It’s a very busy week that began with a granddaughter packing up and moving back to college. That in itself was emotional for me, but while we are at it, let’s throw in the largest wedding I have ever been remotely involved in, albeit several once’s removed. Sam’s daughter is about to begin her new life on Friday evening, and although my role is from the cheering section, it is still a busy, emotional week as we get ready to expand our family and celebrate bigtime.

I am grateful for the amazing invention known as fashion tape that was needed this morning for the very first time. Actually, it has been needed MANY times by me, but used for the very first time as I got dressed today. If only it could fashion tape cover everything I think needs to be hidden these days…

(If only I had THAT shape to work with.)

This week involves dressing up for three different wedding-y functions, for which I am a foreigner and feel so awkward and out of place and have to constantly remind myself that no one is even going to notice me in this big picture so get over myself. If you know me at all, you know I do not do dresses or dressing up, so I am very grateful for two assistants, Michelle and Karen, who know what to do and how to advise, so I at least might blend in rather than stand out in the awkwardness.

I am grateful for distractions like puffy clouds and cooler weather and interesting bird sounds and funny cats and work and grandchildren and road trip planning and tv shows and laundry and ironing that keep my mind off all the things I should probably be focusing on.

I am grateful to stand on the sidelines and watch Sam be a very proud Daddy all week long. He is going to have a wonderful, exciting, AND very rough day on Friday, and I can already feel the emotions that will overflow, beginning with the “first look” with his daughter before we all go to the church.

And, I am very grateful for the evidence of God’s blessing on my stepdaughter’s life.

This is what greeted me this morning as I fought my way through the wet blanket of humidity from the parking lot to the front door. So this morning, I am really grateful for the person in my office building who decided to try to make the rest of us smile as we wipe away sweat from our 100 yard hike into the office.

I am grateful for my husband who took care of dinner last night.

I am grateful for my granddaughter who helped clean up after dinner last night.

I am grateful for the guy last night at the ice cream place who was completely annoyed that he wasn’t given a napkin with his ice cream and “became” a real jerk to the high school employee. I say “became” because I hold out hope that he was just miserable from the heat and isn’t a jerk all the time. I am grateful for him because he reminded me to not be a jerk. Anytime. Ever. To anyone. Anywhere. No matter what.

I am grateful for my husband who took care of gathering all the trash and every week, gets it to the curb for pickup.

I am grateful that our two kids say “thank you” without a prompt.

I am grateful for air conditioning and the job that provides a salary to pay for it.

And I am grateful for the reminder this morning that it doesn’t take much to make the world a better place.

I am grateful political signs and ads will go away, for a few days.

I am grateful for answered prayers of yes, and answered prayers of no, and answered prayers of peace and reassurance.

I am grateful for a really cool green grasshopper visit.

I am also grateful for hummingbirds at our butterfly bushes.

I am grateful for a new day and feeling better.

I am grateful for an end in sight.

I am grateful for a vacuum cleaner.

I am grateful for the discovery of online grocery shopping.

I am grateful for completion of the world’s most difficult ceiling fan install and for my husband who is strong and capable to do this on his own with a weak wife who was mostly moral support and emotional support ladder holder.

The morning when the humidity is not oppressive, the pre-heat has been turned off in this corner of the world, the air feels cool and fresh

The sleepy of a cat and his happy purr with eyes closed

A phone call from Dad that made me smile

A city sunset

Independent confidence, taking care of myself all by myself, with a little help…

The feelings of excitement and fear watching a scary movie AND applying to finish that degree

Really nice vendors who are nice to talk to in the middle of a work day

A quiet evening on the patio, talking about life

The constant katydid rhythm, grateful it is several trees away and not right outside our window

Ice cream sundae with chocolate syrup and peanut butter sauce, to end a stressful day

A brand new quarter I had never seen before

Take time to notice all the usually unnoticed, simple things in life. Enjoy the never-ending hope that is available every day.

The stone guy who remembered my name, several years later

A new book that arrived by surprise, from the Tooth Fairy about the Tooth Fairy

A boss friend who made it through and is going to be stronger than ever

Watermelon

Big hibiscus flowers that announce, “Our mom doesn’t kill EVERYthing she plants.” Actually, I didn’t plant, but I claim them via Sam

And finally, I am grateful for Friday afternoons.

When I wake up in the morning and am refreshed and renewed from a great night of sleep and beautiful dreams, I will say thank you.

When I wake up in the morning and am visibly distressed from bad dreams and memories, I will say thank you.

When the roads are empty on the way to work, the trek is smooth, and the lights are green, I will say thank you.

When the lanes are crowded with commuters and a detour is ahead, I will say thank you.

When the air is cool and dry with a calm breeze, I will say thank you.

When my skin is dripping in the humidity and a breeze is just a wish, I will say thank you.

When my days are peaceful and boring and I cannot fill my time with anything productive, I will say thank you.

When weeks fly by and there is not enough time to get everything done, I will say thank you.

When friends are plenty and guest rooms have revolving doors, I will say thank you.

When I look at lists of those I love and am spurred to reach out because it has been too long, I will say thank you.

When there is plenty, and when there is not,

When I am understood, and when I am not,

When I am fulfilled, and when I am lacking,

When I feel confident, and when I feel less than,

When I am loved and appreciated, and when I am not,

When I fall short, and when I fall further,

When I am lovable, and when I am not so much,

I will say thank you for that grace that is greater, for the blessings that are endless, and for the sense to count it all.

Happy robins and wet worms after a night of rain

Hug warmth between a Dad and his daughter at the end of an impromptu afternoon visit

A little spark of hope from a door cracked open enough to prompt a little spark of hope

Satisfaction ahhhhh from ice cold carbonated

Laughter with my boss

The smell of barbecue wafting down the street

Detailed painting on a little surprise rock left for unsuspecting walkers on the trail

When great paper and smooth pen meet to make my handwriting a little nicer

A song that captures attention and continues all the day long

Grace that pardons, cleanses, and is greater, even for me

A young man with a new suit

And, a phone call with results to ease the mind once again

The little chipmunk that ran under the begonias

The wiping down of the counter in the bathroom by someone who was just finishing handwashing

The music from the chime on the back patio

The smell of progress in the form of hot, black asphalt

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. – Sir John Lubbock

The texture of a crisp Pink Lady apple

The “good morning” between two strangers in the hallway

The sound of the sprinkler pulsating as it waters thirsty grass

The call from a husband, apologizing for his perceived inattentiveness

A miniature ice cream sandwich to beat the heat

The pride our son feels after making a really great meal from scratch

The miracle of connection every Sunday morning

The beautiful sound of steady rain in the quiet of the night after a long stretch of hot and dry

We bought this gem in the summer of 2016. When we pulled up in front, Sam just knew it was the right one. He has a thing in his brain called “vision.” And he just knew. I went along, because I learned early on he has a thing. His golf is not golf – it is projects. And he started right away on clearing the yard, hauling in dirt, cutting down the dead and overgrown, replanting…because vision+farmer at heart = beautiful yard. And then he began dreaming about the exterior and the interior, and six years later, The Scofield looks like this.

Except that…as of yesterday, The Scofield has a new name.

Sam was the dreamer of this dream book, but he did not make it come true by himself. He had an army of writers who took his dream and built the chapters. Dave W was the first to come on board and was the architect and constructor of the updated exterior look of the porch, the constructor of the Scofield room and Tiny House, and spoke Sam’s language. Randy, Cosmo, Dave H, Hong, Buzz, Kelly, Traci, Barry, Berend, Mike, Dwight, Tim, David, John, Melvin, Brad, and Brell – they all put their stamp on The Scofield and made Sam’s dream come true.

We made the decision a year ago to move closer to our healthcare and my job and family, and it has taken a year to find the new caretaker of our dream. We left almost everything intact over the last year, driving the 5 hours to enjoy our dream on occasion, hoping for more family reunions while she was still ours, sitting in front of the fire on cold winter nights, basking in the warm sunshine from the sunroom on bright sunny Sunday mornings, soaking up the quiet and peace of a small town late afternoon as we sat on the front porch.

Last weekend, Brad and Melvin helped Sam load ALLLLLL the things into our old box truck on the hottest, most humid weekend of the summer, while I finished packing contents from drawers and cupboards. A few weekends prior, Sam and Brad had begun the process of moving our “world” while our neighbor Alex worked inside to begin the process of packing since I could not make the trip. And yesterday, our granddaughter Tatum came along to help me clean the empty house, giving up her birthday day so we could hand The Scofield over to the new owners.

There is no way we would have been ready for this day without the help of these four wonderful friends/family. We could not have accomplished this hard thing on our own. And on the other end of the final move, we were blessed to have my brother Dwight and sister-in-law Marlene to help unload the box truck and unpack, my sister Angela and nephew Adam assisted in unpacking and taking several things we no longer have room for…we are overwhelmed with their kindness and offers of help.

We are overwhelmed.

This final page could not have come at a worse time. Our summer is full while Sam and Melvin work on our next project and are in full blown construction mode of finishing our basement with a one week deadline, the next family reunion happens in one week and our new home will be bursting at the seams, we have a daughter wedding in one month, our granddaughter who is staying with us this summer just returned from her study abroad trip to Italy last weekend, and Sam has to finish a project in Oklahoma in the middle of it all.

We are overwhelmed.

As we said goodbye yesterday, we were overwhelmed with lots of feelings: joy, bittersweetness, regret, sadness, and most of all, gratitude.

God has been so good to us these past six years. A lot of life happened in this home. Sam was diagnosed with cancer and battled and won that fight in this home. Wonderful times with family and friends happened here. Friends and employees gathered on our lawn to listen to a band playing on our front porch. Board meetings were held in our dining room. Super Bowl parties and Blessings Breakfasts happened. Roasting hotdogs with neighbors, grandchildren catching fireflies and selling lemonade on 3rd Street, Sam was visited multiple times by our friend and Chief of Police when he burned tree stumps during burn bans, we met many wonderful people who stayed in our Tiny House AirBnb, we had a front row seat on several 4th of July Hughes fireworks shows. The list goes on and on.

We are overwhelmed with gratitude and beautiful memories, and we will never forget these past six years.

Always leave a place better than how you found it.

Thank you, all of you, who filled our years in Small Town America with memories and joy.

We are starting a new book in a new project and are looking forward to how it will be written.

This was my view when I took a break during my work day and left the air conditioning of my office for a 15 minute walk.

And this was my view tonight on my walk after work, before dinner and a granddaughter’s middle school band concert.

I am grateful for motivation.

I am grateful for the ability to listen to the beautiful silence.

I am grateful for the eye sting of sweat that indicates I am moving.

I am grateful for the privilege of a Zoom band concert from Washington state.

I am grateful for sweeeeeet watermelon for dinner.

I am grateful for people in my life who are examples of humility and grace, who listen more than they converse, who ask questions more than they give answers. Someday, I hope to be like them.

I am grateful for early morning sprinkles that made the humid walk tolerable.

And I am grateful for these two guys who are enjoying their time in Oklahoma this week.

I am grateful for bittersweet when I see this picture. It is a smile-frown-love-hurt feeling.

I am grateful for all those iris purples even if I have to enjoy them from a picture.

I am grateful for showers and showers of blessings all around me these days.

I am grateful for emotional heart stretching that is uncomfortable but my brain says is a good thing.

I am grateful for a plate of salad with no dressing.

I am grateful for vacuum lines in carpet so I know where I have been.

I am grateful for a window to watch the rain that makes me happy.

I am grateful for trees and the variety of trees in this city that offer shade and a place to hang a swing and a place to sit under and lean back.

We may ask for greater faith so that we can heal others, but God, who understands human need far better than we do, gives us greater compassion so that we can weep with others.

Richard Foster

I am grateful for those in my life who share my anger and my sorrow over societal issues…mutual understanding is powerful.

I am grateful for new books.

I am grateful for evident growth in our son and a fun new job for him to look forward to.

I am grateful for a call from Karissa in the middle of the day.

And I am grateful to be a cat lady now, but I am not so grateful for daily vacuuming. Actually, yes I am. I am grateful for daily vacuuming and a vacuum to daily vacuum.