Tuesdays With Pappo - Illegal Ties

 TUESDAYS WITH PAPPO

#tuesdayswithpappo

As Pappo and I returned to his Independent Living Center from our regular Cotton Patch lunch a few weeks ago, he informed me they had outlawed wearing a tie where he lived.

After a quick shake-of-my-head in disbelief, I asked him "Why??". He "claimed" he didn't know why but he thought someone died from wearing a tie there or something. But he wasn't sure.

We talked a little longer on this bizarre-illegal-tie-wearing-law when it suddenly came to me how he could get around it. I told him I needed to measure his neck first and, after digging through my purse and puling out my trusty always-with-me tape measure, I turned around to see this: His hands wrapped tightly around his neck to keep me away.

Seriously, all I wanted to do was measure him for a clergy collar as a tie-substitute. I thought it was a brilliant idea and a real knee-slapper if he wore it to his non-Catholic church.

He disagreed.

L-I-V-E

 July 7, 2024

I wrote this about 4 years ago today. As it popped up in my journal this morning, I thought it was good repeating. Have a great Sunday!!

L - I - V - E

lizsekerke

One of my favorite authors once said, "The road ahead would seem obvious if you knew how much road ahead there was."

Unfortunately, no one tells you how much time you have to dance on this earth. No one tells you if you have enough time to laugh till you hiccup or take a road trip up Pikes Peak or write that best seller. If you knew how much time you had to live, you'd know how to live, right?

About 17 years ago, Chuck and I were given a peephole into our future. We discovered that although he was walking fine at the time, he wouldn't always be walking fine. His Multiple Sclerosis was marching forward in his tall body and we had a limited amount of weeks, days or years before his legs would soon fail him. It was time to start living life outside of routine. We were given a gift....a tiny view of the future...and what we did with it was up to us.

We let go of our tight grip on "Can we afford this?" and purchased a motorcycle trike. We then wanted to take our trike trips to the highest mountains and furthermost oceans, so we added a motorhome to pull our trike to our growing expenses. We hit the road and we figured out how to live without knowing when we'd die.

Because we wanted to live first.

Have you ever wondered why God doesn't tell us the length of our years ahead of time? Why that death date is a mystery until the day it knocks on our door? I have. But we discovered there was freedom in not knowing what was around the next corner. What magical things were waiting for us as we closed our eyes and placed our fingers on random spots on the map as our next destination, and focused less on when that next hospital stay would be. And I could see God smiling and nodding His head in affirmation....because He knew we finally understood one of the greatest gifts He gave us in this life here on earth.

To live.

"Your life is only a blink long -

and then you wake up to the forever that your life chose."

Tuesdays With Pappo - "I Have An Addiction"

 TUESDAYS WITH PAPPO

#tuesdayswithpappo

I received a voice message from my Pappo earlier this week asking me to call him as he had something very important to discuss with me. Now, please understand, with Pappo, that could be anything from “I’ve fallen and can’t get up” to “I’m really thinking I need to learn how to play the mandolin”.

So as I was heading home from HEB, I gave him a call back. Here’s how that conversation went:

PAPPO: ”Softie, I’ve discovered something. I have an addiction.”

LIZ: “An addiction? To what?”

PAPPO: “My walker”.

LIZ: “How do you have an addiction to your walker, Pappo?”

PAPPO: “I use it too much. But thats not what I want to ask you. I want to know where I can get a treadmill?”

LIZ: (Cleaning off the steering wheel where coffee just spit out her nose) Pappo, I think that’s a bad idea.

Between my sister and I, we convinced him he HAS a treadmill....it was the long, long Highway-to-Houston-Hallway just outside his independent living apartment door he might want to try walking instead.

PAPPO: “Oh....that’s a good idea!”