Recently our daughter Cassie told me our granddaughter who will be two the end of January had outgrown her shoes overnight. I laughed. “Wait until she’s a teenager,” I said.
Ellery has changed so much since her parents brought her home from the hospital. Cassie and Kurt have a little dog. We have a picture of Ellery and Melvin dog. Melvin looks huge next to baby Ellery. Much has changed since then. Now it is shoes.
When our son was a teenager he grew out of his shoes every three months. We didn’t have the budget for the constant need for shoes. He wanted expensive shoes from the sports store. I took him to Walmart. We got into a “raised” voice match in Walmart over the issue.
That wasn’t productive for either of us. Keith and I solved the problem by adding shoes to the list of things Chris was responsible to buy with the money he earned. Walmart shoes didn’t look so bad when he was spending his own money.
Now he has three teens of his own. We’re all at different times of life. Keith recently retired. Relax? Hardly. It seems we’re busier than ever. We’re looking forward to welcoming a new grandchild into the family soon, even while spending time in Minden with Keith’s dad who decided it was time he moved from his house to Bethany Home.
It doesn’t seem that long ago Mom and Dad moved off the farm into Minden, yet it has been over twenty years. His brother Randy and family moved into the Scheidies home, which has been in the Scheidies Family well over 100 years. Two years ago we lost Mom and, more recently two friends. These are not changes I like, yet death is part of life’s cycle and change. It is the speed of change, how time goes by more quickly with each passing year, that boggles the mind.
I am aware of my age and wonder where my 30’s and 40’s went. Now my children are those ages. Our oldest grandson is 18 and graduated from high school in May. It is hard to get my head around the truth that I am now a geezer. I’m older now, and my body is a whole lot more fragile than when I was younger.
Yet, for all the life changes, life is good in so many ways. Keith and I still have each other, loving kids, grandkids, family and friends. We’re thankful for what we’ve had and have. Life isn’t all roses without challenges, pain or bad stuff. Life happens. Changes will come. The key is to deal with life’s challenges by embracing the good, learning to forgive and to not hang onto anger, bitterness or resentment. Sometimes life is not about holding on, but also about letting go.
The phrase, “There’s always something” certainly refers to life’s often unexpected changes. But change is not all bad. These days, I look back with gratitude and forward with faith, knowing God, despite life’s changes, offers hope for today and life for tomorrow.
By Carolyn R Scheidies
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