In March Susan got to visit With Phyllis, our dear sister, Before our dear friend’s life Ended on earth. Oh how we missed her!
Tomorrow we’ll remember Stories of Phyllis’ life And share them with each other. She was a loving wife.
Her husband died too young, Over thirty years past. Phyllis made his ring a heart And wore the love that last.
The heart hung ’round her neck All these many years – She willed it to her Yana Through memories and tears.
How many of us have A memory to share Of a loved one gone too soon To their heavenly home up there?
If life is lived so fully That when time comes, we are ready, It’s easier to say good-bye. Live your life with grace. Be steady!
Be loving and kind-hearted. Be compassionate to those you meet. Then, like my good friend, Phyllis, Your friends’ memories all will be sweet.
Her children know the treasure Of a mom whose love was always true. She shared her life with God and friends. I hope there is a friend like her for YOU!
Keep your memories of friends Alive and smiling in your heart. Make memories others will treasure. Today’s a perfect day to start.
Rest in peace, dear Phyllis. I’ll love you forever!
Phyllis was a grown up who did not “act more like children than children” BUT She was one of those people who needed people… just as I am. We are/were “the luckiest people in the world!” We each have (had) the person who made us whole… … thank God for that “very special person.”
Share your memories of a loved one with me. I’d love to read some of your thoughts on this subject in the comments below. Hugs, JanBeek
God bless the Jefferson County Mental Health Local Advisory Council here in Montana!
Let’s all shout it out, “LOVE IS LOUDER!”
Let’s make it true!!
Th distance between me and my friend, Carol Orr, is from here to Eternity … but our love is louder than the distance! I was her Senior Companion – and she was my friend and mentor… always right for a laugh and a hug … always ready to share her 95 years of wisdom from her beautiful, sparkling soul.
LOVE is LOUDER than death! LOVE is LOUDER than disguises! LOVE sees through the darkness to the sparkle beneath and behind. LOVE brings out the best in us and in others. Let your LOVE SHINE!!
The motivational video below tells us, “One of life’s gifts is that its greatest moments are often disguised.” Our inability to see through the dark glasses finds us sometimes lost in a state of hopelessness. We live disguised as people behind a gloom of despair, seeing life as lost and hard.
My friend, Carol, was an upbeat person who enjoyed life to its fullest I posted a blog about her back on August 15, 2018 when she was in the hospital, looking toward the end of her time on earth. If you have time, check it out at
Carol spent her last months in our local nursing home, The Manor, hooked up to oxygen, and knowing her time was short, but LOVE was LOUDER than impending death. She never lost her smile nor her sense of humor. Ah, we should all be so blessed!
When all hope of living an eternity on earth, or of solving all the earth’s problems is lost, we need to take off the disguises, toss the dark glasses, and take each moment to see life’s infinite possibilities. What you seek is waiting. You are never too old to seek LOVE and you are never through positively influencing others – even (and maybe most especially) after leaving this earth.
Love is LOUDER
LOUDER than ANYTHING!
Every day you are :
smarter and
stronger and
better equipped
wiser and
sharper and
braver
What you seek is waiting for you. Go for it!
Love is Louder
Shout it Out!! I LOVE YOU!!! See ya tomorrow. Hugs, JanBeek
We thank Thee for all The blessings You give us, Lord. Thank Thee for Jim Reeves!
What a voice!
What a beautiful land we live in… Let’s take care of it, okay? Protect the animals, the trees and flowers, and rivers, And let’s protect one another, too.
Bob & I are so happy that we were able to sing “Happy Birthday” to our daughter, DeAna this morning. Thank God for the internet! Today is the 53rd anniversary of her birth. She is celebrating it with her son, Chris, and her choir at a retreat in the Alps. Wish we could be there to celebrate with her!
Newborn DeDe with her brother, Ty.. Her tongue was always out… I thought maybe we needed to have the doctor shorten it!!!
But eventually she grew some teeth and the tongue stayed in!!
Yup, she grew lots of teeth! And the cutest smile, too!! This was when she was in second grade.
About that time (2nd or 3rd grade)< her Grandma Beekman made her a slip to match her own and curled her hair. That’s becoming a big girl!!
I love this photo of DeDe as a high schooler. Such a sweet and talented kid! Yes, we are blessed!
And here she is today… Celebrating her birthday in Switzerland at a choir retreat with her son, Chris.
Oh, For Blessed JOY!!! The joy of a child’s birthday… Always our baby!
We remember so well the day of her wedding! That’s my wedding dress from 25 years earlier… Ah, sweet memories!
What are some of the JOYS that fill your heart today, my friends? Is it the great outdoors, the animals, the beauty of God’s creation? Is it family and the love of staying connected in spite of this pandemic? Tell me!
See ya tomorrow. Thanks for visiting!! Hugs, JanBeek
Ya gotta read this post! It’s full of gorgeous flowers from derrickjknight
and you don’t want to miss seeing more! It’s full of a variety of humor and thoughtfulness!
Do you know the word “HodgePodge”?? Is it real or is it one that my mom made up? When I put it in Pexels to look for a picture, nothing came up. But my iPhone dictionary had it! Here are some synonyms:
jumble
mishmash
collection
combination
medley
miscellany
potpourri
melange
Don’t you love the concept? It doesn’t say “junk” (which is often what I thought of when I used the word hodgepodge). No, not junk… just a mishmash of unrelated ideas or an assortment of things that can actually be related – like this meat on a grill.
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com A hodgepodge of meats
Need to Share
Today’s blog is a mishmash – a hodgepodge of various things, ideas, photos that caught my eye this week. I saved them because I either loved them or hated them, laughed or groaned at them, and I wanted to share them for your viewing, too.
Love One Another
My blog’s subtitle is “Loving One Another” – so I try to share ideas that represent ways we can reach out in love more fully and unconditionally to one another.
A friend (who was born in Canada but is now a USA citizen) sent me these pictures/memes/jokes/thoughts today. I decided if the election goes the wrong way next November here in the USA, Canada may be my next residency! It appears they have a handle on how to “Love One Another.” Even their graffiti is kinder than ours!!
And if they wear a hat with something written on it, I guess it is positive, too…
Going on with my hodgepodge, I received this meme from a friend today. It made me laugh. I think laughter is what keeps me going these days!
You can’t fix stupid. Don’t even try… unless it’s YOU!! Then get some help…
But God says we gotta LOVE everybody! So, cover those unused socket holes!!
One of my blogging friends wrote a comment this week. She said to me, “You’re a mess!” Should I laugh or be insulted?
You have four choices for how to survive this virus: champ, chump, clump, or chimp. What will it be?
Oh, Other Options?
You say you have other survivor options? One way my blogging friend, Derrick Knight and his wife, Jackie, are surviving this pandemic is by being voracious gardeners. And Derrick is a phenomenal photographer. Let me add to my hodgepodge today by sharing a couple of my favorite photos he posted recently from his rainy vistas in Great Britain:
Derrick’s peach rose Magnificent!!
Derrick’s Mamma Mia Amazing!!
Derrick’s gladiolas I love ’em!
Derrick’s California Poppy – My favorite.
Pictures Bring Back Memories
In my past life, some of you know I was a teacher for 24 years and a principal for 9 years and worked in the district office as curriculum coordinator (wearing a hundred hats with all kinds of responsibility and no authority to back ’em up!)… and then I decided to do what I loved most – and go back into the classroom before I retired. I taught a first grade and took them on to second. Oh, what a joy that was! Many of those students are my FaceBook friends today… 21 years later!!
That poppy brought back those memories because the school where I was principal for 9 years was Caswell Elementary in the Ceres Unified School District in California. Our school song was:
“Poppies, Golden Poppies, Gleaming in the sun. Closing up at evening when the day is done. Pride of California, Flower of our state, Growing from the mountains To the Golden Gate.
We’re the Caswell Cougars, We are Number One. Green and yellow banners Waving in the sun. Caswell is a place for Learning and for fun. We’re the Caswell Cougars, We are Number One!!
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com The Cougar… our mascot
And the HodgePodge Continues…
Cord and Ruby
Yesterday, if you read my blog, you know we went for a farewell ice cream social to say “See ya later” to our two favorite little Sunday School friends, Cord and Ruby. We are praying for their happy resettling on their dad’s home ranch in Jordan, MT. It’s a six-hour drive from here. They’ll have horses and cattle and dogs and cats and lots of room to roam. Our love and prayers go with them. We gave them great big farewell hugs and told ’em how much we love and will miss them.
Vissoie, Switzerland
Great HodgePodge Finish
A great end to my hodgepodge for today is this wonderful photo that I JUST received via the magic of WhatsApp from my daughter, DeAna. She wrote,
“I took this photo from the parking lot near our restaurant this morning while thinking of you.”
Ah, our children certainly know how to melt a mothers heart, don’t they? Nothing could make me happier than to know that when my daughter sees a symbol of our faith, she thinks of me! What a gift, huh?
Maybe I am not so disturbed after all!!
A Puuurfect Ending
What HodgePodge of thoughts captured your imagination today? I hope they were a medley of love and laughter, memories and musings that lightened your soul.
(The poem below was written on my flight back to CA after some 4: AM cuddles with my newborn grandson in Switzerland two and a half decades ago)
Two fellow bloggers wrote yesterday about their grandchildren – and how this pandemic has taken away their ability to visit and hug them. It reminded me of this poem I wrote 26 years ago… and how much I miss my hugs and cuddles with my grandkids (and the three great-grandchildren). I decided to repost my poem and give you an updated picture of my three Swiss grandsons.
Here’s Nicky, the 26 year old for whom “The 4 o’clock Cuddle” was written. I seemed to know even when he was a newborn that someday he would have a “bearded cheek!” Hah!
The Four O’Clock Cuddle
Recalling our precious time together, I wonder about Future four o’clock cuddles. Who will be there In a decade or three? Where will your bearded cheek Nuzzle in four decades?
Will your big, round eyes Remain innocent, And your heart remain pure, And with perfect trust, Will you find the world Always loves you As I do?
Wrap your fingers Around carefully chosen thumbs, My dear grandson. The world is yours, But here There will always be A four o’clock cuddle.
Nicky is in the middle of this adorable picture of my three Swiss grandsons today. Ah yes, a photo only a Grammy could call ADORABLE” … It’s a kiddie pool in the back of Nick’s new house that he’s sharing with two or three buddies in Switzerland. Here he is flanked by his brothers: Mike (28) and Chris (24)… Oh Lordy! I miss them!!
What kind of cuddles are you missing these days? Tell me about ’em!!
There were two d’Versepoets.com prompts for today. The instructions are “Write a piece of prose (flash fiction, memoir, nonfiction) that is 144 words or less and includes, word-for-word, ONE of the lines indicated above from Carl Sandburg’s Jazz Fantasia. I chose this line: “… a red moon rides on the humps of the low river hills.”
Successful Independence Day
It is a hot July 4th afternoon. My husband and I are on the shady side of the bleachers. Across the arena sun-lovers shade their eyes and strain to see the gate open as the rider emerges on the hump of an angry, cinched bucking bronco.
One by one they buck out of the gates. The audience holds its breath as the rider tries to stay on the required number of minutes before the whistle blows and they are free to dismount. Too often, the rider is bucked off before the whistle. We pray no one gets trampled as the clowns emerge to divert the horse’s attention and the rider scrambles out of harm’s way.
Back home in the pasture, the horse nibbles its reward as a red moon rides on the humps of the low river hills. Another successful Independence Day!
This is a purple and yellow July 4th! Purple for all those people who are hurting on this day. Yellow for all the varied colors that make up our rich racial cultures (Asian, Native American, Black, Hispanic, etc.). Yes, Black Lives Matter. Yes, they endure untold prejudicial treatment… and so do toooo many in our world.
Do you know why purple and yellow look so nice together? Turns out they are what’s called complementary colors. They appear opposite each other on the color wheel. Other complementary colors are red and green, and blue and orange.
Interestingly, complementary colors are one primary color, and the color formed by a combination of the remaining two primary colors. Maybe you don’t find this as nifty as I do , but perhaps it explains why I like the images from “July 4th Morning in Glacier National Park” so much!
Not just red, white, and blue, but purple and brown and yellow … all the colors of the rainbow make up who we are.
Singing Sky Photography
Check out the gorgeous photography by Paul Holdorf by clicking on his name here.
As you know, July 4th is a national holiday in the USA. This year it takes on a different kind of meaning for us.
“Uncle Sam” gives us the “OK” sign… but everything is NOT OK. Too many people are dying of COVID-19 and too many people are suffering the injustices of prejudice. Too many people are not feeling “Free to Bee” (as I posted on my blog yesterday).
We’d bee “OKer” if we just “Love One Another” and respect one another and practiced the “All are Created Equal” beliefs that are part of our constitution.
My friend, Lynn Foreman, last year on this day.
A Haiku to Remember
Last year on this day Seniors served the parade crowd No parade this year
Last year on this day More than four thousand came here This year we are still
Stillness gives think time Time to ponder our blessings Figure how to share
Share the grace of God As He’s blessed you, bless others Love One Another
In this photo from last year, I can see I needed a haircut! This year I’m feeling perkier by the minute. Life is improving. Hallelujah!!
Thanks for your prayers! What are your plans for today? Let’s sing in unison and think UNITY!!
Back in the mid-1800’s, the land for this church was deeded to the Methodist- Episcopal Church of Madison County. Sometime in the 1860s, around the time of the Montana Gold Rush, this wonderful church was built on the property.
McAllister, Montana
History of the Church
“Brother Van” served as a traveling preacher/minister and had people from miles around come to worship here in the 1850s through to early 1900s.
Sometime in the mid-1900s, the Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church traded properties from the Ruby Valley to the Madison Valley. As the story goes, there were not enough folks in each valley to support both a Presbyterian and a Methodist church in such close proximity to one another. (These denominations are so close in theology and worship practices!) So, this church building joined the Presbyterian family while the Ruby Valley Presbyterian Church became a Methodist worship center.
Use of the Church Today
The church has no running water, but it does have electricity. Once a year, in early September, the Madison Valley Presbyterian Church in Ennis holds services out there in the McAllister Church. Porta-potties are brought in. And it is a challenge to provide coffee and goodies for fellowship in this waterless place! But, the service always is a memorable experience.
Looking at the front of the worship center
Looking toward the back (Bob in doorway)
On the side wall… notice the picture; here’s a close-up of it:
Precious picture!
When we first came here about 15 years ago, this pump organ actually worked. I wonder what it would take to get it operational again?
Isn’t this a grand old stove? It’s in the kitchen behind the pulpit area. I wonder how they cooked here with no water? Must have had a well outside, you think?
There is a place out this back door where it looks like a well once was.
Future of the Church
Last week we had wind gusts up to 62 mph here in the Madison Valley. A few of the roof pieces blew off in the storm. So, we were out here yesterday with a roofer, getting a bid on what it would cost to repair or replace it.
Seeing the trucks on the property, several neighbors, new to the area, came to check it out. It’s a curiosity for those who have never been inside, and they were glad to be invited in.
This dear gentleman, new to Montana, even offered to help with the roofing project. We hope he retires soon from his home in California and moves with his family to our “Paradise on Earth” full time so we can become better acquainted – and take him up on the offer to help.
Donnie – my new friend!
Meeting New people
Do you enjoy meeting new people as much as I do? Donnie is a firefighter in California. He and his wife have built a home in those mountains you see behind him there. Welcome to Montana, Donnie! Nice meeting you!
I hope Donnie and his wife, Cheryl, will come and visit us… you, too, my friends. We have an “open door” policy. Come and enjoy this “Big Sky Country” with us.
Birthday and Anniversary
And by the way, Happy Birthday today to my dear son-in-law in Switzerland, Andre’ Solioz… and De & Andre’s anniversary is tomorrow. Wish we could be there to help them celebrate!
That’s me kissing Andre’ !!
Happy Anniversary tomorrow to my dear daughter, DeDe, and her fun-loving hubby!
Have a wonderful Saturday.
I hope YOU have a lovey-dovey day, too… Enjoy it, wherever you are!!
Hope you enjoyed those photos of our wonderful old church. Do you have old buildings in your area that are worthy of preservation? I bet some of you have places that make an 1800s church look like it’s NEW!!
He left us his roses and hydrangeas, and his garden with zucchini, but he forgot to take the old wheelbarrow, and he forgot the bocci ball court. He left his mother’s crucifix on my wall, his watch in the top dresser drawer, the Balsamic vinegar in the cupboard, but he forgot to take his Gallo Burgundy. He left in each of us his love of family, his teary-eyed sentimentality, and he left the aches and pains of his earthly body, but he forgot to take his spray paint, and his love of convertibles with the top down. He left the wife he loved so faithfully, the family and neighbors who miss him so, and the unconditional love; but he forgot the collection of nude calendars, and he forgot to take his twinkle. I know – I have it!
I thank God that my daddy and I had such a wonderful relationship. I am so grateful for Dad’s unconditional love and warm hugs. This photo was taken in the early 1960s when I was in college… home for Father’s Day weekend.
And here is my dad with Mom, “the wife he loved so faithfully,” at their 30th anniversary, back in 1968. Can you see the twinkle is his eye? He and Mom were married for nearly 60 years before he died in 1998.
Happy Father’s Day to my dear hubby, Bob, father of our children, Ty & DeAna. In this photo, he was enjoying a day out on the Madison River last year on Father’s Day weekend. The weather prevented us from getting out today, but the fish are waiting. We’ll get out there soon.
Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. How will you spend YOUR day?
In another couple decades, when Bob & I leave this earth, his poem will look far different from my dad’s. Parts may be the same, because he will leave his unconditional love in the hearts of all who know him, but other parts will be quite a contrast: no Gallo Burgundy for him! And he won’t leave his Runquist Wines behind… no way!! It will all have been consumed…
Cheers, my friends! (Sante’ – as we “prost” in Switzerland)
Enjoy your Father’s Day. See ya tomorrow. Hugs, JanBeek
