A Positive Memory Post

It is Wednesday and we again join with Joyce for the Hodgepodge.

Click HERE to see the other bloggers today.

1. January 24th is National Compliment Day. Is it easy or not so easy for you to accept a compliment? Share a recent compliment you've given or received.

I have had to learn to accept a compliment graciously.  A dear friend has been a wonderful example for me.  She is beautiful and a sought-after soloist.  When complimented, she looks the person right in the eye, smiles, and sincerely thanks them for whatever they might have said.  I realize that a compliment can be gift and I try to accept it as such.

I see myself as an encourager and  delight in paying compliments to others.  I think the last one I gave was to my husband on Sunday morning because he looked so handsome.

2. Ten little things you are loving right now.

Clarification:  This list is more "LIKE" than love

1. Ringing Handbells
2. Winter
3. A new candle stand in guest bath
4. Doing Pilates with my friends
5. Thinking about seeing my Dallas family in a few weeks
6. Looking forward to joining long-time and seldom seen friends for a couple days on Feb. 2
7. Reading the Bible through
8. Learning to use the Pritikin eating plan (this may not be a love or even like thing yet!)
9. Our new Alexa
10. I do absolutely LOVE these new head shots of our little actress granddaughter
    

3. Would people describe you as a positive person? Do you see yourself that way? I read here  a list/description of eight things positive people do differently-

Yes, I think my glass is always half full.

Positive people find something to look forward to every day, they celebrate the small stuff, they're kind, they stay busy, accept responsibility for their actions, forgive themselves, know when to move on, and resist comparisons

Which action on the list would you say you do regularly?

Since a child, I have always had to have something to look forward to.  After retiring, that took some readjusting, but I still plan and look forward to something almost every day.

Which action could you add to your life to give you a more positive outlook?

I could probably do more outside the home to stay busy, but am not pushing it.

If you're a positive person, what's something you do regularly that's not on the list?

I pray and seek God's direction.

4. Homemade chicken soup, beef stew, or a bowl of chili...what's your pleasure on a cold winter's day?

Of these choices, it would be a bowl of chili

5. The best part of my day is....

Afternoons when Dick comes in from the office and we sit together, talk, read and enjoy a hot cup of tea.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

This past Saturday we did something Dick has been wanting to do for some time.  We took a road trip back to where he grew up, Columbia, Louisiana.  He knew all of the old houses they had lived in were no longer standing, but he wanted to see if he could find the old home places.

There was a huge flock of geese scrounging for food in a recently plowed field

We did find a couple sites and he relived many of the memories that took place at each.  It was such an interesting time for both of us. 

The house above was Dick's grandfather's house that was built in the early 50's.  He was blind, but Dick remembers seeing him sit out on the porch which overlooks the Ouachita River.  This whole area was once called "Hudson Bend."

He also remembered that his family had lived in an old house back on the other side of the field, which is long gone, and even as a small boy, worked in this cotton field.

Life was not easy during that time, but it was all they knew.  Because of those struggles, there have come generations of strong, well-educated, professionals who only hear the stories.

I recently came across this picture of  Dick's sisters, aunts and uncles and grandparents.  Dick is sitting in his mother's lap.  Evidently, the Ouachita River flooded in 1940 and this is where the farmer and his family lived until the new house was built.

We also found the cemetery where his mother's family is buried and the headstone for his grandparents, and great-grandfather, James.

This was such a fun day and we were so glad we took the time to go back and remember.