Finding strength...

As I struggle to find the strength to deal with the loss of my beloved husband, I do what I do every day....I turn to the Lord. I do this in good times and I do it in bad times. I turn to Him if I am happy, sad, distraught, joyful. 

Do I second guess myself? Yes. I worry all the time. Did I tell him enough that I loved him? Was I short tempered or grouchy with him when I didn't realize how sick he really was. Did I provide him comfort and care to the best of my ability? 

Then I saw this sign. And it made me realize that yes, I did tell him I loved him. All the time. I never left the house or even in the end went to bed early every evening without giving him a kiss and telling him I loved him. I helped him up. I took care of him. I showed him in every way I knew how that I loved him. And I know he knew.

We knew he didn't have much time left. Yet, he insisted we maintain as normal to our regular routine as possible. He said it helped ease his mind that we just go on as if nothing was wrong. He didn't want to live out his last days just sitting around way to slip away. It was hard to do. 

But as always I turned to my favorite scripture to help me through. When I didn't know where to turn or who to talk to, I just let go and let God. It was already out of my hands.  

Throughout my life, I have had a Pollyanna attitude. I have had faith in God and I know that He will provide for me no matter what the situation. So I always try to make the best of whatever comes my way. This is probably the one one bible verse that applies the closest to my personality. 

People deal with death many ways. Some grieve themselves until they are sick. They dwell on the negative and refuse to move on with their life. I will grieve my loss until my dying day. I will never forget the love he brought to my life. I will miss him with every beat of my heart. I long to feel his arms wrapped around me one more time. I long for one more gentle kiss as he tells me he loves me. But death robbed me of those things. Over and over and over, we would discuss his passing. And he constantly told me that he did not want me sitting around getting depressed. He wanted what he always wanted for me. For me to be happy. For me to love life. So I have to go on. I can still laugh, while inside my heart is shattered and I wonder how I can face another day without him. I can still smile even while the tears fall inside like a rushing river. I can sit here every day while I make myself sick with the what-ifs and the maybe should'ves. But instead, I will choose to embrace life to the fullest. I choose to celebrate his life and his love by remembering that he loved me with all his heart and I loved him the same way. One day we will be together again and I will rejoice in that moment. But in the meantime, life will go on. I have my wonderful family and five beautiful grandchildren who all live in the same county I do. I can gather them near. We can reminisce and share our wonderful memories of a man who loved us all more than any of them even realized. So from this point forward, even while the tears may fall and the memories may blindside me to the point where the pain brings me to my knees, I will still choose to find the joy that God provides. 

RIP my precious love. 

Allen Dale Keefer

April 5, 1952 - November 17, 2015

Some sad news....

I have been missing in action since Friday. My husband has been in the hospital and we lost him on Tuesday. I will be taking a short break from blogging. I will be back next week. Please keep my family in your prayers. This was a video he found a few weeks ago and had asked me to have it played for his funeral, which is tomorrow. It was one of his favorite Christian songs to listen to.

Vintage Christmas memories....

I remember seeing wrapping paper like this when I was growing up. 

And just about every year, somebody sent out a card that had the choir boys on it. 

I used to have a set of the kissing S & P Santas. I would love to find another set.

Do you remember Christmas corsages? We always got a new one for our coat lapel to wear throughout the Christmas season.

And I miss the big old fashioned light bulbs on the trees. 

Did any of  your mom's or grandmother's have one of these cardboard fire places?

I just love vintage Christmas.

Veteran's Day

My Daddy. He was in the Navy during WWII on an air craft carrier. When he got out of the Navy, he joined the Coast Guard.



Thank you to Veteran's everywhere for your undying loyalty to protecting our great nation.

Weekend finds...

I found these two cute Christmas decor items at Food City (local grocery store) for $1.99 each. I fell in love with them. 

I went to an estate sale over the weekend. I have never seen so many cat figurines in one place at one time. I love the tall slender one. I also have a weakness for sleeping kitty figurines so I had to have it as well. 

They had a bag of vintage doll clothes for $1.00 each. I had to have this little dress. Not sure what I am going to do with it, but I am now looking for a vintage doll to put it on. 

But my favorite find was a miniature tea set. One of my favorite collectibles. It is just so precious. I can't wait to put it out at Christmas. 

I was very pleased with my finds. 

A rainy day...

How do you deal with a rainy day when you have to work? Simple, you fix a cup of hot chocolate with peppermint marshmallows in your favorite mug and open your blinds and watch the rain. 

This weekend I found me a new favorite glass at Walmart. It was from the Pioneer Woman collection. Loving it! I am reading Sandra Brown's Smash Cut. It is awesome. It is 366 pages long and I can't put it down. I only had about 74 to go last night and I settled in to read, eat Junior Mints and drink Pepsi from my new glass. I only made it through 12 pages before getting sleepy. I will finish it off tonight I hope. 

Come back tomorrow to see some cute finds from an estate sale this past Friday. Have a good Monday. We are closed on Wednesday so we get a four day week!

I recollect when.....

rec·ol·lect

ˌrekəˈlekt/

verb

remember (something); call to mind.

Do you remember sitting around listening to elderly people who talk about "back in the day" and say "Well, I recollect when...." 

Well, today I recollect when.....

Laundry day was actually a whole day.... or two. Mom washed our clothes in a wringer washer. We had well water and it wasn't a very deep well so we had to watch how much water we ran in a day. 

She had a galvanized tub that she used to put the rinse water in. She would fill it with cold water the night before so she would have enough water to wash the next day. 

No spin cycle on a wringer washer. So you had to literally run them through the ringer as many times as it took to get all the water out after washing. (by the way, this is a stock photo, not my mom).

Then you had to swing the wringer portion over your rinse tub, rinse them by hand and run them through the wringer again.

Then you would go out and hang them on the line to dry. 

Once they were dry you "brought them in" to be ironed and/or folded. I remember her having a sprinkler bottle and there were certain things she would sprinkle and then put them in a pile and tie them up in a tablecloth and put them in the refrigerator. Apparently, keeping them cold helped get the wrinkles out when she ironed.

She always ironed in the living room while we watched Hazel, Pete & Gladys or Dick Van Dyke. 

And if it was something like dress shirts or our pretty little dresses, she would use Niagara Spray Starch.

So doing laundry was a two day sprint, not just "toss a load in...do something...move it to dryer...do something else...fold and put away" like it is today. 

So yes, I recollect when laundry took more than a day. But I also recollect that her efforts were all worth it because we made a fine looking family.