Styles During My Lifetime

I have been alive for 5+ decades.  Here is a quick photo record of the clothing styles I have lived through.

The 1960's

The 1970's

"Saturday Night Fever", Farrah hair, Angel Flight Pants, and Hash Jeans!  Also the decade of the best 

Rock N Roll Music ever!

The 1980's

I' sure I totally skipped this decade's styles!

The 1990's

The 2000's

TODAY

+

 

 I must admit, I prefer today's styles!

The 'Real World'

Last weekend we took our son, 17 years old, to Los Angeles, CA to experience many firsts:

His first airplane ride

His first visit to Disneyland

His first time at the beach

His first time staying on the 24th floor of a hotel

His first time in the 'big' city

He mentioned that 'this is what the real world is like'.

The anthropologist in me immediately thought, what is the real world?  Where is the real world?

Is the real world the big skyscrapers of Los Angeles?

..or the poor neighborhoods?

 Is it the stark contrast between the loveliness of "Bird of Paradise" flowers and the metro tracks?

 ...or maybe a Vodka bottle randomly thrown into some bushes from a passing car?

Is it in a suburb, the beach, the mountains, the desert, the streets of the city, homeless people begging for money, the laughter of children playing, rich neighborhoods, small towns? 

Is it what we see in movies, TV, newspapers, internet, and other media? 

Does one really need to visit another state or gigantic city to experience the real world?

Is there a real world? If so, where is it? 

Perhaps the real world is one's own experiences and the world we create for ourselves.

My real world is located in a small town in Utah where I chose to live and raise my family.  But my real world also contains experiences, trials, heartaches, accomplishments, joy, my testimony of my Savior and His Gospel, as well years and years of choices--both good and some not so good.

This is my real world! 

 Courtesy of Lennis A Jones -copyright 2010

Where is your real world?

Racism--still going strong.

I was blessed with a mother who taught me that we are ALL children of God.  She taught me to love.  I still count that as one of my greatest blessings.  She truly loved everyone--race or religion never mattered.

Growing up in Southern California--some of my best friends were African American and Hispanic.  Racism did not exist in my world, and I could not understand it.  I saw it on TV in the form of riots, read about it in newspapers, read books, watched movies, heard of wars based on it--but I never actually saw it first-hand, until now.

This weekend I was in Los Angeles.  While traveling alone on the Metro, I got lost, took a wrong train, and ended up in a neighborhood where I was the minority.  I heard angry words, taunting, name calling--all directed at me and my whiteness.

To say I was scared is an understatement.  The thing (other than my safety) that bothered me so much, was the hate.  Why?  Why does our society hate?  It was blatant hate based only on appearance, nothing more.

Friends, I am so very sad to say that racism is very much alive, and has now entered my little world.

P.S. Kindness is also very much alive!  Thanks to the kindness of two young men (oriental), another man (??), and a lady bus driver (African American) I found my way to my original destination.

"To Choose..."

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

Viktor E. Frankl 

This young man, Jay Dee, has had a huge impact on me and my son, Cody.

He suffered from Muscular Dystrophy for the past 20 years.  On Tuesday, he passed away.  He is now free from his diseased body, and is most likely busy playing basketball--which was his favorite!

It is his life, not his death that is the focus. 

You see, Jay Dee served an honorable two-year LDS mission in the Family History Center AND earned an Associate's Degree in Graphic Design.  He accomplished these things while confined to a wheelchair and with only limited use of his arms.  Yet he chose to serve, he chose to learn, he chose to achieve, he chose his attitude, and he chose to live his life to the fullest! 

See his obituary here 

Something you may not know about Jay Dee:  his grandmother served her mission in the Family History Center along side him in order to help care for him during his service.  The disease had so devastated his body that he was unable to feed himself.  

Elder Haidenthaller is one of my sons's best friends and we will miss him but rejoice that he is now free.

Rest well, friend.

Testing, Testing....

Isn't it funny that it is called 'tests' when they send you to the lab or hospital for a shot, to draw blood, or any other medical 'test'?

This is where I have spent my last two early mornings

with my Honey,

and we get to go back tomorrow as well.

So if it is called a 'test', how do we study for it, or know if we pass?

Tomorrow is a PET Scan.  Does that mean Mr. Hinks will come with us? 

What color is rain?

It's a rainy day today--a reflective rainy day.
So, what color is the rain?  How does rain make you feel?

Most will say that rain has no color--it's water, it's clear.  I think rain is the color of the mood it evokes.  Sometimes that is a calm lilac, or a romantic rose color, a reflective pale yellow, or many other colored emotions.

Today, for me, the rain is grey--the deep grey of sadness and loss.

Have you ever felt like that?

But that's ok, because tomorrow the forecast calls for sunshine and light.

A Grumpy Post

Today I am grumpy.

I am grumpy, discouraged, tired, and a bit sad.
I'm usually happy, so I figure it's OK to be grumpy--today only.

Things that make me grumpy, discouraged, and sad:

   *people who cannot see their potential

   *feeling like I have no control

   *being ignored (this is a big one for me)

  

Tomorrow maybe I'll be...

   

Oh wait, my kids think I already am.

It's Coming!

And I couldn't be happier!

Spring Workouts.