Sister Fidler's Old School Weekend

First of all, I would like to ask you all to say "Sister Fidler" 5 times really fast.

Okay, so this past weekend  was such a sweet, refreshing, eventful weekend. We took the kids to spend the night with my Mom on Friday and then had supper at Coram's. It had been a budget kind of week around here, so we were trying to decide between Chick-Fil-A and Taco Bell when all of a sudden I had a mad craving for some Heavenly Hash. We had to have Coram's. It's amazing how much you appreciate the little things. Like being able to complete sentences and not having to get up one time during supper. At the table across from us was a Mom in her military uniform with two small kids. A man came over to tell her that he picked up her bill and to thank her for her service to our country. I cried. In Coram's. But I did it discreetly. After the Mom left another family came and while Josh went to the bathroom the lady asked if I knew a good beautician. I am still trying to decide if that was a compliment as in she thought I looked like I had a good beautician, or if she was trying to imply that perhaps I should find one before I left the house again. :)  Either way, don't you just love little diners where you can eat grape jelly on buttered toast at 8:00 at night and be all up in everybody's business? I do. When we are old and retired I fully plan on us taking a road trip cross country and stopping at every roadside diner. Josh doesn't know that yet, but he will....

Speaking of retiring, the reason the kids were staying with my Mom was because on Saturday some of our church had planned a trip to Tallahasse to visit one of the couples who have moved to an assisted living facility there. They had been lifelong members at our church and they are sorely missed. They left not too long after Josh and I got here, but their absence is still felt. I told y'all the church van messed up, right? Well, Josh and one of our church members spent an enormous part of their week replacing the water pump. I spent an enormous amount of time cleaning out our Jeep in case we needed to take it, and let me tell you what, it wasn't pretty. Seriously, we could star in "Hoarders on Wheels". (I don't think that's really a show, but give TLC a few months :) Anyway, thankfully the van was fixed and seven of us set off Saturday morning for a road trip. I sat in the back with 3 of our ladies and I just had the best time listening to their stories and hearing tours as we went through towns where they had grown up or had family members.  All was well in the world. Then, we got on the interstate. The van started shaking violently. I didn't give it much thought as we have had other vehicles that ride like that. :)  The other ladies started freaking out and minutes later.....THE TIRE BLEW! Oh my word! Josh was slowing down but trying not to slam on the brakes as we were on the interstate and so he wouldn't lock anything up. I was so glad I wasn't driving. I would have slammed on those breaks and either flipped the thing or caused an 80 car pile-up. We pulled over and I instantly had flashbacks to my last trip to Tallahassee. Josh informed us that part of the tread had just come off. He and our music minister went into pit crew mode and quickly had it changed. Pa-raise the Lord!

Our church members were so amazed at how fast Josh was able to do this and I just could not properly explain to them how much experience he has with things like this. :)

It literally took about 5 minutes and we were back on the road. The facility is very close to the neighborhood Josh and I lived in our first year of marriage and it was a neat trip down memory lane. Mr. Clynton and Mrs. Wayra were so surprised and excited to see everybody. Us girls went upstairs with Mrs. Wayra and she showed us their apartment. It was covered in artwork and I found out later that she and Mr. Clynton had taken a painting class together years ago and it was their artwork. I thought that was so neat! After that we all had lunch together in a little sunroom. We teased Mrs. Wayra about how spoiled she was not having to cook or clean and having a beauty shop right there. It really was a very nice place. I encouraged Josh to go ahead and reserve us a room! We really just had the best time visiting with everybody.

I just love old people. I know I've told y'all that. I love their history and their stories. I love their perspective on life. I've been considering writing some posts about relationships leading up to Valentine's Day, and I have to say that I think something that is great for strengthening your relationships (ALL of them, not just romantic ones) is visiting older people. I can't tell you how many of the days that I worked with Hospice that I spent with widows telling me stories about their husbands and their lives when they were younger. It gave me such a different perspective on the frustrations and annoyances of life. I found myself going from being frustrated in the laundry room over balled up sock and set in stains, to just thanking God that I had my husband there to mess up clothes. Mr. Clynton and Mrs. Wayra kept telling us that they are at a nice place, but it's just not home. I know it has been a tough transition for them, but to be honest, I pray that I will get old the way that they have. That Josh and I will live long enough with good enough health to spend our days together. Our society really worships youth and and I feel like there is such a divide between the older and younger generations. If a young couple came to me for advice, I would tell them to spend time with older couples. For several reasons.
1. If nothing else, I always feel like seeing those who are unable to do things they once could always makes me more grateful for the place I am at in life and challenges me to use what health, talents and abilities I have NOW.
2. There is just so much to learn. Whether you learn that you want a relationship like an older couple you know, or you DON'T want what their relationship is like, you are still learning things they've done or not done. Like hearing that this couple we visited took an art class together. That is something I hope Josh and I will always strive for is enjoying doing things together.
3. They prove it can be done. You  know to watch TV or hear people talk you would think that staying married is like trying to walk on water. Impossible! But, it's not. I LOVE to talk with couples who have not only stayed married (Mr. Clynton and Mrs. Wayra have been married over 60 years), but who you can tell are GLAD they stay married. You know they had to work at it, but they did. They invested in their marriage and it paid off. Let's face it, at the end of our lives, the people we've nurtured our relationships with are what will matter.

Okay, I will get off of that soapbox. :)  We finished up our weekend with a joint singing service with another church in our community. When I walked in the door someone came up to shake my hand. As I went to introduce myself they said, "You're Sister Fidler". One of our church members nearby said, "That's Mrs. Emily."  Yeah, I don't usually go by Sister Fidler, but I don't know, it could grow on me. :) It was a great service. The church was a different denomination and I have to tell you, they really know how to worship! It was just a great time to get to know new people and to feel united in our call to reach out to our community. One of our high school girls sang and Y'ALL, that girl can sing! I am so going to videotape her and put it on Youtube. I'm going to be her Randy Jackson. Okay, I'm probably more like Paula. Whatever. Girls gonna be famous!

Well, it was a weekend of diners, assisted living facilities and singings. Josh and I have fully embraced the older generations. I even found this when I uploaded pics off my camera tonight.

Josh had taken a picture of one of the birds in our yard. Next thing you know we'll be eating supper at 4:00 in the afternoon and Josh will be sitting on one of the benches at the mall waiting for me.

How was your weekend?