Thankful Thursday Sept 9th

 So much this week.

A safe, uneventful drive to and from Berkeley.

Lovely time with loving family and seeing them remaining so happy and making the best of living through the pandemic with a young child while keeping her safe. No Hawaii vacation this year then let’s get a fun pool for the backyard and go splashing about often.

The most delicious mocha birthday cake made by my DIL and granddaughter and presented with a family chorus of Happy Birthday and 2 candles as 72 would have engulfed the cake lol.

The 3 pets (my dog and their dog and cat) all getting along as old friends should.

Lovely neighbors who picked up our mail each day and brought it over soon after we got home.

Renters of our clubhouse who are making it better by offering to fix things and making them beautiful too.

I got some fun shoes

And that makes me think about buying shoes for my now 50 year old son when he was about 3 or 4. We lived in Seattle and back then Nordstroms was actually a shoe store specializing in a wide range of sizes and good fit for any foot. 

I had very little money but that little boy had hard to fit feet. He always ended up with red Keds for cooler months and salt water sandals for the summer and was a very happy little boy especially with the red shoes!

Great memories and aren't these new Keds of mine fun for Spring?

Happy St. Patrick's Day - otherwise known as my Grandfather's birthday

The two are forever linked for me and bring back lots of sweet childhood memories. Just yesterday I was reciting the TV shows we would watch together on Sundays when I stayed the day with my grandparents. I was about 8 - 10 I would guess.

So Sky King, Rawhide, Bonanza, Gunsmoke and more. I loved horses at that point (still do) and so this quiet time with Grandpa was a favorite. I also realize as an adult that I loved spending time with him because he didn't ask anything of me except for me to just be there and be me. What a gift.

Not to leave Grandma out although she was usually cooking and doing housework as she was a businesswoman and worked 6 days a week at the store she owned. I would walk over to their house in the summer or on Saturdays and she would help me earn pocket money by giving me small tasks to do. Or I'd just hang out and again the total acceptance of being me was such a gift.

These grandparents were my Mom's step-parents and actually not significantly older than her - about 15 to 17 years older. She cherished them especially her "Mom" who married her widowed father when my Mom was quite young.

Now that I write this I think I need to make more of a point to make sure my granddaughter feels the same level of total acceptance. She is perfect and enough all the time just as she is.