So, for weeks now we have been after Cheri/Mom to give us some sort of hint of what she might want for Mother’s Day this year. I’ve mentioned before that when these kinds of holidays roll around, we like to make a big deal about it – that is, I like to make a big deal… Cheri works so hard, and is very much the glue that holds us all together in a wonderful home, that when there is a day that is “her” day, then it only seems right that we would shower her with all sorts of good things.
The trouble is, the woman won’t make up her mind, or even consider something she’d like to receive. When asked, “What would you like for Mother’s Day?” her response is always, “Let me think about it…” Now, that’s a fair response perhaps one or two times, but when asked daily for three weeks, it becomes a bit thin. The good thing is, the boys and I are relentless in forcing her to come to some decision… So, we have squeezed out a few different things, with some of them actually things she might like to have. Since it’s not Mother’s Day, and there is an outside possibility that Cheri might read this column, I’ll not go into details, but suffice it to say that we have secured a few “goodies” that we think she will like, and of course she will be surprised because she has never asked for them! It’s kind of like when we thought we should change the cats’ food after a number of years of the same thing. They really liked the new stuff, but you could almost see in their little brains how they were thinking, “This is really great!” and “Where did this come from?” and then, “Why haven’t we had this before now?” So, things were coming along pretty well – she did say that she wanted a coffee cake for breakfast on Mother’s Day. That’s a little unusual, since usually that is a cake that becomes her birthday cake in December, but if she really wants it, I can take next Saturday and make one up for her. We have not yet cracked the code of what she might want for a Mother’s Day meal – can you see how crazy hard it is to celebrate her? I don’t know how many of you have ever had to reach inside to the back of a crocodile’s mouth and try to pull one of its molars out, but that kind of “pulling teeth” is pretty much evident here. And then, all of a sudden, out of the blue, after of course we have ordered and bought and stowed away all the different Mother’s Day presents to be, yesterday the Woman of the House mentioned, “I know it may be too late and everything, but I was wondering if for Mother’s Day, I could get a new recliner for the bedroom…” Now the truth be told, we have had conversations about this before. Right now in the corner of our bedroom is a good sized wicker chair with a cushion. I expect I bought it at a farm auction years ago for a couple of dollars, but it’s a very pretty chair. The trouble is, it’s a wicker chair, which is nice if you are sitting in an airy sunroom sipping tea in the afternoon. However, if you have awakened in the middle of the night, and the bed that is supposed to help you sleep has turned into either a slab of concrete, or a bed of nails, like the ones yogis sleep on, the old wicker chair is not going to be very comfortable. Like I said, we have talked about getting one for Cheri to use in those middle of the night times, but that’s all it was – talk. So, when she actually seemed serious about wanting to get a recliner, I pounced on the idea. Today, as we are doing all the errands we need to do on a Friday, I have laid out two or three furniture stores that may indeed do the job. However – do not kid yourself. This campaign will fall into the category of “shopping,” not “buying.” That means I have all by myself opened the door to most likely needing to look at probably 90% of the recliners for sale in the Fargo/Moorhead area. I’m not silly or naïve enough to believe that we could just walk into one store, look at two or three recliners and then buy it and go and have coffee somewhere. Oh no – I envision rows and rows of possibilities. Hundreds of chairs, which will all do the very same thing, but now this one will be “Cheri’s throne,” and as such will be required to meet very high standards, and of course never be the first one we see. It will be a long day, to be sure. But what is Mother’s Day, if not a day to celebrate sacrifice? We will take the steps necessary to make sure the right size, right fabric, right tension, right cushiony headrest, right level of feet getting raised up – right everything happens. I will begin working now to keep from saying, “That one looks nice – how about just getting that one…?” My job is walk behind a couple of steps, like Prince Philip used to do with Queen Elizabeth, and be ready with the credit card when indeed it appears that we have settled on the perfect chair. So, we will be intentional. Very intentional. Excruciatingly intentional. But I figure another word for today’s campaign – is love. I hope everyone out there who is eligible for a Mother’s Day next week will be treated well – they/you all deserve it. Cheri will wave to you, hopefully from a cushy recliner… Word for the day: orotund. Pronounced OR-ah-tund. It’s actually a word today that came from the fusing of two Latin words in an old Latin phrase, ore rotundo, which is literally, “round mouth.” What it implies is a way of speaking that is a “well-rounded phrase.” Someone who is orotund has a rich, clear, full, resonating voice. That’s usually an alto in women and a bass in men. Perhaps the best examples of orotund speakers in our time would be James Earl Jones and Morgan Freeman.
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AuthorAfter 43 years of ministry, Randy Cross lived his "fourth life" and shared about retirement, living boldly and intentionally in our world. To be sure, there was some North Dakota thrown in. Archives
March 2023
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