THURSDAYS WITH PAPPO

 THURSDAYS WITH PAPPO

LizEtheridgeSekerke

As is true with most every Thursday with Pappo, yesterday was interesting and tons of FUN.

This handsome 95 year-old and his youngest 60-something daughter headed to their main hangout.....Braums Ice Cream in Cleburne.

The handcuffs I brought him last month are still dangling from his walker handle and his neighbor ladies are still using them on him every chance they get. Who knew $5 handcuffs would be such a hit!

And you'll be happy to know he has been learning how to embroidery, yes....embroidering his initials on everything...thanks to his granddaughter, Jacque. She has him all set up with his own sewing kit, hoops and thread. The Sewing Group at his Independent Living Center tell him he's the ONE and ONLY man ever to join the sewing group. That got a smile on his face.....

Oh ya, he's also trying to learn how to play the piano! He has received his first Piano By Pictures books and has his very own account set up online to learn how to play "hymns" via iPad. No Moonlight Sonata for this man....nope....he wants Amazing Grace!

And as we walked back into his new home, who do I run into but a girlfriend from high school....VGA.....Donna Durichek! Goodness!! I won't even tell you how many years ago high school was, but it's over 40 and under 50. Turns out, her Dad lives three doors down from Pappo!! Geez....what a small world we live in!

As we said goodbye till next week, he kissed my hand, lovingly looked into my eyes and said, "Can you bring me a short extension cord next week?"

P.S.

They canceled Bingo last week.....

#Tuesdayswithpappo

The Gift Of A Mom - Mothers Day 2023

 MOTHERS DAY

LizEtheridgeSekerke

Mary stood at the foot of the cross her young Son was dying on……

Jesus saw His mother and the disciple He loved standing near her.

So He said to His mother,

“Woman, here is your son."

Then He said to the disciple,

“Here is your mother."

From that moment, the disciple accepted her as his own MOTHER."

John 19:25-27

I love that even in His darkest moment, Jesus made sure His Mom was taken care of after He was gone. He knew that an arrow was piercing her own soul as much as it was His side, so He gifted His Mom to John, the disciple He loved and trusted.

My mom died two weeks before Mothers Day 11 years ago. I dreaded going through that weekend without her.....I was childless and now I was motherless. But then I received a call. A call from a lady named Pam in Winnsboro, Texas.......a lady I had met over the years as I delivered Meals on Wheels to her own elderly mother......and Pam offered to share her mother with me that weekend.

And so she did.

She invited me to Sunday lunch with the whole family......to celebrate this lady she called Mom and I called Jewel. She gifted me with love.....this sweet daughter gifted me her Mom.

It was probably one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me. She knew my heart was piercing; aching to feel the touch of a wrinkled hand touching my cheek....longing to smell the Estee Lauder perfume that always arrived moments prior to Mom entering a room. She knew my heart had a crack in it.....so she handed me her heart......and her very own Mom.

The Gift of a Mom......I think God had it right creating her from the rib of man....the rib always keeps the heart safe.

THURSDAYS WITH PAPPO

Thursdays With Pappo

LizEtheridgeSekerke 

Thursdays With Pappo......included a handshake agreement that if I purchased him a hand drill like Wayne's, he would go to Bingo with the women. Here's that conversation:

LIZ: “Hey Pappo, why don’t you play Bingo with your neighbors & friends?”

PAPPO: "Only women go to Bingo. No men ever go to Bingo here at the Independent Living Center...aka Prison".

LIZ: "Well Pappo, like you used to always tell me, pave your own path.....be a trendsetter. If you start going to Bingo, the other men will follow."

PAPPO: "When did I ever tell you that?"

LIZ: "Well, you didn't actually ever tell me that, but I knew you wished you had."

PAPPO: "I'll make a deal with you Softie (his nickname for me). You get me a drill like Wayne's and I'll go to Bingo."

LIZ: "Really?? You promise?? (head nod by Dad). I'd feel better if we shook on it.

PAPPO: "Ok"

#Tuesdayswithpappo