Life In A Nutshell

          I remember playing hide and seek, kick the can and a bunch of other kid games at their house while they played cards with my mom and dad. They had a pool table (which was way cool back then) that we would watch them play on and we ourselves played on it when they were not watching. They always had good food to eat and would make sure that we never left hungry. (Shirley was a great cook)
I am writing about my Uncle Max and Aunt Shirley.

       This couple was a perfect match for each other, Shirley was the caregiver and ruler of the roost while Max was the provider and the jester of the house.(at least that's how I saw it) They owned a family Excavating business and now the kids are still running that business today.

        I could write tons of things about each one of them, however the main reason I chose to write about them is because of the strong family they have built.They are a perfect example of the way we should cultivate our children and leave them with our legacy. With Lots of Love and togetherness no matter what life throws at us.
       Aunt Shirley past away a couple years ago from cancer. Her children raise money each year for the Relay for Life events. Did I say "her children"? What I mean to say is ...her entire family...including nephews, nieces, grand children and even great grand children...every one seems to participate in some form or another. But the point is ...they do things together as a family. I love that !!!
      They hosted a bowling fundraiser last night and being the bowling freak that I am...I jumped at the chance to participate. And as you can imagine, the whole family was there. There were my cousins whom I only see (If I'm lucky) once or twice a year, and their kids and yes, even their children's kids, some of which I have never seen before. I was a little overwhelmed with the feeling of Love that was in the air this night. They were there not to just raise money for a great cause, but more so for the love they have for their family. All of which started with Uncle Max and Aunt Shirley. Its just a great example of what takes place when you start with Love and Laughter in your own home. Its contagious and spreads to your children and your children's children.
 Is their anything else that a couple can do to ensure that their children are equipped with the tools necessary to be successful in life? To me, if you can teach them to Love and Laugh, the rest of the things that happen in life will all be taken care of through those two things. And as we grow older we can see the evidence of that. Love conquers all !!!!

It was really great to spend some time with Uncle Max, and even though his health has caused him to lose some things such as his eyesight and memory....there was still evidence of the love and humor that I have always adored in him. And it started right off the bat.

Me: Hi Max
Max: Who are you?
Me: This is Ian
Max: Its been so long since Ive seen you....I cant see you.

Oh how I love this man !!!

 

Say Hello to My Lil Friend

His name is Tanner.

It all started a few weeks ago when my wife started showing me pictures of dogs that needed homes from the shelter here in Lapeer. I was shown pictures of a few dogs for a couple weeks straight. Each time I had to remind her that we already had 2 dogs, 4 cats and a bird to take care of. She gave me the puppy eyes and then finally agreed with me and we got through each one of those" I think I want another dog" moments. Well...until the next week when she actually wanted to go to the shelter and donate some money to them. I agreed thinking that this might help her get over wanting another pooch. Oh how I was wrong....we ended up seeing this hound puppy that she loved at first sight (like all of them). We went home after donating money to the shelter and looked up what type of hound it was and found out that the dog would have been a bigger dog than what we she really was looking for. Whew.... that was a close one. She almost had me there.

The following week I noticed a difference in my wife's demeanor. She was acting sad and miserable and looked like she lost her best friend. (I am excluding myself in the best friend stature as I was there the whole time) But I just knew something was different with her.. What was the real giveaway was when she said to me "I just feel a void". Ummm a void?  Cant you just buy a kit kat bar?

The next week I saw this text that she had sent to my daughter that had a picture of this cutest puppy that I had she has ever seen and claimed that his named was Tanner and she was getting it. So basically when it came to my decision (which is final on these types of purchases) I now had to convince my wife and my daughter that we really didn't need the cutest little puppy ever in the whole wide world to live with us. Well....I obviously lost this argument and the next thing I knew we were picking him up on Sunday in Grand Rapids.
Now ...hind sight....I was soooooo played on this one. Its like she worked me until I finally caved in and said yes. And I am so happy she did. This lil guy has been such a good puppy and has brought such happiness to our already happy home.

New Puppy ...$50
Seeing my wife smile again....Priceless

Old Willow

             I love visiting my dads house. Its one of my favorite things to do. I only live 10 miles from him so that's a bonus too. Its not just that I love my dad and my brother and his family, and its not just because they feed me whenever I go out there (well not totally the reason) But there is something about going to the house that you grew up in that makes you feel like a kid again. The memories are still there and I get joy out of knowing that my brothers children (4 now...my sister in law just gave birth to my nephew Austin a few weeks back.)  are now enjoying many of the things that I enjoyed when I was growing up. The country roads, the swamp, the deer, and the many other blessings that come from growing up in the country.

             I was visiting the other day, when I noticed the old willow that has been there ever since my dad planted it. I was only a small child and I remember seeing this tree in many pictures of us kids, standing as stout as a tree can. We would do our best to abuse this tree, climbing it, swinging on its dangling branches, shooting BBs in it...you name it we probably did it to this tree, and yet it still stands tall today. (Thank God willows are hearty and durable)

            It reminded me a lot of human life. It now has the blemishes of being old, the knots that once made it strong from the inside are now showing themselves through the old bark and it droops a little more than it used to. :) (I told you...a lot like human life)
To me...There is nothing better than a big old tree. To see the massiveness of a extremely large tree makes me think of the many decades that it has endured to make it thus far in life. I think the same thing when I see elderly persons. When I see wrinkles and blemishes on the elderly, I think of the many years they have also endured. I think of the many fascinating things that they must have seen in their lifetime. A lot like the old willow. It has saw many things and it still has more to see. The only thing that can destroy it is man and mother nature. One thing on my bucket list is to see the redwood trees. They fascinate me. Once you understand what it has went through during its lifetime...you have a higher appreciation for them. And once you have the appreciation for them its hard to imagine your life without them. I for one, cant imagine my life with out the Old Willow.

 I hope you have an "Old Willow" in your life.

Luck Be A Blessing

I was traveling home one evening when I saw this house that had everything that used to be in it thrown in a huge pile by the side of the road. I was shocked by the mere size of this pile of stuff.
My thoughts quickly went from "look at all that stuff" to I wonder what he did that his wife would throw all his stuff out like that" :) But then I realised that it wasn't all "his" stuff...it was everything. It looked like they were being evicted or was foreclosed on their home. Either way...I felt so sorry for this whomever it was having this done to them. Being homeless has to just SUCK. I wish I knew exactly what had happened or who it was so I could offer help.

I also saw the show "What Would You Do" the other night. They took a homeless (actor) person and had a woman take them into a restaurant / bar and sat them down at the bar along next to some other individuals and gave them twenty dollars to get something to eat. The bartender (also a actor) was to not serve him, ridicule him a bit and then take the twenty dollars from him and tell him he had to leave. I was shocked by the responses from the people sitting close by. Most was a good shock feeling. There was a couple of prudy ladies who said that he stunk and wanted him removed from the place. But most were defending him and was getting very hostile towards the bartender who was asking him to leave. One was even going to call the police. But the one that brought me to tears was this very older gentlemen. He was the one who gave the guy some money even before he even entered the restaurant. He defended this homeless actor right from the get-go. I was so impressed with this man I wanted to hug him. He was polite to the bartender while he was explaining to him how he too had been down on his luck before and needed help. And paying it forward is a good thing to do. (I'm telling ya... this guy is my idol) He even said that "if that mans (referring to the homeless actor) money wasn't good enough here than his wasn't either".

We have all been down on our luck before at sometime in our life....and just knowing that there is so many people out there that understand this ....is very inspiring to me. Most of us have family or friends that would pick us up if we were ever down on our luck. But there are people out there that have no one. No Friends in high places...no family around that could or would even help them. They are alone. Alone.... to survive on their own. Celebrate their Birthday alone...Christmas alone ....everything is done alone. To climb out of this hole that they are in (whether it is self inflicted or not)  is a monumental task. A minimum paying job (although a start) is not going to get them a house in the near future. They will still spend some of their nights alone and hungry at times.

I am thankful for the friends and family that I do have. Not because I know that they would lend their money to me to help me....but mainly because I would be alone with out them And although being homeless would suck....not having Friends and Family would SUCK even worse.

May your troubles be less and your blessings be more.