#Friends

They say you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose. I’d like to add an addendum to that: you can’t pick your friend’s nose… unless you’re really good friends. HA!

Photo by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash

Now that the holiday fun is over, it’s time to look over your memories. I hope you made many with your friends. They are very special because you choose them.

The hard part is when friends grow apart. When you’re in a friendship it’s difficult to believe that it could happen. But it does. It’s unfortunate and it feels terrible while it’s happening, but friends do go in and out of our lives.

The memories of your friends usually happen during happy times. Listening to music, playing online, hanging out. Those are the times to cherish. I have friends that have been a part of my heart for years–even decades. I know I can count on them for anything–at any time. Those are the best of friends. I know I have a good friend when I wouldn’t think twice about calling them at any time of the day or night.

I hope you have friends you can call or text at any time! Sonja

Grandparents Day

Today is Grandparents Day!!! Do you live near your grandparents? I didn’t for most of my life but luckily was able to travel to see my maternal grandparents. They lived in Germany, Bavaria to be more precise, and I loved going to their house. Every hour my sister and I would run halfway down the stairs to watch the Cuckoo clock chime and for the tiny bird to come out and give its call. It was so much fun!

My Oma used featherbeds and my sister and I would leap high onto the mattress and sink into the thick and soft featherbed. The ticking would engulf us and we would laugh and laugh and laugh.

My sister and I shared a bedroom on the ground floor with our twin beds lining the wall around the corner like an ‘L’. It made for an easy time talking until late into the night–much to the chagrin of our Mom. We would always scratch each other’s backs and it was a strategic campaign to be the last one to have a back scratch since we usually fell asleep. The last one was able to stay asleep while the ‘scratcher’ had to stay awake and then crawl into her own bed. My sister usually won and was the first scratcher.

The house also had an amazing attic that my Oma used as a sewing room. During rainstorms, we would open the dormer windows and watch the rain fall over the valley below us. We would also listen to the clanging church bells that echoed through the valley and traveled up to where we were on the mountainside. My sister would also sing-along to the ‘Sound of Music’ soundtrack and act out the songs (we had the entire movie memorized!). I spent many hours playing Captain VonTrapp.

I would love to hear your memories of time with your grandparents (or grandparent stand-ins)!

Have a wonderful week, Sonja