Category: Remembering

There are many mothers who are feeling empty on this Mother’s Day. They are mothers who have lost a child from sickness, accident, war, killing, and for them it’s a day of sadness. Some mothers have many children and they all live to call themselves old, and other mothers have few children and one or two die before she does. In my heart of hearts I know there are reasons why these things happen. And we have to trust the reasons. I can’t comprehend what it means to lose a child, to feel that kind of sadness, and how it affects a woman. I’ve no way of knowing how a mother continues, only that many do.

The pain, the suffering, the forgiving, and finally the healing take time. A mother goes through it in her own way.  We’re all too aware that children die every day. And every day women find a way to recover from the shock, and somehow  continue to heal and live a happy life. Their belief in Life makes it possible, and the pain and suffering they experience eventually bring them to a different understanding of themselves and of Life. They don’t forget, they never forget the child who died. That memory stays intact.

And even though their child is no longer in this world; that child is most likely in a better place for having spent time on earth with them. Indeed, the relationship with that particular mother in this lifetime was a very, very important one for both of them.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Other than the charming song Alouette which my mother enjoyed singing, and which is firmly anchored in my mind, no one sang nursery rhymes, or told those famous fairy tales to me when I was very young. I guess you’re either in a nursery rhyme family or you’re not. And I don’t recall seeing any nursery rhyme books around the homes of children I babysat for either. So, it could have been a location thing as to who got nursery rhymes sung to them at an early age and who didn’t. Did you? if your answer is “no”, remember, it’s never too late, or if you never quite got the hang of the words, or if you only know part of those rhymes and fairy tales, or some of them, here’s your chance. Actually, I think you’re going to enjoy this site because it’s absolutely delightful. And if there’s a night when you can’t seem to fall asleep, well, you can go to www.nurseryrhymes4u.com and return to a time when life was perhaps a little less stressful for you.

At dictionary.com I got an inkling of the beginnings of nursery rhymes and fairy tales, and went from not having thought much about them to finding the subject vast and interesting as they have their own kind of history as Mother Goose, The Arabian Nights’ Entertainments or a Thousand and One Nights, and Brothers Grimm, etcetera, suggests. www.dictionary.com

Then I got to thinking about a wonderful gift shop I was in some time ago, and about the book I wish I’d purchased. It was a different kind of book having to do with the history of nursery rhymes and fairy tales. It was one of those occasions when, for a split second, you say, “Nah, what am I going to do with this book?” And I overruled that gut feeling and am now bookless about a subject that suddenly seems quite fascinating. Hmm! The book’s essence was that some of those nursery rhymes (not all) sung to children are downright scary or creepy, and if they weren’t sung in such a whimsical fashion, they could easily produce nightmares. Then it went on to suggest that the writers found their, shall we say, inspiration in the period in which they lived – the culture and hardships that went along with that time – influencing the writers of those “endearing” nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Perhaps I’ll spend more time filling in the gaps of what little knowledge I have of this interesting subject. It’s never too late. Right?

There once was a time when flying as a passenger on a commercial airline was more than you could ever imagine in the flying world of today. And people who are old enough to remember those days can only sigh. However, what is wonderful is to have once experienced that quality of service, in the style it once was. There were the efficiently-trained and lovely “stewadesses” and the manner in which passesgers were treated from beginning to end. Becoming a “stewardess” was not easy. They were expected to be professional at all times. The elderly and children could fly in the care of “stewardesses” and be assured they’d be put in the hands of the right person at the end of the trip.

In those days, traveling to Japan on JAL meant you were in the best of care. Menus for all three meals were placed on trays, and passenges could choose whether to eat American or Japanese foods. The food was very good. And every passenger received a kit with the necessary things needed for the very long trip-toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, razor, soap, towel, slippers, personal blanket and pillow, blinders for sleeping, etc.

I remember the short flights from NYC to Manchester, NH and the ham sandwiches served. People in that part of New England enjoyed sandwiches with ham. No, not any ham sandwich. It was a slice from a big baked ham to which chopped pickles were added with just the right amount of mayonnaise, then it was all blended together. That’s the ham sandwich served on those flights once upon a time. Okay, it’s true, it wasn’t the height of fine cuisine, but if that was a childhood memory, well, you just had to smile when it was served. I’m not stuck in the past. I know Life is about moving forward. But once in a great while I remember certain things. Thirty years from now, I wonder what people will choose to remember.