Shine All Day

I do not always practice what I preach. Some days I am not grateful, I do not shine all day or I do not dance among the stars. All three of the above are not really my words, though I have actually written them myself in various articles and here I have given them in order. I do not know who wrote them.I wrote them long before I saw the above.

My Dad got joy out of such simple things, I thought that when I was a little girl.

He had money way back before I was born and as most people did in those days, he lost it. He never stopped being grateful what he still had, a home still to live in, a good wife, two beautiful children who both were extremely smart, and he himself had a good mind with a good philosophy of today was good, tomorrow would be better and the following day even more wonderful He truly believed these thoughts.

I believed these ideas and when you grow older, you try to believe more of them will happen to you.

I have related once before in an article, he went out when he had a spare few dollars and he bought Mom 12 pairs of stockings, no panty hose in those days and it was for holiday time and for their anniversary. Mom looked at them as they were 12 pieces of 24K gold and laid them out in a row in an empty dresser piece of furniture. She called the neighbor in for a cup of coffee and a piece of her special good apple pie as she did every Friday night after dinner. Mrs. Rawlings knew she could not smoke in our house ever. So Mom told her about the stockings, not to brag, but to show her how happy Dad made her. She replied " I wish Ralph senior would do that for me."

Mom said " he will for Christmas, I will put the thought in his mind when I see him." Funny thing, she did just that and lo and behold, he went out and bought Ruth 6 pairs and they were silk stockings like Mom got. Both ladies were so elated over a simple thing like new stockings and especially silk ones. Nylon was rare and really had not been invented for the general public yet.

Jerry bought me for a holiday when we were married about 5 years, a heart on a chain to go along with a wedding band I had

which had hearts on it.It was not an expensive one. Sadly, a worker in our home for doing some day work several years later, stole it from a drawer where I had it.

He took away some memories from his theft.

I got an additional one and new memories are beginning anew. You can take away something from me, you cannot take away my spirit because I am grateful to be alive, I try to shine all day and I can in my mind, dance among the stars above.