The following is what I read at my Daddy’s funeral service on Monday, May 15, 2023. There are hundreds of stories to tell, but I’m sharing this first because many have asked for the transcript of my eulogy. You can read his obituary HERE. Wow. Look at all these faces. I dislike public speaking so I need to relax. Let’s break the ice. Everybody smile. Now, if you went to school with my dad, raise your hand. If you ever served on a committee with my dad, raise your hand. If you ever heard his band – any or every version of it – play, raise your hand. Raise your…
-
-
On Functional Blended Families
This is not a political piece. Yes, it will discuss Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, but it’s about blended families. Stay with me. While watching the lead-up to and the election results come in, I realized what I was really looking forward to. You know what I’m excited about the world seeing? What a blended family — husband, wife, ex/exes, children — who loves each other & who respect each others’ role in the family looks like. Not every divorce leads to messy, angry relationships. Some just become big, crazy families.— Jana Lawrence (@ohjanabelle) November 8, 2020 I’d like to talk about blended families, specifically Functional Blended Families. I’ll start with…
-
When Your Heart’s Content
Left. Left. Left. Ugh. Left Good God this is horrible. Left. Why am I doing this? Left. I can’t believe I got talked into downloading this stupid app. Left. I’m going to turn this stupid thing off. Left. Oh hey, he’s cute. He likes fun and food and beer and whiskey? Pause. Lef…. Right. Shit. Shitshitshit. I should just delete this app. I’ll definitely do that tomorrow. This sucks. Whatever. Being single is fine. I don’t need anybody. ……… Apparently, he thought I was cute and since I declared my love for bourbon in my profile, too, he swiped right. We talked for hours, learned we were both from Middle Georgia,…
-
The First Thing I Ever Was…
The first thing I ever was, was a groupie. Yes, I was born with groupie blood running through my veins. Seriously. It’s a thing. The Beginning. My Dad has been in a rock ‘n roll band since I was born. Well, since 1964… way before I was born actually. For his 17th birthday, he was gifted a 1964 Fender Stratocaster. It was shiny and pristine and brand spanking new. He basically taught himself to play and well, the rest is history. He started playing lead guitar with The Velvetones and then moved to The Malibu’s (punctuation error on purpose) and later, The Sixpence. This group of guys played together through…
-
Apart.
Apart. It’s an adverb, used with verbs like drift, grow, or live. It describes how our hearts have grown over the years. Apart. Our love has drifted and now we have chosen to live that way. Apart. It wasn’t a split second decision. And the details aren’t important. Apart, for now, is how we will be. Will it be permanent? We don’t know. But for now it’s where we find ourselves. We’ve grown to this place and hope that in the apartness, we can both drift towards our individual happiness or newfound togetherness.
-
Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015
Oh, 2014. You’ve been good and you’ve been bad. As far as I’m concerned, you can go ahead and get on out of here… Last year, I chose Intuition to be my word of the year. I’ve worked very hard to trust my intuition this year. It isn’t always easy, and sometimes it’s downright impossible, but when I’ve listened? It’s never led me astray. +++++++++++++++++++++ 2014 was a busy year, and unfortunately I didn’t share a lot of what we did in posts. But here are some of my favorite moments from the year. January: I cut off all my hair and the entire metro Atlanta area shut down from #snOMG14.…
-
I Wouldn’t Change A Thing
Today, Jason and I mark our 16th wedding anniversary. I know what you’re thinking… “She must’ve been 10 when she got married.” No, actually, I was 22 and three weeks out of college. A baby, yes. A child bride, not quite. I look at Pinterest and see photo shoots my friends do of some amazing weddings, weddings I wish were mine. Oh, if I had it all to do over, I would do this, that and the other thing. No. Actually I wouldn’t change a thing. It was a at the beach, a week after a tropical storm blew through. A destination wedding before destination weddings were cool. It was…
-
Her Last First Day of Football Season
Football season is here. The countdown has been on since January 6 when Auburn and Florida State faced off in an amazing final BCS National Championship Game before the new Playoff system goes into play. As the clock ticks down and the very first college kickoff is within reach, or even on the same calendar page, plans start being made. Tailgates are planned. Trips to games are scheduled. The excitement builds! Both of my grandmothers were big football fans. My Mimi (my Dad’s mom) was an NFL gal. Of course, she watched Auburn play, but her Sunday afternoons after my grandfather died were spent watching the NFL. I remember her…
-
Eleven. 11. XI.
Eleven years ago today, you graced us with your presence. You caught us off guard by coming a little bit early and taking forever to be delivered. You caught us off guard by being so aware, so beautiful, so wise. From the moment you arrived, your eyes told your story. They were wide and bright, inquisitive and alert. They knew too much. They knew you had a short time. When I look back at your pictures, so very few of them, your eyes are always open. I see wisdom and love and know that you lived the life you were meant to live. It wasn’t to be a long life,…
-
LTYM 2014: A Mother’s Heart
On April 26, 2014, at the very first Listen To Your Mother: Atlanta, I read these words. I should tell you to bring tissues. It had been a rough week around here between me and the 9 year old. My husband had been traveling a lot and work had been stressful. Henry and I had butted heads, talked back to each other, and raised our voices way too many times. It wasn’t pretty, y’all. I’m ashamed to say, I had yelled more than I should. I’m sad that Henry had said “I hate you” more than he ever should. I know he didn’t mean it, but he said it. He…
