Spreading love, joy, peace, faith & unity

Posts tagged ‘friends’

Long-Time Friends

No
Not old
Not old friends
Say “Long time friends”
Delightful

Visit
From afar
Keeping in touch
What a special treat
Blessed

Patio
With flowers
And comfy chairs
Time to catch up
Precious

Burt
and Polly
Friends from California
Taking time to visit
Fun

Preparation
For meals
Capturing our smiles
Swiss bell and clock
Meaningful

Picture
On wall
Of daughter’s chalet
Son-in-law in the window
Memories

Captured
In color
By the fireplace
Show your best smiles
Perky

Collage
Sent today
From our daughter
Too many Jan faces
Smile

Chalet
And restaurant
Hotel with amenities
The world’s greatest chef
Beautiful

Restaurant
And Hotel
In Vissoie, Switzerland
You should Google it
Visit

Anticipation
We’re going
Traveling in October
Meeting seventh great grandchild
Hooray

Envy
Not okay
Pray for us
Celebrate our good fortune
Communicate

Share
Your blessings
On this platform
Love hearing from you
Friendship

Love,
JanBeek

Gracious Friend & Helper

Dear Peter Martin
Our gracious friend and helper
Spent three days with us

Bob’s former student
Like a loving son to us
Came to cheer up “Coach”

His visit cheered us
His help was more than priceless
Where are my pictures?

I videotaped
Weed-whacking and visiting
Wanted to show you

Imagination
Will create you images
My iPhone ate them!

This picture is old
From another visit here
God bless dear Peter!

Are you fortunate
Enough to have such dear friends?
I pray that you are.

Love,
JanBeek

Laundry Room Acrostics

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!

Bob & JanBeek



Notable Things

Each day’s notable
And so it pays to take note
Live life on the edge

Life’s an adventure
Live on “Edge of Adventure”
This day won’t come twice

Daily writing prompt
What notable things happened today?

That’s our ATV
She’s “Lucille” and she’s a “Ball”
Time to let her go

Today we sold her
We found a wonderful home
Know she will be loved

We had lots of fun
With Lucille, TazE, and friends
Hate to see that end

Lucille and TazE
Our previous Boston pup
Were great companions

But, time to let go
Life moves on and so must we
Owen never rode

Our sweet pup we lost
So tragically this last week
Never rode Lucille

Notably we learned
Some things are not meant to be
And so we’ll move on

You move on or die
Do not let yourself get stuck
Life is too precious

Our hearts are healing
Every day the pain lessens
So, take note of that

You are blessed!

What notable thing happened to you today?

Love to you,
JanBeek

Writing is Therapeutic

When your heart’s breaking
Writing is therapeutic
Pour tears through your pen

Photo by Natalie B on Pexels.com

Through your broken heart
You may not have a plan
But it helps to vent

Photo by Allie Feeley on Pexels.com

A friend brought flowers
Weeping hearts to match my own
Hugs and prayers to heal

Another friend brought
A loving white weeping heart
To soothe my sad soul

He planted the hearts
In the ground near our front door
Owen’s reminder

Screenshot

Owen brought great joy
His death was a tragic thing
I am still in shock

Jumped through the window
While attached to a choke leash
Owen hung himself

I need that comfort
Wish He had been with Owen
Maybe He was there

Before Owen died
He had a wonderful day
Tumbling with Zeke

img_7615

Do you have a pet?
If so, cherish him or her
I am sure you do.

Thank you for reading
My heartfelt but sad ramblings
Writing brings relief

With the help of friends
We are smiling through our pain
God bless you, my friends

Love,
JanBeek
(and Bob)

Happiness

What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?

It’s not THINGS that bring me happiness. It is people and our new furry friend, Owen. Here are five of my many:

Owen, our vivacious new puppy

Bob, my life-long partner and joy-maker

DeDe, our precious daughter, who lives in Switzerland, and with whom I communicate daily

Tyroneeee, our wonderful son, with one of our great-grandchildren (sweet Mable Iris).

Laina with Pat

Our daughter#2 Laina, and our daily communication via WhatsApp bring such happiness!

Friends are the flowers in our garden of life. I can’t stop with five sources of happiness!
Jim & Terry – chosen family!

Oh, I could go on… friends bring such happiness. It is their love and sincerity that makes my heart swell.

I hope you are blessed with the joy of people who bring you happiness, too.

Cheers!

Love, love & laugh!

Hugs,
JanBeek

Feeling Loved

Love is an Open Door

I found this post in my “Drafts” folder. I thought I’d already posted it.

I guess WP was waiting for this 2nd day of Lent when we’re spending 40 days preparing our hearts for the greatest love ever told: Jesus’ death on the cross for our redemption.

Back when I started this post, we were being wined & dined – loving and being loved.

That’s during some of our travels last month in CA. Here we were in San Clemente … cool ocean air … warm family fun!

Bob & I loved being with friend Bob and our son’s father-in-law, Darrell.

There had been high tides that washed away sand. They were replacing it ingeniously!

Before coming to southern CA beaches, we spent glorious, loving time with dear friends, Jim & Terry in Paso Robles. Ah, feeling love all around!

The warmth of their love was matched by the warmth of their home and beautiful fireplace.

Church on Sunday in Paso Robles was filled with the love of people singing and praising God and seeking to return His love in tangible ways.

The cover of the Sunday bulletin

As we continued our road trip through California for another week, soaking in the love and hospitality of family & friends, I reached out in prayer for you, praying you, too, can FEEL love every day, every hour, every minute. You ARE loved!

I hope you are having a love-filled week!

Necklace is a love gift from Terry. Thank you, sweet “Soul Sister!”

Feel the love!

Hugs,

JanBeek

Leisure Luxury

Today’s prompt on JetPack was:
“What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?

Visiting family and friends is my obvious answer! Today we met our dear friends, Bill & Marcia, for brunch in Bozeman before Bob’s ENT appointment.

It’s such a joy to meet up with and stay in touch with loved ones.

Bob & Bill

Fun!

Marcia & me

So dear!! But, oh my goodness, I need a haircut!! We’ve been gone 34 days – vacationing in California. I think I posted a couple times on our trip, didn’t I? That’s leisure time … nearly a dozen different beds in 34 days! Time with dear family/friends. God bless ‘em!!

Great-granddaughter Cosette, daughter-in-law Monika, great grandson Christian 1 month new, granddaughter Faith, and great-granddaughter Mable

What a blessing to be with these dear ones!

My former 1st/2nd grade student, Eva Lear (Stanislaus Co. Teacher of the Year)

Another favorite spare time activity: touching bases with former students and wallowing in their successes!!

Darrell & Ruthie Payne, our son’s in-laws,
part of “Mi Familia!!”

Four lovely days with that dear couple – can’t be beat! Went with them to dinner at Fisherman’s in San Clemente- and for scrumptious Italian in Pasadena. Deeeelicious! Such gracious hosts!

Diane, Ruthie & me

Prior to that stay, we were wined & dined in Paso Robles by my “soul sister” Terry & her wonderful hubby, Jim.

Jim & Terry with us at Sculpterra Winery

Time with my dear cousin, Adrian, and his wife, Laura, is hard to beat. Did I tell you earlier about them? They deserve a blog post of their own (coming soon).

Bob with cousinAdrian & his sweet wife, Laura

We also got to spend time with my high school sweetheart, Jerry & his darling wife, Carolyn, and Bob’s former Sunday School buddy, Monica, and his former girlfriend, Sally ( my song girl classmate) and her terrific hubby, Bob Phillips.

The latter two were not able to join us for lunch, but we stayed a night at their house. Do you get back together again with those dear to you from 60 years ago??

Jerry, Bob, Monica, me & Carolyn.

Before that gathering in Turlock, CA, we were in Carmel/Pacific Grove/Pebble Beach with Bob’s two brothers and their wives – and with our long-time friends, the Tillions. Did I post earlier about that 85th birthday of Bob and that New Years Eve experience?

It’s been quite a memorable month!!!

Bob, me, brother Bruce, Ann,
Marge, and brother Bill.
Me, Ingrid, Bob & Alan

Our “leisure time” activities included a lot of dining out in terrific places. This was Big Sur, CA. Such a pretty day! It was 47 degrees, sunshine & feeling warm while back in Montana there was an Arctic storm and the temp was -47! That’s 100 degrees difference!

Suppose we were happy to be spending our leisure time with family & friends? You bet!!

Bob, Ty, me & Monika

Our last evening in CA we took our son & his wife out to dinner. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! And thank you for loaning us your Lexus so we could travel the state in style for a month!!! What a gift!

Home Sweet Home

Time to unpack, do laundry, sort the mail, pay bills, and take down Christmas decorations! Happy 2024, my friends!

What’s YOUR favorite leisure time activity?

Last night we celebrated our friend, Julie’s birthday. The love of time with family and friends goes on…

Love to you and yours,

JanBeek ❤️

My Mission

Today’s WordPress Prompt was:
“What is your mission?”

My mission is to spread God’s love, live in faith, and “bee” an inspiration for others to do likewise!

How about you? What is your mission? You know we each are put in this world for a purpose. Do you know yours? How are you fulfilling it?

Meet with old friends! Today we reconnected with my high school buddy, Monica, and the wife of my senior class sweetheart. Carolyn is fulfilling one of her missions: taking care of Jerry !!
God bless Carolyn & Jerry! Such fun to reconnect with them. Jerry and I had a year of wonderful fun together in 1956-57!!

And Bob reconnected with Monica … with whom he attended Sunday School every week during his childhood. So precious!!

No friends like old friends!!

Our mission is to spread love and joy wherever we go. What a wonderful way to begin this new year of 2024! Our travels in California have been blessed with great weather, family, friends, and Bob’s 85th birthday celebration along the Pacific coast. Such fun!!

Alan & Ingrid with Bob at Monterey Aquarium.

Alan & Ingrid with us at Big Sur.

Then precious time with my brilliant cousin, Adrian, and his wife, Laura.

Life doesn’t get too much better than this!

God bless my birthday boy!
My main mission besides spreading God’s love: take care of this BeeBoy! I’m so blessed to have him in my life all these 65 years!! I pray we have many more.

God bless you!

Have a wonderful week.

Love, JanBeek ❤️

Highlights of 2023

1) Time with family & friends is so precious! That time heads the highlights. I hope you had quality time with your loved ones last year, too

Bob’s the middle brother – time with brothers Bruce & Bill can’t be beat!

We love visiting family – like my cousin, Adrian & his dear wife, Laura.

When friends/colleagues from the past take time to share with us, we feel so blessed. This is sweet Suzette Stavrianoudakis who taught with me back in the 80’s-90’s.

The opportunity to go to worship with our son,Ty, his wife Monika, her parents, and our granddaughter & her hubby & Mable, one of our 3 our great-granddaughters, was a very special highlight. Ty& Moni visited us in Montana, and we are enjoying the beginning of 2024 with them.

I loved visiting with my college roomie, Sue Booth, who also was a bridesmaid in our 1962 wedding!

Nothing beats the highlight of seeing your 85 year old birthday boy holding his one-day old great- grandson.

But very close to that best highlight is the privilege of praying for 5-yr. old Eli as he experienced brain surgery and had an amazing recovery. Our last picture of him showed a happy 6-year old smiling as he sat on his surgeon’s lap. Praise God! Answered prayers (too numerous to mention) always are highlights!

It’s hard to beat visits from people like Peter Martin (and Victor Salazar) former 1970’s wrestling students of Bob’s. They came from states away to spend time with their old coach. What a treat!!

When our daughter, De, & her hubby showed up from Switzerland surprising us with our 1980-81 AFS son, Christian Zufferey, and his wife, Célia, the surprise was the greatest one imaginable!

A week before that our oldest Swiss grandson, Mike & his wife, Tania, came with friends for a week. Like I said, time with family & friends we’re our greatest highlights.

Mike’s younger brother, Nick, visited with his sweetheart, Céline, also. Goodness, how blessed can you get, huh?

We love having time with friends and family. When will you come to Ennis, MT to visit us?

July is a great time to be in Ennis. Put it on your list, ok? Make it a highlight of your 2024!

What were your 2023 highlights?

Hugs from

JANBEEK ❤️🤗