Morning Ramblings

My brother is getting married in a couple of days to a wonderful person.  They've been living together for the last six years so she's very much already a big part of our family.  She has two wonderful kids that we already love so much, one that just started college this year and the other in high school.  They are so perfect together and I'm so happy for them.  I wish with all my heart that our mom was alive to meet and get to know Jennifer because I believe she would love her so much.  I know before she died her one regret was that Greg had never married.  He took his time and found the perfect match and is finally giving me the sister I always wanted.  

Sometimes I have found in life that life works out differently than we plan.  We can rush around, we can push and we can organize all we want but God actually has his own plan for us and in time he reveals it we just have to have patience.  Patience is one virtue I really do not have.  When I was a child and Mom was pregnant with Greg, I prayed for a sister but she brought home another brother, that made three!  When Gary and I got married I wanted four children, after Rob was born we were told that if I carried another it could possibly kill me.  But then Rachel married Jacob, boom, I had my second son and someday if Rob ever marries I'll have my second daughter.  Now, I understand!  Some of Gary's sisters have become my own.  Some, not so much lol.  I have girlfriends that are like sisters, maybe closer than sisters.  I have found sometimes family doesn't always mean blood.  

I know I've talked about my grandmother from time to time in this blog, she was the most loving person.  Everyone loved her.  Many called her Grandma, many that weren't her grandchildren.  Sometimes that bothered me because I had a lot of competition as it was, there were many of us (59 grandchildren I believe and 70 something great-grandchildren by the time she died at 93) but she welcomed them all even those that weren't hers and loved them all.  She always had a smile and kind word for everyone she met.  No one walked away without a compliment.  That was my grandma. When I asked her about it once she said, "Smiles and kind words are free Debbie, why would you get stingy with them?"  Wow, what a lesson!  Talk about making me feel small ... but I learned that you never run out of them, they are free and they just keep filling up when you give them out so I followed her example.  I will never keep them to myself again.  You never know, that person you gave them to, that might be their only smile all day. She was humble, yet to me, she was one of the greatest women that ever walked on this earth.  

Well, I'm off to see the dentist and then on to lunch with a friend.  Have a wonderful day!