grandma goldie

dear emily,

i have written about the precious legacy of my two grandmothers, one was
truth and the other grace.   grandma goldie was grace.   she affirmed every
atom in my being and let me read as long as i wanted.   she never said, "you
need to get outside and get some excercise."

the day of her funeral was one of the loneliest of my life.   i kept looking
for her to comfort me, but she wasn't there.   as a 38 year old woman, i sat
in a sunday school chair by myself and cried myself sick.

fortunately, i get glimpses of her in my daughters from time to time, and i
am grateful to the Lord for "His mercies are new every morning." (lam. 3:23)

in the sleepy colorado town that we love, we dug a large pond and were
told to name it.   so we did:

GOLDIE'S POND

once i was shopping in aspen and stumbled into a heavenly store:

thank you, Lord, for sweet memories,
lea

best friends

dear emily,

i read so many facebook posts in which women say, "my husband is my
best friend."  that is wonderful . . .

but mine isn't.   my best friends are female.   they wear make up and bras.
they cry when i cry and laugh at my dorky girl jokes.   they understand
when i get all angsty, jealous, and bloaty.

they tell me when my shoes don't work with that dress and if that dress
makes my backside look BIG.   they want to hear every detail about my
daughter's trip and my son's precious new wife, the insane grocery clerk,
and the next door neighbor's dog.

why do we, as women, want to make our husbands be our best friends?  i
want my husband's best friends to be the ones to hunt, fish, and talk foot
ball with him.  I don't want to do that.  i'm content to "um huh" and nod,
but i'm really thinking about thanksgiving, the election, or whether or not
my last check hit the bank before my last deposit.

my husband is part of my soul.   he is the best side of me.   he protects
every side of me.   he eats my yucky cooking, watches my crazy sci-fi
shows, takes me on bike rides, and sits close beside me in church.   he
fathered my five children, and he sleeps with me.


and i love him,
lea

"be devoted and give preference to one another."  romans 12:10

the intruder

dear emily,

it's been a while since i told you a good 'max' story, and there is no
shortage of them.   he is our 24 year old middle child, the one i used to
tell, "if you weren't so cute, i would kill you!"

when he was seven we were visiting his grandparents at a sleepy resort
of octagenarians.   besides the atlantic ocean, every corner was as safe
as sunday school.   one afternoon, i sent my little dennis the menace up
to our room on the third floor (306) to grab some beach towels while i
waited in the lobby with his two little sisters.

after longer than i would have imagined, he returned white as a sheet.
apparently he had accidentally gone to the second floor (206), barging
into the wrong room.   instead of our mountain of swimsuits and tennis
shoes,  he ran into two elderly ladies.

never doubting himself, he asked, "what are you guys doing in my
room . . . in your slips?"

google image

love,
lea

"do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some have
entertained angels without knowing it."  hebrews 13:2

dear emily,

how does one describe the beauty of the birthplace of the renaissance?
with better words than mine.   "i saw the angel in the marble and then
carved until i set him free." (michelangelo)

google image

florence, italy is filled with angelic countenances and splendour.   one of our
tour guides said that 90% of the world's greatest art is here.  "paris and
berlin have a few nice pieces, but they are such young cities."  :)

we stayed in a villa that overlooked the city and lovely vineyards:

the roman wall begun in 12 bc

our purpose was to visit the palazzo pitti museum's showing of our
own gilcrease museum's art collection.   it was a shining moment to
be in such glorious  company.

google image

the boboli gardens behind the palace were breathtaking, but this guy
was a little scary:

you better watch out, you better not cry . . . 

i was too overwhelmed by the beauty of the gardens to capture it and
to put that in perspective, i spied this tiny garden on the other side of a
WALL.   it wasn't even mentioned on the tour.   my secret garden.

lea's garden (hee hee)

next time, london!

love,
lea

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."  ecclesiastes 3:11

washington d.c.

dear emily,

hans and i just returned from a dreamy trip that started in our nation's
capital.   here's the view from our window the first morning.

if you're wondering what's behind the trees . . .

while my poor husband was working from dawn 'til dusk, i was walking
the streets.   not that way.   i got the giggles once i noticed the funny
state of our nation's shoes.    mine were the worst.

but these are NOT mine!

this gentleman met me each day at the park, but i didn't have the nerve
to talk to him.   i wondered where he would go as the weather cooled.

in a few days i will share some photos of our next stop:  florence, italy.

love,
lea

"all nations will be blessed through You."   galatians 3:8

dear emily,

while playing bridge with some friends, one asked if any of us had seen any
good movies.  another friend recommended a comedy.   i begged to differ,
mentioning that it had a pretty strong "R" rating.   she countered with the
thought that it was hilarious and really only deserved a mild "R" rating.

i spouted without thinking, "you're either "R", or you "Rn't."

love,
lea

"finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is pure . . .
think on these things."  philippians 4:8

dear emily,

this summer i spent several nights alone in the mountains which was
kind of scary with the bears, mountain lions, coyotes, and all.   sure
enough, one night i was awakened by a squealing cry that chilled me.
some poor animal was certainly being murdered by a predator.

when i flashed my trusty light out the window it reflected off dozens
of eyes.  creepy and not fair to the deer, fox, or chipmunks.

the next morning i heard the same cry and opened the curtains to see
not a corpse but a herd of about 75 elk!   i guess because He made
them so beautiful, the Lord didn't give them lovely voices.

i took a few terrible photos from my window having heard that elk
were skittish.   i even tiptoed onto our porch without disturbing
them, but when i clicked the camera again they stampeded down
the hill.

quite a thrill.

see the baby?

"the Lord is good to all, compassionate to every creature."  psalm 145:9