Category Archives: Humor and health

Cradled in a Hammock of Love

Leave a comment

There is nothing that moves a loving father’s soul quite like his child’s cry.” ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Happy Fathers Day to all dads everywhere!

In retrospect, it makes me laugh when I think that we gave my father a hammock as a present one Father’s Day. If you read my memoir you will understand that my dad spent enough time rocking away his time when I was little, soothing my crying!

Peeps with his big catch May 2013He set a fine example as a father figure. My dad was not the kind of father who went off to the office and  left the raising of us kids entirely to our mother.  He was an active participant.  A father’s impact on his children is so important to their healthy development.  http://bit.ly/1hrAuwu.

We kids have been his loyal companions participating in all the things he’s always  liked to do -boating, fishing, skiing, building, crabbing, gardening and much more.

Today, I’d like to acknowledge all that my father has taught me and all that he put up with us kids. My twin sister and I were constantly nagging at him about this or that. “You girls are going to drive me crazy,” he’d say, when we became teenagers. Admittedly, my sister and I were enough to drive him cuckoo with our double trouble.

It’s no wonder he turned completely gray so prematurely at 27. I was probably way more than half the cause of it. (My son inherited his genes on that one!) It’s evident if you read my memoir I was lucky. I got to spend extra one-on-one time with my dad because of the circumstances of my birth. My sister and brothers have had her fair share of days alone with my father, however. Since I married, I’ve  always lived far from the rest of the family.

Even though my father thought we’d drive him crazy, there was never any no doubt that he loved us kids. We can just feel it and words are not necessary to explain it.

Happy Father’s Day, Peeps. 

P.S. I’m pretty sure that my sister and I didn’t drive him crazy! He is 86 years old and still very sharp!  He can remember the names of almost anyone he has met before. In my opinion, his four children and eight grandchildren are what has really kept him going.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Liftetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.Sue’s memoir See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.

 

Sisters of the Heart

4 Comments

“True friendship takes us by the hand and reminds us we are not alone in the journey.” ~ Unknown

sue mary and jan and neighbor kids enlargedI love this photo of my twin sister and me with our neighborhood buddies! It was sent to me as a surprise, compliments of http://www.unbridledimages.com. It was dug up out of the archives! I am truly grateful to have it!

I am the twin on the right.  The photo was taken during my “difficult days.” Before life really began to get better for me thanks to the cardiologists at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Due to God’s amazing providence, Mary Grace and I (my childhood friend who I mention in my memoir in Chapter 7  titled Taking it One Day at a Time  and who I blogged about yesterday) are alive today. She is the little girl pictured next to my sister  in a blue dress.

You see Mary Grace and I are sisters of the heart in more ways than one. She too had childhood illness that has affected her ticker. Leaps and bounds have been made since we were children, in medical research, that has helped heart patients have a wonderful quality of life.

Mary has gone on to do some amazing things. Like myself she has maintained a completely normal existence throughout her lifetime, never letting anything stop her. She, too, is deeply aware of the gift of life.

See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling. Not sure where I will travel in my writing. I have come to learn the words will come if I am silent and listen to my heart.Sue’s memoir

 

Friday’s Hush

1 Comment

Our greatest gift is the thunder of Silence.  ~Joel Goldsmith

It’s the end of the week, and the wisdom of the wordsmith in me says “that’s enough!”

Happy Friday everyone

Do return on Monday to All Things Fulfilling. You’ll be Looking at Lucky and I will tell you how that relates to my life. Some details of my journey weren’t  included  in the memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected, so I’ll share more on this site. Sue’s memoir

Fool Notions and Fun

2 Comments

Anywhere is paradise; it’s up to you. ~Author Unknown

Can you hear me clapping? It’s Friday and I am happy! I came along for the ride with my husband to one of my favorite places to visit in the West – Park City, Utah. He’s here for some ski business meetings. It gives me a chance to explore and have a much needed change of scenery for a few days away from Steamboat Springs. This is another beautiful mountain resort town where Olympians reign supreme.

On Wednesday, I scoped out the area to see what I missed my first visit here two years ago. I visited Redstone – an up-and-coming upscale shopping area just down the road from the ski jumps in Olympic Park.

All things fulfilling is what I found at Paisley Pomegranate. http://paisleypomegranate.com.  The store was filled to the brim with whimsy, fun, creativity, art and design in this gift shop that has been voted #1 People’s Choice. It’s the kind of retail fantasy land I like to browse so I can think about fool notions and nothing at all, all at once. Pure escapism at it’s best. Here are some photos:

Paisley Pomegranite 1

Paisley Pomegranite #5

Paisley Pomegranite 2

Paisley Pomegranite 3

Next week I’ll post more of what I’ve mined from this training ground for Olympians and the home of the Sundance Film Festival. During the film festival the town is chock-a-block full of celebrity gatherings and independent filmmakers. They arrive on the scene to showcase their art and put their hopes in dreams of going home with an award-winning film destined for cinemas across the country.

It’s a gorgeous spring day here day here in Park City, Utah. The trees are just beginning to leaf out and turn green. There’s still white-capped peaks on the upper elevations of the Wasatch Mountains. Happy Friday, everyone! Do return to All Things Fulfilling on Monday.Sue’s memoir

 

News over the Fence

2 Comments

“How beautiful on the mountains are on the feet of those who bring good news.” ~ The Bible

My sister Jan had just walked in the door from work the other day when her telephone rang.
picket fence“Meet me at the fence,” her neighbor said. With urgency Jan threw down her pocketbook and ran out the back door wondering what the issue was this time. For twenty-five plus years whenever a “meet me at the fence” call came through between Jan and her neighbor, something was up. One of them had some kind of news to share with the other.

Jan stood at the fence waiting for her neighbor for a few minutes. Then watched her walk from her house across the lawn with one hand behind her back and a huge smile on her face. Jan knew from her expression it was good news, this time. Jan’s friend and her husband are police officers and sometimes she encounters difficult days, and needs to talk.

“Oh, my gosh, Jan!” her neighbor said “I can’t stop laughing. I love this book I am reading.”

“What are you reading?” Jan inquired.

The neighbor took the book from behind her back, where she was hiding it. It was a copy of “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.”

“That’s my sisters book!” Jan said, with enthusiasm and surprise.

“I know it! That’s one of the reasons why I bought it!” said her neighbor. I’ve told everyone down at the police station they’ve got to buy it. It’s a balm for the heart and the soul when things in the world are too depressing and you want to uplift the spirit.

The author thanks you, Beth,  from the mountains of Steamboat Springs, Colorado! I am happy to hear you like the book. Many publications are sold when news of a good read travels beyond fences!

This blog brought to you by author Sue Batton Leonard. Sue’s memoir Come on back to All Things Fulfilling on Monday.

 

 

 

A Life Lesson

Leave a comment

“The realization of ignorance is the first act of knowing.” ~ Poet Jean Toomer

IMAG0002Just seeing the image of this car brings back memories of one of the first times it dawned on me that someone is always watching over me.

Here’s what happened that caused my reckoning. My parents had a car exactly like the one pictured. One day my twin and I and our little brother who was about four at the time, got into a little mischief.

My twin and I had decided we were taking our brother on a road trip. We were getting out of Dodge (Towson, Maryland) while our mother was otherwise occupied with our youngest brother. He was just a newborn. The three of us piled into the front seat of the sedan and began trying to move the steering wheel, pushing all kinds of  knobs and buttons. Since the car engine was off , moving the steering wheel was next to impossible! Suddenly one of us must have hit the emergency brake and released it. The car began rolling backward.

My sister and I quickly jumped out of the car and grabbed the front bumper. The car miraculously came to a stop. “We ‘re as strong as Popeye,” we both thought. We were convinced our awesome strength and determination had prevented the disasterous result of having the car roll down the drive and hit a tree with our little brother in it. (Mind you, we were nine and my twin and I were very underweight. Our strength combined was only enough to stop a flea from jumping off the carpet).

Lesson learned as a child: It’s not a bright idea to play in a car.

Retrospective lessons learned as an adult: Someone much greater than myself was looking out for the three of us. Yes, I am here to tell you there such thing as God’s protection.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.Sue’s memoir

 

 

 

 

Moving and Birth

2 Comments

untitled“Having a baby is painful in order to show how serious a thing life is.” ~ author Lisa See

At the end of last week my husband and I changed residences. As we went through the process, I began to think of the analogy between moving and giving birth:

Through both you have to do the work and you are faced with labor. Yet if you want to make way for newness in your life, you must bear down, face it and go through it, whether you want to or not.

Once you’ve gotten through each event, you can look back and laugh. You forget all the pain and agony that was packed with the experience.

I’ve moved many times throughout my life. My most transient years were after I graduated college until the time I married. Come on back tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling. We will be visiting the neighborhood where I lived for the first 18 years of my life. It is where many of the stories in my memoir took place – in Towson, Maryland.

Sue’s memoir

May 5th: Steamboat Springs, CO

2 Comments

IMAG0998

Love grows from stable relationships, shared experience, loyalty, devotion, trust. ~ Unknown

You are cordially invited to Sue Batton Leonard’s book signing for Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected  in Steamboat Springs, Colorado: Here are the details:

  • Date: Monday, May 5th, 2014
  • Time: 6pm
  • Place: United Methodist Church, 736 Oak Street, Steamboat Springs, CO 8048

This event is open to the public and refreshments will be served.

The author will talk about her newly published memoir and about her experience of independent publishing.Sue’s memoir

See you on Monday, either in Steamboat or right here on the site of All Things Fulfilling!

People Leave Deep Impressions

2 Comments

“Were in tarination have you been chile? You liked ta scared me a half a death,” the stellar character in my memoir said to me one day, as I ran in the door late for dinner.

“What do you mean, Fanny?” I had never heard her use a big word like”tarination” before. I’d heard it from my parents, but I wasn’t sure exactly what tarination meant. Perhaps she was trying it out for size. My parents were away for the weekend and it was Fanny’s duty to play the role of our parents. Nobody could get a point across better than she could, even though she said things in a different manner.

ring a bell“I been callin’ and callin’ and you ain’t be answering me. Don’t you be doin’ that to nobody, not even to your Mama. We needs to know you alive. When someone calls your name, speak up chile – don’t be shy. Anythin’ you say means as much as all dat jabbering dat comes outta yo’ brothers’ squalk boxes.”

I didn’t know what Fanny meant at the time. But, now as an adult I get it. Sometimes these kinds of realizations in life take time.

There are so many meaningful things Fanny said to me when I was a child that went over my head. In retrospect it’s made me realize the significance of Buddha’s words “Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.” 

Sadly, we often don’t realize the full impact people have had on our lives, until something happens.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.Sue’s memoir

 

 

 

 

The Nature of Easter

Leave a comment

 Fling off thy sadness!

Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth

Your ancient gladness! 

~Thomas Blackburn, An Easter Hymn

Today as my present to you, valued readers, I have posted an audio chapter of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

This audio recording will also be posted permanently to the About the Book page of All Things Fulfilling so you can return and listen to it as often as you’d like.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Your entire family will enjoy listening to what the stellar character in my memoir has to say about an element in nature that has more meaning than just a beautiful flower. Celebrate Easter week by sharing this story with others. Happy Spring!

To listen, click the arrow pointing  right, next to the speaker icon.