Patsy Terrell

Lived fully, laughed loudly, gave generously

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Christmas Love and Memories

Today was the annual Gingerbread House Decorating Day in Hutchinson, Kansas, where I live. It’s sponsored by the Downtown Development office and the Hutchinson Recreation Commission and offers ample opportunity for cuteness overload, as you might imagine.

I met this young lady today when I asked if I could take a photo of her gingerbread house her mom had put down while they were waiting to visit Santa. She came over and talked with me while Santa was finishing with the folks before her. She’s a charmer, just as you would imagine from this photo.

I am so thankful the community provides opportunities like this. We can see the excitement on her face, but imagine what it’s like to be experiencing that. I was thinking tonight that this was probably a magical day for a lot of kids. They got to decorate a gingerbread house, then see Santa. That’s a lot of fun for one day, and it was all provided free.

Memories were made today that will be with the adults these children will grow into forever. Pleasant associations of gingerbread houses and communities and families and places and traditions were formed. What a tremendous gift a community can offer to its citizens.

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Chasing Ghosts

Memories are like ghosts. They flit across your brain, leaving you unsure if you really saw something or if it was just a trick of the light. But, you feel it, even if you can’t see it. And the feeling lingers long after the ghost has moved on.

When I visit family in Kentucky I often find myself chasing ghosts. This is a place of so many firsts, and so many lasts. In between are reminders of times when things could have gone horribly wrong – or terribly right – and they didn’t. Sometimes it was because I made a good decision, sometimes because I made a bad one. Of course, the deal with decisions is that when you’re making them, you don’t know which side of the fence they’re going to fall on. That’s why people deliberate on them for a long time.

Well, some people do. Some of us just jump in and hope for the best. Some of my best decisions have been made on a whim. Some of my worst ones have been, too.

I spent the first few years of my life being afraid of pretty much everything. When I say, “everything,” I do mean everything. I was afraid of people. I was afraid of dogs. I was afraid of things that could happen but most likely never would – at least not in the average lifetime.

Fear is a funny thing. We need a certain amount of it or we wouldn’t be here. After all, our ancestors were the people afraid enough of the lions to get away from them. They were also the people physically able to get away from them.

But fear isn’t a good daily companion. Aside from the awful things it does to you physically, it doesn’t inspire good decision making. If all you’re thinking about is getting away from the lion, there isn’t much brain power for anything else. And there are other things to consider – like building a house to separate you from the lion. People who are always just running from the lion aren’t ever going to be able to build a house. But the house builder who isn’t aware of the lion over the ridge isn’t going to end well.

Like I said, it’s tricky.

We’re afraid of phantoms – ghosts – more often than we’re afraid of things we should be paying attention to. Like the guy running from the lion, we’re missing a lot of stuff.

Maybe that’s why we’ve given to chasing ghosts sometimes. Maybe those memories are a reminder – or maybe a cautionary tale – of what could have been.

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Patterns and Memories

20130611_174126Pattern books on a table caught my eye as I was walking past this evening. I haven’t bought a pattern in more than a decade, maybe two. But something prompted me to sit down and start flipping through. It was just curiosity about what styles I’d find.

No sooner had I pulled the first heavy book toward me than I flashed back to sitting next to my mom, looking at patterns when I was much younger.

My mom sewed for me many times and I loved her creations. Unfortunately, I was an obnoxious kid at times and would act very “put upon” when she wanted me to try something on. She was too kind to tell me to stop that foolishness. I wish I had stopped that foolishness!

Regardless, tonight I relived those happy moments of looking at patterns and watching my mom say she could put this collar on that blouse, or make the sleeve longer, or whatever I had in mind. She was a gifted seamstress, and I loved what she made. She had the idea that I would prefer “store-bought” clothes, but hers were always my favorites.

It’s just another example of how lucky I was. And all of that came flooding back to me in an instant, just by opening a pattern book.

Yes, I bought some patterns. I don’t know if I’ll actually get any sewing done, but I’m prepared, just in case the urge should strike.