Life Itself is Enough

 

Dear Reader:

Yesterday… the first real feel of Fall arrived. It was in the sixties when I woke up and immediately the garden was calling…I could work in it without breaking a sweat! Almost sweater weather!

My neighbor Jane called and asked about going somewhere for breakfast so I took a break and after breakfast I drove Jane over to Ace Hardware and we both spotted these dark red fall burgundy-colored hibiscus called Cranberry Crush...just breath-taking! Both of us decided  to get one. (*I plan to plant mine in the front yard by my fence…too pretty not to be seen by the strollers up and down the street.)

As I helped get Jane’s hibiscus out of the car for her (Jane is 90 plus and still going strong…in fact she is leaving the rest of us in the dust)… I plopped the plant down beside her redbird bench and the dark red colors were perfect together!

I am at the point now that I want nothing…I am not a “material girl.”  Instead I think I have morphed into a stage of life where I might call myself a ” Min·i·mal·ist Mama!”

Family, Friends, Floral, Fauna….pretty much sums up my life. It also fills it up…to have family gatherings, fun with friends and sanctuary among my floral friends in my garden is it…all I want or need.

At this stage of my life …I am a connector, I am creative, and I am a work in progress. I will never be complete, thank goodness, but continue to grow.  I can be at peace with myself even when there is no such thing around me and I am enough…I have given and will continue to give all that I can…and for me…that is and will be ‘enough.’ No more second and third guessing decisions.

And with that thought today’s post will stand alone and be ‘enough’… all by itself.

So until tomorrow…No more analyzing yourself to death, you are magical, you are a miracle and child of God…and you have arrived. Congratulations!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Finally…Jake starts school today…he is so excited! He gets to go to big boy school with his big sister. Eva Cate said she would look after him…and she will…she always has.

Ann Graves will meet with her surgeon tomorrow to see if he successfully got all the cancer cells the second time around and the margins are clear. That is our hope and prayer…please continue them for Ann while she waits in ‘faith and patience’ for the final results!

 

 

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
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2 Responses to Life Itself is Enough

  1. Lynn Gamache says:

    The burgundy hibiscus beside the bench seems just “perfect” and so does dear Eva Kate beside her baby brother! May she always be the big sister who lovingly supports and cares for this younger one. Happy school days to everyone! Our youngest grandson in Colorado started into pre-school yesterday while his older brothers are already there. An exciting time of year for these little people…..

    Meanwhile this Grandma and former teacher is happy to be at home and teaching in other ways. Yesterday a dear Indo-Canadian friend came over; we picked blackberries together and then I showed her ho to make jam the quick and easy old-fashioned way with only berries and sugar and no Certo. Within an hour she was on her way with her jam and a bunch of fresh picked corn too. So another little lesson shared with another….and may I continue to have opportunities always to pass on lessons learned after 72 years of living a full and abundant life. I too am becoming a minimalist happy to pass on “things’ as well as little tips and ideas for those eager to learn. And thus I move forward, with expectation, into another new day here in beautiful British Columbia.

    • Becky Dingle says:

      Lynn….what a beautiful message…i feel exactly the same way…I have five weeks left until 69 rolls over to 70… I will go with the adage…”The Best is yet to Be!”

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