Thursday, October 29, 2015

The Ring Thing


“Are you sitting down?” her mother asked.

“Well, I am now!” replied Lisa, excited as a child on Christmas morning.

“It’s real, and it’s worth $$$$$ Dollars! The center stone is 1¾ carats surrounded by 18 diamond chips. Can you believe it?” asked her mom.

“Oh…my…goodness! No, I cannot believe it!” screamed Lisa. She fell back in the chair and gazed at the ceiling. “I’m the luckiest girl in the world right now!” she shouted. Several days earlier, Lisa had found a sparkly-kind-of-brooch-thing on the ground, and figured it was just junk jewelry. Never in a million years did she think this could be the real thing!

Whenever Lisa would walk anywhere outside, she always kept one eye on the ground in case there were rocks, holes, or something slippery. Years earlier, when she was on her honeymoon, she fell flat on her face while crossing the street. Normally, that wouldn’t have been a problem, but it was downtown San Francisco, and there were witnesses everywhere. She was walking a few feet behind her husband, Jack, and as she fell, she made a sound similar to that of a professional football player who had just received an unexpected helmet thrust to his mid-section.

Jack, being the concerned and loving husband that he was, continued walking as though nothing had happened. Lisa picked herself up, brushed the concrete bits from her face, and finished crossing the street. From that day on, Lisa was always aware of her surroundings, especially on the ground. So, one day, when something sparkly caught her eye, she gave it her full attention so as not to trip over it. She scooped it up and put it in her pocket.

“I’ll ask mom if she thinks it’s worth anything,” she said to herself. Her mother’s neighbor was a jeweler who worked out of the house. If her mom didn’t know, she would ask the neighbor. Lisa dropped off the brooch the next weekend when she went to visit her parents. She forgot about it until her mother called her a week later.

Now, something that expensive made Lisa very uncomfortable. When she was three years old, Lisa was playing with her mother’s wedding ring (a family heirloom) in the front yard. She came into the house later without the ring and her mother asked her about it. Being only three, Lisa, had no idea where the ring was. Mom walked outside and began to scour the front yard. She found nothing, but did notice some workers cementing a fence between the houses...

“No, she couldn’t have dropped it over there…” her mother thought and then sighed in despair. The ring was gone, never to be seen again. Lisa had been reminded of this event many times as she was growing up. She felt horrible about it, but reminded herself that she was only three years old at the time and shouldn’t be held responsible for the loss.

On another occasion, Lisa had accidentally thrown out the anniversary ring given to her by Jack. After the two of them climbed into the apartment dumpster and looked in every nook and cranny, between every piece of paper, and inside anything that could open and close, they sadly agreed that it was gone, never to be seen again.

Lisa thought that she might be able to finally redeem herself for her childhood mistake, by giving this gem to her mom. She secretly spoke to her dad about having something made using the stones. The next door neighbor, the jeweler, could make the piece. Dad and Lisa decided on a custom gold band ring, with the big stone in it. The jeweler shaped the top of the ring into a “V” and the stone was placed at the bottom of the “V”. It was a very unique design and Lisa hoped that her mom would like it. Her mom loved it! Lisa felt relieved that her mother liked the ring, and for the first time in her life, she felt that she had made up, in a sense, for the loss of the family ring so many years ago.





Today, the ring sits in a bank deposit box and is safe from anyone, three years to 63 years old, who could accidentally throw it out, or drop it into a cement fence being built between houses.

This is a true story. The names have been changed to protect the stupid.

Brought to you by Mama Kat at Writer's Workshop.  Please stop by Mama's Losin' It  and be totally entertained by some lively stories written to enlighten, inspire or simply make you smile!

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Run, Chicago, Run!






The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is known for its flat and fast course that starts and finishes in Grant Park and travels through one of the world’s most magnificent cities. The course has produced four world records, several national records, and countless personal bests. Runners enjoy the support of 1.7 million spectators as they run through 29 neighborhoods.  (I'm sure there were at least that many spectators there today.)


20 aid stations are located along the course approximately one to two miles apart. Each aid station consists of the following amenities in this order: 

Medical Tent with access to a Runner Transport vehicle
Toilet facilities
Gatorade Endurance Formula (lemon-lime flavor)
Water
Public address announcer  

(They have your back!)  

In the event a participant is transported to a local area hospital at the discretion of the medical team, the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago’s Patient Connection staff will be on hand in Grant Park to provide information regarding that patient to family and friends.  (You go, American Red Cross!)


This race is used as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon, as well as, Olympic hopefuls. There are individual runners, groups, physically challenged and some "weekend warriors" who want to get out of work tomorrow.  This morning at 6:00am, it was 50 degrees as participants lined up.  Some had their game face on and others had their wedding face on...  


The race was a huge success, and I'm sure that many ended up here for the celebration of finishing, and are living to tell about it!


This post is brought to you by Sundays in My City.  Please stop over and say buenos dias to my friend, Unknown Mami and travel to some really wonderful places!

I live in Chicago, Illinois.  Welcome to My City!

Thanks for stopping by today!



Wednesday, October 7, 2015

U is for Umbrella

Here's a post from the cobwebs of my mind....

What a catchy song this was...and what a busy celebrity! Who would have thought something so simple could enter your head through your ears and swim around and around until you fell into a comatose state while you mumble the words "ella...ella and so on!

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Jenny Matlock, Off On My Tangent. This week we week our assignment is "U." Hope you enjoy some of colorful and interesting Umbrella pics I found.

 





















 

  
Thank you for stopping by my Umbrella piece. Please let the wind blow you over to Jenny's and see the other "U" presentations of my friends. Just click on the logo below.

Have a great weekend!

Jenny Matlock

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Yesterday...


When I was younger... I wanted to be famous. I thought it would bring me a lot of friends. I wanted to be a movie star.  I spent hours dressing up and "becoming" someone who I thought I wanted to be.  In high school, I wanted to be a cheerleader.  I worked hard, but it didn't happen.  Lucky for me, because I probably would have slept with the whole football team, and my life would have taken a different direction.

When I was younger, I wanted to be married.  I was lucky enough to find someone to love, and who loved me, and I got married.  I still wanted to be a movie star. I took acting classes and discovered a whole new world.  I still wanted to be famous, but when I realized all of the work involved, and the statistics of actually becoming famous, my path changed and I revisited my options.   

When I was younger, I also wanted to be a mom...and my dream came true.  I became a mom four times.  The work involved has been excruciating at times, but mostly it has been rewarding, invigorating and the most ongoing learning experience of my life.  The twists and turns have kept me on my toes and given me something that I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams.  The cheerleader training helped me with enthusiasm needed to spur on my children.  The acting classes gave me the skills to be the doctor, therapist, boss woman and friend when these people were needed by my children. 

I don't need to be famous.  I just need to be me.  I still think I'm young...

Please stop by Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop and read what her friends have to say this week.

Thank you for stopping by!