Twenty-four

I have been married to this man for twenty-four years. We celebrated our anniversary on Sunday. Here are twenty-four reasons why I love this guy:

1. He loves Jesus.
2. He is handsome.
3. He works hard.
4. He is a dedicated dad.
5. He regularly tells me how beautiful I am.
6. He cried when our first child was born.
7. He loves birds and feathers and making bird houses.
8. He enjoys cooking good food for others.
9. He makes healthy choices.
10. He studies other languages so he can communicate with more people.
11. He is an excellent dancer.
12. He writes amazing love letters.
13. He is such a good listener.
14. He has great taste in music.
15. He puts tons of pepper on everything.
16. He loves our dog.
17. He tolerates our cat.
18. He can drive for hours and hours.
19. He listens to educational podcasts.
20. He can build an entire house.
21. He eats lots of vegetables.
22. He makes me laugh.
23. He does not complain.
24. He loves me.

He also reads this blog, so I know he will see this and smile. I love you, Daniel!

Review

How about a year end review? 2022 had many grand moments, but today I want to share with you a dozen of the simple and familiar because most of our lives are such. I enjoy celebrating these common and everyday experiences because in giving them attention, I give them meaning. So, my life filled with ordinary, becomes a life filled with purpose.

January – A winter walk in the park with Nathan and our dog, Sadie.

February – I slammed right into that rock hard pile of ice and snow going backwards at a speed unlawful for mamas in their forties. It’s a good thing we have ribs to protect our vital organs. It hurt to laugh for months.

March – A bowl of lemons in the sun on our kitchen table. Simple and bright.

April – What! Why is it snowing? It is suppose to be spring. Why am I surprised?

May – Chalk on the sidewalk. Childhood and spring. The kid who made this is a high school graduate, an adult, a college student, a registered voter, and still my baby girl.

June – I really enjoyed my flowers this year. It seemed like an especially good season of blooms, but maybe I was just paying attention more.

July – All five! They are pile-into-the-minivan pros.

August – Napping Callie.

September – That chalk artist is also old enough to get a tattoo. she chose an outline of the country of Brasil with a heart in Santa Catarina, the state where much of our family lives. We had cousins visit us from Brasil and we took them to visit Leona at college.

October – A walk in the park.

November – Our messy kitchen table as we make coffee filter snowflakes to tape to our front window.

December – Daniel and I took a quick trip to Florida to spend time with his sister.

That’s a wrap. As the title of the Messer family’s favorite Christmas movie so simply expresses, “It’s a Wonderful Life!”

Danny Bobby

I spend a lot of time gazing out my bedroom window. I see the seasons change. I see the wind and the rain and the snow and the sunshine. I see cars wind up the hill and buses take my children to school.

And then I see this guy, my workin’ man, climbing a ladder to fix something, but taking a moment to say hello to his love. He is a good man. His birthday is tomorrow.

Here he is on another ladder with all our kids working with him. He is a very good dad, full of kindness and discipline, love and determination.

He takes us on adventures.

He sings songs to Jesus.

He reads Scripture.

He works hard.

He goes on hikes with me and pauses to look at interesting flowers.

He appreciates art.

I honor my husband here today with these photos and words. I love him every day, more and more.

And just for fun, here is one last photo because the 90s happened and so did this perm.

Happy Birthday, Daniel Robert. You are my favorite, always!

Cheio

My heart is full.

Mi corazón esta lleno.

Meu coração esta cheio.

And my tree is full of priceless ornaments.

We put up our Christmas tree on Friday. Julia was especially eager to help decorate. At 12, she has a good eye for ornament selection and placement. Her older brother, Nathan, commented on how nice the tree looks this year.

As the kids mature, they seem to want the tree to look more stylish. This translates to their handmade ornaments from elementary school being placed on the back of the tree or back in the shoe box. I tried placing a colorful, glitterful school photo ornament front and center. It was quickly discovered and promptly demoted to a less conspicuous location. How far we have come from the days when all the ornaments were hung in a jumbled bunch about two feet up the tree!

Well, mama has a blog, so now the whole world can see these masterpieces. (By “whole world” I mean you precious handful of kind readers. I appreicate you!)

I still have an ornament my mother made for me when I was very young.

The all time family favorite is Daniel’s.

I love to wake up early and go out into the living room to see the warm white lights and the shimmering ornaments. Beautiful and peaceful. I wrap myself in a blanket, sit on the sofa and gaze at our Christmas tree with a heart…full!

Face to Forever

Nashville, September 2022

This poem is dedicated to Grandaddy, also known as Greatest Grandad.

City
guitars and lights
Music and flights
Of fancy
For me is home 
To silver and gray
And slow and steady
Sit and stay
Strong

Yellow
Oh, I love the yellow
Clean and safe
Folded neatly
A towel to dry my hair
A napkin to wipe my face
A mat to mark my place
At a table of setting
Grace

Treasure
Polished and kept in glass
Spotless ware and shiny blade
Truest of all
Will never fade
Tall, right, straight
Your character given
For service and Sunday
Song

Voice
To celebrate every year 
Miss and Sugar 
called so dear
Singing birth, sighing death
You were there, you were here
Now you are
Face to Forever
Face

Instruct

Overlooking Cincinnati from Incline District, September 2022

I love to capture these moments. Daniel points and shares knowlege with our children. They follow their father’s lead to see what he will show them. They trust him to share words that will interest and inform and inspire them. They listen. They remember. They learn.

National September 11 Memorial, New York City, June 2017

Oh, that we would be as children, listening to our Good Father who instructs us and teaches us in the way we should go. Oh, that we would pay attention and gain wisdom. Oh, that we would stay near to the heart of our Kind Shepherd to be led along peaceful streams, to rest in pasture of his presence. May our souls be restored by your grace, Oh God, let it be so. Amen.

I Stink

There is something I would like you to know about me. Well, you may already know it. I am rather optimistic. Some might call it idealistic. I recognize that over-zealous positivity could be quite annoying for the realist, but genuinely, I cannot help it. Which is why I tend to isolate myself when I feel really down. I don’t want the sadness I am swimming in to seep into others. It has taken me years and years to understand that not everyone experiences emotions like I do. What a relief. A world filled with people like me would be chaotic…colorful and intense, but definitely chaotic.

I appreciate our differences and respect the thoughts and feelings of others. This is why it can be challenging for me to make certain decisions. Example: I like to wear perfume on occasion. I am too cheap to wear expensive perfume everyday, but I am a lady and I like to smell nice. Here is what I don’t like. I don’t like getting into the minivan with my not-so-mini family, all dressed up and feeling good about myself, and immediately hearing, “What is that awful smell?” That awful smell is me. Well, not me…my perfume, but since I am so sensitive and attached to my environment, I take it personally.

I stink…in the opinion of some of my most beloved people. And I can’t handle that. My solution? All of you who have to ride in a van with me when we go some place nice need to come with me to the mall on Mother’s Day and help me pick out a perfume. ALL OF YOU! Now, opinionate and expressive ones, you must peruse these counters and spray these bottles and sniff these samples and help me choose a scent you can all tolerate. All of you must participate. I will find something I like and let you share your opinion. Do not look at that counter over there. We are a family of seven on one income, that counter is not for us. Back over here. We have narrowed it down. Yes! we found one that no one will complain about. Mission accomplished.

This process also translates to my art. I really love abstract art, but it is a bit of a reach for some of my household. Impressionism seems to be a happy middle for us. I like to make art because original work is expensive and as I mentioned earlier, I am cheap. When a friend gave us a canvas that she no longer wanted, I received it with delight. I could scrape off the plastic gems and paint over it.

I painted in my basement in short installments between loads of laundry and trips to the freezer for dinner options.

This is the result.

I showed it to my family, bracing myself for critique. One member thought it was a whale. Ok.  Not sure how you got that, but I do appreciate that you are taking the time to look at my painting and thinking of something other than your girlfriend and calculus. The response from the majority was positive, so Daniel hung it on the wall for me.

Yes! I am able to make art that I can put on the walls of my home and feel good about because no one who lives here seems to think it stinks.  A victory! It look me a long time to get here, but I kept at it because deep down I am an eternal optimist and I believed, not only could something be found that would work for all of us, but that I could make it. It is a great feeling.

That was a lot of work, to considered the preferences of only six others. Imagine the work of our public servants who are genuinely considering the needs, wants and preferences of hundreds, thousands, millions. How do they do it? Many don’t, but some do and I am grateful for them.  Way to make it political, Kara.  Don’t forget, politics is people and I LOVE people.

For Dad and Mom

Dad

I drank my coffee black this morning, just for you
In a Dolphins mug
How we loved Marino and Miami
Dan and Don
I forgive your vice

I found some pennies this afternoon, just for you
In a weathered box
How we loved to sort and count
Coins and Cards
I understand the price

I sipped my whiskey straight this night, just for you
In a lovely glass
How we loved Daniels and Roses
Jack and Four
I hope heaven has ice

 

Mom

You cried when I was born
And always loved my name
You helped me stitch the torn
And cheered me through my game

You showed me words have power
And blades and minds are keen
You endured through sweet and sour
And stretched when times were lean

You rocked my precious gems
And read them lovely stories
You shouted your amens
And sang of heaven’s glories

You searched the lost and found
And lifted your hands high
Your heart to him was bound
And you met him in the sky

 

Decade

Bookends of birth

Bookmarks of death

Pages of Life

Chapters of grief

Mountains of annotation

Cantering symmetry

Magical punctuation

Conflicting monotony

Alliteration abounding

Bound by love

2010 daughter born

2011 brother’s wedding

2012 trip out west

2013 horseback riding

2014 father died

2015 Disney World

2016 trip out west

2017 trip to Brasil

2018 mother died

2019 nephew born

Santa in the South – Episode 3.1

Praia.  That is the Portuguese word for “beach”.

Welcome to Itajaí:

Here is a view of the city from Our cousin’s apartment:

Ellie built a SANDman instead of a SNOWman:

We are used to this equation:

December + Ohio = Snow

but we experienced this equation:

December + Santa Catarina = Sand

She also built a castle with her first cousin once removed:

 

One more photo for today:

 

This is where I need you to use your imagination.  After a long day of sun and water and fun, you come back to a small place packed with people.  They are your family and they are content.  Your hostess is delighted to have you in her home.  She fills her table with good and simple food: bread, coffee, love.  You meander over the the windows to capture the views from way up here and you experience something new:  vento fresco.  You have felt “cool wind” before, but not from a beach city in Brasil and not from the ninth floor. Yet…this vento is…more. It is…

Kind breath
Sheltering wing
Air sings song to soul
Wind. Oil. Salt.
Nourish and refresh
Earth and heart

Thank you, Silene, for sharing your city, your beach, and your home with us. We love you, Prima!

With love,

Kara