Nancy Gregg’s Y2K Series
As presented in the
Siskiyou Daily News
ŠN. E. Gregg 1999
Y2K gives opportunity to create happy memories
In spite of all my life’s hardships, I have emerged from them with happy memories, I have emerged from them with happy memories. I am one of those people that always sees my cup full! It does not matter if I have just consumed the last drop, I see it being filled again. During times of extended stress the woman in the home keeps things on an even keel. The man in the home keeps the woman on an even keel. That is the nature of the male and female. Those in good relationships understand this emotional balance. Children are extremely sensitive to the emotional well being of all the adults they encounter. Y2K will afford us an opportunity for much more family time. This time needs to be used for the well being of everyone. If you spend your time worrying, you are only draining your emotional and physical well being. The things that we worry about are beyond our control. Worry is nothing more than an insecure ego proving it’s own self worth.. It is extremely important that you are constructive with your energy!
Give considerable thought to the types of games that the adults and children can play together. They need to be games that everyone sincerely enjoys playing. Saturday night in my childhood was Hearts night. I was about four years old and was usually found on my brothers lap. I learned early that if I stayed quiet, I was forgotten and would be there much later than my bedtime. Everyone around the table had their own penny jar instead of chips! This was 1943.
In our house Pinochle is the game of preference. One of my fondest memories is of my youngest son at four years of age holding a full hand of double deck Pinochle cards. It further brings me joy to remember how this son and whoever had the good fortune to partner with him usually won! He would make some of the most outlandish bids you could imagine. We as adults would sit there and try to tell him that his bids were unreasonable, thinking that he didn’t understand what he was doing. Invariably when this was our attitude, he would make his bid!!! Don’t underestimate the ability of your children to learn adult games because of their ages! It is an injustice to them and you cheat yourself out of many memorable experiences.
As the family grew larger, we added other games that could include more people. Several sets of scrabble tiles together can make a very interesting game. There are a multitude of games played with a regular deck of cards. A book of Hoyal may be acquired for a reasonable amount of money which provides the rules for a multitude of different card games. (Solves a lot of disputes too!)
Board games of all kinds are fun. My sons and husband had ongoing games of chess. My grandmother and I played checkers under an Apple tree in the back yard for hours. Grampa Whitford and I had a few games of cribbage. He also hand carved an inlaid card box that has a cribbage board on its top. These are all cherished memories of my childhood.
My mother was the reader in the family. She was also the historian. Before reading any of the classics, we were given a history lesson. Where in the world the author lived? Who was the king or queen in power during it’s writing? What were the social issues that concerned the people of that day? Many nursery rhymes were acts of protest by the populous. (Maybe we should get creative and write some new ones!)
Slick Willy the Arkansas boy,
Pouted to get his own way,
When Congress denied him,
Monica sat down beside him,
His Executive Orders gave our
Freedom and country away.
Along with all the other things that are happening in the world today, there is a very large group of asteroids that are headed our way. The first group of them is expected to arrive in the fall of this year. The main barrage is presumed to arrive in February of 2,000. These are the things that we should not concern ourselves with because they are beyond our control! But what an event to watch with our children through telescopes as it happens. Another opportunity to see life at it’s fullest!
We moved to Siskiyou County in August of 1975. While driving here we counted falling stars! We all lost count someplace after 70. It was a spectacular site. That fall we were blessed with an abundance of rainbows during many rain storms. Those events were the basis for my children’s books which took place, "at the farm called Wilmar Oaks, which lies beneath the love and magic of the Rainbow’s end".
Keep a journal. It can consist of anything from book form to just loose leaf pages kept together. Not only document factual information, but also the feelings of yourself and your family members. Look for something each day to bring a smile to someone else. You will find that it will make you smile also. Write it in your journal and you will have the smile forever. Feelings are the glue that bind all people together. They transcend all language.
Buy additional supplies of paper and pencils. Make it a special day when you give them to your children to record their own experiences and feelings. It should be a "special treat" to have paper, pencils and crayons, not an everyday occurrence. Acquire books of paperdolls and put them away for the children’s wintertime activities. For the boys an erector set can bring hours of building dreams.
Family jigsaw puzzles set up out of the way, so that they can be done by all at leisure, create fond memories. You might want to pick something that can be pasted on the back of a large piece of cardboard for a lasting reminder of family togetherness. Our family always put a puzzle together each New Year’s Eve. I have them all. We would teasingly say that no one could go to bed until the puzzle was finished. It was interesting to see which child the magic of the puzzle enveloped. Every year a different child would last until the end.
When I was thirteen I didn’t walk for one year. My family did not know that I was aware that I could not walk. (My mother and father would get on either side of me and hold me up, while I made my legs go on trips to the bathroom.) When I discovered that I was not able to walk, I decided that I would live life as fully as possible, under whatever circumstances I found myself. Although I eventually recovered and began to walk again, I have never forgotten the resolve in that decision. My life has been extremely full. I’ve been blessed with the energy to go full steam ahead! My source of strength and happiness in not my own. It comes from a personal belief in the greatness of a Supreme Being. This personal exchange of energy keeps me content, happy and purposeful. Focus your energy on happiness and happiness will be what you create. It is only by the comparison of extremes that any of our emotional definitions have meaning. We would not know what joy was without despair, satisfaction without emptiness and love without hate. Keep yourself and your family emotionally well by allowing feelings to be expressed and bringing the brighter picture of the description. That can be a real tall order if you have negative thinkers!
The challenges presented will be endless. Yet the world that will emerge from our own perseverance can be one of timeless values for the little things that money can’t buy.
God let our prayers be for the things that have lasting value and are priceless. Bless our families and please bless America.
Nancy Gregg’s book, The Rebirth of OUR Republic by sending $16.00 which includes mailing and handling to The Grassroots Press, P. O. Box 516, Yreka, Ca. 96097
Click to Order |
