Remembering Mom

My mother was the most self-less person I ever met.

Two years ago today we lost her to cancer.

Before that, she spent 15 years as a devoted fulltime caregiver. In that time, she cared for my grandfather during his battle with emphysema, for my father while he battled ALS and for my grandmother who was bedridden for 10 years.

Much of the time she was "on duty" 24/7 with an aide only two hours a few times a week. She never took more than a two day break and that no more than twice in a year.

She dealt with bedbaths, commodes, medications, equipment, doctors, nurses and hospice workers. She managed it all with grace.

Less than two years after my grandmother died, my mother got her own diagnosis: ovarian cancer. She was gone a few months later.

I miss her. I'm sure she has a few jewels in her heavenly crown.

Who are you missing?

Spring Cleaning

I guess I am Spring cleaning.

I hadn't planned to do it yet. It's not exactly something I consider a great joy.

But yesterday I found myself dusting and vacuuming the downstairs hall, the stairs and the upstairs hall. I took a few rugs out yesterday and beat them. This morning I took more rugs out and beat them.

That's right, I beat rugs. Old-fashioned, I know, but the vacuum cleaner just didn't cut it. There was dust flying off these things out in the back yard.

I don't know where I got this cleaning energy from. Maybe it's just that I had about 8 weeks of forced vacation from heavy cleaning and when I got a good look at the resulting dust I went into overdrive. Or maybe I'm just in ADHD mode.

Either way, I hope it lasts til my whole house is clean because, for once, I am actually not minding the process. I do really love a clean house. Cleanliness makes for a much nicer environment.


Have you started your Spring cleaning yet? How's it going?

Oz the Great and Powerful

We went to see the new Oz movie.

My son says:

"It was very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very good."

I enjoyed it also.  The sets were fascinating and the characters interesting. It did have some inconsistencies with  The Wizard of Oz and even more with L. Frank Baum's books. Occasionally the film seemed to lack direction and the final message was predictable. But it was fun. Well worth seeing.

There were some theological allusions, too, that I found intriguing.

***Spoiler Alert***

One witch becomes evil after eating an apple and then is able to "see clearly." She was deceived into believing that eating it would be a good thing -- would protect her from hurt. Only after eating it could she see that the one who gave it to her was wicked.  It's a vague reminder of Eden when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Their eyes were immediately opened and they knew they were naked. The began to know shame. They are banished from God's presence.

In the end this witch is given an escape route -- told that if she ever finds the good within her she is welcome to return to Oz. She vows never to accept that offer.  This reminds me of Jesus. He provides us with the way to Heaven -- offers a way out of a life apart from God. We have the choice to accept or reject it.

In our culture there are many religious references floating around and sometimes, as part of our common culture, they find their way into books and movies "coincidentally." Other times people are intentional. Actually, C.S. Lewis said that he often was not intentional but the story of redemption was so deeply ingrained in him that it came out in his fiction. That could be the case here.


I am curious about whether the film's makers were intentional about the allusions. In the end, though, it's a good movie either way.





Have you seen a movie lately?
Would you recommend it? 
Did you notice any religious or cultural references?