Siggy’s Blurbs

I spritz the Boston fern in the post office almost every day.  And the Norfolk pine.  It is a conversation opener.  Last year the two Boston ferns were not doing well.  Then I started misting them both every day.

I had a running conversation with the clerk who has a dour disposition whether the two plants were going to make it.  It broke the ice.  We gradually became friends.  Now I say “Hello” to him every time I am in the post office.  And we usually exchange a few words.

I continue to mist the plants.  Sometimes I threaten to spray the postmaster.  She runs in the opposite direction when I point the mister towards her.  Or just laughs at me.  She knows I am not serious.  It is just a little game we play.

Other customers smile when they see me in the post office spraying the plants.  It is a great conversation opener.

Tags: Boston Fern, conversation opener, customers, friends, misting plants, Norfolk pine, plants, post office, postal clerk, postmaster
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I want to thank the people who are in my life.  I know most people will never read this and I will leave out people and I realize Thanksgiving has passed but it is never too late to do this.  All these people take the “extra step” and I do not want to take any of them for granted.

First the medical team

(1) Dr. Hume  for your kindness and helpfulness

(2) Dr. Cornelius for your patience

(3) Dr. Blake for her thoroughness

(4) Dr. Mital  for your ability to listen

Then,  P & R and Bob and his team who takes care of our cars and keeps them running smoothly  I thank you for your honesty and competence and for standing up to your work even when it costs you and most of all for always giving me the time of day when I have a question about my vehicle

For both of my sisters Fran and Marilyn who are always there when I need them

For Tony for your support:  you know who you are

For Sara, who I have known for over fifteen years and is one of the reasons I still write for her encouragement never abated

For the audience at the local coffeehouse who laughed at my material encouraging me to continue to find the humorous in everyday situations

For Elizabeth Yon wherever you are and the years you spent moderating our writing group

My two kids who years ago I thought I never would have but they came and have blessed me immeasurably

All the many people who God put in my life including those from my small church who have blessed me with their presence

To Sonya who welcomes everyone at the local post office and gives me one more reason why I want to stay in my small town and Perry county

And most of all for my wife who inspires me and still makes me laugh after all these years and came into my life when I was not looking, who thinks she is better than me at scrabble (she did lose the first ten games she played against me).  As an editor she has no equal.  My website and blog would never have come into being if it was not for her (she is the webmaster).  I “pop” out my bed each morning because of her.  And she bakes a pretty “mean” apple pie.  She gives me a reason to cook.  And that is no small thing.  And after six years she still wants to sleep in our bed.  I call her “serendipity” although she can really be stubborn (for that matter so can I); nevertheless, I thank the Lord every day for her.  I did nothing to deserve her.

Tags: apple pie, audience, blessed, blog, car mechanic, cars, church, coffeehouse, competence, cooking, doctor, editor, encouragement, find the humor, friends, God, honesty, inspires me, makes me laugh, my kids, my wife, post office, Scrabble, serendipity, sisters, small town, stubborn, take for granted, take the extra step, thank people, thank the Lord every day, thank-you, thanksgiving, those who serve, webmaster, website, write, writers group
Posted in God, balance, beauty, children, health, humor, knowledge&learning, life, local, love, marriage, mental health, relationships, seasons, time, wisdom, writing, your job/mission/profession | No Comments »

Your roots are not just the physical area you live in.  It is the memories you have accumulated in the past and continue to do so.

For over twenty years I visited Miami.  I no longer want to.  My parents lived there but now both are deceased and I have no ties there.  There is no longer any reason to go back.

I lived in Duncannon for fifteen years.  I still have friends there but it is no longer my home.  My wife and kids don’t live there any longer.  I may visit but it is no longer my home.

Our roots are the people who are the most important to us.  It is the people we reach out to every day (and who reach out to us).  It is the lives we are intertwined with.

Of course, the areas we have lived in the past we associate with certain memories.  Your roots are always invisible but real nevertheless.  And is always more than the particular area you live in.

Tags: deceased, Duncannon, friends, intertwined lives, memories, Miami, my home, my kids, my parents, my wife, no longer my home, no ties anymore, where you live, your roots
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All I want you to do is listen, not feel sorry for me.  The prognosis was not good.  My kidney function had declined and I might have to undergo dialysis within a year.

My depression further increased when I learned only a third of the people undergoing dialysis survive five years and there was , also, a greater chance of of stroke and heart disease.

Suddenly I realized I might not make it even to sixty- five.  My mortality became real.  Everyone knows that they are going to die eventually but act as if death will never come and when it does others act surprised and think it is a terrible thing.

I wanted to talk openly about this latest development but I felt odd bringing it up with certain loved ones and friends.  Death has become a taboo.  It is not discussed openly in our society.

I did not want sympathy.  I did not want others to feel sorry for me.  Instinctively I knew who I could not discuss my situation with.  I felt odd with them.

With those people when they ask me how I am doing, I just say “fine.”  I really wanted someone to listen, to be able to share my fears –my fears of hopelessness, of being in pain and discomfiture, dependent on others, afraid of losing my mental facilities.

I just wanted to go out in grace and peace.  Death was knocking.  There are no certainties.  It just did not look good.  I will grab every bit of control I can in my situation.  I just did not want to do it alone.

Tags: death, death is taboo, dependent, depression, dialysis, discomfiture, discuss death openly, don't feel sorry for me, don't want to do it alone, every bit of control, friends, go out in grace, hopelessness, kidney function, listen, loved ones, metal facilities, mortality, pain, peace, prognosis not good, share my fears, society, someone to listen, sympathy
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Why do we care so much about things?!  You can not take your material possessions with you when your time comes.  It says in the bible ‘from dust you come and to dust you shall return’.

I am as guilty as anyone of this.  My music, my writings and journals and books are far too important to me.  Yet when my appointed hour comes, I can no longer hang on to any of these things.

Why do we act as if we can take our possessions with us when we die?  We try up till the last moment to retain some control of our most valuable possessions.  We make wills.

The fact still remains we can’t take them with us.  Wouldn’t it make more sense to invest in the things that really have more lasting effects?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to invest time while you are on earth in relationships–your immediate family, your friends, your kids?

Once you are gone all people have are their memories of you, the love and care you have demonstrated toward them.  You can have far reaching effects if you have invested time and love in others while you were on this earth.  People you have loved have memories of you long after you are gone.

Far too many people do not invest time in others.  They spend their whole life in accumulating things.  No one remembers how hard you worked in your lifetime.  They remember the love you have demonstrated toward them.  So before it is too late, do something about it.  Examine your priorities.  You have one life.

Tags: accumulating things, appointed hour, Bible, books, can't take it with you, care, dust-to-dust, examine your priorities, family, friends, invest in relationships, journals, kids, lifetime, long after you are gone, love, love is remembered, make will, material possessions, memories, music, on this earth, writing, you have one life
Posted in God, balance, beauty, death, knowledge&learning, life, love, marriage, money, music, relationships, seasons, time, wisdom, your job/mission/profession | No Comments »

Love is everything.  Strip away everything from you–all your material wealth, your health.  That is all that remains–love.  And some people are so stingy with it.  You can not run out of love.

It comes from the Source–a bottomless pit known as the Almighty.  He never runs out of love to give.  If you continually tap the source, you will never run out of love.  There is not an finite amount.

Never give up a chance to love another.  This world is full of people who are starving for love, people who never had an ear to listen.

Never walk away when you could have given something valuable to another.  That is all any person remembers–how much they were loved by you.

It really does not matter how much money you made, or how many things you accumulated.   People always respond to genuineness–honesty and kindness.  That is all they remember from you.

You can never have too many friends or ever turn down a chance to make another friend.

That is all that remains when everything is stripped from you–love.  That is all people respond to and remember.  Love.  So be careless.  Scatter your love like Johnny Appleseed did his seeds all over the country.

Tags: Almighty, friends, honesty, Johnny Appleseed, kindness, love, love is everything, starving for love
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I still never forgot the passage from Proverbs in the bible, which states and this is a paraphrase:  it is better to have a meal with others where much love is displayed and the pickings are thin, than to have a feast where very little love is exhibited.  Of course, the passage stated this much more succinctly.

Everyone has been in a crowd and felt very lonely for he/she did not have one genuine connection with anyone.  Love matters.  It always does.  It dispels fear, worry.

How many people have moved to a strange, unfamiliar area because they knew one person.  One person is all it takes to dispel loneliness and give you the courage to venture out into foreign territory.

Our mate ought to be a helpmate, your best friend, your only lover.  Yet if she/he is the only one it places too much pressure on that person.  It is better to have a network set up of friends–others who also love you too.

The well which you draw from to love others is endless.  Love is infinite.  The more you can give the more you have.  And it comes back ten fold.  It is the only thing that matters.  When everything is stripped from you that is all that is left:  love.  It is the only thing that matters in life.

There are many very lonely millionaires out there who have discovered:  money can’t buy happiness.  The best part about it is love is free.  So give it away.  You will never be disappointed.

Tags: best friend, Bible, friends, happiness, helpmate, lonely in a crowd, love, love is infinite, lover, mate, millionaire, money, Proverbs
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Your true inheritance is not your things:  it is the people you have touched in your lifetime.  It is the people who you have influenced who are here after you are gone.  It is your children (if you have been blessed with them), your friends.  Every person you have ever impacted in your life.

It can only happen if you invest time in others, if you are genuine, reached out those in need.  And there are neighbors always in need in some way.  You just have to pay attention.  That is your true inheritance.

It is not your house, your expensive sound system, your car, your books.  You can not take any possession with you.  In fact, there is nothing you can take with you after you are gone.

The people you have influenced affect others in an ever widening circle.  That is your true inheritance.

Tags: children, friends, helping, inheritance
Posted in death, love, wisdom | No Comments »

It is so hard to ignore the expectations we have of our friends.  We expect sometimes too much and are disappointed when they don’t meet our expectations.  It is far more easier not to have any expectations of others and rejoice when they exceed them and also feel grateful because if the truth be known each person does what he/she can, when the person can, in their own timing.  If you were to look at your own life, you would see this happening, too.  You have your own timing and give the way you can and give what you can.  You need to give the same right to others.  If you have no expectations, everything someone does for you is totally by grace.  All you really can do is tell another of your needs, desires.  It is up to them how, if and when he/she responds.  Everything is by grace.  And the sooner you understand all that, the easier it is to accept others.  Each person gives what he/she can.

Tags: balance, expectations, friends, giving, relationships, time
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Tags: friends, relationships
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