Our son, Ty, and wife, Monika, have A special announcement! đź“Ł “He’s retiring from over 30 years as an educator!” (She’ll continue to teach.)
He and Monika are part of a team that planted a new church just about 30 minutes from their Placerville, CA home – in Pollack Pines.
They’ll always be “On the Move” serving our Lord. Ty will be leading elder, preaching most Sundays. No doubt they’ll be leading a weekly Bible Study. Monika will be right there supporting the ministry in every way. God bless them!
Pray they’ll take SOME time to relax and enjoy “Retirement.” Maybe a trip to Montana to see us??
What will you do (or are you doing) in retirement? I’m having a very relaxing Father’s Day weekend with my sweetheart. Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there!!
Love, JanBeek
Hmmm… this post seems to be hiding the photos. What’s going on? When I click edit and look at it, the pictures are there, but when I save it and open it, there are no pictures visible. Have you ever had that experience?
What do you do while the clothes are fluffing in the dryer and you are waiting before taking them out to fold them?
Do you have paper and pens, color crayons and chalk sitting on your table where you’re waiting to fold clothes?
I do.
I love to write Acrostics while waiting in the laundry room for the clothes to fluff so I can fold them wrinkle free.
Here are a few of mine. You can guess the topic knowing these were created within the last four months.
ANTICIPATING OWEN 2/14/24
O ur W onderful E specially N ew
P resent U plifting us: P up!!
Screenshot
POOPY OWEN 3/18/24
P lease O bey, O wen! P oop Y our shit O utside W hen E ver N ecessary!
Please, Lord, help us figure out how to train this puppy to go outside – and to come when called!
OWEN LEO:HE’S LEARNING! 4/20/24
O odles of fun W hen he behaves E ven when he forgets, he N ever ceases to bring joy!
L et us be patient and E ncourage his good behavior. O wen is such a love!
FUTURE PLANS 6/7/24
F irst U p: T rouble erupted U nder our noses R eally sad E vent happened P up Owen died L anding outside the window A ttached to his leash N oose around his neck S uffocated, hung himself.
Where do we go from here? How do we keep living in this empty, vacuous house without Owen? He filled all the empty spaces in our home and hearts. We are devastated. Can’t think future plans right now.
DON’T GET STUCK 6/14/24
D isasters O ccur N ightmares T raumatize G oodness E nters T hrough S ensitive T rusting U nderstanding C aring K indred Spirits
We have been so blessed this week to have the love and hugs, flowers and cards, calls and caring of so many of our family & friends. They have encouraged us to grieve, of course, but “Don’t get stuck.” In Owen’s sweet memory Move On… Laugh again, Love again, Rejoice again, Snuggle again with Another Boston Terrier.
We’re not quite ready yet… But God is helping us heal. Thank you, God’s angels. We love you!
Our daughter, DeDe, in Switzerland read the blog I posted titled “Nostalgia” a few days ago. She tried to to post her response acrostic. WordPress wouldn’t post it. I am not sure why. Maybe it has something to do with the “110%” note at the top margin of the blog?? Anyway, here is what I tried to do for her, and it wouldn’t allow mine to post either!
DeDe, I love your acrostic! Sorry it didn’t post here. Let me see if I can write it for you so my WP readers can see it:
C aring H appy I nspiring L oving D addywaddypaddy H ealthy O nly O verflowing D elight
What a lovely memory of childhood our dear DollyWolly wrote!
I need to find a photo of DeDe with her DaddyWaddyPaddy!!
There we are together at the Geneva airport last August!
Aren’t daughters a blessing? We thank God every day for ours!!
NanoPoblano2022 has invited us to reblog an old post each day during this month of November. I’m having fun going back through some of my first posts… Here is one from our vacation in southern California in 2014. The roadrunner picture in the original post was not available so I borrowed one from Pexels. Thanks!
January 27 2014
There was a Time Magazine article by Lily Rothman in which the author quoted artist, Brendan O’Connell, “Nostalgia makes memory warm.” O’Connell stopped to say parenthetically, “That’s actually a significant thought,” and I paused. Hmm – memories, nostalgia, warmth. Yes, it’s true. Not all memories are warm, but all nostalgic memories are warm. Do you agree? When you think of warm memories, what comes to mind? Here’s mine:
Childhood
Climbing Hillsides Into Lands Dense with Hidden Occupants Ordering Hot Dogs.
Hah! That’s my whimsical acrostic for today – looking back on yesterdays.
But, how about Making Memories Today?
There’s no better place to make memories than where you are right now today! For me, whether it is in the warm desert on vacation in the southern California sun with roadrunners scampering by and sun casting spakles on cactus, or back home in the cold snows of Montana, each day is a memory in the making. The climate doesn’t determine the warmth of the memories. The people I am with, the events we choose, the lessons I learn, the visions I absorb: those are the nostalgia of tomorrow. I am making warm memories today – wherever I am!
Nov. 5, 2022 – our snow is almost all melted now. With today’s winds, the rest of it will blow off the roof of our house (peeking through the trees there).
That acrostic up there was mine back in 2014… but I have no idea how that could have been true. We lived in the flat central valley of California. No hillsides to climb! If I were looking back at my childhood and creating an acrostic today, it would say:
CHILDHOOD
C hasing H ounds I nto L ittle D ugouts H aving O odles O f D ead animals
Oh my! That one is reality! My dad owned a Tallow Works and one of his jobs was picking up dead animals from ranchers and farmers and bringing those animals back to the “plant” where we lived. We always had at least one dog as a pet… and they were always “hounds.” No money for pedigrees!! In our bare fields behind our house, my neighbors (cousins) and I would dig holes and create pretend worlds. That 2014 acrostic must have come out of that pretending. Sometimes our best memories are the imaginary ones, don’t you think?
If you were to write a childhood acrostic today, would yours be real? Or would you pretend?
I hope your real world is full of happy memories – warm nostalgia. Have a great day today, my friends. .
I had a warm, huggy, loving daddy. My memories of him are certainly warm nostalgia!!
When is the last time you felt relief? Yesterday I told you my daughter bought a bike – Not an ordinary bike – a big ole motorcycle! She told me, “This one’s for ME!”
I thought that meant her hubby would have his, And she would have her own to ride. I told you I would not be eagerly anticipating that. Well, come to find out, she would not either!
No, Mom… I am not driving a motorcycle… We traded in our other one. Andre’ will drive. It’s for me because it is more comfortable And it has more space for carrying things.
Whew! I am relieved to say the least.
How about you? Would you be up for driving this? If that were your daughter, would you be relieved That she is not intending to be in the driver’s seat? Sitting in the rear is challenge enough!
Dream about what you want tomorrow to be. Imagine the very best possible outcome. Then pray your reality will be even more than that. Feel the sense of relief when dreams come true.
Wrap your troubles in dreams and dream your troubles away!
What a relief when sunshine follows the rain!
But don’t let the rain stop you! Embrace the rain – dance in it!
Thank you, Lord, for sparing us the worry Of a daughter driving a motorcycle On the narrow switchback Alpine roads. It’s hard enough to trust her safety as a back seat rider!!
Ah what a relief it is!
See ya tomorrow (God willing) Have a good night. JanBeek
https://dversepoets.com/ asked that we write a selfie poem today. You already know me – if you follow my blog. But, if you’re new to JanBeek, here’s a taste of who JanBeek is:
J olly A nd N aughty! E specially T alented at L oving. <3 A lways U ltra R esponsible and A ltruistic, B ut E ager to be E ntirely K ind! M ostly A uthentic and N ever mean.
Yes! That”s me!!
How about trying an acrostic – using your full name (including your middle name) to describe yourself?
F amily A dorable M essy I llogical L ovable Y ours
That adorable, messy, illogical, lovely family is YOURS! And it’s mine! And we are so fortunate, aren’t we? Not everyone is so blessed… so count your good fortune … And enjoy your time together. This day won’t come again!!
Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Family Day! And don’t forget the empty chair!!
Today we fly home. Thank you for your prayers for our safe travel. See ya later!
In the center of this photo is Marcelle Zufferey. To her left is her dear daughter, Sylvianne, who wrote the tribute below. On Marcelle’s right is her beautiful granddaughter, Lorianne.
Family Connections
Sylviane (we call her Syli) is our “Swiss Daughter.” She lived with us for a year in California when she was 17 or 18. The next year our daughter, DeDe, went to Switzerland for a year and lived in Syli’s family. Marcelle was such a loving, compassionate guide. Our daughter fell in love with Syli’s cousin, Andre’ (who became our son-in-law)… and to say De needed guidance is putting it mildly! God bless Marcelle and her husband, Antoine, for their loving understanding.
This last couple of years Marcelle has been in a care facility. That dreaded disease, Alzheimer’s, captured her memory and her health. Syli was there to spend quality time with her almost every day.
The Tribute
DeDe’s “Swisster” wrote this tribute to her mom in French (her native language). It was translated by Facebook and posted today. Some of the words may be translated strangely, but the beautiful sentiment is clear:
“Mom… you went to join dad this afternoon on his birthday.
I was able to accompany you to your last breath.
Thank you for giving us so much love.
For passing us through your eyes and your beautiful smile the meaning of family, respect and love.
You are part of the love of each of us.
From up there with dad you can be proud …
We had the extraordinary chance to have you as parents.
For having you as a mom, grand mom and great grand mom.
You are in my heart my little mom, I love you
And even if i will miss your beautiful eyes and your smile deeply, I know that now you don’t suffer anymore and that with dad you are forever present in our hearts.”
An Acrostic
I wrote this acrostic today as my tribute to this special lady… remembering her as she will always live in my heart:
M arvelous A wesome R adiant C ompassionate E mbraceable L ovable L oyal E ndearing
Marcelle and me – circa 1985
Rest in peace, Marcelle. I love you.
Will you write an acrostic using your name and describing yourself? I’d love to see it. Mine would be: J oyful A nimated Natural (or maybe “Nutcase”??)
