Baby Bean -- A Grandmother's Perspective

This is how our Meagan's little "Belly Bean" looked on September 1, 2009. Of course she's a month older now. A month bigger, a month smarter, prettier, more talented...whatever. A month closer to actually being here -- In fact, we're halfway there!

Yesterday, her other Grandma, Vickie, and I went with Meagan for her appointment with the midwife. There, with the help of Doppler, we were able to hear little Bean's heartbeat. And we were just as awestruck as I remember being when I heard my own two little belly beans' heartbeats, oh so long ago.

For now, only Meagan can feel her daughter's movements. But in another month or so, we'll all be able to share the excitement. (If Meagan is willing, of course.) Until then, the sound of that tiny little heart beating away -- and ultrasound photos like the one above -- assure us that, really and truly, there is a baby -- a baby girl -- growing and thriving inside there. And we love her already.

Taking Inventory

That's a whole lot of bolts of fabric -- My Very Own Fabric Store is very huge!

I had realized a week earlier that the impending "Inventory" was something to be reckoned with. And as with all other things that require reckoning, I just let preparations unfurl around me (or un-unfurl, in the case of the draped fabrics). I asked no questions, trusting that someone would tell me what I needed to do and when I needed to do it. They did, but not a moment too soon...

Last Wednesday, D-Day for Inventory (I-Day?), I arrived at 6:00 a.m. on the dot to find a large cluster of unfamiliar people at the very center of MVOFS. (Unfamiliar and unfriendly people -- Not one of them responded to my friendly smile and warm "Hello!")

As I walked past them to clock in, I heard one of them say "Cheryl wants us all in the back," so after I had punched the timeclock, not yet seeing anyone I knew, I joined Cheryl's group at the back of the store, where I was immediately thrown into a quiet little panic attack! They were all holding little electronic scanning devices, as Cheryl explained that these devices would beep seven times and that meant something about a scale that would be placed at the end of each row...Oh My God! I was thinking. I must have missed a training session! Which one of these grumpy-looking people was going to be nice enough to explain everything to me -- and where was my scanner?!!

That's when my Assistant Manager appeared from the office, along with a couple of my fellow Sales Associates -- I was never happier to see a familiar face or two in my life! So I was told what to do and when to do it. And it was actually kind of fun. First I spent a few hours unwinding bolts of fabric and batting, measuring them, re-rolling and tagging them. (Not bad at all with no customers bugging you to cut some off for them and then let them pay you for it!)

Oh -- but here is where I must interject: If you come into MVOFS intending to buy some of the very expensive velvet fabric that hangs on a special rack from special hangers with sharp little spikes attached to them, you'd be better be pretty darned sure you want it before you ask us to take it off those hangers so you can see what a yard or two looks like! 'Nuff said.

Just around the time I was getting kind of bored with all that unrolling and measuring, I was given a Special Assignment. For reasons having mostly to do with my height, I suspect, I was appointed to follow one of those Inventory People around the Home Dec Department, lifting up each and every little knick-knack, taking pictures down from the walls, upending furniture -- whatever it took to expose each individual SKU number. Then I was to mark where we'd been with special yellow stickers. That made me feel very important, indeed. (And it turns out that this particular Inventory Person was actually quite friendly and nice after all. So you should never judge an individual by the group she hangs out with!)

On I-Day I worked 7-1/2 hours -- The closest I've come to a full day by far in the six months that I've been working in MVOFS. I still love working there, but I hope it will be at least another year before I-Day rolls 'round again. That was intense!

The Best Gift She Ever Gave Him

Alternate Title: Memories of a Couch


Kate with Chocolate Easter Bunnies, circa 1955, but...

...what I want you to notice in this photograph is not the fat-faced kid lovin' on a bunch of chocolate...I'd like to draw your attention to that couch in the background. Difficult, I know, since the Kid Who Loves Chocolate is so much the focus as the couch fades into near-oblivion, but picture this, if you will:

That couch was an indescribable rose color. There was a chair to match, but other than those two things, I don't think I've ever seen another piece of furniture quite that shade of pinkish-red. It had a rough texture; I remember that so well...

That was the couch on which I was forced to take my naps after a half-day of Kindergarten. (Such an insult to a Big Girl like me!)

That was the couch on which I was sitting one evening just before supper. My siblings were all on the floor in front of me, and we were watching "Poopdeck Paul" on tv while Dad helped Mom in the kitchen. I had one of those little pink plastic lipsticks on my pinky finger...You know -- the kind that used to come in little plastic purses with little plastic combs and little plastic mirrors? As I watched tv, I was mindlessly sucking the thing off my finger, then forcing it back on with my breath. But once I sucked a little too hard and it headed directly down my windpipe. My life flashed before me -- all seven or eight years of it. Everyone in the room was fixated on a stupid Popeye cartoon, completely unaware that their oldest sister was expiring behind them. All of a sudden, a miracle! The little pink tube popped right of my throat and onto the floor. I was alive! (And ashamed at the foolish thing I'd almost done. I laid my face against the rough surface of that couch and cried a little bit. No one ever knew.)

That was the couch on which we used to roughhouse, throwing ourselves over the padded arms and nearly breaking our necks by landing in awkward positions on the cushions.

That was the couch where I used to lie, shivering, when I would wake up in the middle of the night, afraid of my own bed. That couch was right outside Mom and Dad's bedroom door, and if I took my pillow downstairs with me, I could lie on that couch and fall safely asleep, listening to my parents breathe. (I never thought to bring a blanket, too.)

That was the couch where Mom gathered us all during storms in an attempt to get us as far away as possible from that big picture window on the front of our house. (Our Michigan basement with its dirt floor and God knows what kind of wildlife was never an option.)

And that the was the couch my dad and I were leaning against as we sat on the floor on September 23, 1957. I have no recollection of where my sisters were, but I know that my mom was still in the hospital, having just given birth that morning to my brother, Mark -- my first brother. In my heart, I can still see my dad's face as he said, "Yep, this is the best birthday present she's ever given me -- a son."

We still have that boy, of course -- He just celebrated his 52nd birthday! I don't remember ever getting rid of that couch, but somewhere along the road it went to wherever it is that good, faithful old couches go. I know that when the stuffing started to show through that rough pink fabric, Mom covered it with a stylish green slipcover with big swatches of gold on it. (The matching chair, too, of course.)

Somewhere there are other photos of our family gathered around that couch. And of course there are all those memories...

The other day -- Mark's and Dad's birthday -- I was remembering that couch as the background of a very special moment I'd shared with my dad.

Happy Birthday Dad and Mark...I love you guys!

Gratuitous Photo of My Dad and His Two Sons (That's Mark on the left), August 2007

Remembering Frances...

The Members of the "Intimate Book Group:" Frances Moore, Mary Elizabeth Kiester and Marilyn Brenneman, May 2009. (And of course, me.)


I remember many things about my friend, Frances...

I remember the day I met her. It was a rainy afternoon in April. I now know that the year was 1996, one year after her beloved Sam had passed away. I was the neighbor-to-neighbor volunteer that spring, collecting for the American Heart Association. I got very few responses to those little form letters you send out with the self-addressed, stamped envelopes. But one came back with a personal note..."Please come for a visit..." and a telephone number. It never ocurred to me not to call.

The note turned out to be from my neighbor across the street...Frances Moore -- a neighbor I had yet to meet, although our family had moved into the neighborhood five years earlier.

Although it would have been a short walk, I drove my car that day because it was raining...

I cannot tell you about my first impression of Frances without using the word "twinkly." The woman absolutely twinkled as she introduced herself and welcomed me into her home. I love telling how, upon finding out that I was teaching the 8th grade catechism class at our church, this retired 7th-8th grade English teacher clapsed her hands over her heart and said, "Oh, that is such a wonderful age!" Seriously -- she meant it! I knew then that she was, without a doubt, one of the best teachers that ever walked the halls of Guilford Middle School, and I was sad that she had retired before either of my children could have had her.

Something else I remember about that day is the James Thurber edition on her coffee table...

I was just coming off of a Thurber "binge." (That's how Frances described the times she had felt compelled to read everything a particular author has written.) Upon seeing her book, I told her how much I had enjoyed reading Thurber -- and things that had been written about him. That's how we discovered the bond that would cement our friendship for 13 years...Not just that we both loved James Thurber, but that we shared a passion for reading and authors, period!

I remember some of the wonderful authors I've read -- and fallen in love with -- simply because Frances suggested them -- John Ehle, Clyde Edgerton, Fred Chapel, Jan Karon, Tim McLaren. And I remember a few that we actually met in person...

Reynolds Price. We went together to see him speak at the main library downtown, and another time at Barnes & Noble. What an experience it must have been to have him as a teacher of writing...That strong, resonant voice...It was hard to believe that its owner was confined to a wheelchair!

Robert Morgan. Barnes & Noble again. A small group on a warm autumn afternoon. He read from his book, Gap Creek. He signed our copies, and impressed us as a perfect southern gentleman.

John Berendt. Remember Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil? This is one of my favorite France memories...

Berendt was speaking at Greensboro College, and Frances thought it would be nice to bring her friend, Emily, to see him, too. So I drove these two lovely ladies -- with their walkers in the trunk of my car -- downtown, found a place to park, and managed to get all of us into our seats before Mr. Berendt began his talk. Which was wonderful. He was very handsome, and an entertaining speaker.

At the end of the session, it was announced that the author would be signing copies of his book in another building on another part of the campus. Frances was concerned that she and Emily would have difficulty maneuvering their walkers across campus, and we knew the chances of my finding another parking place before everyone went home for dinner were pretty slim. As we were discussing our options, I saw Mr. Berendt come from behind the curtain and begin speaking with someone at the side of the stage.

Now this is not the type of thing I'm usually comfortable doing, but with Frances prompting me, I approached this rather intimidating fellow -- a New York Times best-selling author -- and explained that I was there with two friends with walkers, and, well, I'm sure he could see the difficulty...Would he mind just signing our books right then and there? He'd be making three ladies (two of them with walkers, remember) very happy, and he'd be saving us a lot of aggravation in the bargain!

I must say that although he obliged, he seemed a little tight-lipped as he looked over my shoulder; I felt properly chastised for being so bold. But when I turned around to find my friends...Gone -- both of them! I'm sure Mr. Berendt was thinking, C'mon, Lady -- Imaginary friends I can understand -- but both of them with walkers?! (I later found Frances and Emily -- and their walkers -- coming out of the restroom.)

I remember how I used to love visiting Frances at her house across the street. Oh, it was always a pleasure to visit Frances, even after she had moved into an assisted-living facility. She was ever the gracious hostess, and she always made me feel like she had nothing more important to do than to make me feel special. (And I know I'm not the only one who felt that way in her presence.)

The wonderful thing about visiting Frances across the street, though, was walking up her long driveway...It seemed like her house was a mile from the road, and that she had a magical forest for a front yard! I'm not exaggerating when I say I felt like Hansel and Gretel must have felt when they started out on their walk through the woods -- but without their apprehension. In this fairy tale, the creature who lived in the house at the end of the road was not a wicked witch, but a beautiful angel with a huge heart!

Oh, I remember so many more things about Frances. I am so thankful for all of those wonderful memories, as well as for the memories that her children, her friends and some of the students whom she loved so much shared at her funeral.

It's been just a month since Frances Askue Moore died. The last time I saw her, she was sitting on the edge of her bed, assuring me that she didn't need a thing...She was just "resting," she was fine. "Good-bye, Darling," she said. "I love you."

I love you, too, Frances. And I treasure all the things around my house that remind me of you...your birdfeeder, my angel pin, a green ceramic vase, some jelly glasses, the tiny cloisonne box from the Smithsonian. Our Intimate Book Group will continue to meet, and we know that you'll be with us whenever we do!

"Butterfly," August 24, 2009 (Kate's LRDC)

An Unremarkable Moment...

I can't believe I let it go by with nary a mention! September 12 marked the one-year anniversary of my Bowl of Chairies!






I didn't even blog that day!

Actually, I was thinking September 14 was the anniversary. But September 14 (Peyton's birthday) marked my last official "If Today is Your Birthday" post. Yep. Pretty much everyone I know has now been immortalized at least once in this blog, beginning with Gina Gottlieb on September 18, 2008. Hey -- I just realized something: My other Gina-Friend, Gina Gourley, would have been properly birthday-blogged on September 10, except that I did hers a couple days early (on purpose, of course). If not for Keenan's and Peyton's (two of my "Borrowed Babies"), my birthday blog ritual would have begun and ended with a Gina! Now that's remarkable!

So anyway, it's been a year. I feel like I should change something, but nah...I went through so much trouble (with the help of My Awesome Husband Greg) trying to get that header with the bowl of "chairies" just right...

Hey, maybe this would be a good place to say that yes, I have noticed that the letters are just a tad too far left, and that the capital A even goes off the lace a little bit. Like I said, I went through so much trouble...

Also, yes, I have greatly slacked off lately, barely posting anything except birthday blogs. Could you tell that I took that responsibility seriously? It was as if I imagined everyone who knows me waking up on their birthday and immediately logging on to see if I'd done their blog. Of course I do know the reality...that even after I'd sent e-mails notifying recipients that they'd been blogged, some of them didn't even bother to read what I'd written. But I live in my own mind, so I tried -- and yes, occasionally failed -- to at least post timely birthday wishes!

Well, now my work is done. Now maybe I'll be able to think of other things to write about that people won't want to read.

First, however, there are other things I must do. In fact, that list is so overwhelming I think I may just let myself get lost in a book or something. But, hopefully, I'll be back soon with nothing remarkable to say!

September 14 -- If Today is Your Birthday...

Peyton Virginia Wilson, August 2009 (LRDC)

..If today is your birthday (Well, yesterday, actually -- I'm late!), you are a very special little girl, and I love you!

...If today is your birthday, I remember the very first day that Daddy dropped you off at my house so I could watch you while he and Mommy went to work. You were so quiet, but you never cried.

...If today is your birthday, I remember the first time I picked you up to hold you...You wrapped your arms around my neck and gave me a really good hug. I've always loved your hugs, my Peyton!

...If today is your birthday, you've delighted our whole family with your funny little ways. You made me fear for your life the way you insisted on running everywhere, when you could barely walk! (I joked that there should be a Peyton-sized hole in the door at the end of the kitchen because you never stopped running until you hit something.)

...If today is your birthday, I've been amazed at the quickness of your mind and your passion for learning and trying new things. "Brilliant" is the word that comes to mind.

...If today is your birthday, I sometimes long for those days when I would get to keep you all day long, knowing when I said goodbye in the afternoon, that I'd be seeing you again the next morning. But...

...If today is your birthday, you're five years old now, and you have a baby brother and you go to school and I go to work...I'm just so very glad that I still get to see you and your wonderful family once in a while!

...If today is your birthday, I'm sorry this message is late, but...


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR PEYTON!

WE LOVE YOU AND HOPE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL DAY!

September 11 -- If Today is Your Birthday...

...If today is your birthday...



...and you have a brother who turned five on his birthday in May...




...then this blog is for both of you!

...If today is your birthday, etc., you are those boys who live next door to me, and whom I've had the honor -- and delight -- of taking care of from time to time while your mom and dad had to work.

...If today is your birthday...you are two of the most awesome kids I know -- for your cuteness. your brilliance and your ability to make me laugh and shake my head in amazement (and amusement). I'm so very glad to know you!

...If today is your birthday...it makes me happy just to know that you're over there having adventures for your mom to blog about! I love seeing her pictures of you on facebook, and I love running into you sometimes when you're playing outside.

...If today is your birthday...I know there will be enough cake and fun for both of you -- and Mom and Dad and your three (!) dogs, too. I just want to say "Hi Pie!" to both of you...


HAVE A WONDERFUL, FUN-FILLED DAY!

(Photos of Keenan and Kieran Rayfield, July 2009, my LRDC)

September 9...If Today is Your Birthday...

My Awesome Husband Greg Looking Handsome. (June 2009)


...If today is your birthday, you are My Awesome Husband Greg, and you were hoping I wasn't going to blog you. Whatever...

...If today is your birthday, it probably won't be as much fun as the ones you remember from earlier years in terms of the "stuff" you get. But I hope it will bring you as much happiness as you can stand. That's how much happiness you deserve for all you are to me!



MAHG Thinking, What -- No Presents? (June 2009)


...If today is your birthday, you probably won't notice a big difference in the way I'm acting...I mean here I am, first thing in the morning, down on my computer...What's unusual about that? Still, there will be something special about the way I'm feeling, because it's your special day!



MAHG, Not Afraid To Get His Hands Dirty. (June 2009)


...If today is your birthday, my prayer for you is that the worries that normally keep your mind busy will give it a rest, at least for today, so you can just focus on all of the things that make you happy!

...If today is your birthday, I love you as much as ever, and am so blessed to have been able to share so many of them with you -- and I am looking forward to at least 50 more! (Yeah, I crack myself up, too.)



MAHG, Straight Up (June 2009)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY GREGORY -- WITH ALL MY LOVE!

September 8...If Today is Your Birthday...

...If today is your birthday, surprise! Your birthday isn't until Septemter 10! Gotcha! (I guess.)
*Note added Sept. 9, 2009

Picture of a Picture...Gina Abruzzo Gourley and Meagan Fischer Kopp, circa 1981, Metamora Michigan


...If today is your birthday, I was simply going to post this photo on facebook, but then I thought What the heck...I haven't done a blog lately...

...If today is your birthday, I had some great memories of you and your family rekindled this weekend as we watched old videotapes of Meagan's early years. (You know, anticipating what her baby might look like when she gets here?) And there you were, running back and forth in a little pink velour jumpsuit, looking so cute. I hope you still have that jumpsuit!

...If today is your birthday, I'll never forget the day before you were born, driving over bumpy dirt roads with your mom and dad, trying to induce her labor. (Did I mention that Meagan was driving?)


*Well, I guess it must have been TWO days before...Whatever!


...If today is your birthday, I hope that lots of fun things will happen to you and for you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GINA -- HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!