Epiphany - Life Altering

Tags: Epiphany Life Island Boomer Inspiration Love Spirit Emotion Words

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On Friendship and The Written Word

Some of our most valuable and long lasting friendships are nurtured since childhood. We may live separate lives across many miles and distant places but the feelings and memories remain the same and very dear to us. Other friendships we acquire along the way in high school, college, work place, different neighborhoods, places of business, markets, vendors and lately through cyberspace, the web, the Internet...

We exchange cordial greetings, best wishes, blessings, good days and good nights. We become familiar with each other's achievements, hobbies, experiences, likes and dislikes. We learn of problems with our health, our families, children, grandchildren and our pets. We discuss events, seasons, holidays and festivities. We send or display pictures of all these things to share with our new found friends and rejoice in each others happiness. We also empathise with those that suffer or are going through hard times. We share their grief and their joy.

Our lives are intertwined through small messages, comments, colorful graphics, humorous cartoons, bulletins, polls and blogs. We are quite content in our little world with our special circle of friends and are quite molest at anyone attempting to rock our boat as we sail each day through the land of NOTH. We are one big happy family each trying hard to please the other and make them smile. It is an Utopia and we know it, but our hopes and dreams of a better world are reflected in the example we try to portray to our visitors, newcomers and to ourselves. There are rules and regulations, of course, but everyone follows them unconsciously for we belong to a special group of people that have usually learned things the hard way. We have a lot of experience and a lot to say, but we are good listeners and age has mellowed us to a state of acceptance, an open mindedness that is only acquired through the passing of time.

Most of us have lost our grandparents, parents, some siblings and some children. Most of us are living in an empty nest or just about to. For others their children have grown and started a life of their own and they are beginning, or already living, a life of adaptation with just each other. Some of us are now single parents, divorced, widowed, alone or the last of a breed, perhaps with no other family members alive.

This is our life, our world, our entertainment, our hobby, our special place to come to everyday to exchange words. Words of joy, words of sorrow, words of encouragement, words of consolation. The written word, how magnificent, how constructive if used properly. The written word may be unsheathed like a sword or waved like a wizard waves his magic wand or a fairy godmother hers. It is poetic when inspiration guides our muse, musical when the poems become the lyrics to a song or when establishing the proper moods or tempo for a symphony, allegro, andante, bravissimo, forte, pianissimo. The written word is most powerful in prayer, in healing, in guidance, in advice given only when asked to.

Let us use the written word to build, to construct family and friendship everlasting ties. Let us express our love and concern to others freely, we are all in the same boat together living in the Land of NOTH! Never lose the opportunity to give hugs and kisses, to express your love to your friends. These friends are the only family some of us have!

Hugs and kisses to all,

Island Boomer

11/8/2008

Tags: Friendship Words

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  I came across this phrase yesterday 'FENDER SKIRTS'.
            

A term I haven't heard in a long time and thinking about 'fender skirts' started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice like 'curb feelers'


And 'steering knobs.' (AKA) suicide knob

Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first
Any kids will probably have to find some elderly person over 50 to explain some of these terms to you.

Remember 'Continental kits?'
They were rear bumper extenders and spare tire covers that were supposed to make any car as cool as a Lincoln Continental.
 

When did we quit calling them 'emergency brakes?'
At some point 'parking brake' became the proper term. But I miss the hint of drama that went with 'emergency brake.'

I'm sad, too, that almost all the old folks are gone who would call the accelerator the 'foot feed.'

Didn't you ever wait at the street for your daddy to come home, so you could ride the 'running board' up to the house?

 Here's a phrase I heard all the time in youth but never anymore - 'store-bought.' Of course, just about everything is store-bought these days. But once it was bragging material to have a store-bought dress or a store-bought bag of candy.
'Coast to coast' is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement and now means almost nothing. Now we take the term 'world wide' for granted This floors me.

On a smaller scale, 'wall-to-wall' was once a magical term in our homes. In the 50's, everyone covered his or her hardwood floors with, wow, wall-to-wall carpeting! Today, everyone replaces their wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors. Go figure.

When's the last time you heard the quaint phrase 'in a family way?' It's hard to imagine that the word 'pregnant' was once considered a little too graphic, a little too clinical for use in polite company So we had all that talk about stork visits and 'being in a family way' or simply 'expecting'.

Apparently 'brassiere' is a word no longer in usage. I said it the other day and my daughter cracked up. I guess it's just 'bra' now 'Unmentionables' probably wouldn't be understood at all.

I always loved going to the 'picture show,' but I considered 'movie' an affectation.

Most of these words go back to the '50s, but here's a pure-'60s word I came across the other day - 'rat fink.' Ooh, what a nasty put-down!

Here's a word I miss - 'percolator.' That was just a fun word to say. And what was it replaced with? 'Coffee maker.' How dull. Mr. Coffee, I blame you for this.

I miss those made-up marketing words that were meant to sound so modern and now sound so retro. Words like 'DynaFlow' and 'Electrolux.' Introducing the 1963  Admiral TV, now with 'SpectraVision'!

Food for thought - Was there a telethon that wiped out lumbago? Nobody complains of that anymore. Maybe that's what castor oil cured, because I never hear mothers threatening kids with castor oil anymore.

Some words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most 'supper.' Now everybody says 'dinner.' Save a great word. Invite someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts.
 

 Someone forwarded this to me. I thought some of us of a 'certain age' would remember most of these.


Just for fun, Pass it along to others of 'a certain age'!

Tags: Memory Age Old Timeless Words IslandBoomer

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I stumbled upon this in an email, the Internet, a web-site or somewhere in cyberspace. These are my feelings exactly! I'm sure most of you have read this and I wanted to share it with those who haven't... Pedro

Not that some of us are old....it's not too early to adopt this way of thinking about aging.....
 
Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.
I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avant garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.
I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the
50's,
60's & 70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ...I will.
I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.
Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion.
A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.
As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore.
I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)
 
MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!

MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A RAINBOW OF SMILES ON YOUR FACE AND IN YOUR HEART FOREVER AND EVER!

FRIENDS FOREVER!

Tags: Old Age Gift IslandBoomer Friends

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