On a clear and sunny day in March of this year, I went on a picnic. It was a gorgeous occasion, looked forward to by many of the lucky people who happen to live on Beth Ave in Florida.
Tapping our feet, clapping our hands in applause as some of our friends and neighbors entertained us with a happy guitar, an old upright piano, and old time songs that we mostly remembered, we spent several hours enjoying each others company.
The food, lovingly prepared by all of us, was everything you could have asked for. No, we didn’t have a campfire, we were in our community clubhouse, and we didn’t have to worry about bugs or ants or smoke in the air. There was a great variety of everyone’s specialty, and plenty of things to drink, and no one went hungry at this picnic. No one got into an argument about anything, there was plenty to go around our tables, and we even had door prizes so we didn’t go home empty handed. My special one and I managed to leave with a new mug that looked like Easter, filled with jelly beans, and another candle that smelled like lemon sherbet.
Now I ask you, how could a picnic be better than this? No dishes to wash, no children to keep track of, just a room full of seniors, having a picnic together on a sunny day in Central Florida, knowing that they are right where they belong.
So all of you millennials, look forward to your retirement years somewhere in the future. You may be as lucky as we to find your own Beth Ave picnic someday. It is something to look forward to!
Month: March 2015
A CIRCLE IN TIME
Standard
When I was very young one of the fun things that I liked to do was to play board games with my cousins on a Sunday afternoon. We were very competitive with each other and I can still remember the shrieks of laughter when I won, or the moans of disgust when I lost. I gloried in showing that I could be the fastest or best, and so when I lost, I felt embarrassed and impatient with myself. We played Monopoly for hours on end, or card games like Rummy or Solitaire. It was always fun tho.
But time moved on, and I married, became a mother and was the overseer for many of their boisterous events. They had some pretty noisy games.
Now I am retired in a whole new environment, time to do whatever I want, and what do I do? I play GAMES. I play word games, or solitaire, casino or slot games, number games, you name it, all on my Ipad or computer.
The fun thing is that I am still playing these games with my sisters, many cousins, daughter in laws, brother in laws, all of the same people that I played with, some of them over 50 years ago. We write each other little notes of congratulation over a good win, or make a resolve to do better next time.
Who would have thought that I would be still playing games with the same people, all a lot older, but still having fun together?
Life is really a circle, isn’t it. We just have to hold on tightly and the brass ring will come around again.
And then there are all of the new friends like you, who have come along. Life is good, especially since we can all smile and cheer as we enjoy playing games with each other. Thanks for all of the great competition, it keeps us thinking young.
YOU’RE MY INSPIRATION
Standard
For the past few days the song “You’re My Inspiration” by the group “Chicago” has been drumming thru my mind because the subject for our Creative Writers Class has been “Inspiration.” I thought of my own mother and how she never gave up but conquered throughout her life, living a very productive and successful one. I thought of many other figures that I knew that did the same.
But eventually I came to the conclusion that I have the perfect example right here in our own group of writers.
To my own knowledge, we have had almost all of the major adversities in life in the past four years since I first joined. Many of us have been widowed after long and successful marriages, and others have had and still do have to cope with serious illnesses. Still others have had deaths or divorces in their past experiences. Yet never have I felt anything other than admiration for the way our members have risen up, and helped others get thru their own difficulties. We are all growing older and looking out for each other and that is a wonderful thing.
So Creative Writers, I salute you! You are my Inspiration, and I am so thankful that you are in my life. As members of this group, you are providing a great happiness for us all. Viva la, Writers!
theappleladyblog 