselves.

I think I have found a solution to this problem.   I think the prefix "un" should be banned from our vocabulary.

I thought about some common words I use on a daily regular basis.
UNcomfortable, UNimaginative, UNaccomplished, UNappreciated, UNapproachable, UNattractive, UNcertain, UNdependable, Uncoordinated, UnBelievable...just to name a few.

Those two little letters sure do carry a lot of weight, they are very heavy.

Maybe I will try a little experiment and UNburden myself.  (Hey a good UN word.)

I believe with certainty that I would feel comfortable using my imaginative mind to accomplish the approachable task of coordinating an attractive post which will be appreciated by the ABC meme community who have come to depend on me.

Whew, I feel lighter already.

To view more of the letter U check out The Accidental Knitter's ABC Meme

A Tall Tale Full of Magical Princesses and Turtles

This is my post for  the Accidental Knitter's ABC Meme that I am participating in.
The letter is T and the post is Tall Tales.

This is a letter that I will write to my grand daughter one day, but I hope not too soon.

Dear Isabella,

Among the many stories I have told you over the years, there is one particular one that I hope you can forgive me for.

One time, after a trip to Florida, Pop-Pop and I brought you a little stuffed turtle.   You were about 4 years old.  When I gave you the turtle, I told you a little story.  I wonder if you remember it.

  One day when Pop-Pop and I were walking on the beach, we spotted a little turtle.   The turtle looked very young, a baby in fact.   She looked sad.   I knelt down, like this, and gently picked up the little turtle.   She was very shy, but I think she liked me.
After a little while, I thought I had better put her down, right in the same spot just in case her Mommy came looking for her.
As we started to walk away, we noticed that the little turtle seemed to be following us.  I knelt down again, like this, and told the little turtle that she needed to stay here on the beach.  After all that's where she lived, that was her home.  
We started to walk away and again the little turtle followed us.   I said to Pop-Pop, I wish we could take her home with us.  I think Bella would love her.
As soon as I said that,  a magical fairy princess appeared.
The Princess had long brown hair, and big brown eyes, just like yours, Bella.  She was beautiful, just like you.  Her dress was green and it sparkled.
The Princess told Pop-Pop and I that she was the Fairy Turtle Princess.   She said that she found homes for little lost turtles, just like the one who had been following us.   She wanted to know if we knew of a little girl who would always love and take care of the little baby turtle.  I told her that you, Bella, you would always love and take care of this little baby turtle.
Then the magic Fairy Turtle Princess waved her magic wand and turned the little turtle into a soft and cuddly turtle.  This is that turtle, Bella.

I remember that after I finished the story and handed you the stuffed toy turtle, you said to me, "Is that for real, Grandma?  Did that really happen?"  And I said, "Yes, yes, it did Bella."  "That's just what happened."

On your 7th birthday, you had a party with all of your little girlfriends.   You wanted to show them your room.  Your bed was loaded with many stuffed toys.   I saw you pick up the little green turtle and tell your friends that this turtle was special because she was real once.  And then you told them about the Turtle Fairy Princess.

The innocence of your belief in Magical Fairies touched me.  Especially since I knew that soon,
Bella, all too soon,  you would find out that your little turtle was never real, and there was no such thing as a Turtle Fairy Princess.

I hope you can forgive me, Bella, for the Tall Tale that I told you.
But I hope you will always remember how it felt to believe in Turtle Princesses.

Do My Siblings and I Need Oprah?

Even though I am a little behind, this is my S post for the ABC meme that I participate in.

I have three sisters and two brothers.

In relation to me, the order of birth is this:
Me the oldest
Elaine is 16 months younger
Ray 3 years younger

Johanna 11, years younger
Adam 13 years younger
Marie 14 years younger

As you can see, my parents had me, Elaine and Ray, then waited 11 years and had another set of three.
I never thought to ask my mother why this was.  At the time I guess I was too young to question it.
When Johanna was born, I was just thrilled to have a real baby girl doll to take care of.

My memory of the time when we were kids is that we were a tight knit family.  Since we lived in a small three bedroom ranch house, we sort of had to be.    At various times the sleeping arrangements were a combination of bunk beds and pull out sofas.

My parent's marriage was pretty stormy, as each one of my siblings will attest to.

Obviously growing up under those conditions shaped who we are today and probably played a large part in our relationship with each other.

As we grew up and moved on with our lives, we still managed to find time to be a part of each other's lives.

I guess my Mom was the glue that held us together.   She was the point of contact, the town crier.  We each would visit or call her and then she would pass on our news to the others when they called or visited.

That's how each of us always knew what was going on in the other's lives.

Over the years there have been some minor breaks, serious fractures, and one on-going irreparable damage to each of our relationships.

One particularly difficult fracture resulted in a couple of years worth of a combination of a number of us not speaking to one or the other.

During that time I remember watching one of those Oprah reunion shows.
You know the ones where someone finds out that she has siblings that she has never met.   (Actually it happened to Oprah herself. )

Anyway, as I sat there trying to hold back the tears, (those shows always make me cry) I remember thinking, here we were, my siblings and I, we have what those people have been looking for all of their lives and we don't even speak to each other.

My mom was still alive during that particularly bad one, but she couldn't very well take sides.  Actually I think she rather enjoyed the drama, but that is for another post.

I think, I, as the first born, may have orchestrated some peace talks and eventually we were each able to (sort of) patch things up, be cordial to one another and actually have some laughs.

I have so many memories of times with each one of my siblings ranging from wonderful to horrible.

After my Mom passed away, almost two years ago,  the personal contact we have with each other has gotten less and less.

We now get the news of each other from Facebook.

How sad is that?

I am curious about other sibling relationships.  Is ours typical?  What is yours like?

I wonder if those families that Oprah re-united would feel the same about their siblings if they had always been a part of their lives.

I miss my family.  I suppose more so now for me during a most difficult time.

I wonder if Oprah would consider coming back to do a special reunion show for us.

Here is a short video of my Mom and my siblings gathered together on a Christmas eve four years ago.
It is the way I like to remember the times we shared.