Friday Flashback My Rainbow

I’m not sure what prompted me to write a love letter to my kindergartener. I do know I didn’t show it to her until she was grown and then began the tradition of writing to all my children and grandchildren, mostly on their birthdays. I ran across it today when looking for a “Friday Flashback” in my albums. It was titled My Rainbow. Warning, it's a little hokey. I guess I was drunk on love and spewing cotton candy.

“She gave a pad of notepaper smeared with a rainbow. A gift bought with her own dollars and proudly presented. “Don’t you think it’s pretty, Mama? Don’t you just love it?”

Yes, little one, I do love it, but not just because it’s pretty. I love it because it’s a reminder that you are my rainbow; God’s promise that things will never be so bad again. You are too little to realize that the blush of your cheeks and the gold in your hair and that clear blueness of your eyes are all blended through the prism of love to make you special. You are the affirmation that I could do something right again, even when it seemed that all my efforts were going wrong.

So keep decorating each page of artwork with your pretty streaks of color, and always keep your eyes on that rainbow, because it may just be inside you.”

Sarah Jane was the fourth child in our family, one that I’m sure many people wondered about being an “accident”. She definitely was not. She was just as wanted as the other three, but maybe treasured more because she was the last. She and Walker were like twins until she was about four and he was almost six. They were both learning to read and swim, but about then she took off, and the little sister became one more big sister. I knew the tide had turned when she used the word "embarrased" and I asked her if she even knew what it meant. "Yes, it's like when Walker acts like a dog in the grocery store." She had it nailed.

When Sarah comes home from California, no one is more excited than Walker. He is always anxious to share his collectibles and hope she might remember playing with them with him. She usually doesn't, but acts like she does, and she's a really decent actor.

I wonder if I can find Melody Mike or the Fisher Price doctor kit on Ebay?

Blessings,
Janie

Oh Happy Day!

I'm having to fly by the seat of my pants on the computer which my husband has graciously allowed me to borrow after I infected my own with a virus. Don't get me started...

Anyway, I wanted to post this picture, courtesy of my son-in-law and daughter Katie. I'm so proud that my children have strong convictions and act on them. That may be the real secret to making dreams come true.

The picture was made somewhere in the midwest on the Sunday night before the election. It was truly an "Oh my GOD!" moment for Sarah to meet our new president and his family as a part of a small group of volunteers working to get out the vote.

We've come a long way from Alabama, baby girl. Congratulations! I hope you and your generation keep dreaming for the rest of us.

Blessings,

Janie

Seven Pounds of Giving

In spite of the fact that Sarah Jane had discouraged our doing so, Walker and I took a small group of close friends to see the movie Seven Pounds Friday night, mainly because she has one small but nicely done scene in it.

We all liked the movie just fine, although some of us found the story line a bit confusing and sometimes tedious, and all of us wished we had seen more of Sarah.

What I keep thinking about, though, is the Will Smith character, Ben, and the message he conveyed to the audience about organ donation.

My whole family is strongly in favor of increasing organ donation, especially after going through a living donation from my son-in-law, John, that saved our oldest grandson’s life. (For more about this go to my July and August posts.) http://onlycasualobservations.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html)

Having Will Smith make a movie about the good that can be done, especially among minority populations, by becoming an organ donor is like having a two hour public service announcement on the subject. The only difference is that we paid eight bucks for our seats instead of getting it for free on late night weekend television.

Some of the issues raised during his decision making process bothered me though. This movie had too much of one man playing God to suit me. Ben, who was obviously suicidal from the early scenes forward, carefully interviewed his prospective recipients and if they weren’t “good” people, he rejected them. Kind of like Santa, making his list and checking it twice crossing off all the naughty boys and girls.

Yes, there is a shortage of organ donors, especially for the big organs like hearts and lungs and livers that people tend to need to hang on to for their own use. It was really nice that the point was made that a living donor can donate a portion of his liver and live a healthy life.

It’s difficult for most of us to deal with the idea of a transplant list and who gets on it and when without really deciding whether they are truly going to appreciate the Gift of Life or perhaps waste it. I don’t think Ben was truly endowed with the kind of wisdom reserved only for God and the fancy computerized list that decides these things. No one man ever could be.
I hope you go see the movie and spot Sarah Jane Morris in a scene in a coffee shop with Woody Harrelson about halfway through the movie. (Don't blink or you'll miss it!) I hope you all sign your donor cards and let God do the deciding for you when the time comes.

Blessings,
Janie