Target sells the coolest stuff. This is a two pane frame. You put photos or flat objects between the two panes and then fasten them together. It’s like a shadow box but clear and flatter.

I put things in it that represent important parts of my past. Not all of them, of course, but things that fit and seemed to go together. And what’s really cool is that I can switch them out whenever I want to.

Here’s the Table of Contents. Click on the link to see the details. And welcome to my life.

1. My mother’s obituary.
2. The program from my mother’s college senior piano recital at Hollins College.
3. An Eeyore card from Buffy.
4. The first birthday card Buffy ever gave me.
5. A bookmark that my friend “annie” from Mississauga, Ontario made for me.
6. My cat bookmark with Cammie’s tooth marks in the corner.
7. My smallpox vaccination certificate from 1962.
8. My favorite picture of me as a baby – flying at six months old.
9. A card that my Uncle David made for me and all his grandchildren.

1. My mother’s obituary.

DUVALL
Joann S.

Joann S. Duvall, 76, or Roanoke, Va., passed away peacefully at her home on Thursday, April 30, 2009. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Janeson Keeley and Buffy Lyon; her son and daughter-in-law, Charles A. Duvall III and Deborah Duvall; her grandchildren, Heather and Allison “Ally” Duvall; her sister, Jean S. Via, all of Roanoke; her brother and sister-in-law, Charles J. and Mary L. Shoaf of Vero Beach, Fla.; and several nieces and nephews. Her family would like to express their sincere gratitude to long-term caregivers and second family, Donna Goodman, Shelby Leonard, Cora Thomason, Gladys Ralsten, Melissa Knight and Tracy Goodman. Many thanks also to Dr. Neil Dorsey and the nurses and staff at Crystal Spring Internal Medicine for their unwavering support. The family will receive friends on Friday, May 1, 2009, at Oakey’s Roanoke Chapel from 4 to 7 p.m. A graveside service will be held 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, 2008, at Evergreen Burial Park.

Return to Contents

2. The program from my mother’s college senior piano recital at Hollins College, May 1964.

HOLLINS COLLEGE, VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

PIANO RECITAL
by
JOANN WILDER SHOAF

Class of 1964

PROGRAM

Prelude and Fugue in F minor (W.T.C., Book II)

Bach

Fugue in G minor (The Little)

Bach-Samaroff

Sonata in E flat major, Opus 7

Beethoven

Allegro, molto e con brio
Largo, con gran espressione
Scherzo&mdash-Allegro
Rondo—Poco allegretto e graxioso

INTERMISSION

Grillen, (Fantasiestucke, Opus 12)

Schumann

Prelude, Op. 28, No. 16

Chopin

Prelude, Op. 28, No. 15
Etude, Op. 25, No. 12

Hungarian Rhapsody

Lizst

THE LITTLE THEATRE
8:30 O’CLOCK, THURSDAY
MAY 6, 1954

Return to Contents

3. An Eeyore card from Buffy.

“The nice thing about rain,”
said Eeyore, “is that
it always stops. Eventually.”

Return to Contents

4. The first birthday card Buffy ever gave me.
You can tell how long ago that was; he made it on a Hollerith punch card.

Donna 0

Vol1 = Donna0

Created 28 Dec 1982

NonVol FMT
DSN = HAPPY
MEM = BIRTHDAY
FB (0240/0080)

Return to Contents

5. A bookmark that my friend “annie” from Mississauga, Ontario made me.

Hi Mama Donkey
It’s fun up here
in the Great White North
Love, Wurry

My footprint. I fell off the shelf.

Love, annie
Mar/04

Return to Contents

6. My cat bookmark with Cammie’s tooth marks in the corner.

Cammie was a paper chewer. I got this bookmark when I had my first black cat, Yoyo. Cammie decided to leave her mark on it. She was quite the paper-chewer.

Return to Contents

7. My smallpox vaccination certificate from 1962.
I don’t know when they were no longer required, but when I started kindergarten at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Baltimore in 1964, my mother had to show them my Smallpox Vaccination Certificate.

Measles vacccine – 3/26/64

BALTIMORE CITY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
SMALLPOX VACCINATION CERTIFICATE

This is to Certify

That Donna Duvall age 12/28/59
residing at 4812 Coleherne Rd. has been
successfully vaccinated against smallpox by me
on 1/5/62
True vaccina vesicle scab or scar was observed
on 1/19/62

Issued by Edward R. Frey, Jr., M.D.

Date issued 5/12/64

Address 4605 Edmondson Ave.

 

Return to Contents

8. My favorite picture of me as a baby – flying at six months old.

Return to Contents

9.A card that my Uncle David made all his grandchildren.
When he was helping me take care of my father, Uncle David and I became very close, and he gave me this card. My father died in July of 2005 at the age of 75 after a long illness. My Uncle died unexpectedly of a cerebral hemorrhage in March of 2008, a few days after his 75th birthday. I read this card at his funeral service.

WORDS TO SAVOR

“Emerson, that great power poet, arena savant and my new favorite philosopher:
Finish each day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities
no double crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely
and with too high a spirit
to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
– Bob Hill

Flip »

For life, though tenacious, is so deliciously fragile
And, from its very beginning,
Full of uncharted accidents.
Wise men accept it all,
Its occasional joys and pains,
Thankful for both
And for having been only
A visitor to this lovely, aching land.
Godspeed you on in peace….
– Unknown

Mind the famous quote from the old Pogo comic strip: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Live w/”Gusto”
Capt. Dave

FALL, 2006

Return to Contents

THE FIVE THINGS THAT MATTER MOST TO ME RIGHT NOW

1. My family and friends
2. Meeting my obligations
3. Feeling good
4. Expressing myself
5. Feeling connected

…you look at this graphic and say, ”Yep! [1] There are some advantages to getting older”! [2]

* * *

[1] If you know where this came from, please let me know so I can give well-deserved credit to her.

[2] “But who cares?”

Since I’m not there yet, I just have the straight jacket. I’m looking forward to getting the luminous buckles soon. [3]

* * *

[1] I heard this years ago when I was in high school, read to me from a book that a friend of mine had. I’d be happy to give credit if I knew who to give credit to. After all, wouldn’t you want to get credit for thinking up something like that? 

[2] If you say this really fast, which takes a little practice, it adds to the effect. 

[3] Which also explains why I haven’t been posting anything here lately.

www.blogthings.com/whatsyourinnercolorquiz/

Your Inner Color is Blue

Your Personality: Your natural warmth and intuition nurtures those around you. You are accepting and always follow your heart.

You in Love: Relationships are your top priority, and this includes love. You are most happy when you are serious with someone.

Your Career: You need to help others in your job to feel satisfied. You would be a great nurse, psychologist, or counselor.

@janeson59 spreddin smyls an luvs dus be bestist fing evva .. uggs ..@hergracethecat @thatstripeycat

— Henry(@henryandfriends) February 15, 2013

Henry @Henryandfriends

This is the valentine he sent into the Twitterverse today. I hope it warms your heart as much as it did mine.

Note that Henry, being a British sort of bear, writes with an accent

In case you don’t speak British Teddy Bear, here’s the translation: I have a big heart that is here to share, so you will know someone does care. With love from Henry

Stripey sending a dm to her fur-husband, Honeybell @Wildboutbirds.

Honeybell recently got a Facebook account, so of course Stripey decided that she had to have one, too.

You can’t exactly “put your foot down” when a cat wants something, but I did manage to purr-suade her to share mine. We are now Janeson Keeley (Stripey Keeley). Hopefully you’ll be able to tell which status updates are from Stripey and which are from me.

Gotta go now. Stripey wants to use the computer….

. . .

Just so you’ll know, “MOL” is short for Meow Out Loud. It’s the accepted feline equivalent of LOL. I won’t even try to explain Sleep Sheep, Shaunie, and the ‘lets yet. Let’s just say that Stripey has an active fantasy life and leave it at that for now.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland.

Okay, maybe I’m a little late with this since the snow fell last week on the 18th, but it’s supposed to snow again tomorrow, and that reminded me that I wanted to write this post but have just been too busy to do it.

That afternoon Buffy left work early, stopped by the house to get his iChargers, and got to my apartment just as the snow was covering the ground.

I wanted to take a walk in it. Since I live somewhere where you can walk TO a place instead of just walking but not being able to end up anywhere specific, Buffy (a connoisseur of foods from the round, beige food group) suggested that we walk to IHOP for dinner.

The snow flakes were falling steadily and were big and fat – like the “real” snows I remember from when I was a kid. It was dusk, and we walked the mile to IHOP through the fluffy white flakes under the glowing pink sky.

Down Durham Street toward Huff Lane.

Buffy had to borrow my hat. Cute, huh?

I got to wear my new ski jacket in actual snow. Whee!

Going up the hill on Speedwell. I never have figured out why Speedwell is the only cross street between Grandview and Huff Lane. If you know, please enlighten me.

It was a wet snow. A few branches bit the dust. So to speak.

Power lines courtesy of Appalachian Power, and we are grateful for them. Unlike many others, we had electricity the whole weekend.

The nice wet snow stuck to everything, making the trees very pretty. Dry snow isn’t nearly as flattering to trees.

Walking through the neighborhood made me think of Ralphie walking home from school in “A Christmas Story.”

Valley View Boulevard is on the other side of this berm.

The corner of the Valley View complex from Huff Lane at Churchill.

Walking down Huff Lane, which, at least on this night, didn’t have a speed limit.

We made it to our destination and were greeted by warm lights, hot coffee, and pancakes with butter and hot maple syrup. Heavenly.

Once home, we sat on the couch in front of my faux fireplace and drank cocoa.

* happy sigh *

On December 31st, the mother of a friend of mine died unexpectedly. Several days later, I learned that her memorial service was to be on Saturday, January 26th at 2 PM.

Did I put two and two together? Nope.

In early January I was replaced on the panel by someone more agreeable (and quite likely more knowledgeable) than me. Odd, but no big deal.

But this weekend the number “four” popped into my head. The Universe is a strange and wonderful place, and by being replaced earlier, I didn’t have to worry about putting anyone else in a bind by having to cancel at the last minute. And I would have. Yay, Universe!

I’m at the age where my friend’s parents are dying at an alarming rate: four in the last two months alone. Having “been there” and “done that,” I know that having people visit the funeral home, open house and/or attend the funeral is very comforting. I had a sense of that when my father-in-law died and my husband hugged a person that he didn’t even especially like when she came to the visitation at the funeral home. (My husband is not a “hugger.”)

I felt it for sure and certain when my father died, and because of who and how he was, very few people came who didn’t know either my brother or myself. I appreciated those friends who took time from their busy days to attend.

When my mother died, it meant even more to me to have friends there, many of whom had taken care of me as best they could while I took care of her.

Susan Ayers and I chatting in the peanut gallery at the 2012 Writers Conference evening session. Photo by Dan Smith.

I’ll go to the conference’s opening night reception on Friday and attend some morning sessions on Saturday. I might even grab a quick lunch. There are people there I only get to get once a year, and I want to have a chance to visit with them. I want to attend the classes and learn new stuff. But however much I’d like to stay for the afternoon sessions and the panel discussion (observing it being infinitely more relaxing than being part of it), attending a memorial service to honor the mother of a friend I’ve had since sixth grade is more important.

There’ll be other writers conferences. I have only once chance to share in the celebration of my friend’s mother’s life. Not a difficult choice on my planet.