What's life worth?

How do you measure the worth of a life? It has to be different for everyone. We are lead to believe it's by the good works that you've done and the service you have given. Or could it be by the accomplishments in your life like education or degrees, collections, talents, money, your job? Your possessions and property. Or is it how we are remembered when we are gone? I want mine to be how my family remembers me!

I still think of and remember Grandma Chipman. I can still remember her LOVE and how it felt. She was such a great part of our lives. Going to her home after school, or if we missed the bus. Knowing you could call her at any time, and she'd come. Sleeping over when I had early morning stuff at the high school, going grocery shopping with her and she would buy you something special. Her many gifts of sewing, cooking, going to church with her, knowing her friends and neighbors. Her pride in her flower garden. Getting to sleepover with no other siblings as a kid and loving it. She had no formal education or noteworthy job. No great valuable collections, or fine home with posh decorations. Not much money to just give away. But I want my children and grandchildren to remember me with that same fondness. For being a kind, loving and giving person, who loved the Lord and her family. And to remember me often, even after I've been gone 32 years.

In raising my kids I was a frustrated and an anxious mom. I worried about what other people would think of me, my home, our surroundings, my education, my homemaking skills or lack of. The amount of money we had or again the lack of. The type and size of our home. What my kid's hair looked like and their clothes. Seriously why wasn't someone there telling me to relax? Enjoy every moment and Blog about it at the end of the day. Would I have listened if they had? I WILL TELL MY KIDS TO RELAX! I will tell them to enjoy the day-to-day crap. Because that's what a lot of it is.

I used to love the old Erma Bombeck books. She could look at any life situation and make it a comical and lighthearted event. An old falling apart car, kids failing grades, or minor arrests, a messy house or flooded basement. I couldn't or didn't do that. I hope it's not too late to change. Not just to make a rough and challenging situation funny, but to put it in the right light. Not get mad and frustrated so easy, and always think the worse, or that the world is falling apart.

Now to the events of a rough week and one that isn't really over yet. Going through Bevans home. We got off to a really rocky start Tuesday night. I cried all the way home and hoped our family would come out of this in tacked. But as rough as Tuesday was Saturday was much better. Certainly a lot more work, and more to come, but better feelings at the end of the day. It is very hard to make things 100% fair and equal, but I think it went pretty good. As Kim reminded me, we didn't have it before and we were just fine.

Bevan has some beautiful things and a lot of them, so I hope everyone received those things that are important to them and will mean something for a very long time. I really don't think "things" can be divided completely evenly, because everyones needs and ideas are different. My one regret is that I had wanted to take some pictures of his home and I got there Sat. and things were in such a mess, because we had left them that way Tues. so I didn't take any. I should have taken some the last time the girls & I had gone to visit, but I didn't think about it then. I'll try and not regret yet another missed opportunity.

I almost forgot, being thankful. 2 things. I am thankful for memories, (and being able to remember) and second, my great MOM, who grandma Chipman raised.