Dear Reader:

I have lived long enough to realize that after every major storm there comes a time of stillness and intense beauty. I have lived through several hurricanes, including Hugo….and I , now, realize that all destructive forces have a time restriction on them….but the beauty of God’s World is never-ending.

Monday I left my neighborhood around 5:30 to pick Anne Peterson up at the Charleston Airport. In my neighborhood it was still hailing with strong gusts of wind spraying the torrential rains sideways against the car when I headed out…

But by the time I reached the airport all was quiet….I looked at the temperature gauge in my car and it said 67…I almost fell over…when was the last time I saw that number?

I rolled down the windows in the cell phone parking/waiting area and the breeze felt wonderful. A streak of light sprayed across the gray skies like a smile spreading across our city.

Anne’s plane was on time, so by the time we reached her home…darkness still had not completely descended. I had updated her about the powerful thunderstorms in Summerville and I was hoping she would have no large fallen branches or broken garden statues.

All was quiet….just the sound of rain still dripping off the roof…and instead of seeing any destruction all we saw were happy daisies, playing in the rain, welcoming Anne back home.

Anne had to  scramble to a church meeting and I  headed for Mt. Pleasant to spend the night there… so I could keep Jakie yesterday.

As I pulled into John and Mandy’s neighborhood I found myself taking a left at the end of the long entrance driveway… instead of a right to their home. The last rays of the sun were going down on the lake (that runs throughout the neighborhood) and I wanted to see it. Just as I stopped the car and walked to a look-out pier…the scene I had hoped to capture materialized right in front of me.

I thought to myself…how many times do we have to witness God’s Love to believe in it….beyond a shadow of a doubt? Love always wins…Love always wins….Love always wins!

When I got to the house….Eva Cate had gotten a Baby Alive and she was so excited…feeding it, giving it a bottle, changing its diapers…( However, I couldn’t help but think that she had a real “baby alive” living right there with her named Jakie.)

As I watched her role play “mommy” I remembered a quote I had come across earlier in the week. It stated: “The opposite of play isn’t work…it is depression.” 

With Americans working longer hours and refusing to take vacations…this quote takes on even more significance.

I have to admit that I like to stay busy too, on the whole, but it has been my grandchildren who have taught me how to play again and see the world through the eyes of a child…the wonder and freshness of it.

I, only had Jakie to keep yesterday, because Mandy was chaperoning Eva Cate’s camp class to the SC Aquarium. So we got to play and play and play on the floor, make new squealing sounds, jumping up and down (didn’t know the old gal could still do it) with Jakie in his “jumper.” His favorite thing to do.

Today Jakie turns 9 months…my shared birthday grand child…soon he will be walking…but right now I can still hold him and rock him and whisper sweet dreams to him.

HAPPY  NINE MONTH BIRTHDAY JAKIE!

One last rambling thought…When I saw the photos Monday morning of the thousands of people holding hands on the Ravenel Bridge (Sunday evening) to show unity in our “Holy City” (over the Emanuel AME tragedy)….a new thought popped up from a secret hide-away spot in my memory.

The thought centered around the most poignant scene in the original movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”  In spite of everything that the Grinch had done to destroy Christmas…he had not been successful. As he stood on that mountain waiting to hear wails of disappointment and sorrow as the sun came up…he heard, instead, the beautiful voices of all the Who’s in Whoville singing together, breathing together with hearts beating together…to bring in Christmas Day.

They had gathered in a large circle, old and young, small and tall, to welcome Christmas one and all. And they were all holding hands…united as one voice.

As the old Grinch listened to the voices singing “Welcome Christmas…Welcome Christmas Day“…he wondered how Christmas came…just the same. How could it be so?

And then the thought appeared…Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from the store…Perhaps it means a little bit more.

The Grinch Ending (Original 1966) – YouTube

… And that is what transpired on a beautiful bridge in a beautiful city…still healing from an attempt by someone to steal “Christmas” from us.

But this misguided young “Grinch” has learned the same lesson…Instead of breaking people’s faith….it, only, has grown stronger…Instead of spreading hate…love has grown in abundance. Instead of separating races and cultures…we have united together as a human race….accepting each other as we are.

So until tomorrow “Maybe love doesn’t come from a gun store…perhaps it means a little bit more.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Mollie sent me these precious photos taken by her friend Sarah (sarahlizphotography20.pixieset)  from their Father’s Day brunch…

* Hot off the press…I had just finished posting these pictures last night when I got a text saying that Rutledge might have broken his leg and they were with him at MUSC.

It was a swing accident…the x-rays didn’t find a clear-cut fracture but Rutledge can’t  stand or put any weight on his leg without it crumbling from under him..

With toddlers apparently…it is sometimes hard to tell about a fracture so the MUSC doctor on-call decided not to take any chances. She went ahead and put a cast on the leg. They are going to leave it on for a week and then re-check it.

Rutledge is very brave…. and Boo Boo is so proud of him…but also  sad that he got a boo boo owie on his leg. Love you Rutledge….this….much!

*** Please take a minute and read Kaitlyn’s heartfelt message about the Emanuel AME tragedy…it is quite powerful and will lift you up. Go to ( swiceGOODyoga)