"Run, Don't Walk"...by Jim Terry

Just last month my brother, Ryan, posted a wonderful tribute to my sister Lora for her birthday on our “secret” family page. It not only included a paragraph filled with sweet sentiments of memories past regarding why she is so special to him and to our family but also included a photo. It was a photo of when she was young. The photo also included my sister Angie and myself. Since I was so young in this photograph, I had to ask my mother, before she passed, what the occasion was. Apparently, it was taken during the Christmas season when my sister, Lora, got her favorite racecar she always wanted. As you can see in the image, she is also sporting her favorite crash helmet at the time. It also portrays the oldest sister’s love for her younger siblings and expresses some pretty happy and content kids. As I continued to look at that photo, it also brought up some great memories of Christmas’ past.

One of the first things I remembered from my past Christmas’ was the anticipation of Christmas morning. Didn’t time seem to just entirely slow down or stop on Christmas Eve when we were young? Oh, how I wished I could speed time up for that next morning to arrive. Seconds turned into hours and hours turned into eternity during that night.  I recognized it was a bad situation for me when I would outlast the constellations.  What are the constellations you might ask?  Well, as a young boy, I also wanted to be an astronaut and had those plastic glow-in-the-dark stars that were carefully placed on the ceiling in my bedroom to resemble the heavens above. Once the light was turned off, they generally would glow for about an hour. I rarely remember not falling to sleep before they would stop glowing. However, on Christmas Eve, I recollect having to turn on my light two or three times during that night in order to recharge my stars so that they might glow once again until I would finally have “visions of sugar plums" dancing in my head.

You know that old rule, “walk, don’t run?” Well when the next morning would arrive, I remember my siblings and myself, never walking, always running to see what Santa had delivered in the wee hours of the morning. I can picture it now as we entered the living room. 

First, there was always the lingering faint smell of cinnamon and apple potpourri in the air that had been simmering on the stove from the night before. The peaceful radiance from the lights on the carefully decorated Christmas tree, that we all decorated together as a family, helped with the ambiance of the setting that we would experience. The stockings that were hung by the “chimney with care” were now filled and carefully placed next to the other items that Santa had brought us regardless if we were “naughty or nice.” The faint flickering light from the fire being lit and the warmth it provided…The beautifully wrapped gifts to each other under the tree…The fun…The laughter…The Joy…The happiness…(sigh).

From Left to Right...Jim, Lora and Angie ~1971

If I could go back in time and witness this again, even if it might be with the Ghost of Christmas Past, I would do it. This time though, I know my attention would be directed differently. Instead of focusing on the gifts I would receive from Santa, I would now focus on and notice the reaction of my father who had worked so hard to provide for his family. I would also focus on my mother, who wrapped, sewed, cleaned, cooked and made everything so special during the holiday season.  I would also direct my attention to my grandmother Hattie, who, in her quiet demeanor, would sit in the corner experiencing the joy of the younger generation's delight until it was her turn to open her gifts. And lastly, I would also focus on my siblings so that I might experience and relive the joy and happiness that we all had together knowing we were family.

As they say, "time flies," and since Christmas is here and you still have time to get off of Santa’s “naughty list” for next year, I would recommend being bad and breaking that old rule I mentioned before.  My Christmas wish for you...“RUN, DON’T WALK," to be by your family’s side or by those you care about so that you can make those memories that will last a lifetime.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING

WISHING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY PEACE AND HAPPINESS DURING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! 

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HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Wishing you a HAPPY and SAFE HALLOWEEN! 

Feeling Small?...by Jim Terry

Boy how time flies, as I am getting older. And with the swiftness of time, as it passes, I sometimes find myself feeling a bit deflated, insignificant, unimportant or small in this big ole world we live in. A minute becomes a second, a month becomes a day and a year becomes a month. As I look back on what I have written in past posts, I have mentioned this before but it really is true that time really does speed up as we age.  Maybe a better outlook, since I am a self-proclaimed optimist, is to say, “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

So in light of mentioning time and it now being officially September, I wanted to know what last hoorahs or plans you have for the end of the summer (Labor Day) and the beginning days of another school year?   If you don’t have any ideas for that last-minute trip, don’t worry. I have one that may help you make a decision on where to go and what to experience.

Just recently, I found myself in a conversation with one of my patients. Most of my patients know about my love of the outdoors and how much I love to hike, raft and just experience nature. It recenters me and helps give me a bit of focus and peace in the crazy world we live in.  So upon further discussion with this patient, he mentioned an area that I should visit, that was close to work, doesn’t have a lot of foot traffic and is easy to get to. The place he mentioned is called Purisima Creek Redwood Preserve.

Upon entering this serene place away from the hustle and bustle of life, a small squirrel greeted me. This little guy was either welcoming me to his home or was looking for a quick free meal.  I think it was the latter! 😀 Once I passed by my little friend and started my hiking adventure, I had to stop for a minute, close my eyes and take a deep breath. There’s always something so refreshing and energizing about clean mountain air that's laced with pine and freshness isn’t there?  It literally rejuvenates my soul and magically clears my mind somehow.   It was right after that moment, when I reopened my eyes with now more tranquility and clarity in my mind, that I noticed a wall in front of me. It wasn’t a “wall” per say, but it was a wall of green created by some of the biggest trees I have seen to date. 

As I continued on my journey, I began to notice my environment around me.  The impact and quietness of my shoes upon the forest’s floor was gently cushioned with the evergreen leaves that had fallen to the ground. The canopy above me was slowing closing in around me not allowing much light onto the forest floor but provided just enough to generate some of the most beautiful and biggest ferns I have seen. The faint whispering of the wind gently rocking the trees to and fro was only subdued by the distant hoot from the hoot owl waiting for night to fall in order to capture his next meal.  And with the few openings in the canopy above, if there was a ray of light that hit the forest’s floor, it generated one of the most amazing Technicolor hues that anyone could witness.

Now I may be biased now that I have experienced this, but the redwood trees really should be the 8^th wonder of the world. Did you know that redwoods can live over 2,000 years and can be nearly 400 feet tall? Did you also know that they can have branches up to five feet in diameter and bark that grows up to 12 inches thick? 

And do you know or have you seen the pictures of redwood trees that get so big and wide at the base that you can literally drive a car through them? This then means that the average width for a giant redwood tree can be up to 30 feet!

So if by chance you live anywhere near the coast of Oregon or all throughout northern California, make it a priority and see one of the MANY State and National Parks associated with the Redwoods. You certainly will not be disappointed. And if you, like me at times in my life, may be experiencing some sense of “smallness” in the big ole world we live in, maybe it’s time to stand next to a giant.  Where being small is just A-Ok!

HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!

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HAPPY 4th Of JULY

We hope you have a great day filled with fun and family. Just remember to be 

"SAFE and SANE!" HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!!

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HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

With a recent trip to San Diego within the last year, I had to take a minute and stop when passing a certain landmark.  I was on my way to see Cabrillo National Monument and before arriving there I was taken back by another nationally recognized place known as “Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.”

As I entered the gates of this serene place, I couldn’t help but to think about all the stories I would hear if I were able to speak to the war heroes themselves or the families of the soldiers who had fallen.

“What was their life like? Why did they choose to serve? When did they die and where?” I had to ask myself and then continued…"Whom did they leave behind? What did they witness and experience in order to provide the freedoms we have?”

With row after row, line after line and “V” after “V” witnessed of the perfectly aligned headstones, I found myself contemplating my own life and freedoms I have in this country and why I have them.  My thoughts then wandered to focus on some of my own family who have served in wars past and are currently serving...to friends and their families who have served...to friends of friends and so forth.

So with Memorial Day upon us, make sure to give “THANKS” to those that are serving or have served and remember all those people in your lives who are important and may no longer be here with us. I recently came across a quote that really sums up how we should remember this day..."In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." 
~Martin Luther King, Jr.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!

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Moms Know Everything...by Jim Terry

There are times of the year that I feel that I am more inspired and motivated than other times during the year. Don’t you?

Summer, for me at least, always seems to bring out the energy in me due to the long summer days and the warmth of the summer’s night air.  Another time of year that motivates and inspires me is during the holidays.  I notice that it always seem to bring out the good in me and in others. I feel as though I am kinder, more charitable and want to help those in need. Spring is another time of the year that helps rejuvenate a lot of us because the life in Mother Earth returns and can once again be witnessed. This comes in the form of green grasses growing, flowers blooming and what once was twig-like silhouettes in the trees are now full of life and can now provide shade and shelter from the summer’s sun that is only a month or two away.

I also am always partial to and inspired in May and in the spring because it is the time of year where we celebrate Mothers.  Now that my Mom is not here with me and because she is the one that started this blog, I find inspiration and motivation in my memories of her, the good person she was and in the lessons I learned from her.

One of the best lessons I learned in my life was when I was five years old. The year was 1975.  My mother and I were running some errands and we had to make a quick stop into the local “five & dime” store known as Sprouse-Reitz so that I could buy a toy truck I had been saving for. This store chain ceased operations in the mid-1990s but this was one of my favorite stores to go into when I was young. This store would be the equivalent of what a dollar store is now. They had lots of toys, trinkets, and candy for kids and the best part; it didn’t cost a lot of money. This was really important especially for a kid on a limited income of an allowance that consisted of $.50 a week.  

As we approached the checkout at the front of the store and after picking up my Tonka Truck I wanted, I noticed at kid’s eye level, of course, there was the array of candy. Now let it be known that when I was younger there were two things I always loved. Bubble Yum Bubble Gum in grape flavor and Tic Tac that was orange in flavor.

As I handed my mother the money I had earned with my allowance to pay for my truck, I couldn’t resist the temptation of also taking an orange flavored tic tac. I knew I didn't have enough money to buy the tic tac too, so when I thought my mother and the lady behind the counter weren’t looking, I gently placed my favorite candy inside of my pocket for safe keeping until later. 

I laugh at myself at times and how my adult brain works or doesn’t work some days in my adulthood, but I still wonder why or how on this particular day, in my mind as a child, I thought I could get away with something I knew was wrong or do something that my mother would possibly notice. I mean, after all–MOMS KNOW EVERYTHING! 

That night after the incident and when I thought I had gotten away with it, my mother carefully tucked me into bed and began to tell me a bedtime story as she always did.  I will never forget the story that night and listened intently because of what the story was about. Ironically, the bedtime story entailed an example of a young boy that stole something in a store, didn’t tell him mom about it and how that made his mother feel. Which was, in her own words, “Very bad.”  As the story ended, my mother did as she always did and gave me a kiss goodnight, told me to sleep well and ended it with “I love you.”

As she left my room that night or any other night, she would always leave the door partially open in order to let the light in from the hallway so I wouldn’t be afraid of the dark. On this night, however; I think the crack was left in the door so she could listen to her small son contemplate the things that he had done that day and how he might fix it.

As I lay in my bed that night I stared, for what seemed like hours, at my glow-in-the-dark stars and constellations that were placed on the ceiling. Oh, how I wished that I could be anywhere else in the universe but in my bed after what I had done.  You know how you don’t sleep on Christmas Eve night when you are a young child because of the excitement? Well, this night was wrought with sleeplessness because of my own wrongdoing and what in my mind was a “bad thing to do.”

“How could I tell my mother what I had done?” I asked myself. “And what punishment might I receive?”

The next morning as I awoke and because of my mom’s intellect in knowing her son’s mind, I went into the kitchen, cried my little blue eyes out and told her what I had done. She told me she was proud of me for telling her what I had done but we had to make things “right.”

Later that morning, my mother drove me back over to Sprouse-Reitz and gave me the $.12 for the Tic Tac plus tax which I needed to pay for the stolen Tic Tac. She told me that I had to admit what I had done, I had to pay for what I had taken and I had to do this all by myself. I still to this day will never forget how afraid I was and that I would have to talk to a stranger and tell them what I had done.

As she watched me through the front glass doors of the store, she witnessed me hesitate two or three times while looking back at her and motioning for her to come with me because of my fear and tears that day. I’m sure it was as hard for her to watch her young son learn a life lesson at such a young age as much as it was hard for me to do, but she stood her ground and I completed what I had started...by myself.  I didn’t understand it at the time but I now realize that this situation helped me learn a life lesson, or two, that day. Moms are tricky that way in how they teach us so many lessons! 

Lesson #1-Crime doesn’t pay.  You will all be happy to know that was my one and only shoplifting incident in my life.  J I now pay for everything that I take from a store.

Lesson #2- On this special day make sure to treat your mothers well.  I am so lucky to have had the mother I had and am still so broken hearted that she is not here with me to thank her and tell her how much I love her on her special day. And for those of you who still have your mothers here, treat them with kindness, honor them, love them and make sure if you are ever thinking of doing something wrong, refer to Lesson #2... “MOMS KNOW EVERYTHING.”

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL THE MOMS OUT THERE!!!

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