As we continue our discussion of sympathy cards, what to say, where to find the words, I immediately thought of our dear friend, Mary McManus. Mary is one of our very special friends at Moon Moo and You – The Collective Wisdom. Mary’s sweet and gentle spirit, firm determination and motivation, and positive attitude are always such a joy! I asked Mary to tell us more about her very personal sympathy cards. I do hope you will visit Mary’s site and review more of her beautiful and heartfelt work. And again, thank you, Mary! Here’s Mary: I am so blessed that God has   read more

Your comments on my post about Coping with Death yesterday were so appreciated and insightful. One of the things that I gleaned from your comments was the need to discuss more about what to say in a sympathy card. Words for sympathy cards can seem so difficult. My sister, Betty, writes notes every single day. Yesterday in her comments on my post, she said, “And the same is true with notes/cards. “Know that you are in my thoughts and prayers” ……..or “…in my heart at this sad time” are enough ….Memories are wonderful to add if a person is comfortable doing so. The bottom line is simply   read more

Recently our dear friends were shocked by the death of their 25 year old son. He was killed in an accident. His twin brother had also died in an accident about 6 years ago. The grief in our town was palpable. It seemed everyone in town was connected to this special family in some way. Active, athletic, popular and loved by so many, the family was surrounded with visits and prayers. I was especially impressed with our own daughter-in-law as she gently explained to our elementary grandchildren — “it is really important that we be with our friends when they are so very sad.”   read more

What is HBP? High blood pressure and far too many of us have received this diagnosis. What are we to do about it? One of the most important things you can do for your overall health is to keep your blood pressure (hypertension) under control. 140/90 should be the goal for a healthy person’s blood pressure reading, and lower if you have a medical condition such as diabetes or kidney disease. Changing your lifestyle is extremely important if you’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure. If that doesn’t work, your physician or other health care provider can prescribe medication to help keep it   read more

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We have two new birdfeeders on our deck and a hummingbird feeder. Especially built for our deck by my husband’s friend. They are huge and wonderful, and of course filled with food. We have been waiting for the birds to discover them. We want them to come to the deck so we can watch them more closely. Today our granddaughter came for a visit. When she was a tiny baby, my sister Nancy sent her some talking birds. The cardinal sounded like the cardinal and he was Jessica’s favorite of all. Nancy knew that my legally blind husband loves the bird sounds and identifying them, and   read more

I would order one like that in a minute, wouldn’t you? I don’t need a phone that sings and dances. I just want to be able to communicate with my family and friends when I am not at home. Well, maybe sometimes order dinner, too! Ideally, my cell phone would 1. Hold a charge for a week!! I get tired of putting that phone to bed to rest and recharge. 2. Have Labeled buttons. I don’t want to scroll through a menu. 3. Have a ringer loud enough to hear. 4. Have a volume button I could push way way up high so I could hear who I am talking to. 5. Be bright red so I would   read more

Yesterday was magical! Our granddaughter was visiting with us. I excitedly showed her the beginnings of an afghan I am crocheting for her. Surprisingly, she recognized it immediately. “I did not know you could crochet, Joan-Joan.” She is an artistic child, and I really just wanted her to approve of the colors I had chosen. I had no idea she even knew what “crocheting 221; meant. Within the next few minutes, I pulled out the plastic canvas and yarn I had bought for her a few years ago. (I tend to buy everything too early for my grands – I am an excited grandma   read more

THE SITUATION In Washington, DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule. About 4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.   read more

Our family reunion involves members of all ages — from our little ones to senior citizens. This year I was especially interested in watching the seniors even older than I am! I noticed that they jumped in to all activities – whether we were dancing or singing or playing bingo or marching down the street in our little parade. Whatever we were doing, our senior seniors and our little children led the way. We have cousins in their 70’s and 80’s, as well as two family members who are legally blind – and guess who was in the middle of all the action! Our senior   read more