Childhood

Thanks x Two

/ Luanne Shernisky / Leave a comment

Great post Stuart! Your knack for “shucking” the mundane and finding something marvelous is something I want to learn, so I’ll be following. Thanks for stopping by my blog; I want my readers to meet you if they haven’t already.

Stuart M. Perkins's avatarStoryshucker

On a recent evening commute, a woman boarded the bus and rushed towards me. Rather than sit, she seemed to fall into the empty seat beside mine, a mound of heavy coat, thick scarf, and several bags. She wedged a bag between her feet and dug through her purse producing a pen and ragged notepad. Flipping frantically through its frayed pages, she peered at me over glasses perched on the tip of her nose.

“I have to make a list of things I’m thankful for.” she said with irritation.

I didn’t ask why, but glanced at her notepad. She was grateful for some important things, with “health” and “job” written so far on her list. She saw me looking.

“I need ideas. What are you thankful for?” She sounded aggravated.

I thought back to when my daughter was small. I told the woman how my daughter’s eyes lit up when we…

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New Year Once Again

/ Luanne Shernisky / Leave a comment

2016

In my last post of December 30th, where I talked about making positivity one of my New Year’s resolutions, I used the following quote:

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” ~ Bill Vaughan

So, how do you describe someone who doesn’t stay up at all? 

Unlike many years prior, I fell asleep around 10:00 pm. I didn’t don a plastic lei and party hat or watch the annual entertainment TV shows; the only thing I was rock’in on New Year’s Eve was a flannel nightgown and a strong desire for sleep.

But that’s to be expected. I was up at 6 am to catch a 9:40 flight from Orlando to Pittsburgh for a visit back to my hometown. My significant other (whom I’ll call SO) picked me up at the airport and we drove an hour to my former home and place of employment to say hello to a few coworkers and friends. From there we went for an early dinner at my favorite restaurant. With a full belly and warm shower my next stop was dreamland.

Party_poppers

New Year’s Eve as a child was the official end of the holidays and pretty much a non-event after the excitement of Christmas. My parents got all gussied up and went out to party with their friends. The next morning my siblings and I enjoyed the funny looking hats and noisemakers that we always found on the dining room table; remnants of our parents’ celebration. 

As a teenager I welcomed in the new year by attending house parties and later, after turning 21, bars and nightclubs. Once I married and the children came along I stayed home, renting movies and making our favorite snacks. They got a kick out of staying up late to watch the festivities in Times Square and I got a kick out of watching them.

The theme of many of my posts tends to be “times sure have changed,” but that’s par for the course for someone at mid life and older. We’ve cycled through childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood. We’ve witnessed a lot of changes in our society and the world. We’ve become our parents and grandparents. 

Confetti

Therefore, falling asleep on New Year’s Eve might signal advancing age and just plain sleepiness, both of which applied to me Thursday night. But I also consider myself a realist. So, maybe  we can say the following:

A realist doesn’t stay up at all because they know the new year will be waiting in the morning…once again.  

 

 

 

 

Home For the Holidays

/ Luanne Shernisky / 2 Comments

 

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At Christmas, all roads lead home. ~ Marjorie Holmes

 

As I finish up the Christmas to-do list today, I’m reminded of the holidays of yesteryear and the people who were such an integral part of those celebrations. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and neighbors, many of whom are gone now. If we live long enough, we begin to lose them one by one.

I was saddened to hear of two families back home in Pennsylvania that lost a family member this past week. One, my former hairdresser, was 52 years old. The other young woman, a close friend of my son, was 32 and fought a tough battle with breast cancer. She leaves a husband and young son. The Christmases of both these families will forever be overshadowed with the devastating loss of loved ones gone too soon.

I continue to make the adjustment to moving 1,000 miles from home and family is on my mind. I talked about this in detail in A New Kind of December. While I’m grateful to be spending Christmas with my oldest son, his wife, and my daughter, I’m missing the rest of the family back home. This is the first Christmas without my dad, who passed away last March. The holidays can be difficult for many people for a variety of reasons. Losing people is at the top of that list. 

While all of these changes have me feeling somewhat blue, I’m grateful for:

  • my family, even if I can’t be with ALL of them for the holiday
  • that everyone is healthy and able to fully enjoy this time of celebration
  • that we have the basic necessities to live a decent life
  • that we have the opportunity to grow and change, when change is necessary.

That’s when it occurred to me: home isn’t so much a place as it is a spiritual connection to our past, memories, and the people who are/were a part of that. We can physically move far away from the place we were born, but the family history and connections always go with us. 

Tonight we’ll call home and everyone will have a chance to chat with the added addition of Facetime on the iPhone and Skype on the computer. I still remember Bell Telephone’s 1964 long distance slogan, “It’s the next best thing to being there.” Times sure have changed, but like all good ideas, they remain relevant throughout the years.

Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!