It had been a long day and my husband was working late so my best girl and I decided to pick up from a favorite of ours, La Madeline.  As we were waiting we met another mother and her little girl several years older who were doing the same thing.  I was drawn to them instantly and I could just feel their deep love for one another.  Her mother had a serene radiance about her and her daughter was luminescent.  I encouraged my little one to go and make friends.  Within seconds, these two girls were holding the window seat like a barre; the ballerina extending her body like a graceful gazelle while mine was carefully extending her legs explaining karate kicks.  Pretty soon my little one started looking swanlike and the gazelle started learning defensive kicks.  They were so darn cute, the two of them.  Without having a child it is not as easy to just walk up and speak to strangers.  What a shame.  I think we miss out on so many opportunities for relationships.  They say Americans are known for smiling.  Kids or no, in these divided times I believe now more than ever we should try simply saying hello to one another.  Who knows?  It might lead to a new friendship in your life.  I feel blessed to have met this beautiful child and her sweet mother.  The Irish poet William Butler Yeats once said, “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”

The famed Canadian writer L. M. Montgomery once said, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”  I picked up this sign today and thought it was a great way to begin my favorite month.  It is also my favorite season with the transition from summer to autumn.  My birthday falls on this month, as did my father’s, and now my little one shares his birthday as well.  There is the State Fair of Texas in the beginning of October and trick-or-treating at the end.  Leaves begin to turn colors as bright as the pumpkins on our porch and the scent of decorative hay bales perfumes the cooler night air.  It is a special month for me and I guess that is why this sign struck a chord.  I have been quick to count my blessings but I confess I have not particularly shared them as perhaps I should.  I would like to think I am ready with a smile or a compliment and I believe I am good about little gifts and thank yous.  We give to church every month and I help wolves worldwide in any way I am able by signing petitions, raising awareness, and donating.  But I do not think that is what this sign intended to convey.  I think it is meant to be more personal than that.  This month I am going to look for ways to truly implement this message.  I don’t just want to count; I want to share my October blessings.

On St. Valentine’s Day when my Baby Doll was just three years old my husband and I wandered into a martial arts studio with her.  They had classes for ages 3 to 6 called “Little Rhinos” and we decided to try her to see if she liked it.  For the entire first session she sat there with her little legs crossed, quietly observing everything with her huge, dark brown eyes.  She participated but did not utter one single word … and her participation was truly after careful consideration.  Her instructor ever so gently coaxed her thumb out of her mouth and his kind but firm discipline reminded me of my father.  She never cried once (like the boys) or even looked to me; she simply took it all in with a thoughtfulness that transcended her tender years.  When class was over we asked if she wanted to go back and she said yes.  Then to my great surprise I discovered it was South Korean!  I went home and cried as I thought of my late father and how he used to call me endearments in Korean.  He proudly served eight years in that forgotten war, becoming well-versed in Korean martial arts.  And I just KNEW.  I felt Daddy behind me on this.  A dawning realization came of my childhood with its methodical discipline and I realized how much he had shaped my life.  I was already subconsciously rearing our daughter in the same way.  I began to look around and take notice of their actions: saluting the flag, bowing to show respect, and having to complete jobs lists they must submit in order to belt test.  After that she earned her white belt which had her name written on it.  I was SO PROUD.  In this school kiddos earn a camouflage belt next.  I got her a personalized belt rack for her bedroom door and then she earned her yellow stripe belt and after that she earned her orange stripe belt.  Then she was able to move to the “Advanced Little Rhinos” class where she earned her purple stripe belt, her green stripe belt, her brown stripe belt, and her red stripe belt.  Sitting in the studio tonight I thought this was it.  About two years of her life later, almost at the end of age four, my little one would be testing for her first black belt.  Of course this would be on a level for littles but it still does not diminish her knowledge, her skill, her confidence, her perseverance, or all of her hard work.  In previous ceremonies she has busted boards in half with an ax kick (using her leg), an elbow strike (so difficult they weren’t sure she could even do it), and this board she would split with a side kick.  I thought it was funny that for this picture she put it back together.  So I am now the popping proud mother of a kind, gentle little girl who is learning strength and honor through discipline and respect; just as I know my father would have wanted.  She is also learning the value of setting goals, and I pray all of it will serve her well throughout her entire life.  My baby is a black belt!

I have been trying to declutter our house a little at a time for the past year or so.  There are a couple of reasons for this:  I want our home to look more spacious and I want to let go of things we no longer need or use.  Environmentally, I am committed to reducing, reusing, and recycling.  I do not want to have a disposable household and I want my daughter to appreciate her toys and her clothes.  Change is a battle for me though because I am a creature of habit.  I like my things precisely where they are.  I am not one of those people switching up the furniture in every room all the time or painting the walls a different color.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that; it’s just not me.  My husband REALLY does not like change.  The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is quoted as having first said, “The only thing constant in life is change.”  So when the TV guy broke one of my lava lamps I tried to look at the positives.  One, it WAS looking a little cluttered; two, I did not need the second one over by my blue neon wolf.  Three, the working one I moved really did look much better because it was in a place where it stood alone and could be seen more prominently.  Our den feels totally different now just from having to make those small changes!  I cannot believe how one thing that happened could affect so much!  I am going to have to remember that:  all actions have a ripple effect.

There we were, this dashing Frenchie and I, together for our regular nooner, taking our walk and enjoying the cooler weather.  This handsome boy has a rep around the neighborhood for giving it to anyone he doesn’t like … whether two-legged or four.  He’s not aggressive; he’s just opinionated.  The American writer Mark Twain once said, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”  This little guy definitely fits that!  The street we were on was lined with huge dogs all going nuts, no doubt intimidated by Bruiser’s big personality.  He never failed to bark it back to any of them … until we came to the next to the last house at the end of a long street.  This German Shepherd was going absolutely berserk:  incessantly barking, jumping up and down on its hind legs, and scratching frantically at all the doors.  As we passed I noticed my companion was uncharacteristically quiet and kept looking straight ahead.  The next thing I knew there was a huge “BLAM!” followed by the unmistakable tinkling of shattered glass.  A myriad of shards rained down like glittering diamonds in the noonday sun.  Psycho shepherd had actually busted out the entire front window of his folks’ 1920’s home (ancient by Dallas standards) and it is one of the few times in my life I have ever been truly scared; only the second time ever with an animal.  I have been a professional petsitter for over sixteen years now.  Once I even regularly walked a very aggressive Chow who wound up mauling his own owner!  The guy required surgery.  Anyway, Bruiser and I both quickened our steps and I was worried I would have to scoop him up for fear he would get seriously hurt.  I didn’t relish the thought of getting bitten or ripped to shreds myself.  The shepherd stayed put (thank heaven) and I found myself hoping it wasn’t hurt by the all glass.  Meanwhile the wide-eyed postal carrier was so unglued he skipped delivery to about half the block.  I stifled an unbidden giggle at the thought of the age old battle between dogs and the mail.  And I could only imagine what that poor dog’s parents were going to think when they came home.  So I called the police and left my name and number to let them know they were not robbed.  The 911 dispatcher asked if she should send out officers and I told her, “Don’t worry; the house is safe!”

“There, I guess King George will be able to read that without his spectacles!” John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress, is reported to have said after he was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  He is remembered for his large and stylish signature so much so that the term “John Hancock” has become, in the United States at least, a synonym for a signature.  My little one has been “signing” for me electronically at places since she was two.  It has always been a thrill for her.  But by four she could actually sign her name and I still cannot quite believe it.  So when she signed for me the other day a new cashier’s eyes visibly widened and, in a side whisper to the associate next to her, she asked, “Can she DO that?!”  I told her she was authorized to sign for me and winked.  This time I was the one who was thrilled, watching my girl carefully write her name.  I find it ironic that in an electronic age we all seem to be signing more instead of less.  In fact it would seem it is almost the only thing we actually write by hand now at all.  However I’m all for going paperless on transactions.  And I am SO glad my mother forced me to take typing in high school!  At SMU in the early nineties it was all pecking on computers and I had to learn to write directly from a keyboard.  I am happy though to still see people signing guest registries at major life events.  They are wonderful to look back upon and become cherished especially when the signer is no longer with us.  Someone on my husband’s side of the family signed his name and had it etched in his wife’s wedding ring instead of just engraving it.  I always thought that was unique and meaningful.  I am also a stickler about hand signing Christmas cards.  I realize printing, stamping and even embossing are more efficient.  But they leave me feeling cold.  There is an indelible imprint and something of one’s self that remains when it’s the real thing; as if a tiny piece of that person has been ever so slightly revealed.  It may be more time consuming, but for me at least, I still intend to sign at the bottom.