You Are My SunShine

Dear Reader:

“What a day, what a day, what a day”…yesterday was.

Remember I mentioned how happy I was Thursday because the sun had finally come out…and it just made me plain happy? The older I get the more I realize how my feelings are driven by the sun and light…I crave both.

Murphy’s Law…we had a short dip of early morning sunshine yesterday morning (Friday)…which quickly turned cloudy and by lunchtime…rainy from then on out…

Bummer…in the big picture nothing traumatic, of course… but some days (if we are completely truthful) we just don’t feel like being magnanimous about relatively inconsequential things like the weather that we can’t control…We would just rather…well, pout.

But…a pouting day… it was not deemed to be! Sunshine came knocking on my door, beeping in my driveway, calling me on the telephone, texting, emailing …forcing me to put on a genuine happy, sunshiny face. Why? Because everyone brought sunshine in every arena of communication!!!!!

I had already started my own light improvement in the den…by lighting my Holy City (Charleston) candle Susan Swicegood, Kaitlyn’s mom, gave me for Christmas (smells divine!) coupled with lamps and recessed ceiling lights. The darkness was dispelling…and warm scents “cozied” up the den.

But… then the real sunshine slowly began to filter in-people...followed by more light and then more light…and the sunshine was….friends, friends, and more friends.

Mysterious calls started…like Anne asking if it suited to drop by and drop something off for me in the afternoon…(well, YES!) then  Susan Overstreet texted and said she was dropping off some soup for her mom, Jane, my longtime friend and neighbor…and would I like some soup too….ham and beans…(SO YUMMY!)…well, YES!)

Then I ended up talking by phone with every one of the Ya’s about the Ya Ya memory post the day before…and it felt SO GOOD… like the sun had landed in the den…especially talking with Jackson, now living in New Jersey, with her family while recuperating from surgery… being able to really talk…girl talk…trash talk, laughter talk and tear talk…deepest friendship talk. The room just kept getting brighter and brighter.

So by the time the doorbell rang…I should have known sunbeams were about to be scattered around my “Happy Room.”

When I first opened the door…I saw a large red truck in the driveway…now where had I seen that truck before?

Hummmmm?….!t was Anne and Sherry (our third amigo on the Maine trip)…She and Anne (Sherry calls her husband Bob, “Boo” 1) had come bringing food and gifts for “Boo 2” (you know who? ME!) 🙂

 

Half and half tea (been craving tea)… and my favorite “dish” at the Cuban Gypsy…Papas Verde (green potatoes- spicy french fries)….the best thing you have ever put in your mouth!!!!

***If all these wonderful “rays of sunshine” continue bringing food..I might be as round as the sun before the pandemic is over. 🙂

Anne and Sherry stopped at the Public Work Art Center and sweet Sherry bought me this beautiful SC pendant necklace (favorite color)…so that the next time (we are aiming for 2222) we are in New England…I will take a little of SC with me!!! Thank you Sherry!!!! I love it and you and Anne for letting the sunshine in.

So until tomorrow….If we really want to let the sunshine in…let friends surround us with their own unique rays…guaranteed to bring a smile brighter than the sun… to one and all. Then we pass the torch of light and do it to someone else…spread sunshine!

*And the best part is…friendship sunshine filters through iPhones, smart phones, texts, emails, masks and social distancing…nothing can keep friendship rays from making our lives brighter.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

 

 

 

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 You Are My SunShine

  1. Rachel Edwards says:

    Becky….what an uplifting blog today. After being in for 10 days it uplifted my spirits greatly. You are the master of bringing sunshine into people’s lives on a daily basis. Enjoy another sun shiny day.

  2. Becky Dingle says:

    I am escaping in a few minutes…watching Eva Cate, Jake, and Winnie the dog…while John and Mandy get out of the house for awhile this evening….think between the kids and the new puppy…they are ready to escape. too. Glad to see the sun today…it is chilly especially with the wind today…feels like it goes right through you. 10 days…Wow…that’s a long time to be inside.

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