GeoCaching 101

I heard about Geocaching a few months ago, and totally thought it would be something cool to do. For my summer of MBS, it really works well, as we can all get into it. The kids like looking for the treasure, and Dave likes driving to remote places. I just love hiking, and love being outside.

So, today, I ate all healthy stuff and didn't even keel over. We found our VERY FIRST Geocache, and we spent a glorious day looking at waterfalls Falls Village, CT. We came home and showered, and settled in for an amzingly capitivating lightening storm.

Tomorrow I am making homemade granola bars, and we have 2 simple geocaches slated to find. WEEEEeeeeeee!

If you want to learn more about Geocaching, go here.

Not Slacking...Promise

We just got back from round 2 in PA. The first round was the saddest - organizing the funeral, knowing that she was being driven in a hearse. This second round was part of the cleaning up process - the cleaning and organizing we do after a loved one has died.

This morning - when I woke up - I looked at Dave and was ready to ask, "Did Mom call?" I talked to Mom nearly every day for 36 years. Back when my parents were married, I would stop in at Spring Street for coffee, and when I lived in DC, I called every day. Sometimes we didn't have a lot to talk about, but sometimes she or I would just complain or vent or she would nag me or whatever. When I would cook, I would cal her to ask a question about basting or marinating. When she came to visit, I would call to tell her to bring a cork screw or an onion.

My Mom has been sick a long time, and she truly deserves the blessings of Heaven. She died the way she wanted...she didn't know it was coming and she died in her sleep. Her mind was good; her body just failed her. It is selfish of me to want to keep her here when I watched her suffer every day, but a teensy part of me just wishes I could call her one more time. But, I know that I would still want another "one more time" after that. It is true that no one loves you as much as your Mother. I believe that; as a mother, I know that no one loves my kids as much as I do, and I know that no one understands my kids as much as I do. Other people love them, but a Mom just knows.

Over the past few days, I didn't get to work on my MBS project much because the PA environment is too chaotic.

So, today I am back in full swing. I read a chapter from the Mothers' War book, and I am heading out for a walk. Later on I will have to report how it goes :-)

Image Source: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/472207404_fd3cb380e4_m.jpg

Mom's Cookbook

We were without internet most of Saturday, but I remained focused on my MBS plan.

For the "mind" part, I read three chapters in the book, Our Mothers' War by Emily Yellin. I was interested in knowing the difference between Mothers' and Mother's. It is an excellent book, and I will gobble up a few more chapters before bed. I am fascinated by the roles women have played during war time. Starting with the women of the US Sanitary Commission and dribbling up to even today, I am fascinated by the variety of ways women have served in, near, or by war. I also read some more from the Holocaust book, and that reading is a little more philosophical than I expected. I thought there would be more stories, but, alas, it is an examination of the stories, themselves. This is quite interesting, though. Right now, I am reading about the changes that are made when stories are recounted in print compared to when they are told out loud in varying situations. Stories morph and change shape when they are written down; language changes when ink meets pulp. The story, itself, is the same, but the adjectives and verbs jump to action.

As a part of the MBS plan, I had to get off my duff, and we took the kids to the strawberry patch. Even though it was raining (not too hard), we had a blast. We walked all over the orchard and gathered up a good box full of berries. It felt good to be outside.

As part of the spirit part, I wanted to do something today to connect to Mom. So, I made jam from the strawberries. Now, you must understand that I really am not passionate about cooking. In fact, I am not passionate about most domestic chores. But, usually people like what I serve up and no one has been hospitilized or died from my cooking. People request some of the things I make (English Pasties, brandy fruit), so the talent isn't lost on me, but I would rather be reading or playing video games. But, I wanted to do what Mom and I had planned to do when she was well again. She was going to teach me to cook. I made the jam, and cried through some of it. I wanted to call her and ask what "culling" meant, and wanted to see her sitting with her bowl and knife cutting off the tops of the berries. But, as sad as I was at times, it made me feel better to do something that she loved.

Mom was a fantastic cook. Bishop Florenza, when remembering my Mom last month, said "She is the best cook I have ever known." Her recipes were legendary in the church, and people always came to her dinner parties. She entertained and fed up a storm - soup to nuts. She didn't like baking, but she did an awesome job baking, too. She could do 52 things when she cooked- back in the day it was talking to Grandma on the phone while drinking a beer and smoking a Winston Light 100 while chopping onions... I was in awe of her cooking, but she couldn't cook with others. She had to do it herself. I, too, love entertaining, and know that I must have gotten that from her.

At her funeral, people asked for different recipes and it occured to me that I should publish her cookbook. The technology is so easy, and she would have loved to see her name in print. So, I am working on it now. It is a nice summer project to fill in the void. When I miss her, if it is practical, I will come and type in a recipe. So far, it is helping.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
(Psalm 19:14)

A Tribute to Mom

This was the Eulogy I delivered to celebrate Mom's Life:

A Tribute to Mom by Beth Ritter-Guth

On behalf of Mom’s brother, Tom, and my brothers, Michael and Paul, I would like to thank all of you for helping us remember and celebrate the life of my mother, Karen.

I have to admit that I wrote this before Mom passed because I wanted to remember her in the way in which she lived and not the sadness I feel in her passing.

My mother was a woman of tremendous strength. If will power alone could help us live forever, we would not be gathered for this purpose. It is in her will power, one that I didn’t inherit, that I have learned the most about her. She defined the term “she's a trooper.”

I think the most important lesson Mom taught me is to not to look back and to just keep marching on. My Mom had a hard life. Her childhood wasn’t especially happy; she married young, left an abusive husband, lost a child, lost her parents to cruel cancers, and, for the past 15 years, suffered with one of the most debilitating diseases around. But, these things didn’t define her, because she never looked back. She kept marching.

Her ability to march on was founded in a few simple principles: faith, passion, loyalty, pride, and charity.

Mom always believed that her faith carried her through the darkest times in her life and lifted her through some of her most joyful moments, as well. When my brother tragically died at the age of 8, it was faith that got her through. When her parents were sick with cancers not yet curable by modern medicine, she believed God walked her through. When her granddaughter, Elizabeth, was born with complications, she believed that God would heal her. And he did. When my son Julian had a stroke in utero, she believed God made him special for a reason. She was right. She believed in the power of prayer, and she believed that God works miracles. She had tremendous faith and worked, tirelessly, to protect the faith in which she was raised.

Of my mother’s attributes, her passion and loyalty are the most memorable. She believed, whole heartedly, in her causes. She loved her church, and she loved politics. And, if she felt she had a message to share, she shared it with the ends of the earth (even if we didn‘t want to hear it). She was committed to her causes and wanted everyone to share in her passion. It is rare to find such a person of conviction these days. That conviction was matched with loyalty to her friends and family. She defended her friends with the same passion she defended her ideals. My Mom knew that she didn’t march alone, and she believed that a good march meant being loyal to the troops around her.

My Mother was proud of many things, but on the top of her list was her children and grandchildren. Even though we have all, from time to time, given her pause for concern, at the end of each and every day, she loved us all and was incredibly proud of the people we have become. She used to say that her greatest achievement was her children. She was also proud of her British heritage. Of the many things she did in her life, researching her family and taking her Aunt Margie back to England was one of the highlights. Even though we had little money, she wanted us to know and appreciate our heritage. She wanted us to know that our march was not singular, and that others had marched before us.

Finally, my Mom truly believed in charity. She believed that there were always people worse off than us. In her good days, she organized food drives, cooked at the Bethlehem Soup Kitchen, and sponsored children from the Fresh Aire Fund. She believed that we needed to march for those who could not march for themselves.

In the last days of Mom’s life, she wasn’t able to breathe and walk together for more than two steps at a time. Her world became smaller and smaller; the steps lesser and lesser. Yet, she marched on. And it dawned on me that my mother has always been marching; through wind and ice, clouds and rain, and through sunny and bright days, too. For her, the point wasn’t the destination…it was the journey. Truly, our journeys will all end the same, and this she knew - she wanted to make her march count.

I have learned a lot from my Mom’s example. I know she wasn’t perfect, but neither am I. But, marching on isn’t a matter of always walking straight or being in step, it is the march, itself, that matters most. My mother has had a short parade, but her march was worthwhile. Her march inspires in us a sense to march on, to keep looking ahead toward the horizon and to adorn ourselves with the tools that will make a difference: faith, passion, loyalty, pride, and charity. Thank you.

June 19th...The Plan

The plan is to do something every day that helps my mind, body, and spirit. Now, the mind part is fairly easy, as I am an uber nerd. The body thing, well, that is the biggest challenge. But, we will see.

Today's Plan:
Today will be a challenge, as we are driving BACK to PA so I can figure out who is buried in Mom's grave. Long story short, there is a person there - - and no one knows this person...and this person has been there since the 70s. We have some other plans, too.

Mind: My commitment for today is to read from one of the 10 bajillion library books I have out. The one in my hand right now is called Holocaust Testimonials: The Ruins of Memory by Lawrence L. Langer. I am interested, always, in the stories of the survivors because they demonstrate the nuances of the human spirit. I am also fascinated by the concept of memory in the face of tragedy. Even as I grieve Mom's death, I understand that I am glossing over the many times she nagged me, drove me nuts, or was overly demanding and opinionated. In death, we shroud our loved ones with perfection, and, if you are like Mom or me, you refuse to see any bad...the memory of bad things dissolves in the embalming fluid. So, for today, the Testimonials will be my Mind project. I have committed to one chapter.

Spirit: Tonight at 6:00, I will gather with folks from LCCC back in the Lehigh Valley. Typically, I am not the reuining kind, and, actually, I don't get really close to a lot of people. But, there were a gaggle of really great people at LCCC that I totally loved and want to see again and keep in contact with over time. Laughter and friendship are what I truly need right now, but also being a friend, being a person to make others laugh, is good, too.

Body: This is the toughest one for me because I let everything go after my kids were born. I need to change the way I eat (not a diet, but a lifestyle change) and exercise. So, today the plan is to eat my oats and do a half hour on the bike listening to Bon Jovi.

The MBS Summer

On June 11, I lost my Mom to lung disease. I love her and I miss her. We all deal with grief differently, but the only way I know how to deal with anything is to write. So, in part, this blog is meant to help me deal with losing her. But, it is also aimed at helping me build up the three things that are most important to all of us...mind, body, and spirit. The goal is to do something every day in each category in order to enrich my own life and the lives of those around me. We'll see how this goes...