Category: writing

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Goodness

gGoodness.

Don’t we all want it? Shouldn’t we all aspire to it?

I think too often we seek it in ways that will benefit us —  we try to internalize good for ourselves. One more slice of that delicious pie will fill us up, and make us feel good. Another drink. That pretty dress. Those awesome shoes.

A quick rundown of the definition of goodness from some trusty (rusty?) online searches consistently yielded the following descriptions:

1. the state or quality of being good.
2. moral excellence; virtue.
3. kindly feeling; kindness; generosity.
4. excellence of quality: goodness of workmanship.
5. the best part of anything; essence; strength.
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I like those two definitions in boldface. The first one, especially, is something that I feel strongly about. There’s good in giving. Kindness and generosity are much greater than hoarding a pile of meaningless objects. It’s a gift that keeps giving, too.
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The best kind of goodness is not material, and can’t be measured. There’s a certain reciprocity that comes from kindness and generosity, not that we should seek it for our own ends, but that in giving freely we are somehow blessed in return.
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Friend

letter_f_erteFriend.

Fun, fellowship, faith, frolic, fantastic, fair, fond, forthright, feel, fulfill, fabulous, fealty, felicity, favored, flourish, forgiveness, familiarity, fruitful, festive, frank, fortifying, fraternal, fascinating, free, formidable, familial, facilitate, flexible, folksy, funny. Faithful.

A true blessing…

Talking, eating, playing, praying, saying, hugging, listening, learning, daring, dreaming, urging, cooking, texting, calling, running, speaking, nurturing, crying, whispering, mending, holding, caring, encouraging, teaching, trusting, accepting, being, cherishing, laughing, living. Sharing.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”
― C.S.Lewis

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Edelweiss

eEdelweiss.

I usually say daisies are the friendliest flowers, but for today, I’m going to say edelweiss is the friendliest flower.

Because it starts with E, and I wasn’t going to pick a weirdly exotic word although now that I think of it, I might have had some fun sending you, dear reader, off on a wild goose chase.

Or maybe not. Instead, I’ll regale you with a mushy little love story. Mine.

When John and I were married, he was serving in the US Army in what was then West Germany. We lived in a beautiful little town, Bamberg, and all of Western Europe was our playground.

Austria was just a short drive away, and we went often. The Alps, you know, ARE RIGHT THERE!

And edelweiss grows in the Alps.

So my honey picked a lot of edelweiss for me to put in my hair. It was very long in those days, curly and black. I looked like Yvonne de Carlo.

And he looked like Christopher Plummer.

Do you know where this is going?

Yes.

He often sang Edelweiss to me.

 

edelweiss

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