This old gal…

Got an email…signed Gooberhead…laughed out loud…knowing where it came from…that daughter of mine…making a funny…

Often times she calls….and often times this mother answers…well hello Gooberhead…what’s up…so seeing it in print…tickled the funny bone…

Found a card…with a quote by Oscar Wilde…be yourself…everyone else is already taken…this so embodies…this clever lady of mine…

Beats to her own drum…full of life…full of spirit…her face…those expressions…could speak…a thousand words…

Embraces life challenges…with strength…and grace…stands up for others…stands up…for herself…believes in good…fights…for change…

And so…today we wish this one of a kind…goofy gooberhead…a happy birthday…and hope…that she never stops being her goofy goober self…

Because her goofy goober self…is pretty special…indeed…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…

This husband and I…

Had an overnighter…at Fryfest…celebrating that artist of ours…and all things…Hawkeye…

Hung out with Little Buddy…admired the Herky statues…supported the food trucks…enjoyed the evening concert…

Have to be honest…this old gal’s not really…a Hawkeye fan…grew up in a town of Hawkeye fans…in a family of Hawkeye fans…but it…just never rubbed off…

Was milling around…in the sea of black and gold…when one of us realized…she…was wearing…red…

A faux pas for sure…not on purpose…even though that daughter of mine did attend the arch rival…ISU…just had a new top…it happened to be red…didn’t think anything more…beyond that…

And sometimes…it’s ok to stand out…make a statement…strut your stuff…and others…it’s more comfortable…to blend in…lay low…

This old gal…can find herself…a fan…of each…just depends…on the circumstance…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…

This old gal…

Had a friend say…he’d driven hours…to visit a pawpaw patch…remembered the song…little me singing at the top of her lungs…pickin’ up those pawpaws…puttin’ em in the pocket…

Realize now…pretend pawpaw pickin’ up me…had no idea…what…a pawpaw was…and 55 years later…still didn’t…

Somewhere between a mango and a banana…also like a custard…says that pawpaw friend of mine…but apparently…he continues…to grow them…it takes time…and patience…

And then he finishes with…but that’s what I have (time and patience)…

Time and patience…in a world that seems to spin faster every day…what a gift these are…

The gift of time…use it wisely…
The gift of patience…use it…kindly…
Plant those seeds…and lovingly…watch them grow…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…

Little me…

Didn’t have stuff growing up…nobody did really…a doo dad here…a trinket there…some toys…some puzzles..

Had a tiny box of treasures…in it lie three sea shells…would sit on the bed and admire them…hold them…caress their ridges…with gentle fingers…

To little me…the sea shell was beautiful…magical…and finding one…in the creek…near a pond…or on a beach…was like…striking gold…

And there we were…this husband and I…surveying the mess they call installing new sewer lines…discover…a shell…and not just one shell…but a bevy of shells…

And not just any old shell…but those once used…to make pearl buttons…and in that instant…that 62 year old heart…felt that little girl zing…

And so it is…in life…feel the joy…the childlike joy…once found in the simple things…eating a popsicle…playing in the sand…wading in Old Man’s Creek…picking up…a beautiful shell…

Find the magic…it’s still there…all you have to do…is look…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…

This old gal…

Had a best friend growing up…the best of the best…wrote about her in that time capsule…she indeed…was a maid of honor…back…in the 80s…

That cousin of mine…a few years younger…saw her on holidays…summer break…visited her in Missouri…wrote letters…kept in touch…

The bond was special…the bond…was unique…could pick up after months apart…like no time had passed…talked…about…everything…

She knew young me…like no one else knew young me…the deep…the dark…the ugly…crushes…fears…the scary side…of that mother of mine…

But time…has not been kind…to these best friends…been years…like lots and lots of years…the miles many…communication…limited…

And so today…this old gal sends love…out into the universe…hoping that beautiful soul feels it today…on her birthday…and every day after…

And may she know…how special she is…and what a difference she made…in the life…of little me…

You…are…loved…
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And those daughters of mine…agree…

This old gal…

Found a package…on the front porch…thought oh no…what did I order from Amazon…that I apparently…forgot about…

But fortunately…that wasn’t the case…instead…it was a surprise…all the way from Kentucky…a surprise…from that Wordscapes…friend of mine…

A throw…that she knitted…with her own talented hands…a throw…in that House of Colour color…she said she knew…was a favorite…

A throw…back…to memories…

Marching band…school plays…choir concert memories…sleep overs…chicken noodles…fish head injury…memories…

California…Florida…Disney World memories…crossword puzzles…hiking…kids and grandkid memories…

A throw…the intricate pattern…a symbol of memories…high school memories…today memories…woven together…to create a masterpiece…a treasured masterpiece…with which to warm…an old gal’s heart…
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And high school me…would agree…

This old gal…

Created a time capsule…in high school English class…one of the prompts…for 17 year old me…write about your friends…high school me…wrote about a friend…she lost…

Had been friends for years…the do everything together kind of friends…can’t remember the details…but that year…there’d been…a falling out…

Ended up mending fences…went to her wedding that summer…she moving out of state…kept tabs through her parents…but connection…was limited…

Until…now…thanks…to Wordscapes…she inviting crossword lover me…to join her team…and as teenager me had hoped…

Our paths…”have combined again”…

And so it is…we celebrate…those friendships…that stand the test of time…celebrate the bond…created…by “great and crazy times”…

And remember…how much someone meant to you…and feel blessed…to have found that…again…
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And 17 year old me…would agree…

This husband of mine…

Does this thing out of the blue…makes a comment…then using his best vintage cartoon Snagglepuss voice…finishes it with the word…even…

Looks at his audience of one…and chuckles…like he’s the funniest man in the world…and his audience laughs too…because who is she…to disagree…

For this…is us…our world it’s own little version of Seinfeld…those inside jokes…the marble rye…the big salad…even even…popping up…at the oddest of times…

This rhythm…laughing at the ridiculous…chuckling at the inane…using humor…to lessen the pain in difficult times…works…

And so it is…we celebrate 7 years of humor…loyalty…empathy…compassion…and look forward to another year…of delightful episodes…

Or two…or five…or if luck would have it…ten…even…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…

This husband and I…

Met a wonderful couple down in Texas…who just so happen…to be from Iowa…

These Texas Iowa friends…headed to New Town…for a grand adventure of their own…and let their Iowa Texas friends…tag along…

Went to Wild Cat Den State Park…toured the Grist Mill…hiked the trails…checked out the stunning rock formations…

And talked…

Ate lunch…walked the riverfront…had a photo shoot in front of the World’s Largest Watermelon slice…

And talked…

Celebrated those husbands of ours…who both recently had birthdays…with cake and goodies…

And talked…

Cuz when it comes to couples…these four Texas Iowa friends…are like two peas…in a pod…

Those men…the strong silent type…kind…witty…a twinkle in the eye…those young ladies of theirs…vivacious…firecrackers…who kind of like to…

Talk…and talk…and talk…

And so it is…that thing we call friendship…true friendship…the talk til you drop…kind of friendship…it’s destiny…meant to be…

Cuz Someone…Somewhere…knows what you need…when you need it…and finds a way to deliver it…maybe even…as far away…as Texas…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…

This husband of mine…

Wanted a simple birthday…steak…Stitch…a few hours at the casino…

Enjoyed some Whales of Fun…played a little Pirate’s Loot…headed for a coffee…had that feeling…of being watched…

A man…middle aged…sitting with his wife…smiled and nodded…like hey…I know you…hello there old gal…

Looked over the shoulder…the smile and nod surely meant…for someone else…

Settled on mistaken identity…some lucky doppelgänger looking like…yours truly…but saw him again…when leaving with the birthday boy…this time…he waved…

Was baffled by who he was…a friend from Old Town…a student all grown up…the plumber who fixed the toilet two years ago…the not knowing…was troubling…

And so it is…in life…there come those questions…those haunting unanswered questions…about the illness…the infidelity…the random guy at the casino…

They don’t matter…let them go…open that box…and set yourself free…
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And this husband of mine…agrees…