Saturday, December 29, 2012

Circle of Life

Yesterday I sat down to mail out sympathy cards. One to a former customer, her husband died last week.  The other to my cousin in Nevada whose wife died from complications of MS.

Last evening I got phone calls from both of my brothers.  First my baby brother with news of his second grandchild’s birth.  Presley a little girl born in Maryland weighing 6 pounds and 13 ounces and is 20 inches long.  A few minutes later my other baby brother called..he had news of Teddy’s birth, his ninth grandchild weighing in at 10 pounds and 3 ounces. (Uffda..poor Megan) His tenth grand is due soon..and my niece was having labor pains..so all these babies could be born within days of each other.  I am very happy for my brothers..I recall the excitement of seeing my own precious grands right after they were born..there is nothing better!

Births and deaths..life goes on and stops for no man or woman.

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Sometimes life is like a sweet storybook.

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Years ago when I was in Grade School, we used to exchange gifts at Christmas.  The limit must have been 75 cents to a dollar.  I believe these Sweet Storybooks were 79 cents when they first came out..a perfect priced gift.  I never got one..but I always coveted them.  During our 4H gift exchange..it was the same story..I never ever got one. Just so you know I faked happiness towards my friends that got them.

Now I have my own..after many years..and no I am not going to open the candy..I am going to save it forever.  Sometimes it is enough just to look at the sweet little things in life:)

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21 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's hard to lose a loved one, especially at the holidays.
Congrats to your brothers on their new grands.
I remember receiving a few Life Savers books...my favorite was butterscotch!

DJan said...

Glad to hear you finally got one. My sympathies for the loss of your cousin's wife and your friend, but congratulations for the new life coming into the world.

Primitive Stars said...

So sad losing loved ones anytime but around Christmas is really heartbreaking I think......Congrats on the little or should I say big ones birth......So cute you got your sweets, I used to buy my Son a candy Storybook every Christmas when he was little, sweet memories.....Enjoy my friend, Francine.

linda m said...

Condolences on the losses! Congrats on the births of the new lives. Glad you finally got your Lifesavers Storybook. I always wanted one too and never got one.

RURAL said...

It's a hard time year to lose anyone...sorry to hear of your loss.

But congrats on the new additions, how wonderful.

I never got one of those lifesaver boxes either, our neighbors got them every Christmas....but we got chocolate letters. So much better.

Jen

Karen said...

Condolences and congratulations on the Circle.
I hate to rub it in, but every Christmas my sister and I got one of those Lifesaver books:)
Our kids got, and still do, a Terry's Chocolate Orange each year for Christmas.

LindaG said...

*hugs* and Congratulations to all. ♥

Beth said...

Congratulations to your brothers. Life and death; they do seem to balance out in the end.

MTWaggin said...

Those storybooks were the constant every Christmas at our house, in fact we got them every year until just a few years ago!

The Retired One said...

I had forgotten about those Lifesaver books! I don't think I ever got one either, but I thought they were really cool. LOL I know what you mean about the deaths...at my age, I know at least one person in the obituaries every month. Scary!

thecrazysheeplady said...

I remember those life saver books! :-D

Terry and Linda said...

AHHH! Well said. I, too, remember those sweet little books, although, like you, I never got one!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com

¸.•*¨*•♪♫♫♪HAPPY NEW YEAR ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥

Red said...

Sorry to hear about your losses. Our losses just keep on coming. they never quit. I'm happy to hear of the new babies. Babies also keep on coming. So your example of the circle of life ids very appropriate.

GramMary said...

We gave our girls Lifesaver books all their growing up years, and now they give them to their children. I'm really glad you got yours! Stay warm.

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

Sometimes it's hard to step back and see the beauty of the cycles of life, but you're right that when the births are your own grandchildren, it is a beautiful thing!

Jacqi Stevens said...

So glad it is a circle. I've been particularly sensitized to all that, lately. So glad those sweet birth announcements come along to soften the blows. But then I have to remind myself that we all will one day testify about that eternal truth, "Every knee shall bow..."

So sweet to read your little confession, "I faked happiness toward my friends that got them." Sounds like the sign of a true friend to me! No matter what happens...
:)

L. D. said...

I had forgotten about the Christmas exchange at school. We lost a parent of students days before Christmas and one of the staff member had a baby boy the day after Christmas. My friend co worker at school is just waiting for the loss of his father and my niece in Arizona had her third baby boy on Christmas day. The births do seem to balance out the deaths and I guess life is just that way.

Rita said...

Losses are hard this time of year, but then the births are such a joy. Life is always like that--darkness and light.

I never had one of those Lifesaver books. I like them, but never coveted a candy book of my own. I am dang glad you finally got one, though. And leaving it intact shows great restraint. I wonder if they appreciate in value if they are pristine--LOL!

Happy 2013!! :)

Anonymous said...

My brother was a newspaper boy and recieved many of the like saver candy books from his customers and would never share. I bought them for my grandkids this year at the dollar tree. LOTS OF MEMORIES.

Anonymous said...

Yes, loss is hard at this time of year.

Love that sweet storybook - what a treasure!

Pamela said...

I don't remember the story part --- but I remember the life saver book.
One year my brother got me one for Christmas. I remember that Christmas - not much about any of the others. We didn't get much. And I think having my brother buy me a gift was so exciting -- and the lifesavers was amazing. We didn't get candy much either.