Family

A E Grady

Summer is the Time for Festivals

Festivals have a long history of providing opportunities for a community to come together in celebration. Community festivals focus on something that affects or is unique to the area. But I have noticed some festivals seem odd to me.

For example, there is the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival in Fruita, Colorado. This one just seems weird. Celebrating a chicken that lived 18 months without its head. Sorry, the thought grosses me out. But any reason to bring a community together for fun is probably a good thing.

Some festivals can provide a chance in a fun way to face our phobias:

But some unusual festivals just sound odd enough to give them a try:

  • Underwater Music Festival, The Keys, Florida
  • Annual Amtrak Mooning, Laguna Niguel, California
  • Geckofest, Gulfport, Florida
  • Twins Day Festival, Twinsburg, Ohio
  • Cow Chip Throwing Festival, Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin
  • UFO Festival, Roswell, New Mexico
  • National Hollerin Festival, Clinton, North Carolina
  • Humongous Fungus Festival, Michigan

Whatever makes you smile, inspires you, or gives you an excuse to go outside (or under the water) should be considered. These times can build memories for you and your family; hopefully, you will create fun memories, not scary ones.

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A E Grady

So this is Christmas

Christmas time again.

As you read that statement, what emotion popped into your mind? Did you think about Christmas with joy, dread, exhaustion, anxiety, sadness, or reverence?

For me, I go through all those emotions. Having the family together, the food, and the season’s excitement all come together to cause many feelings.

  • Joy. I love my family and having them together makes me happy.
  • Dread. The holiday shopping. I am not a shopper.
  • Exhaustion. Trying to get everything ready, shipped, and cooked wears me out.
  • Anxiety. Trying to get everything done, but reality is I put this stress on me.
  • Sadness. There are empty seats at the Christmas table. Some are empty because of schedules or illness, and others are empty because the person has died.
  • Reverence. When I stop to contemplate the reason we are celebrating the season. I am in awe that God came to live on Earth as a man. Don’t be afraid to talk to Him about how you are feeling, because He truly understands and cares for you.

Wishing you the merriest of Christmases.

A E Grady

What Have You Missed?

During the COVID-19 pandemic what have you missed? Have you taken the opportunity to reflect on what is most important to you? Or have you curled up and told the world to check back with you after things get straightened up?

Some things I have missed the most are shopping, baseball, and gathering with family and friends. As I reflected on this, it was a surprise to find I miss shopping. I’m not a big shopper and ordering online is not the same. When you go to a store you have an opportunity to use your senses in the shopping experience, which helps you decide on what to buy. Sometimes you meet a friend you haven’t seen in a long time and viola lunch plans are made.

My sons played baseball and I have spent countless hours watching games and practices. I can keep score with the best. I am not bored with the slower play of the game as there is food most of the time. At the games you become part of a group that cheers for great plays (or for the 6-year-old that runs the right direction) and shakes their heads when plays go wrong. There are people to talk with and sometimes you don’t talk about baseball.

This year we celebrated Mother’s Day with signs and talking with Mom through a window at the retirement center where she lives. While we got comfortable with this form of celebration, it was cut short as there were others waiting to celebrate with their mothers.

Humans are not made to be hermits (with a few exceptions). We need and want to be with other people. For people that have experienced deaths, births, and marriages during this time things have been different. When a person is in their last hours of life and you cannot hold their hand or mourn together everything feels wrong. A newborn child is an opportunity for families to celebrate. But during this separation time, the celebration is with waves through the Internet. It feels like a missed opportunity. A marriage ceremony is a celebration. Today, we watch on our phones as the couple exchange their vows unable to hug them. It isn’t what we do. The separation has been eased with the Internet, but it doesn’t replace being there for these times.

When we can gather again, let’s not take these celebration opportunities for granted. Don’t find a reason to skip going to the hospital to say goodbye or miss the funeral. Don’t wait until later to see the new baby and parents. Go to the wedding and enjoy one more dance.

A E Grady

Celebration Memories

How do you make celebrations fun, meaningful, and memorable?

My parents divorced when I was ten and my mother became a single parent with no support from my father. Birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and almost any other celebration was an opportunity for my mom to shine. We didn’t have any money, but she wanted to make every day we had together special. She baked, cooked, sewed, and went without lunches so we, my siblings and I, could have good memories.

Like today it takes creativity and resourcefulness to take almost nothing and make it seem like the best celebration ever. Every year we would go to see the Forth Worth Independence Day fireworks display. It was free. We participated in a lot of free events.

July Fourth in Fort Worth, Texas is almost always hot and dry. I don’t remember a rained-out celebration. We would drive downtown, carrying a bag with some drinks and cookies, a couple of blankets, and walk many blocks with the pavement so hot you felt it through your shoes. There was a park along the Trinity River where we could watch the show. We would spread out the blankets, grab cookies, play with friends we brought with us and other children in the crowd until it got dark. And then a large booming firework would explode, and we would run to our families and lie back on blankets to watch the magic.

There would be oohs and aahs throughout the park with each volley of fireworks. I always felt a giddy happiness watching the dark sky light up with the colors and patterns. This would go on for about thirty minutes and then it was time to go home. The walk back to the car seemed further and more difficult because we were so tired.

During the show, the world didn’t feel so big – there was magic in the air and we could see it. We weren’t the poor kids – since everyone around us always asked for a homemade cookie we could share with others. But what stuck with me was that my mom would smile the entire evening – and that felt like the magic in the sky had crept into my mom giving her some relief from every day pressures.

Today, I still feel lighthearted and in awe of the magic found in fireworks. Celebrations don’t have to be expensive and filled with stress. They are what we make them. Remember to make them fun, meaningful, and memorable by enjoying the time together.

A E Grady

Two Words that Make Me Smile

alligatorI was asked to write a post about a two-word phrase that makes me smile. It took only a second to realize those words are “Later ‘gator.” Just saying them is pleasing to the ear. It’s the rhyming thing. This phrase is from childhood that I still use when trying to be funny, or to make goodbyes not so sad.

I have an Uncle Ray that would tease me when I was a child and I thought he was so cool. His visits were like a spotlight that came on and you never knew what the next act would be.

Uncle Ray would sing “The Battle of New Orleans” when it came on the radio. As he sang, he would dance and act out the song. He looked so funny, but he didn’t care, he was having a great time.

Saying goodbye to him was never sad. He would give me a hug and as he was leaving he would wave and say “Later ‘gator” and then wait for me to respond. I would giggle and reply “After a while crocodile.” Now how could that silly exchange do anything but make you smile?

So what two-word phrase makes you smile?