Category: Lifestyle

Mary Ann and Cynthia

It is that time of year for remembering the past year and looking ahead to the new one.  Last year we did a blog on our 2025 favorite things, and we thought we would do it again for 2026.  Maybe it will give you some ideas for 2026.  There are a lot of 20,20,20s in that paragraph.

Nest Candles – You may have discovered this line of candles and their delicious smells.  I am totally in love with the Birchwood Pine Reed Diffuser.  I discovered it for Christmas 2024.  It makes the whole house smell like Christmas.   It is perfect for the entire winter season.  The candles and the diffuser are a bit pricey.  However, the products last a long time, and if you watch the website (Nest.com), the Nest company have great sales.  After last Christmas, I bought the one I am using this year at a good discount.  I am going to do it again this year.  The diffuser is well-packed, and if you put it in a dark place, it will be ready when you are ready to use it.  They also ran a Black Friday special this year with good prices.  

 

Krebs Christmas Ornaments – I have had these Christmas balls on my tree for years.  They are beautifully made in gorgeous colors, unique colors that can transform a tree. They can be found on their website, christmasbykrebs.com, and of course, Amazon carries them. It is a high quality product at a reasonable price that you can enjoy for years.

American Spoon – I shared this company last year and their wonderful Holiday Jam.  This year, I tried their Bourbon Butterscotch sauce and Candied Pecans.  Use both for a delicious topping for ice cream or pound cakes. American Spoon’s products are just yummy!  I don’t think you can go wrong. The website is different from the name – spoon.com 

Yo Mama Marinara Sauce – I discovered this pasta sauce this year when I was looking for a healthy marinara sauce with few ingredients and no additives.  I tried a jar, and now Yo Mama is part of my pantry.  Spaghetti never tasted so good.  In preparing this blurb, I found that the company has a whole range of products – alfredo sauce, BBQ sauce, pizza sauce, and a variety of favors for their marinara.  I look forward to trying them all.  It is always fun to find tasty, simple products.

Egg Omelet Dish – I saw this little pottery item in the Uncommon Goods Catalog.  It claimed to cook a mini egg omelet in 45 seconds.  What a quick way to have protein in the morning, and it fits perfectly in a bagel or English muffin.  Spray vegetable oil in the little dish, whip up an egg and add cheese, bacon bits, peppers, onions, or any other veggie.  Pour the mixture into the dish and put in the microwave for 45 seconds.  Viola, you have a perfect egg to eat alone or in a sandwich. The Omelet Dishes are made by Holman Pottery.  You can purchase them from their website, holmanpottery.com, at Uncommongoods.com, and Amazon carries the dishes as well.  They are around $25.  

Having sensitive skin I shy away from most scented products. But there are a few I can use without fear of developing rashes.  One such product is from Natural Grocers – Lavendar Epsom Salts. I use it once or twice a week while soaking in the bathtub. I keep a canister with a small scoop by the bathtub, so the salts are read to use when the mood strikes. I simply put a few scoops under the warm running water and let them dissolve as the tub fills. Then I step into luxury for a 20-minute soak. Relaxing!

doTerra is an essential oil company that certifies its oils are pure. doTerra means “gift of the earth” in Latin. The company provides work for people across the globe, helping small businesses thrive while growing herbs worldwide. The products are expensive, but well worth the money. I diffuse essential oils in my office and bedroom every day. Two products I use extensively are the Deep Blue Rub to relieve muscle discomfort and the Breathe Respiratory Drops when my throat is scratchy or I feel an allergy or cold coming on. The scents are pleasant and I know I’m getting quality products when I buy from doTerra.

Using stickers activates my inner child.  My planner is replete with stickers marking appointments, reminders, and elevating my calendar.  I especially appreciate Bloom Stickers. They are fun, colorful, and meaningful. Bloom Stickers come in a variety of themed packages. Often, they accompany Bloom Planners. I have used the Bloom financial tracking planner and stickers in addition to the yearly planners.  You can find Bloom products at https://bloomplanners.com/ .

Another favorite is Thoughtfully ( https://www.thoughtfully.com/ ). This company has curated gift sets that are reasonably priced. My favorites, of course, are the Thoughtfully Gourmet. These sets comprise miniature samples of multiple products such as olive oil, salts, and teas. I like these because it gives me a chance to try different flavors without ending up with large quantities of things I may not use again. Another fun use of these mini sets is to use them for advent calendar boxes.  The small footprint of the items makes inclusion in the advent box perfect. And, you can use them for favors. This year I made nutcracker shaped breadsticks which I packaged with a small bottle of olive oil to use as a dipping oil. Fun and useful favor from an annual Christmas brunch.

One of my most favorite “things” is Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/ This is a company that has figured out what customers want and how to treat customers. Some people complain about the membership fee, but if you use the company a lot you will actually save quite a lot on shipping alone. The ability to order and receive most products within a few days is satisfying. The return process is easy and customer service personnel are empowered to make decisions about refunds. I am grateful that Jeff Bezos and his associates created a system of ordering, delivering, and returning that makes purchases so much easier.

There you have it, friends. Now you know a little more about Mary Ann and me – the things we enjoy and the products we use. What are some of your favorite things?

Mary Ann

While traveling in the South of France with friends, we decided to take a cooking class.  It was held at a winery, and it all seemed so romantic and adventuresome. First however, we were going to the Farmer’s market in Aix-en-Provence to get the food we needed to prepare for our dinner.  It was farm-to-table which is most of the meals in France. 

The market was full of stalls that held produce of fruits and vegetables, fish, poultry, red meat, breads and pastries, and of course, cheese.  It was a feast for the eye!  The cheese monger was an older gentleman whose white hair and beard looked like an unruly goat with hair sticking out everywhere.  He was beautiful.  Just the kind of picture you want to take to remember a day at the market.  So, I was sneaking around trying to get the perfect shot.  He, however, was on to me and kept ducking or turning his head.  I just was not going to get a picture of this” beautiful” man. No luck!

We met up with the chef who took us to the various stalls to buy the ingredients.  The chef explained how to choose the perfect ingredients for our dinner such as selecting a monk fish – boy, one ugly fish!  Then we moved to the cheese stall where the “goat” man reigned.  I was coming face-to-face with the man I was trying to photograph.  He looked me in the eye, and I looked him in the eye.  We totally recognized each other.   I was so embarrassed turning every shade of red, because he knew what I was trying to do.  I spoke to the chef asking him to apologize for me.  I was just plain rude to this man getting into his personal space regardless how enticing the picture would have been.  The chef told the cheese man how sorry I was.  As it turned out, the week before, he had been manhandled by a lady from Germany who took “selfies” of this poor man who just wanted to sell his cheese. The German woman shook him so when I came around with camera in hand, he thought I would do the same things.  The goat man and I smiled at each other, but I don’t think he really trusted me.  He went on to explain through the chef how the cheese was aged, and we tasted the difference – all very interesting!  I then slinged away. I never did get a picture of the cheese or the cheese monger. 

We continued shopping and then departed to the winery cooking the afternoon away in the creation of an excellent meal.  We sampled their delicious wines, and it truly was a memorable meal. As we departed, they sent us off with three bottles of wine and the recipes.  Yummy!

I did learn a valuable lesson that day about photographing native people.  Tourists are the paparazzi of the average man.  You must respect them.  They are not a building or vista that is there to photograph.  They are living, breathing people with feelings.  Since then, I have always asked if I could take a person’s picture.  I did always ask for permission to photograph children – too many weird adults out there who could use the pictures in a bad way.  For the most part, people like to be photographed and some of my most interesting shots from any trip are of the people who live there. 

This blog has been a lesson not to be the paparazzi of the native people of any country.  It makes tourists live up to the ugly American reputation or in this case, the ugly German!  Just ask and accept the answer they give you.  You will find most people are kind. Smiles are universal!   

Mary Ann 

I got the best birthday present, and I am sharing it with you as it could be a great Christmas gift as well especially if you need a gift for an animal lover.  It is a beaded bracelet featuring an animal such as a polar bear, an elephant, a giraffe, a cheetah, or manatees. There are 19 animals to choose from and new animals are added frequently.  The bracelets are from a company called Fahlo.  I got a polar bear bracelet.

When your purchase a bracelet, you also adopt a real animal that you can track in its habitat on your phone or tablet. You just download the app which is free.  I received a polar bear bracelet with a card telling me about Bobbie, my gifted bear.  She is a mother who has raised several cubs to adulthood.  Bobbie lives near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada – the Polar Bear Capital of the World.  Churchill has been on my bucket list for 30 plus years, and now, I have a little bit of it on my wrist.  I check on Bobbie every day or two, and she does move around.  You can see everywhere she has been over the last few months.  She is waiting right now for the Hudson Bay to freeze, so she can go seal hunting to survive the winter and provide for her cubs.

Fahlo has partnered with various conservation groups that they support with a share of the profits from bracelets and other merchandise.  My bracelet supports Polar Bears International.  This company makes the public aware of the various animals, many that are endangered, and then supports the group who study and protect the animals.  The animals are tagged with very humane protocols, and you can read about all of this on the website and on your app once you sign up for your animal.  Animals such as elephants give you tracking info that is a few weeks old to keep the poachers from locating a vulnerable animal in real time – smart!

The bracelets are each $16.95 which I think is a very fair price.  There is a wide array of beads to select the perfect gift for someone.  They have sales all the time so you can get them even cheaper.  I plan to give a cheetah bracelet and a manatee bracelet for Christmas gifts this year.  They are interesting and unique gifts that help animals.  You can make a difference, however small, with your bracelet purchase, and it will keep your animal or animals top of mind.  Have fun shopping and making the world a bit better. 

A Doggone City!

Mary Ann

One thing that you notice in New York City, it has gone to the dogs!  There are dogs everywhere. There is also dog do-do everywhere so watch where you step. You are supposed to curb your dog, but not everyone follows the rules.  However, it is not as bad as Paris. 

There are all kinds of dogs.  French Bulldogs are a favorite.  You are surprised with Burmese Mountain Dogs – apparently, they are excellent apartment dogs.  Just about every kind of dog you can imagine live in NYC. When you see an Irish Setter trotting down the street, you wonder how a hunting dog finds space to run. There are lots of rescues with suspect lineage. Then there are the Designer Dogs – a deliberate cross breeding of two pedigrees dogs to create a new breed.  Maltipoos, Labradoodles, Cockapoos, Pomskys, and on and on are the “new” breeds.  All are quite cute.  There are pet shops that specialize in Designer Dogs.  

On the streets of NYC, there are bowls of water in front of restaurants for furry customers. There are specialty services for dogs that include Doggie Day Care, Doggie Gyms, Pet Sitters, Shuttle Service, Groomers with salons that rivel human salons, and vets with clinics and mobile units.  Dog walkers are walking dogs all over the city with solo clients and groups of 3 or more.  The dogs all seem to get along well – it is kind of a pack mentality.  Some dogs are on a walk in a stroller.  I guess getting some fresh air.   Dog parks dot the city scape where dog people gather and friendships bloom.

We had a school dog that on Mondays had play dates in Central Park with his other dog friends.  The dog loved it, and I am sure he knew when it was Monday.  The rest of the week the dog loved being everyone’s pet at school.  Many of the little boutiques in the city have a dog that minds the shop.  It adds charm to the shopping experience.  Dogs are everyshere.

There were all kinds of Doggie Shops with normal pet shop items; however, they had a large selection of outfits accessorized with sparkly jewels.  All kinds of “shoes” were available which is not a bad idea on city sidewalks – hot cement in the summer and salt on dog pads in the winter.  It can prevent issues for the dogs.  There are colorful canine raincoats and boots that deck gray rainy city sidewalks.   There are several dog bakeries with custom dog biscuits among many other doggie treats.  (The picture below is of two Italian Greyhounds dressed in matching PJs on a cold Winter’s day. Just too cute!)

The dog subculture is everywhere now.  It is just more noticeable in New York because the population is so dense with people and dogs.  New York is also innovative with new dog services and the like.  It is fun to people watch in the city, but dog watching is more fun! You might just get a slobbery kiss while you watch.  New York City is an interesting place, but it is truly a doggone city!

“Hello. My name is [insert your name]”. This is the beginning of a conversation with a someone we are meeting for the first time. Or, when we make a phone call we say, “this is [insert your name]. I am calling to inquired about xyz”. And what do we say when we see a baby for the first time? You’ve got it! “Oh what a sweet little one. What is her/his name?” Our names identify us as unique. They give us a place in society. Some believe that a name defines a person. But I will leave that for another conversation.

My family tends to assign names to inanimate objects, especially those with which we interact often. As with many people, all of my family members assign names to their cars. My grandson’s Mustang is Natasha. My sister’s Lexus is Pearl. My new SUV is Avandra – she is so named as Avandra is the goddess of Freedom, Adventure, and Travel – so the name is fitting, of course. (Avandra and I recently completed her first road trip. We shared 2,997 miles together on this little jaunt.)

The deck on the back of my house is the Urban Oasis. Mary Ann’s backyard is Little Provence. We often text or email each other and mention we spent time in these spaces. The women in my family have an annual get-together early in December. We call ourselves the Tinsel Tribe.

When mom was taking physical therapy after the third hospital stay within a year’s time, she was learning to use her walker. She commented that she was working very hard on her PT as she wanted to walk without the aid of the walker. Her physical therapist told her “I am sorry to be the one to break the news to you, but you are going to be married to that thing for the rest of your life.”  We laughed.

I told mom, if she was going to be married to the walker, she had better give him a name. From that point forward, it became George. Then she named her transport wheelchair Rosella. The names became so commonplace that the hospice nurses and aides and the entire family just talked about George and Rosella as if they were additional people. Lily, the aide who bathed mom would say, “Get George. It’s time to take a shower.” My cousin pondered, “where is Rosella? Let’s take your mom out to the Urban Oasis.” And so it went.

To be honest, I have to take a breath occasionally when I realize other people don’t name their inanimate props the way we do. It seems impersonal. On the other hand, I guess we seem a little crazy.  But think about it.  Isn’t it just as meaningful to say, “have you seen Alex?” as it is to say “I can’t find my phone?”

Mary Ann, Cynthia, and Friends

There are endless numbers of ABC lists, many made into books.  We enjoy reading them often coming up with our own ideas for each of the letters.   Cynthia and I decided to write the ABCs for the Silver Sage Sisters, so we started compiling a list.  I had a few gatherings with other SSS, so I asked them for their ideas.  Some were aspirational and others were practical voicing concerns. Some thoughts were just funny and yet others were nuggets of wisdom.  The following list is a collective of input.  See if you agree — or did you discover other possibilities?  I am sure that you could add a few words of your own.  This list is a snapshot of growing older:

A – Adaptable, Absent-minded – where are those glasses, Acts of kindness, Staying active, Agony, Assisted Living

B – Brave, Breathe, Bedtime ritual, Beautiful journey, Bone Density Tests, Birding, Baby Boomers, Brain Freeze- what is that word?

C – Caring, Creative, Cataracts, Cruises, Crotchety, Chronic Conditions, Crepe-like skin, Curious, Compression socks, COLA

D – Decadent, Dependence on Depends, Dementia, Dancing, Diets or Not, Doctors appointments

E – Elegant, Eyesight failing, Exercise, Elder 

F – Fearless, Flexibility, Fun, Friends, Family, Faith, Sometimes the f-word just fits, Face lift, False teeth, Falling apart

G – Grace, Gray Hair, Gratitude, Genuine, Gardening, Grandchildren, Great-Grandchildren, Gravity, Giggles

H – Happy, Helpful, Hair thinning, Home, Hobbies, Holidays

I – Independence, Isolation, Intelligence, Intuition, Incontinence, Inevitable

J – Joy, Joint stiffness, Jiggle more, Jowls, 

K – Kindness matters, Bad knees, Knee replacements, Karma, A kiss is still a kiss

L – Laugher, Love, Life Review – reflection, Letting Go, Life-long Learning

M – Meditation, Memory issues– what memory, Money worries, It’s not about the money, Medicare, Medications – never so many, Mature, Memories, Movies any time of day, 

N – New normal, Nutrition, Nature, It’s not over until it’s over, NAPS, Nursing homes

O – Optimistic, Old everything, Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, If only….

P – Perseverance, Physical changes, Physiological decline, Prep for retirement, Pickleball, Part A, B,C,D – oh, my!

Q – Queries, Queen of everyday, Quiet time is more important, Quit working, Quality of life

R – Retirement, Radical, Reduced balance and coordination, Reserve, Readiness, Read

S – Sensitive, Spots – age and liver, Surreal, Social Circle Shrinks or expands, Safety, Sleeping Less or in front of the TV, Social Security, Self-Acceptance, Sagging Boobs, Sleeping in

T – Thankful, Travel, Words on the tip-or-your-tongue, Teamwork, Time to smell the roses, Time seems shorter and shorter

U – Unrelenting, Unknown, Unanswered questions, Universal Truths, Unbelievable time

V – Value the past, Volunteerism, Voracity, Virtues, Variety

W – Winsome, Wrinkles, Women’s Rights, No Work, Walking, Wisdom

X – Excellent Life, X-rays, X marks the spot – any spot you want

Y – Yippy – I made it this far!, Yearning, Youthful attitude, You can still change the world

Z – Zenith, Zest for Life

Did any of the concepts ring true for you?  Maybe they spurred some reflection?  It was fun gathering them from other Silver Sage Sisters like you! 

Big Apple, Big Hearts

Mary Ann

New Yorkers get a bum rap for being unfriendly or rude or cold.  They are busy people, but they are at heart kind people.  If you ever watch multiple lanes of traffic at the Holland Tunnel, you will see New Yorkers narrow several lanes of cars blending them into two lanes to exit or enter the city. I have a friend who calls it braiding. The out-of-towners are the ones breaking the lines and are not civil. New Yorkers know that none of that will make a bit of difference.  The line goes when it goes.  Patience is the answer.

When you are riding the subways and are departing or entering the station, New Yorkers will hold a door for the person behind them.  They hold until someone grabs the door.  They don’t look at you but let go when you take hold.  No one says thank you.  Then, you in turn, hold the door until you pass it on to another. 

For the most part, people will stop you on the street and help you find your way if they see you with your nose in a travel guide.  If I ever asked for directions, I was readily given assistance. You can’t ask for more. 

When I first moved to NYC to work, I had no idea what I was doing most of the time.  As I shared before, there is a very steep learning curve.  Early in the transition, I visited a few times to find a place to live and meet the people I would be working with and so on.  

I stayed in a hotel in Chelsea area of the city.  My future boss lived on the Upper West Side.  On one of the early visits, I was to take the subway uptown to meet the boss to go out for dinner.  He told me to take the C train and get off at 86^th Street. 

So, I off I went to take one of my first solo subway rides.  I came downstair to the trains and stood by the sign that gave you information about the C Train.  Along comes a train, the door open and I entered the subway car.  We are humming a long, and I notice that we were traveling out through the avenues and not moving North through the streets.  Something was wrong.  I asked someone on the train where the train going.  It was going to QUEENS!  Queens was a foreign country as far as I was concerned, and I was going in the wrong direction.  

The woman I asked where I was, kindly got off the train with me and walked me to the other track to get me going in the right direction.  There I stood where I had started at the C Train info sign.  A train came, the doors opened, and I entered.  We are moving along and suddenly we were moving out through the avenues on my way to QUEENS.  It was Groundhog Day, and I was doing exactly what I did the last round. What was I doing wrong?

I was sitting next to a Budish Monk in his saffron robes and several construction workers surrounded me. I asked for help, and they stepped up.  One of the construction guys in a plaid shirt walked me over to the transit map and explained the routes.  There are three trains – the A, C, and E – all using the same track.  I was getting on the E and not the C.  You must look on the front of the train to see which is which.  I was thinking of subways in Europe where one train is on one track.  People were chiming in giving me advice.  I said I will just up to the street and get a taxi.  No, no, you will never get a taxi on a Friday night, and it will take you forever to get uptown.  Stay on the train!   They gave me directions, and since I now knew how the trains ran, I was on my way finally.  At the time, you could not use a mobile phone in the subway, so I had no way in getting in touch with my boss.  I was just late, VERY late.

I was finally on the right train and made it to 86^th street.  I came out of the subway and called my boss as we were walking towards each other.  We greeted one another with laughter.  It was funny after I made it to him.  It wasn’t so funny at the time, yet I never felt scared or panicked because there were kind people around me who were willing to go out of their way to help me on a busy Friday night when they just wanted to get home.  So, I know firsthand the kindness of New Yorkers, and they don’t deserve the bum rap of being rude.  

If I remained on the E Train and actually went to Queens, I may have never found my way back to Manhattan. What an adventure that would have been!  However, I know that someone would have helped me,  The city may be known as the Big Apple, but it is also should be known as a city with a Big Heart! 

Mary Ann

As I shared with you in past blogs, I like to use items in different ways than their original purpose.  So, I want to share with you new ideas for a placemat.  

This all started when I was looking for accent pillows for my guest room.  I could not find exactly what I was looking for, but I did find the perfect pattern on a scalloped placement.  I bought four of them.  I paired them to create the front and the back of a pillow.  The placements were a black flowered pattern.  I made a black and white checked ruffle to surround the pillows (an easy way to make a ruffle is to sew a piece of yarn along the open edge of the material using a wide zigzag stitch. Then just pull the yarn to gather the material).  I attached the ruffle between the placements and then I sewed them all together leaving a small opening to add quilt stuffing.  Later, I hand stitched the opening.  

The pillows were just perfect in my guest room that was decorated in black, white, and pink.  The pillows accented the black and white toile bed spread and black and white checked dust ruffle and European pillow shams.  I have since used the same pillows in my bedroom that accented the black, white, and red bed linens.  Those placemat pillows are one-of-kind and have remained in excellent condition in two different bedroom settings.  This is an easy and inexpensive way to create unique décor.

Crafting unique tissue “boxes” is the second idea for placemats. The steps are simple, and the creative ideas are endless.  First, you need to buy some placemats.  At the end of each holiday season, stores such as Marshalls or HomeGoods discount the holiday placemats so for a dollar or two you can find the cutest seasonal placemats.  Then you fold the ends of each placemat to the center.  Pin the open ends at the top and the bottom of the placemat to secure it.  At this point, you can add trim such as pom poms, rick rack, or beads between the pinned ends.  Craft or fabric stores have trims available, and I did find several resources online that include Amazon, of course, but there are small companies that specialize in trims which may have more unique designs.  

After you have everything pinned together, you sew up the two ends.  You are almost done.  I then use holiday jewelry which is often on sale after the holiday as well.  If it is a pin, I put it in one of the corners.  Sometimes I use a novelty button or applique which may need to be sewed on, or I use Velcro dots or fabric glue to attach. The holiday jewelry gives a little character to the tissue “box.”  Then use Velcro dots to close the tissue top.  72 count boxes of Kleenex or other brands that are about 2 inches high fit perfectly inside with a few wiggles.  Also, you can find some soft-sided packages of tissues that fit as well.   Press the Velcro dots together pulling the tissue at the center.  Voila!  You are done. 

The tissue “box” fits almost anywhere and becomes part of my holiday decorations. I change for each one. The tissue “boxes” make nice gifts, and I always give a few extra boxes of tissues with it.  You can also make ones that go with your bedroom or wherever and are more permanent parts of your décor. 

I have had fun finding all the placemats and the accents for tissue “boxes” and pillows. As they say, “Necessity is the mother of Invention.”  It has been true for these creations.  I hope you will give this a try and use an ordinary placemat to create unique items for your home.  

Mary Ann

Throughout your life, you become members of different organizations and clubs.  It may be Girl or Boy Scouts, fraternities or sororities, church groups, Kiwanis, Rotary, VFW, book clubs, sport teams, and on and on.  All of them have influenced you in some way adding to the fabric of your life. It is our tribe or community.  It is a place where we belong. 

As I look back on my life, I belonged to many clubs, but the one organization that really influenced my life and helped me become who I am was the 4H.  I think most people think of 4H as a farmer’s club, and it does have famers.  However, it is far more than that. 

I was in 6^th grade and joined the Dog Husbandry Club that was sponsored by the Purina Company and run by our local commissioner who had a rescue center for unwanted animals.  We were lucky to have such a caring man lead us.

 My brother, Timmy, and I loved our English and Irish Setters, so this club was made for us.  We learned about grooming, feeding, training, and showing our dogs.  We learned about responsibility with charts that depicted our hours devoted to training and grooming, and we would post the amount of feed we used to care for our dogs.  We would have a local dog show in the spring and a County 4H fair dog show later in the summer.  We demonstrated our mastery of skills at those shows.

As I grew older, I would do demonstrations about canine care – Primp Up Pooch or First-Aid for Pooch.  It gave me experience in public speaking, a skill I have used my whole life.  I would later become the club’s president, so I was learning leadership skills in that role.  My role expanded with the following years.  In my senior year of high school, I became a Keystone Winner representing the state of Pennsylvania at the National 4H Conference in Chicago, IL, 

We stayed at the Conrad Hilton – a big change for a small-town girl!   What an experience to be with hundreds of 4Hers representing their states.  Big cooperations like Ford or General Motors sponsored banquets for us, Miss America spoke, and we were guests of the city at their various attractions such as the Field Museum and a night club called The Cheetah.  It was truly a life-changing experience for me – there was a big world out there that I wanted to see. 

 4H gave me opportunities and experiences that have lasted a lifetime and shaped the person I have become.  I always loved the 4H Pledge. It is a meaningful way to live one’s life, and each leave of the clover represents a different H – head, heart, hands, and health.  It has always stayed with me, and I can readily recite it.   Let me share it with you.

4H Pledge

I pledge my head to clearer thinking,

My heart to greater loyalty,

My hands to larger service, 

And my health to better living, 

For my club, my community, my country, and my world.

What a positive way to live life!  However, the 4H Motto is what has been a true North Star in my life.  It is To Make the Best Better.  Whatever I have undertaken, I have tried to make it even better. The 4H gifted a pledge and a motto that has shaped my life, and I am so thankful for those words.  

For what are you grateful today?

Today I am grateful for the ability to write what is on my mind and to share it with others whom I have never met. Today I am grateful for my health, while it isn’t at the level it was even five years ago, I am able to get up each morning and go about my daily habits. Today I am grateful that I have clean water to drink, a comfortable home in which to live, and healthy food on my table.  I could go on and on. My heart is full of gratitude today.

Pondering the concept of gratitude I realize how often we compare ourselves to others and think “why can’t I have ____ “. Recently I was reminded of how far we have come in a society based on electronics. I observe young people with their faces constantly in their phones and their mantras of “I don’t make enough money,” and “I’m not thin enough” or “my face isn’t as clear as I want it to be” and this list grows. We have learned to compare ourselves and our lives to the others, as they have posted online.

This led me to remember the COVID-19 lockdown, which was five years ago, now.  There is no denying the disease was horrible for many, many people. WHO reports an excess mortality rate of three million people, worldwide, 1.8 million deaths were reported from 2020 alone. Worldometer reported more than seven million deaths by mid-April 2024.  Reports are no longer being updated as reporting has almost stopped.  Some health care workers say the reporting was inaccurate. Still, we cannot deny the epidemic was frightening and life-threatening for many.

Why do I drop this bomb in the middle of a discussion on gratefulness? Because many people stayed healthy throughout the epidemic. I note that as devastating as the lockdown was for individuals and our economy, those of us left to complain can’t seem to let go. It occurred to me how lucky I am to live in a country that cared enough for “my” well-being, that everything they knew to do at the time was done to protect me and my family.  As good parents do for their ungrateful children, our country made decisions based on the knowledge leaders had at the time. We do not know what would have been different had we not limited our face-to-face interactions. But that is behind us now. Instead of complaining about how my life changed due to those couple of years, I am grateful to live in a country where I can voice my opinion, choose to vaccinate or not, and continue to live my life.

Today I am grateful to have intelligent, caring friends with whom I can discuss issues on which we disagree and remain respectful and appreciative of our relationships. I am grateful for the United States Postal Service that will take a card across the country to let a friend or family member know I am thinking of them.  I am grateful for Amazon, the warehouse workers and the delivery drivers who bring things right to my doorstep.

I am grateful that I can sit outside or stay in – that I have a choice. I am grateful when my grands help clear the table and clean the kitchen or carry out the garbage. I am grateful for my niece who occasionally and randomly sends me a text message just to let me know she is thinking about me.

I am grateful that I have learned not only to be grateful, but to have the ability to think about gratitude.  It lifts my spirits, even to the point of making me smile. In each of our lives every day there is something for which we can be grateful, if only we take a moment to name it.  For what are you grateful today?