Contented Living

by Lois Jamieson

“Nine requisites for contented living

Health enough to make work a pleasure.

Wealth enough to support your needs.

Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them.

Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them.

Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished.

Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor.

Love enough to move you to be useful to others.

Faith enough to make real the things of God.

Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.”

 

Did you notice the first word of each of the nine requisites? 

Health, Wealth, Strength, Grace, Patience, Charity, Love, Faith, Hope.

Perhaps, if we just remember these words, we will find contentment.

   

REMEMBRANCES

by Lois Jamieson

Today we take a quiet moment to remember 9/11/2001. This is the day terrorists high jacked U.S. airliners and carried out deadly attacks on the United States.

 

I will bet many of you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing the moment you heard or saw pictures of the attack.

 

I Do…..

 

Just as I remember the day and the moment, on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese Imperial Army bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. That was the day that World War II began for the United States. I was 12 years old. Within a few months, both my step-father and my uncle were sent off to war, and later, my older brother.

 

I remember where I was and what I was doing on Friday, November 22, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

 

I remember where I was and what I was doing on April 4, 1968, the day Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot dead.

 

Let us hope and pray that there are no more days, like these, to remember.

 

 

Honesty and Truth

by Lois Jamieson

“The precepts of the law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give every man his due.”     –Justian 1

 

“A promise made is a debt unpaid.”    –Robert Service

 

“Don’t tell your fiends their social faults; they will cure the fault and never forgive you.”    -Logan Pearsall Smith

 

“Lying can never save us from another life.”    -Vaclav Havel

 

“Every kind of peaceful cooperation among men is primarily based on mutual trust and only secondarily on institutions such as courts of justice and police.”    -Albert Einstein

 

“The greatest truths are the simplest, and so are the greatest men.”    -J.C. Hare

 

“The truth needs so little rehearsal.”    -Barbara Kingsolver

 

“It takes less time to do a thing right than to explain why you did it wrong.”    -Henry Wadsworth

Happy Birthday to Julia

By Lois Jamieson I recently read that Julia Child would have turned 100 on August 15. Julia Child was a remarkable woman, who, perhaps, was best known for bringing the art of mastering French cooking to America. I believe that at least 100 chefs in America celebrated her birthday by serving some of her wonderful recipes. One of my very favorite movies, “Julie and Julia” came out in 2009. It was a great story and perked my interest in Julia Child and French cooking. I was discussing the movie with a good friend, and she told me she had the original recipe for Julia’s Boeuf Bourguignon. My friend shared the recipe with me. A few weeks later, my husband and I were expecting guests for dinner, and I decided to surprise everyone with this famous recipe. Two days in advance of the dinner party, I rolled up my sleeves in anticipation of making the Boeuf Bourguignon. Nine hours later I finished preparing the dish. I was almost too exhausted to entertain our guests. Everyone said it was wonderful, but I honestly thought I could have thrown the ingredients and a bottle of good red wine, in my crock pot and it would have tasted the same. Plus, I could have had a long nap. I have decided I am never going to cook anything I can’t pronounce.

Thoughts on being 90 Years Old

By Phoebe Maurer

Thoughts on being 90 years old

By Phoebe Maurer

For weeks I have been anticipating the day I would be starting a new decade on the road to reaching a century.

My face has become a road map of routes that led me to cosmetic counters selling wrinkle free creams, erasure of satchels under the eyes, and tiny bottles that mysteriously erase age spots and sun damage. Do they work? Yes, on the photographed models that are under 40. Cosmetic companies grow and prosper while we see zero results and money, not wrinkles, disappear. My daughter said, “Mom, don’t be so hard on yourself, you never look your age.”

The morning of my birthday, I woke up feeling happy. I looked in the mirror, saw a 90 year

old woman, and roared, “I am an old lady!” Later in the day, my daughter and I had a lovely time together. She took me to lunch before going on a shopping spree for clothes we both chose, while I sat with my canister of oxygen, savoring every moment.

My children, that is, Herb and mine, are self achievers. They are wise and world traveled, and I respect and admire them. I watch and listen to how they react with their children. They certainly have more patience than I think I had, but maybe my memory is faulty.

I am 90 and savoring the day. I am an old lady, with an ageless spirit, looking for the next adventure.

Phoebe Turns Ninety

By Lois Jamieson

Last Friday, I called Phoebe to wish her a happy birthday. This is a memorable birthday for her.  She is ninety! She is no-longer an Octogenarian and I'm not sure what a person in their nineties is called - I''ll find out soon. Now our blog should be called "Ageless at 80 and 90. I'll get Phoebe's comments on this when she stops celebrating.

She wasn't at home when I called, so I left a message, and called her back later. When I did get her, she had just arrived back to her home after a huge shopping trip with her daughter. She said she bought so many new clothes that now she must clean out her closet.

Phoebe is the most remarkable woman I know. She looks terrific, and is full of new ideas and has plans far into the future.  I'm lucky to call her my friend and partner. In a few weeks, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will gather in Scottsdale to celebrate with her and her dear husband Herb. I'm invited!  

 

The Return

by Phoebe Maurer

The Return

By Phoebe Maurer

Phoebe has overcome the setbacks and she is now here to share with the world her unfinished dreams, her tapestry of almost 90 years, living a colorful, daunting and romantic life. 

 Herb and I just celebrated our 60^th anniversary, recalling the many highlights, good, bad and beautiful. I am now facing the reality of growing older by the minute with each days visit to the medical facility that prods us on with copula, tablets, syrups and enlightening counseling. As four score and ten approaches, my mind is churning out new ideas and projects to start, so I am hanging – not up. 

My pen pal, Lois, is tired of writing solo, so the copilot is charging up the jets motor of her imagination. My hands are fine – no arthritis, which I cannot say, for my many rusting joints that creak with age.

 If I had a choice, would I want to turn the clock back 20, 30 or40 years, with a guarantee that I wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes or experience the traumas? No! Emphatically no! I am now the woman I respect. My thoughts can be spoken with ease, but also with care.

 I was once told I had a mind like a steel trap. It rocked me back on my heels, but didn’t change my thinking overnight. My business experiences necessitated clout, especially from a woman. Would the same be said to a fellow male?

Welcome back Phoebe. We have missed your words of wisdom and your humor.