Prompt # 62 – Blood and Water

Prompt # 62 – Blood and Water

My parents are dead, I have no children, and my brothers live thousands of kilometres away in Manitoba and Florida. My nearest relatives live two or three hours away and I see them once a year if I am lucky. I have more than 50 first cousins. One cousin, Marge, has become closer in the last few years. We keep in touch by notes, e-mail, FB, and visits. Our parents were close. Also a cousin, Wilma (really a cousin of my father's, but my age) sought me out and we keep in touch over the phone, and maybe meet for coffee or lunch once a year. I guess one of the joys about relatives is that we get to know these people who we would otherwise never meet, we live such different lives.

Friends are precious and I've never had a large number at any one time. However, as the years accumulate, so do old friends. My best friend from high school lives in Calgary and we talk about twice a year (birthdays) and visit much less frequently. My best friend from work forty years ago still lives in Winnipeg and we write or call once or twice a year. I still have contact with several people I socialized with in other lives - university, work, even former students, and former homestay students, on FB, which is good as otherwise I would never know where they are or what they are doing. Locally my friends have mostly been from groups I've attended – writing, art, genealogy, photography, Scrabble. Which I guess means we share interests and passions. Two of these friends moved away, Marilyn to Port Moody, Leina to Salt Spring Island, but we still keep in touch. They have both visited me here since they left.

I appreciate friends and I realize that I am poorly skilled at seeking out friendships or even at maintaining regular contact. So I have to rely on friends being more aggressive than I am at keeping in touch. I am blessed.

Leina

Marilyn 

Carol 

Prompt # 61 - Success

Prompt # 61 - Success

To me, success means happiness. I wrote about it as a first assignment for Mr. Murray in Grade Nine and got a poor mark for an uninspired / uninspiring response. Now fifty years later, I still feel the same. You know that old joke. What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this? Answer: Just lucky, I guess. In other words, happiness is simply choosing to look at things in a positive way.

I consider myself to be successful because I have the luxury of living where I choose and doing what I want. I spend my hours each day doing only what I want - writing, creating, reading, socializing. If I wanted a different kind of life, I would act to get what I want. I live in my dream house, in one of the most beautiful spots in the world. Surrounded by a symphony of flowers. To me, flowers = happiness = success.

Prompt # 60 - Family Traits

Prompt # 60 - Family Traits

My Dad always said we were “long-headed” which meant, he said, that we thought ahead, long ahead, made plans, and worked to achieve goals. I think I'm like him that way. I look like him, and his father. From my maternal grandmother and from my father, I inherited a love of reading and learning. From my mother I probably got my love of nature and the outdoors, although she was sporty and active which I am not. I read and write about and take pictures of nature. From all my relatives I suspect I inherited a tendency towards an inappropriate sense of humour. And again from my Dad, his motto: Trust everyone, but always cut the cards. 

Leaves from the family tree.