Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Lists 1


lists


Many people go around making lists of their “to do”s or “honey-do”s or hopes for the future. Once my daughters gave a a list book. It had many pages, each with a list idea at the top. Some of those ideas were:
1. List your favorite books
2. List people you would like to meet
3. List the times you've had an audience
4. List the people you love most in your life.

1. Favorite book lists were easier when I was younger. But the list has changed over time and I wouldn’t so much be able to list favorite books as much as favorite authors. Of books number one would be, and has always been, the Bible. Of authors the list would include:
John Grisham, Mitch Albom, Louisa Mae Alcott, C. S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Warren Wiersbe, Max Lucado, Lilian Jackson Braun. This seems to be such a small list. I may expand on it later. You can see that it is a variety of writing styles and genres.

2. The people I would like to meet are some of the people in the Bible: Ruth & Naomi, Peter & John. I would also like to meet the authors I named above. I would love to meet Lady Bird Johnson and Barbara Bush, Eleanor Roosevelt. I have some favorite actors that I would love to meet.

One time I did meet Walter Koenig and received his autograph. I tried to tell him that I really enjoyed watching him in Star Trek and in Babylon 5. But he was in an angry mood that night. It was a movie premiere and he didn’t like the way the movie had turned out. I don’t blame him about the movie, it was pretty bad. But I didn’t think he should carry that feeling and put them onto his fans.

Another time, David & I were strolling through Sea-Tac airport looking for lunch. We gathered our lunch and sat down. Soon we were joined by James Doohan. This time I didn’t ask for an autograph. We were having a very nice conversation and I didn’t want to ruin it. But I guess I didn’t have to worry about that. I just found this statement at Wikipedia, “Unlike some other members of the cast, Doohan relished meeting fans and was always ready to entertain with a story or a song.”

Unfortunately, enough time has passed that I don’t remember the date for either encounter. It would be during or before 2004 because Doohan passed away in 2005.

3. List the times I’ve had an audience. There would be too many to make an actual list. When I was growing up my father had his children sing a special number before the church audience. I was in choir in 9th & 10th grade and we sang in front of the rest of the school and at contests. I high school and, 40 years later, in college I had to give speeches or reports before the assembled classmates. I even entered a speech contest in high school. In technical school I entered a spelling bee. I joined Toastmasters International and for over 30 years had a weekly audience and the occasional speech contest audience. While I was living in Moses Lake I was also a member of International Training in Communications (ITC). I am unable to tell you how many speeches I have given.

Now, I attend the Glendale Corps of The Salvation Army where I am the Home League leader. We share the responsibility of the program. I am in the choir. I occasionally am allowed to present the message to the Congregation and to the Glencroft residents (for CCM).

I have had many audiences.

4. This last list is the easiest; list the people I love most in my life:
my husband, David
my daughters, Eve & Sara
their husbands, Mike & Billy
my grandchildren: Madison, Amelia, Vincent, Fiona, Orrin, Liam, Augustus
my parents, Giles & Marian
my siblings: Dean, Lynette, Doug, Mari, Darrin (now passed on), Reneé, Christina
all my aunts, uncles, and cousins
my grandparents
then, all my friends who have been near and dear to me, whether they remember my birthday or not. (he he)

I’ll end with this - I was thinking about "WHO is my friend?" I have lots of acquaintances, people I say hello to and even people I'll give a hug to, but I don't necessarily consider them friends. To me, a friend is someone who takes the time to get to know me. A friend is someone who says to me, "how can I help you?" and if not today then when you need me let me know. And when I do ask they come through for mr. I'm not talking about money (never about money), though it may cost them some when they give me what I need - their time. It's not a one-way street, either. I will also give them my time and help. Even so,I will help an acquaintance, that doesn't mean they are my friend. A friend is someone who loves me and will demonstrate their love for me. Sometimes it is physically, sometimes in other ways. I have friends who have given their time and energy to my benefit in the past but are now physically(or mentally) unable to help out. They continue to find ways to let me know they are still my friend. Sometimes I get too busy to pay proper attention to my friends but they continue to love me anyway, and I know who they are. 😅😅 All this really goes much deeper than words can express,yet all my friends have this in common - they're there if I need them (or would be if they could) and I can depend on them. 

💘💘 To all my true friends - Thank You for your love! 💘💘




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