Corner View : Wisdom from an elder

My grandmother's last words were, "People are the only thing that matter." She died after a short battle with cancer two weeks before my 7th birthday, and I try to remember what she said when I'm feeling overwhelmed and neglecting important folks in my life.

On the left is my dad's paternal grandmother, who
lived to be 99, and my grannie there between my parents.
Also note my older brother's excitement with
taking photos after my baptism.

Which brings me to an Army chaplain (the one who married us, in fact). At our pre-marital counseling, he said something that I often think about and remind my husband of when either of us is getting too far away from the mean. It's simple and straight to the point, "At the end of your career, you either have a family or you don't." And that's it! You either do what it takes to keep your family around even when you have heaps going on, or you don't. The measure of that? A family still around at the end who has been there since the beginning.

My dad is full of these little one-liner pearls. Some of my favorite include, "Make all your agreements while you're still friends." He's owned his own business for 30 years and that one undoubtedly comes from experience, which is why he'll tell you to get that agreement in writing, too. He'll also drop, "A good cowboy never looks back" every now and then. Make your choices and move on, don't dwell on things that don't matter.

Daddy and me, before many of those pearls of wisdom ;o)

And a couple other favorites (can you tell I like this topic?!!, Thanks, Theresa :) that I think are meaningful are, "You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: tangled Christmas tree lights, lost luggage, and a rainy day" and "Character is what you do when you think no one is looking." I suppose I like things that make you think about who people really are and how you determine what's important to them. A girlfriend of mine who is a counselor reminds me that, "You can't want more for someone than they want for themselves." So the friends who won't get out of a bad relationship, the student who just won't study... it applies to so much! If they don't want it, don't get your panties in a wad trying to get them to want it and work for it (obviously little people are the exception to this), you just have to hope they want it for themselves.

To check out other nuggets of wisdom, click on the folks below. Pay special attention to the very last one-- my friend and fabulous photographer Marcie has just been added to CV!

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,

caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, skymring, elizabeth, allison, lise, cate, crescent moon, erin, otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, nicola, vanessa, britta, april, b, kyndale, samantha, kristina, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, mcgillicutty, aimee, sunnymama, britta, juanita, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, jodi, gillian, travelingmama

athena, pienduzz, kelleyn, demara, mus, ninja, guusje, di, sammi, theresa, cherry b, victoria, kathryn , lisa, liza, juliette, mulot, anne, lucy, leonor, elizabeth, helene, dominique, shokoofeh, cole, jenna, podane, grey-lemon, line, nihal, urbaNiche, inner toddler, puna, lucylaine, adrienne, emily, lynn, skywriting, eliane, the wanderer´s daughter, carole, anna, dorit, kenza, sherry, conny, susan, l´atelier, elis, kamana, anne, rosamaría, marinik, elisabelle, victoria, malo, the yellow door paperie, tikjewit, juniper, ocean girl, emily, soisses, monica, marcie