Your words used to strike me direct
Hitting my heart with vengeance
Now the memory of those jabs
Ricochet around in my soul
Leaving pits of despair behind
When will the past stop haunting me
Or will it forever be putting me
Behind the firing line
*****
Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – ricochet
According to Merriam Webster a fanatic person is “a person who is extremely enthusiastic about and devoted to some interest or activity.” Going from that definition, I would have to say at least in my teens and into early twenties I was a fanatic about music, going to concerts and most especially the Oak Ridge Boys.
I could tell you the names of the singers, band members and a large portion of the crew that toured with them. I was a member of their fan club and in total have seen them over fifteen times easily. Used to be I could recite all the shows and most of the dates they happened… I am getting old though and memory is a problem with fibro too so I can’t recall all of them so easily now.
What I was just talking to my boyfriend about is how a lot of the musicians of our youth are far from their youth now and that scares me. No, it will not have the impact John Lennon or Elvis Presley’s deaths had on a generation but with all four singers in the ORB being 75 or more now I dread the day I hear that one has left this world. I have already said my personal goodbyes to three men who used to be in the band… still miss them.
In the meantime, I will listen to their music, hope they come close enough for a concert (I don’t drive long distances like I used to due to anxiety issues on the road) and keep up to date with social media posts. Is there someone you were (or still are) a fanatic about?
(Here’s a video from back in the day… back when Skip, Steve and Don were still with us. May they all rest in peace.)
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Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – fanatic
Life is fun. Writing is fun. The two have been clashing lately though. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. To say my posting and reading has been sporadic lately is an understatement, but for good reasons.
I have spent a month out of state and am now having the pleasure of my boyfriend’s company here in Iowa for a few weeks before he heads back home. We have accomplished many tasks we have wanted to do and are still working on some sorting and organizing here… it is a daunting task to have basically three generations worth of stuff in one house and have to sort through it all.
Once again, I ask for your patience as I try to navigate through the posts I am behind on. Little by little I will get there. It may be nearly July before I catch up, but I will. In the meantime, I will pop in as time allows and be in awe of the words and pictures you all share and try to sneak in a post or two as well. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Spring and getting out to enjoy a bit of this wonderful season.
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Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – sporadic
My mom and I used to have a running joke anytime I came close to a craft store I would say, “I smell rubber.” I know I have mentioned before that I make my own greeting cards with rubber stamps and other paper craft supplies. There is a smell to rubber stamps, so I was not lying, just stretching the truth a bit. Yesterday I smelled a lot of rubber and missed Mom two days before Mother’s Day.
While I was visiting my boyfriend in Michigan there was a scrapbooking “Mega Meet” in Novi. My boyfriend was nice enough to take me there and put up with my wandering, drooling over new products and freaking out over discoveries for nearly four and a half hours. (He is a keeper!) He did find places to sit and did more walking around while I stood in one place staring and all the shiny pretty things. But at times it was a melancholy day.
I had only been to one other show and that was about 30 years ago with my mom. She has been gone almost 13 years now and so many times I wanted to show her products and sample displays, but she is no longer my partner in crime in the sniffing out of rubber. And this close to Mother’s Day that just made me a little sad.
It was certainly nice being in the vicinity of another show, to smell a little rubber and to dream of all the projects I can make with my new goodies. As Mother’s Day draws near, hold tight to your mom, if you are lucky enough to still have her (or any mother figure in your life) and if not, find as many good memories as you can to bring a smile to your face. I hope everyone had a good weekend!
*****
Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – vicinity
I will not wavier
I will not flinch
My strength will sustain me
My power comes from within
I will not lose
I will not fall apart
My confidence wont fail me
My illness wont win
During this mental health awareness month of May, I write of an inner strength that is not present enough of the time. But it is present more than it used to be, and I continue to work on me. Break the silence, break the stigma. I am more than enough. #MentalHealthAwareness
*****
Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – flinch
I tried to talk to him
I tried to reason it out
I know I wasn’t perfect
But he had changed so much
Not under his own power
Instead with a bottle in his hands
I knew he needed help
A type I couldn’t give him
I pleaded and begged
Did all I had been asked to
But with a brisk dismissive nod
I knew the talk was over
I had to stick to my decision
And he was trapped in his
Only he had the power to change
And he was beyond reach
If I had only known
How final that goodbye would be
*****
Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – brisk
In the past
My heart was deflated
But lately
I’ve been elated
A real chance
Presented itself
A new found
Cache of wealth
Just like real
Riches of emotions
Now I take
A second notion
Will it last
No one knows
I just cross
My fingers and toes
*****
Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – elated
My heart skips
It is not beating like is usually does
My head’s in the clouds
I am not thinking clearly as usual
I get butterflies in my stomach
But it’s not unusual
It’s the growth of a new love
Effecting every inch of me
And I wouldn’t trade it for the world
*****
Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – unusual
…as an added bonus –
Old age can change things. One of the joys of aging in my family for the women is hair loss. Mind you I have been blessed with my mom’s hair – fine and stick straight. But there is more. Almost 20 years ago I lost my hair due to chemo for breast cancer. It, to my dismay, did not grow back curly but thinner and a touch greyer.
Now I am a fibro fighter. I finally got my diagnosis around 2014 and I have seen that (you guessed it) thinning hair or hair loss can be a thing. Then I am sure the laundry list of side effects from my numerous meds can likely cause the issue too. So, I am stuck looking very weak in the hair department.
But a friend of mine says she swears by the supplement Coral Calcium to thicken her hair. Anyone out there ever use it? I tried looking at my local store for it with no luck but picked up some collagen and biotin to try. Been through one and a half bottles and so far, see no real difference.
I will now venture into the health food store soon to see if they carry it, and I am sure they will. It will just be a challenge to get in and out of there with only the coral calcium as the employees are always eager to add things to my cart.
Hopefully I can regain a little hair growth. I too am thinking about a perm for added volume and faux fullness. So, with any luck in another month or two I may have a fuller head of hair thanks to supplements, or else it is back to the drawing board for ideas. Any tried-and-true methods you have that you want to share? Please do so in the comments.
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Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – supplement
“Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.” – Stanislaw Jerzy Lec
“You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.” – George Burns
“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” – Samuel Ullman
“Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.” – Mark Twain
“Age is not important unless you’re a cheese.” – Helen Hayes
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For Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – age
Leigha Robbins 