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Wednesday, December 31, 2025
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"If I told you about a land of love, friend, would you follow me and come?" ~ poet Yunus Emre
"I think that one must always be in love. To be in love with a person is, of course, ideal, but you can be in love with a flower, a tree, an idea. . . ."
~ Gloria Vanderbilt
"At any given moment, no matter where you are, there are hundreds of things around you that are interesting and worth documenting."
~ Keri Smith
"BE KIND WHENEVER POSSIBLE.
IT IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE."
~ THE DALAI LAMA
"Have a heart that never hardens,
and a temper
that never
tires,
and a touch
that never
hurts."
~ Charles Dickens
"Love is, above all, the gift of oneself." ~ Jean Anouilh
"If you are any good at all, you know you can be better."
"What thou lovest well remains,
the rest is dross ~
What thou lov’st well shall not be reft from thee ~
What thou lov’st well is thy true heritage."
~ Ezra Pound
"Let us make memories carefully of all good things, rejoicing in the wonderful truth that while we are laying up for ourselves the very sweetest and best of happy memories, we are at the same time giving them to others." ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder
"Years ago, my mother used to say to me --she'd say, 'In this world, Elwood, you must be --' She always called me Elwood. 'In this world, Elwood, you must be oh, so smart or oh, so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. And you may quote me."
~ Elwood P. Dowd in Mary Chase's play Harvey
"One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore faith in yourself."
~ Lucille Ball
"A house with Daffodils in it is a house lit up, whether or not the sun be shining outside." ~ A. A. Milne
"When something is too beautiful or too terrible or even too funny for words, then it is time for poetry."
~ Eve Merriam
"Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great, make you feel that you too can become great."
~ Mark Twain
************
"Be not afraid of going slowly. Be afraid of standing still."
~ Chinese proverb
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
* "Is life worth so much trouble?"
* "It depends what one wants in return."
~ Daughter to Student in The Ghost Sonata by August Strindberg
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot."
~ Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's, spoken by Holly Golightly
“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.”
~ George Washington Carver
- Val
- Mine is a blog of memoir-writing, home-making, kindness-loving, and thank you-saying. Because life is beautiful ~ Even when it's not. ♥
"If I told you about a land of love, friend, would you follow me and come?" ~ poet Yunus Emre
- April Violets and October Anniversaries
- Chicken Pox
- Chocolate Sommers Day
- Concurring with Wordsworth
- Dad
- Dawn
- Fall Leaves and Frog Stickers: My Pen Pal, Aunt Laurie
- For My Father-in-Law
- Happy Birthday, Mom
- Henriette
- His Eye Is on the Sparrow
- I Stumbled, But I Never Fell: Eighteen Years Ago Today
- In My Heart of Hearts
- Mr. G
- One Christmas Eve
- Pen and Paper Visits
- Pine Needles
- Silence for the Lunch Ladies
- Soup Days
- The Crayon Can
- To Papa and Grandma
- Unconquerable
- With Gingham and Gratitude
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"I think that one must always be in love. To be in love with a person is, of course, ideal, but you can be in love with a flower, a tree, an idea. . . ."
~ Gloria Vanderbilt
"At any given moment, no matter where you are, there are hundreds of things around you that are interesting and worth documenting."
~ Keri Smith
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"BE KIND WHENEVER POSSIBLE.
IT IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE."
~ THE DALAI LAMA
"Have a heart that never hardens,
and a temper
that never
tires,
and a touch
that never
hurts."
~ Charles Dickens
"Love is, above all, the gift of oneself." ~ Jean Anouilh
"Celebrate people who are in your life-- past and present, close by as well as far away. Thank everyone who contributes to your sense of well-being and joy, whether you know them personally or not. Every day, think of all the people who help make your life so rich and rewarding."
~ Alexandra Stoddard
~ Alexandra Stoddard
"I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert,
But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime."
~ "In a Big Country" by Big Country
But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime."
~ "In a Big Country" by Big Country
"If you are any good at all, you know you can be better."
~ Lindsey Buckingham
"What thou lovest well remains,
the rest is dross ~
What thou lov’st well shall not be reft from thee ~
What thou lov’st well is thy true heritage."
~ Ezra Pound
"Let us make memories carefully of all good things, rejoicing in the wonderful truth that while we are laying up for ourselves the very sweetest and best of happy memories, we are at the same time giving them to others." ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder
"There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other's cooking & say it was good."
~ Brian Andreas
~ Brian Andreas
"There is always something left to love. And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing."
~ Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun
~ Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun
"Years ago, my mother used to say to me --she'd say, 'In this world, Elwood, you must be --' She always called me Elwood. 'In this world, Elwood, you must be oh, so smart or oh, so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. And you may quote me."
~ Elwood P. Dowd in Mary Chase's play Harvey
"One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore faith in yourself."
~ Lucille Ball
"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France
"A house with Daffodils in it is a house lit up, whether or not the sun be shining outside." ~ A. A. Milne
"When something is too beautiful or too terrible or even too funny for words, then it is time for poetry."
~ Eve Merriam
My Favorite Poems
- "Aristotle" by Billy Collins
- "Eurydice" by H.D.
- "Everything Is Going to Be All Right" by Derek Mahon
- "Funeral Blues" ("Stop all the clocks") by W.H. Auden
- "I Carry Your Heart with Me" by E.E. Cummings
- "If You Hear That a Thousand People Love You" by Guadalupe de Saavedra
- "Jenny Kissed Me" by James Henry Leigh Hunt
- "Nada Te Turbe" by St. Teresa of Avila
- "Patterns" by Amy Lowell
- "Ride a Wild Horse" by Hannah Kahn
- "Sally (Warning with love)" by John Holmes
- "The Dead Woman" by Pablo Neruda
- "The God Who Loves You" by Carl Dennis
- "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by William Buster Yeats
- "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver
- "When You Are Old" by William Buster Yeats
My Beloved Pink & White Garden :)
"Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great, make you feel that you too can become great."
~ Mark Twain
************
"Be not afraid of going slowly. Be afraid of standing still."
~ Chinese proverb
After My First 5K :)
During My First Half Marathon :)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
* "Is life worth so much trouble?"
* "It depends what one wants in return."
~ Daughter to Student in The Ghost Sonata by August Strindberg
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot."
~ Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's, spoken by Holly Golightly
"When we have sampled much and have wandered far and have seen how fleeting and sometimes superficial a lot of the world is, our gratitude grows for the privilege of being part of something we can count on—home and family and the loyalty of loved ones. We come to know what it means to be bound together by duty, by respect, by belonging."
~ Thomas S. Monson
~ Thomas S. Monson
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.
These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.
Beautiful people do not just happen.”
~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Death: The Final Stage of Growth
These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.
Beautiful people do not just happen.”
~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Death: The Final Stage of Growth
“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.”
~ George Washington Carver
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