By Judy Klein:
Autumn’s column last week about reducing stress got me thinking about my parents, who are both deceased.
I grew up in a typical middle-class home in the fifties. We lived in a small town in upstate New York, where my father had been born and raised. My parents both worked and my brother, my sister and I had a very happy home. I’m sure my parents felt stress in their lives, but looking back, it seems like an easy-going life compared to today’s rat race. That is not to say that they and we were not busy. But my parents were never too busy to point out things around us—to have us “stop and smell the roses,” to give us the gift of sight.
We might have been driving down the street and my mother would say, “Oh, look! There’s a cardinal!” Or my father might say, “The forsythia is out. Come and take a look!” And we’d all troop out to the back yard to the Forsythia bushes by the garage for that yellow-flowered glimpse of Spring. Being trained to look for these simple “sightings” has made a huge difference in my life.
When our boys were growing up, we tried to do for them what my parents had done for me. And with grandchildren, we now take the opportunity to show them some of the wonderful sights around them.
Do you have those special sightings in your life? Ones where the world stops for a moment while you simple look at something and enjoy its beauty?
Judy, my parents never went to a movie without us when we were young. We all headed to the "Drive-in movies on weekends as soon as weather would permit. We took food and saved money. That was our entertainment in a basically pre-TV time.
Mama always pointed out flowers, even stopping to ask for cuttings on occasion.
We went swimming together, had occasional Dairy Queen ice cream cones together.
Thanks for the reminder.
When I was a child, our family often took a Sunday afternoon drive to nowhere in particular -- just around town to see what we could see. Fond memories!
One of my fondest memories of child hood are the drives in the country that we used to take. We were poor, but we kids didn't know it. So we thought it was a right royal treat to go for Sunday afternoon rides and stop beside the road for sandwiches. My mother always made the sandwiches. Usually on the spot and we would drive for miles and miles. Now as an adult, I often drive past some of these exotic locales and realize we were actually only a few miles from home. But our parents made it seem like a grand adventure. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Barbara! How funny our families did the same things. Guess it was less expensive than taking us out to eat. I remember the first time I went out to eat with my parents. I was a teenager, probably almost 15! Wouldn't have gotten to go then, except my brothers were older and had their own cars by then.
Scarlet, we rarely went out to eat either. If we did, it was to get hamburgers. One of our great vacation treats was to go to A&W!
Thank you, Judy for the compliment. I've glad I moved you to write this wonderful post.
I'm constantly telling my children and grandchilden to stop and enjoy the world God has given them. I'm proud to say my children enjoy each other too. We still gather together as a whole family several times a year. It's good to put the world on hold and enjoy.
Great post!
Thanks for all the comments. It's amazing that while our families lived in different areas, they did so many of the same things as a family.
Judy, what a wonderful post. Childhood is a special time filled with experiences that make us who we are as adults. I'm happy you have wonderful memories of your parents. Though they are not always perfect, most parents try to do what is best for us.
Mona,
Your upbringing sounds a lot like mine. My dh and I raised 2 boys before adopting our daughter from Korea. And, we lived in upstate NY. Thanks for a lovely post.
Your blogs are very informative,I can renovate the little space of the room of my kids know and make it look bigger.It's just a matter of being creative to have better output.