Three from Mary Mann

marymann has somehow survived, against all odds. She is, therefore, eminently qualified to have three things and to share them with the grandbabies. These three kinda rock out loud.

one All of your life you are talking to yourself. It has been my experience people will talk to themselves in a way they would never speak to anyone else. Practice, always practice, talking to yourself in a supportive, loving manner. It will pay off. I have found, for myself, the way I talk to myself is reflected in the way I speak to others. Very nice. I practice very nice all the time. 

two In my life there are people I have lost track of and I miss them terribly. I regret I didn’t keep in touch or at least make sure I knew how to keep in touch with them. There are people in my life who I don’t exactly have anything in common with, and yet there they are. I am not as unhappy about people I don’t like being in my life as I am about losing the people I did like. Take a minute, now and then, to touch base with those people you really like. It will matter later. 

three If you are going to have pets, they are going to die. They are going to get sick, they are going to have accidents. If you love them, they know. They always know. Pets are not concerned with growing old and knowing their grandchildren or their grandchildren’s grandchildren. They live in the moment. They love in the moment. They know you love them, now. They know you care. They are also animals who have a much shorter life span than we do. I don’t think it ever lessens the love of one life to love another. Love is one of those things that only grows. Love never fades and disappears, it always remains and when given away it grows. There are many, many pets waiting to know you love them, and waiting to love you. I believe when a pet is lost, take some time, honor your grief. That pet is indeed no longer living. The love you had for that pet exists still and when your ready for that love to grow, get another pet. I promise you will find more love than you ever realized. Love is funny that way. Having a pet is also funny that way.

copywrite 2012 moemasters thesethreethings marymann. yep.

These Three.

one. Never forget how much I love you. Know that there is somebody on this planet who gives an incredibly big hoot about what you choose to do. Do the right things and think happy thoughts. Finish what you start. Life is just too short to do otherwise.

two. When things seem to be too good to be true, they probably are. There really are no free lunches. If you are blissin'all the way out about your amazingly phenomenal stroke of luck at the end of the day - you may wanna just Google "karma."

Know this: everything worth having is worth working for. The Toll lurks and stalks. The Toll keeps track. You will bleed and sweat; I do so wished that that weren't the case. You may swear like a sailor. You probably will. The Toll may wake you up every single morning.  Things are probably going to get messy - don't drag your heels and do wear your good gloves. Keep up.

three. When the people on your island want to talk about God or The President: Just turn your head to the left and look up. Do not go there. Chuckle. Life is too short. Cough. Snore. Trust me on this one. We will talk about this business when you can button your own jeans and drive a car. For real. Smile and nod, Baby. If I din't love you I would not mention this.

@copyright moemasters thesethreethings 2012    BOOya.

teachers, music and death by Diana Markley Guidas

one IF you have had at least one great teacher in your life, and you can find a phone number, let that person know that they had an impact on your life.  I had a math teacher in high school named Mr. Wilbur. He taught me pre-calculus and calculus, and he had an incredible gift for making math understandable.  Twenty years after I graduated, I was at my parents’ house for Christmas, and I called Mr. Wilbur.  He had long since retired, and I am quite sure he did NOT remember me, but it didn’t matter.  I just told him that he was the best teacher I ever had, and I wanted him to know that.  I have never regretted making that phone call. 

two When someone invites you to a concert ~ GO.  I don’t care what genre of music is being played.  I used to think that I only wanted to attend performances by groups that I was familiar with … the Stones?  Sure.  Jackson Browne?  Of course.  CSN&Y?  Absolutely.  Mike Finnigan?  Always.  Then I met my husband.  In the past 8 years, he has taken me to over a hundred concerts, most of which were entertainers I had never heard of.  Some of them have been in tiny venues with audiences of 20 people; Others have been in huge stadiums.  The music has opened my mind and my heart and my soul.  I have danced in the aisles, stomped my feet and sung at the top of my lungs. There were perhaps 2 concerts that I didn’t enjoy all that much.  But two, out of more than a hundred, is a pretty good statistic.

three There are no rules for grieving.  When my mom died, and I was crying, my brother pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket with the phone number for a funeral home and started dialing.  I was furious with him.  Wasn’t he upset?  Wasn’t he sad?  What was his problem?  He didn’t have a problem…he simply had a different way of grieving.  When someone passes away, there are those who clean out that person’s closet the day after the funeral and those who want to wait a year or five or ten.  Don’t judge - there are no rules for expressing grief.

copyright 2012 thesethreethings moemasters dianamarkleyguidas 

Tres Importants

one Forgive and forget is more than just a tired old cliche. Bad shit happens, people make unbelievably regrettable mistakes and screw up in ways that they weren't even capable of dreaming up. Get.Over.It. By virtue of the fact that we get to keep on growing older, we get to get smarter and more understanding as well. Yea, some of the big stuff takes a minute or two get over, but it is way WAY not worth throwing in the gloves. All the bad energy you burn up thinking unhappy or vengeful things will come back to you ten-fold. Trust me on this one. If,by some unfortunate series of star alignments, you are unable to forgive and carry on, then cut ties and burn that bridge all the way down, baby. Never fail to smile and nod, politely, in public. But let it go and move forward. No smack-talk and no public throw-downs. Don't look back and always be grateful for the lessons that little bit of bloodshed gave you.(If you almost bled to death you don't have to be nearly so grateful, ever... just smarter.)

two You can actually go back. Y'know, like: Home. It's a way over-used little sentence that's got something about how you can never go back. Well, you can too. Obviously you can't go back to, like, specific points in time (Like that one autumn when we were shooting the Howdy video and the leaves were falling like snow and the house was full of teenagers drinking all our milk and I had on my favorite skirt.) But, you can go back home, if you really want to. I don't have any quantifiable evidence to support this statement, but going back home could feel as awesome as leaving felt. And, I don't mind telling you: Leaving felt fan-freakin-tastic. A couple times. (The vortex known as Wichita has a powerfully strong pull and leaving often takes several attempts.) But, don't be putting all your eggs in that basket called "You can never go back." And, furthermore: Git! Get out of your town for the love of God. You'll get stale if you stay too long.... you'll grow things like potatoes....

three A good guest learns to recognize the cues that suggest he/she is about to get punched in the throat if silence doesn't happen soon. What this means to you is this: Sometimes you have to stop talking. That's it. Less is more, for real - more often than not.

copyright 2012 moemasters thesethreethings