Two things to mention right off the bat:
- Our promised guest blogger’s post has been delayed until later this week.
- To those of you who have contacted me about Sheri Hawley’s blog being down, she and her technical cohorts have been working on figuring the problem out. Sheri is such a great writer and those of us who follow her blog truly miss her voice on the Internet. (To new readers: Sheri is my daughter-in-law’s mom as well as a dear friend.)
A couple of weeks ago, a mysterious package arrived in our mailbox from blog/real life friends, Jim and Ann Martin. (You may recognize Ann’s name as a #1 blog commenter.)
Inside the package, I found a Smith family calendar that Ann had created. As I leafed through pages, it was easy to tell that she had spent a long time finding just the right photos and getting them all placed just right.
She had included all our birthdays (including the grandkids) and special occasions like our wedding anniversary and Sarah’s transplant anniversary.
Was not that not the sweetest thing? Thanks again, Jim and Ann, for being so very thoughtful.
It was accompanied by a letter.
At first glance, I thought it was just a normal coffee table book but when I looked inside, I looked into a world of words and wonder and ever-so-lovely creativity–in short, the world inhabited by my sister, Ruth Rehberg.
I have mentioned before that my sister is a prolific writer of prose and poetry; and when I say prolific, I mean that at times she has written forty poems in one month. As with most writers, she would love to have her work published but until the time when that can take place in the “normal” way, she has come up with her own fabulous, non-normal solution.
Whenever Ruth goes into a thrift store, she looks for extra lovely photo books. After getting them home, she begins the painstaking, beautiful process of transforming those books into Ruth Rehberg Poetry Collections. (For anyone wondering about copyright issues, she doesn’t sell these but just gives them as gifts.)
She starts by printing her poems onto onion skin paper and gluing them into the books.
On the pages where there are already words printed, she adds lovely photos and designs to cover them.
Here is one of her (many) poems.
I love that I get to live in a world where so much beauty exists–beauty in peoples’ hearts and beauty in what they create and share with those they love.
There are ways you can create and share and enrich the lives (and the mailboxes) of people in your family, in your neighborhood, and throughout the world. Whether you think you don’t have the money, or the time, or the opportunity, don’t take no for an answer. Find inspiration in Ruth’s example.
If it is worth creating, it is worth sharing. Our world needs more of the beauty that you (and Ann and Ruth) create.
What about you? Are you a creator?
Whether you sew, or do photography, or play the tuba, or write, or cook, or craft, or mentor . . . what is your gift?
How do you use it? How do you share it?
And even more importantly, what keeps you from sharing it?
What a beautiful calendar. It takes great creative minds to see what can be in what is. As for craftiness I mostly follow a pattern. My talent is gross motor stuff but I am trying to refine that. Sawing branches out of a tree is easy but I am taking a wood carving class to learn artsy stuff. I can paint a wall with no trouble but am joining a rock painting group in my city where rocks are painted and hidden in city parks for children to find. I play the clarinet and hand bells in church but again follow a pattern. One of these days I hope to be able to see what can be instead of what is.
Mary,
I admire the way you are intentionally going after learning new skills and broadening your horizons in all sorts of areas. You are an inspiration to me!
What lovely gifts to receive.I found myself weeping as I thought about the amount of love that each gift represents. Love wrapped in packages? Tangable? Touchable and expressed !!!! The time it took to capture the right prints for the calendar speaks love. What a blessing, not just for Becky but her entire family to enjoy! Ruth your writings are such a treasure in and of themselves but to have them doubled up with such beautiful artistry in print is incredible! Blessings for sure. Becky thank you for sharing.
Terry, thanks so much for the encouragement. I enjoy putting poetry books together and glad others can enjoy it too. Creating something in some way in this life is a true joy for anyone. Ruth
Such beautiful and thoughtful gifts from your friend and your sister! I can imagine the amount time put into both projects.
I enjoy many different hobbies and have supplies for sewing, jewelry making, drawing, painting, crocheting, gardening, scrap booking. Just haven’t had much inspiration for doing much of it! There is always cooking, cleaning, laundry, and yard work along with my addiction to reading!
Kari,
You are multitalented, for sure! Isn’t it wonderful when our creative lives can be so full?
And I’m right there with you on the addiction to reading.
Was fun to read about your mysterious packages in the mail, and was glad you shared them. I have seen the calendar idea and it is a really nice way to keep “family in your face!” You would do well to make some with all your good photos. Your creative blogs are always interesting and encouraging to us all. Ruth
Ruth,
Thanks for being a mysterious package sender. I will treasure that book always.
You truly have the gift of creating beauty; I am inspired by you!
Love both of those gifts. Those ladies are definitely talented. It is always nice to get those surprises in the mail instead of bills all the time. 🙂
I play the piano and have my grade 8 at the Royal Conservatory of Music. If I have stuck with it, I could have been a piano teacher. I only needed 2 more years but I was just starting grade 11 in high school and the work load would have been too much knowing that it would have been minimum 2-3 hours practice every night.
Mel,
Nice to know you are a fellow pianist. I agree that 2-3 hours of practice every night for a high school student would be a lot ot handle. I looked up what having a grade 8 in piano meant and I was very impressed! That is a lot of knowledge and skill.
Such love from two special people!
Sharyn,
Yes. Blessed by love.
Love the calendar, I have always thought I should do one for my parents but my dad always wants Classic Tractors for their calendar. I did make 10 Christmas cards for my mom this year – free from Shutterfly, just had to pay postage. We had taken a casual photograph of the family at my dad’s 90 birthday party in August. Earlier in the year, I had a coupon for 10 free magnets. I made 5 for myself and 5 for my mom.
The book is beautiful also. I have never been a poet nor could I come up with the meaning of poems back in school.
I create spreadsheets, does that count? Seriously, I like photography myself, especially of flowers. I don’t have a green thumb at all but I’ve taken some pretty good pictures of flowers. Some people at work have told me they look like postcards.
Phyllis,
I bet Steve’s dad would love a classic tractors calendar too; what a great idea!
And creating spreadsheets is definitely a gift; I can not understand the first thing about doing that. 🙂
Isn’t photography a wonderful thing to get to do? It’s nice to know you share your photos at work. You could put them on cards from Shutterfly!
LeeAnn, the calendar is a Shutterfly project. I have done bags and mugs. Do cards and notes, too. So enjoy using personal pictures in the projects. The book is fantastic and I know it will be treasured. Steve and Becky are special to us as are their children and grandchildren. God bless.
Ann,
And you and Jim are special to us! It was good chatting with him on the phone yesterday.
The calendar is great–what a thoughtful idea.
I was the fortunate recipient of one of Ruth’s books for my birthday. Makes a beautiful setting for her beautiful writing and such a creative idea.
I am so proud of my clever and talented sisters! 🙂
Love, Deb
Deb,
Well, you are just as clever and talented as we are. I am honored to be a member of the Campbell Sisters troupe.
What beautiful, thoughtful gifts. I am not artsy crafty but back in the day I was a pretty good photographer, having taken many photo journalism classes and was a pretty good writer so I would create a lot of photo collages for people as gifts and some funny stories for friends about them…..Homemade gifts just let the recepient know how much you care about them and how important they are, in my mind……I had a friend whose husband was dying from cancer and every day when she sat with him in the hospital, she worked on crocheting a blanket for ME, in spite of all her sorrow, she was still thinking of other people….
Dale,
I love the story of your friend corcheting a blanket for you while her husband was ill. What an inspiring example of doing for others.
As a writer and photographer, it sounds like you have brightened up the lives of many people in your life. It sounds like you were talking about doing all that in the past but I hope you will KEEP sharing your wonderful gifts!
You are very blessed Becky. I know you thank God for people like these two women every day. 🙂 I always love coming to your blog because I always get this sense of gratitude, humility, and kindness and it’s a good example and reminder for me to be those three. Thank you.
I am a knitter, though I don’t do it very much. This weekend I started a knitting project and it reminded me how much peace it brings me. I consider it a form of meditiation and prayer. With everything going on in the country, and some recent health issues, it was just what I needed to re-connect. I like to knit for people, but without the expectation that I’ll get something done – I feel to much guilt when it takes a long time. Apparently I’m also a baker. This xmas I made baklava (for the first time, with pre-made dough) and shared it around, it brought people joy. Oh, and then there’s my dog – Hadeel (https://www.instagram.com/hadeel_the_dog/). She’s 27lb jack-russell pitbull and my friend Mary calls her magical. I share her just by bringing her to work or just being out and about with her. She’s an extrovert (I am not) and loves people. People always thank me for sharing her, but really it’s them who have just brought my little extovert joy that her introvered owner (me) can’t bring her.
Brooke,
Your line, “Apparently I am a baker” made me smile. I am truly impressed that you made baklava!
I saw Hadeel on your Instagram; what a happy-looking dog! I love that you share her with people. I’ve often thought that dogs should be used a whole lot more to spread joy to those who need it. They are the best kind of therapy.
And using”gratitude, humility and kindness” to describe the sense you get when coming to my blog truly touched my heart.
Thank you for being a vital part of this community.
I love the calendar! It looks like it came from Shutterfly. They have such great products! I use Shutterfly all the time and ordered a calendar for myself as well as one for my folks again this year. I’ve gotten the photo mugs too for them using pictures of their great grandchildren. They LOVE them! (I had to get a second one done because they said they were trading off using it after it got washed. 🙂 )
Ruth’s idea is just awesome! She really does do a nice job and her poetry is fun to read too. 🙂
I think that my ‘gift’ is that I sing. I sing in the church choir which is my ministry. I only sing in a group setting though…..NEVER a solo. The fear of being up in front of people with all eyes on me keeps me from doing that. Yikes! I also love to sew but don’t do it much anymore. I have, however, made a few dresses for my granddaughters and some doll clothes for Millie’s baby doll. Other than that, my sewing has been limited to mending and projects like a curtain, pillow cover, table runner, etc.
LeeAnne,
Singing and sewing–two lovely gifts!
Anyone who can sew dresses for granddaughters has definitely got a gift; I wouldn’t even know where to begin.
I love the mental image of your parents trading off on the “special mug.” Too sweet. Glad you got them a second one. 🙂
I love the calendar. We used to create one using our previous years’ photos for my parents, but when my mom died, so did that tradition. Now we purchase a calendar for my dad from one of our trips during the year and give it to him for his birthday (New Year’s Eve!). We write our “visit Daddy” schedule on it in advance, so he knows which weekends we’ll be spending with him. We try to get down there at least every three weeks. His current calendar is from New York City.
And OH – that BOOK!!!!! What a clever idea! We also used to do photo books of our year’s travels for our parents, but also stopped that after my mom died. Now my dad just “keeps up” with where we are via Facebook and emailed or texted photos.
Hm. Hadn’t realized just how much had changed in life since my mother died. Everything is so different. My dad has lost interest in so many things (they were married 54 years), understandably. He wasn’t receptive to offers of personalized calendars or books, so that’s why we stopped doing them. 🙁
Stefanie,
I love the idea of writing in the dates you will be visiting your dad on his calendar; definitely happy words to fill the spaces with!
I understand what you mean when you say that things change so much when a parent dies. Fifty-four years together is a wonderfully long time; I know your dad (and all of you) miss your mom every single day.So good to know you keep in such close touch with him. You’re still making wonderful memories!