14 MARCH
Say thank you to the
person who taught
you how to say "I'm
sorry."
How many of us honestly now how to say I'm sorry. Not just to get something over with, or make your self feel better, BUT to help heal the person you have injured?
There are several instances I remember in learning to say "I'm sorry". The first and hardest lesson I earned was from my Granny. My hero. By the time we were came around she was mostly house bound but by no means an invalid. She still cooked, backed sewed, cuddled us, told us stories, all the good Granny stuff.
One afternoon while visiting a sick family friend the visit took longer then our mom and aunt thought so we were allowed to go out side to play. There where several beautiful flowering bushes ( I can't really remember what they were) and we thought they were as beautiful as as Granny so we picked some. OK we picked a a lot!!! Hid them in a bag in the car, I don't think we hid them because we knew it was wrong but because we wanted to have a surprise.
When we got home and gave them to Granny she was thankful and said how how beautiful and sweet. Then asked it we had permission to take them. I guess it was obvious we had used little hands to yank them from the bush instead of the help of an adult with scissors.
Of course we told the truth. She sat down and explained while she loved that we though of her when we saw such beauty, they were not ours to take. She gave us lots of what ifs. What if the family liked looking out the window to see the beautiful bush. What if they were planning on bringing in the flowers or gifting them. Or, what if we had hurt the bush?
She told us we had to go say "I'm sorry" and make it right. Some how to our little minds she explained it was about making them feel better for taking something of theirs' that we really couldn't fix or replace. I remember it was one of the few times she got in the car and went with us.
The adults stayed in the car, we drug our feet and knocked on the door an apologized. We bought the flowers back in a pretty new vase (from our allowance) and made plans to come weed for two Saturdays. No it was not punishment, it was about fixing to the best of our ability what we had made wrong.
By coincidence, about the next spring about the same time the husband passed away. It was his favorite bush we had picked from and it didn't bloom in full that spring. ( we didn't now that some bushes do that, we were sure it was our fault.) With out any adult prompting we cleaned out all the booms in our personal lilac bush just as the adults were leaving for the funeral home, and asked to give part to his wife and lay part with him.
All simple, all child like but some 35+ years later I still remember you apologize with your heart, with your soul and then with your words and actions.
Thank you Granny.
One afternoon while visiting a sick family friend the visit took longer then our mom and aunt thought so we were allowed to go out side to play. There where several beautiful flowering bushes ( I can't really remember what they were) and we thought they were as beautiful as as Granny so we picked some. OK we picked a a lot!!! Hid them in a bag in the car, I don't think we hid them because we knew it was wrong but because we wanted to have a surprise.
When we got home and gave them to Granny she was thankful and said how how beautiful and sweet. Then asked it we had permission to take them. I guess it was obvious we had used little hands to yank them from the bush instead of the help of an adult with scissors.
Of course we told the truth. She sat down and explained while she loved that we though of her when we saw such beauty, they were not ours to take. She gave us lots of what ifs. What if the family liked looking out the window to see the beautiful bush. What if they were planning on bringing in the flowers or gifting them. Or, what if we had hurt the bush?
She told us we had to go say "I'm sorry" and make it right. Some how to our little minds she explained it was about making them feel better for taking something of theirs' that we really couldn't fix or replace. I remember it was one of the few times she got in the car and went with us.
The adults stayed in the car, we drug our feet and knocked on the door an apologized. We bought the flowers back in a pretty new vase (from our allowance) and made plans to come weed for two Saturdays. No it was not punishment, it was about fixing to the best of our ability what we had made wrong.
By coincidence, about the next spring about the same time the husband passed away. It was his favorite bush we had picked from and it didn't bloom in full that spring. ( we didn't now that some bushes do that, we were sure it was our fault.) With out any adult prompting we cleaned out all the booms in our personal lilac bush just as the adults were leaving for the funeral home, and asked to give part to his wife and lay part with him.
All simple, all child like but some 35+ years later I still remember you apologize with your heart, with your soul and then with your words and actions.
Thank you Granny.
15 MARCH
Go to bed an hour
early tonight. Give up
being over-tired and
possibly cranky. Your
family and co-workers
will thank you.
Go to bed an hour
early tonight. Give up
being over-tired and
possibly cranky. Your
family and co-workers
will thank you.
1 comment:
Awesome...my dad taught me to be forgiving and apologize with a sincere heart. (Terry H)
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