Tuesdays With Pappo: "This Man....."

 March 26, 2025

This man.......

I've always called him Pappo.....pronounced: Pop-O.....

He has the most beautiful BLUE eyes....that get bluer with every year.....

That smarly sense of humor of his....well, it gets funnier with every year,,,,,

And with each passing day, our relationship grows closer and closer.

And as he celebrates Chapter 97 ......ya, you heard me right...he's 97 years old today.....my love for him grows bigger and better.

I love you Pappo.......lets PARTY!!!

Happy Birthday, Chuck......We Love You

 March 21, 2025

We will celebrate and toast you in our lives, Chuck, until we see you again.

Happy "Earthly" Birthday, Chuck.......and THANK FOR for this amazing Etheridge family I inherited the day I married you......and that Wayne inherited the day he married me.

Your legacy lives on.......and on.

Morning .....My Favorite Part Of The Day

 March 15, 2025

Morning. My favorite part of the day.

Quiet.

Still.

Hopeful.

Before rising, I begin with gratitude. For life. For opportunities the day will provide.

I fill my cup with coffee and retreat to my favorite chair.

With mind and body rested, before I’m invaded by the world outside these walls, I have time alone. To think. To read. To pray.

I prefer it to begin in the dark when I can see the day unfold before me.

I sit with my thoughts.

I acknowledge my successes and failures to see what I can learn from them. Good choices and bad. I give thanks. I ask for forgiveness.

I listen.

The birds remind me it’s a new day. A time to receive grace. And to give the same grace that I received.

These moments carry me through the day.

Without them I am disoriented. A bit lost.

I’ve learned that “how I start” affects “how I end”.

Choices made throughout the day are influenced by the choices I made that morning.

Morning prepares me for what is ahead.

It won’t be perfect, and that’s ok.

I will give thanks. I will ask for forgiveness.

And if I’m given another morning, I will find refuge in my favorite part of the day.

 March 11, 2025

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Chief Wayne Sekerke!

This past weekend, Wayne and I went to an event at the Dickie's Arena in Ft. Worth. It was an all day event with 8,000 people in attendance.

During the lunch break, us along with 7,998 other people, were all trying to make our way through the crowded hallway of this arena, when I hear Wayne say something to the couple just ahead of us. It turned out to be two long-time friends of his from days at the FAA.

They turned around and the biggest, most beautiful smile covered the lady's face as she saw Wayne. She then looked over at me, grabbed my hand and said, "Liz, I've been wanting to meet you!".

You see, they knew Wayne when he and Cyndi were married and had covered him in prayers through her death. As we stood there in the middle of chaos and people at Dickie's Arena, she grabbed both of my hands and said,

"We prayed deeply for Wayne during his time of loss. We prayed for healing, for peace for him and we prayed for love to find its way back into his life. Liz, we prayed for YOU before Wayne ever met you."

I could feel the tears stinging my eyes as this beautiful red-headed lady I had never met before named Jen, told me she had prayed for ME.....a yet unknown face in the life of Wayne....before he ever knew there was a Liz and before I ever knew there was a Wayne.

Today is this man's birthday.....his last 365 days being in his 60's. He prays each morning at the kitchen table with his wife after reading our Jesus Calling devotional. This morning, Day 1 of Year 69....he held my hand, (yes, I snapped this pic while he was praying...shame on me) looked up the scriptures using his trusty flashlight, and I see this heart form in the center of his Bible. Yep....right smack dab in the center.

It was God's way of reminding Wayne and I that marriage takes three people......not two. And its the third person of our marriage that hears the prayers of others on our behalf......prayers like Jen and Dan Bush's.....who prayed years ago that God would put us into each others lives.

And He did.

Check out our story here........

https://youtu.be/M57uH6SXXhs?si=mevgVXMQQJ32-jCN

Cyndi Sekerke - A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words

 January 11, 2025

A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words........

And this picture, well, it wins the Grand Prize.

This is Cyndi Sekerke, Wayne's late wife.....and today....TODAY we celebrate her earthly birthday. It's been a little over 7 years since God called her home to a place of REST. PEACE and HEALING.

And that very handsome man staring into her eyes....well, that's her Bud, her dad Ken. And for the first time in 7 years, they are looking into each others eyes once again. You see, Ken passed away exactly a month ago yesterday. They are once again together......Sis and Bud.

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words.....I say a 1000 words couldn't begin to describe this picture.

Happy Earthly Birthday Mom

December 21, 2024

 TODAY....would have been Mom's 93rd Birthday.

And what better way to CELEBRATE this wonderful woman than to share a funny story about her.

A few years before she passed away, she asked me to take her to Walmart to pick up a few items. Because of her Parkinsons, my sister and I had been trying for months to convince her to use the Walmart scooter they provided to their customers. She always refused. Said it made her look "old".

But this time, I convinced her to "just try it" once. As we walked towards the scooters lining the wall, she picked out her scooter while I gave her a quick tutorial on how to drive it. I could see the look of apprehension on her face, but I also saw a spark of excitement.

We walked/drove around the store for a bit getting used to the "feel" of the scooter when she said she needed to head to the Men's Underwear section for some undies for Dad. I headed in the opposite direction to get some eye drops from the pharmacy.

As I returned back to the Men's Underwear section, I couldn't find Mom. I looked around until I saw her driving down the main aisle towards the back of the store.....completely oblivious to the rack of men's underwear following her and attached to the back of her scooter.

We laughed till we cried (she never again got on a Walmart scooter) that day....and that picture will be forever etched in my mind when I think of my Mom. A simple woman. A woman with a heart of Love for each of us kids....a woman who believed in her kids more than she believed in herself.

Can't wait to see you again, Mom!!

Happy Earthly Birthday, Mom.

Tuesdays With Pappo: Scooter Boy

 TUESDAYS WITH PAPPO (On Friday this week)

#tuesdayswithpappo

December 21, 2024

PAPPO: "Softie, I need to run something important past you."

LIZ: "Sure...what is it?" (as I'm taking a sip of my Dr. Pepper)

PAPPO: "I want to get a 2-wheel scooter that I can ride around Keene on."

LIZ: As I choked on the Dr. Pepper I was drinking, I asked,..."Pappo, exactly what kind of scooter are you talking about? A wheelchair scooter?"

PAPPO: "No....one like this but fatter tires." (See pic)

LIZ: "Ummmmm.......NOOO"

The conversation continued......

QUESTION: "Where would you put your walker?"

ANSWER: "Don't need a walker if I have a scooter."

And lastly.....

QUESTION: "Don't you have a balance problem ever since you ran over your foot with your own truck a few years back?"

ANSWER: Crickets......

I can't make this stuff up, folks......

Tuesdays With Pappo.....On Thursday

 December 14, 2024

Thursdays With Pappo

#tuesdayswithpappo

This man.....goodness I love him so much.

Some Thursdays, our lunches and conversations are surfacey. We discuss the weather, how many resident's walkers he has repaired that week, how he's been feeling and how many ladies he has kissed on the tops of their heads that week.

But then there's those weeks when I look across the table while at Brahms or Cotton Patch or the little hole-in-the-wall grilled cheese shack down the road and see a man that doesn't even resemble the man I grew up knowing. He's softer....more sensitive.....more beautifully emotional. I see tears form in his eyes where I never used to. And that giggle he has....oh wow...do you guys know how often I've tried to record that giggle without him knowing it??? It's the BEST!!

This week was one of those weeks....

We talked about Mom......how he missed her....how I missed her and how she made all of us better because she was part of our lives. And we both felt the sting of tears....remembering Mom.

As I turned to leave, I found myself not wanting to let go of him. Kept going back in for another hug....hanging onto this moment and taking another look back at this man whose just months from 97...

....and feeling so incredibly grateful for him in my life.

It - Has - Been - A - Week!!!

 December 8, 2024

It - Has - Been - A - Week!!!

From Phoenix Thanksgiving .....to Fairview Thanksgiving.....to First McKinney Christmas with Neighbors.....to Missouri and breakfast at Billy Gayles in Branson....to meeting Trump at the Yakov Smirnoff show.....to a frigidly cold golf cart ride at Big Cedar Lodge x2....to boarding (& Surviving) the Titanic....to back to Fairview and a Block Christmas Party....to a Heritage Ranch Christmas Parade!!!

A FANTASTICALLY full week of Family, Church, Friends, Roadtrips, Cabins, Adventures, Trump Sightings and Parades!

We need a vacation.....

Happy 3rd Anniversary Chief

 December 5, 2024

Hard to believe......it's been 4 years today I "swiped left....then right" on eHarmony and saw this confident man standing in front of a Mission Arlington trailer ready to roll up his sleeves and prepare to volunteer. But it was this eHarmony profile picture that made me "go back" and take a deeper look at who this stranger named Wayne Sekerke was.

Little did I know on that cold day in December 2020, I would say "I Do" to him 365 days later on that very same day.

It's been an AMAZING ride these past 4 years with him by my side.....and we have lived a LOT of life in those 1,460 days.

* 2 Pods and 3 Storage Units

* 2 Homes Sold and 1-1/2 homes Bought

* 2 Retirements

* Too Many Trips To Count

He is solid as a rock......

.....and he makes this chick named Liz a better person.

Happy Anniversary, Chief