Keep on the Sunny Side

There's a dark and a troubled side of life
There's a bright and a sunny side too
Though we meet with the darkness and strife
The sunny side we also may view

It was Easter, and we had travel plans. A few weeks ago, my mother-in-law had phoned and invited us to attend an Easter buffet at Homewood at Martinsburg. We accepted her invitation, and so mid-morning found us freshly washed and pressed, and loaded into the car for a road trip. I had a bouquet of poet's daffodils and pink daffodils from our yard for her as a gift.

The trip takes a bit more than an hour, depending on traffic, and takes us through and around towns with names like Warriors Mark and Roaring Spring and Hollidaysburg and Duncansville. Spring is in the air and on the trees; they are the color of that fresh baby green that is almost unbelievable that you only see this time of year.

We arrived safely and headed over to the buffet, which featured stuffed chicken breast and ham and scalloped potatoes and candied yams and salad and rolls and butter and vegetable lasagna and green bean almondine and pickled eggs (the tiniest ones I ever saw!) and coffee and iced tea and two kinds of desserts.

There is also a very nice library at Homewood, and residents are permitted to sign out books by writing their name and the authors and titles in a notebook on a nearby desk. I'm a J.D. Robb "In Death" series fan, and I had the bright idea to check there for titles I have not read yet. Why, yes, I've read nearly every one the Bellefonte Library has. And yes, I DO carry a list!

So we had our meal and I found FIVE new J.D. Robbs I've never read before (hooray!) and my husband picked up a few books too. I wrote them all down in the notebook and we stuck the books in a bag and left with our prizes.

From there, we went back to Lois's place and hung out and talked up a storm for several hours. I am sorry to admit that our chat included a fair amount of consternation over the current state of political affairs in the U.S., which are just a dumpster fire from start to finish. What is one to do in these crazy times, when there is so much that seems so wrong; so out of control?

My mother-in-law, in her late 80s, admitted to some concerns about her memory, and began to share some details with us about her Wishes. You know, what she wants Done With Things. These can sometimes be scary conversations. A birth and a death are required of each of us. What to do with all of the STUFF once you've made use of it and now you're gone? What kinds of services do you want? Who do you give all of the teapots to?

She and my husband reminisced about my husband's father, who passed in 2010. He lives large in their memories. There are stories, still, that she has not heard. In the midst of all of this, my husband shared with her a clean joke we'd gotten off the Internet, something funny, and safe enough for little old church ladies. I've put a link to it that goes to a Facebook posting, which I hope that you can see. I think it was the loudest I have heard her laugh in the whole time I've known her!

We agreed, as my husband and I got up at the afternoon's end and began packing up our stuff to go, that we would all try to keep on keeping on, in spite of it all; that we would continue on as lovers, and NOT become haters; that we would let our souls shine; that - in fact - we'd try to put EXTRA love out there to balance things out; and that we'd do our best not to become like those we complain about.

And I made a list for her of the books we'd taken, and she insisted that maybe we'd have to come back SOONER rather than later to bring back our books when we're done with them. (Was that book borrowing thing a clever ploy, or what?)

As I was walking toward the door, I noticed something colorful shining in the window of her sunroom, which we had not sat in on this day. It was a sun catcher in the window that featured butterflies and blooms. I snapped my final photo for our visit, which you may see above. A reminder, perhaps, to keep on the sunny side. And so that is how we will take it!

Our soundtrack song is Alison Krauss and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, with Keep on the Sunny Side. Music begins about two minutes into the video.

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way
If we keep on the sunny side of life