I appreciate your love and concern. Here's the story.
- I am still a volunteer with the History Resource Center at the Groveland Museum, working with the genealogy database and writing articles for the (very) local newspaper and (less frequently) the historical society newsletter.
- Meanwhile, I had a brilliant idea for Daughters of Hawaii -- digitize the membership files, which have all been on paper, using a genealogical database. That means someone needs to monitor, edit, and integrate the data entry process. Big job. I'm behind on that deadline.
- My high school graduation was that magic 5-0 years ago. We were a tiny class -- less than 60 of us actually paraded in caps and gowns across the amphitheater stage at the University of Hawaii that day. But out of that handful, some are head-spinningly successful. The kind of people who are justifiably described as "world class" in their chosen professions. Others have achieved considerable financial success and are reasonably well-known locally. Naturally, all of those folks have stepped up and are volunteers with the reunion planning committee. A plea came from another member of said committee that she needed another voice for the rest of the class.
So here I sit, trying to find caterers who will go to a place that is seen as almost as remote from Honolulu as Groveland is from the rest of the world, with a budget-fitting menu that will be supported by our day's activities. White tablecloths and elegant food somehow doesn't follow well after a day spent in outdoor fun and capped by an afternoon beach party! - I did manage to turn down the annual offer for a vestry seat at church (the governing body of the congregation) on the basis that I can only do justice to one board at a time, and Daughters of Hawaii has already staked their claim.
- My mother's needs get greater by the day as we find new tasks she is either unable or unwilling to do for herself. The yard, for example, which she loves, is turning into a disaster, as no adult is willing to do what she wants done for the wage she is willing to pay. She has someone who mows the lawn every 4-5 weeks, but it needs cutting every 2-3 weeks. I cannot start my dad's lawnmower (it is a pull start, and I cannot pull hard enough to get the fussy engine to catch) and she won't replace it with an electric mower that I can use.
- I also need to make time for activities that please my mom. The Academy of Arts is good. Distances are short and she can use her walker. We tried a commercial gallery last week, one located in a small shopping mall. She enjoyed it once we got to the gallery, but it was a very long walk for her -- although distances for a younger person are short. So our outings are usually limited to market-pharmacy-Longs Drugs, with an occasional longer trek to Barnes&Noble or the Hallmark Store or one of her favorite thrift shops.
- Then there's nights like tonight, when the phone rings and it is my priest announcing he has the flu, there are no available supply priests available on the island, and could I please, please, PLEASE read Morning Prayer at both services tomorrow morning. .... and the high school boy who works in the yard a couple of Sundays a month cannot come this week, the green waste garbage cans need to be filled, and guess who gets to do some heavy bush pruning to fill up said cans? Three large ones, currently empty ..............
Onward to another day! Give thanks for the things you can do, large or small, that make a difference to someone. Don't forget to pray.
