Thankful Me

  The view of a sunset taken from an airplane. The sky is orange and just a sliver of sun is visible. I made a quick trip to Oregon this week to visit my parents. As I waited at the airport to depart, I noticed a baby sleeping on her dad's shoulder. I was flying on Southwest, which doesn't have assigned seats. I was in boarding group B. As I boarded the plane, I noticed that the window and middle seat in the first row of the plane (the row with lots of legroom) was empty. I was surprised, but gladly took the window seat. I alternated between reading a book and looking out the window. It was so good to see the mountain lakes filled with water. I got a wave of nostalgia when I saw the peaks in the Cascade Range, as I have memories of going across the mountains to visit my grandparents when I was younger. I used to see Black Butte from the front window in my grandparents' home, but from the plane, I could see it in relation to the Three Sisters. Though Black Butte is aptly-nam

  The Rosie the Riveter image from the Library of Congress Digital Collection shows a woman dressed in a blue shirt and red and white polka-dot head scarf raising a fist and showing her muscles. The image is captioned, "We can do it!" Every week, my dad would turn on the radio and we would sit around the table and listen to A Prairie Home Companion.  At the end of every episode, Garrison Keilor would sign off by saying, "That's the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." With Mother's Day coming up on Sunday, I've been thinking about the strong women in my life, and I'm thankful for them. Two smiling 90+ year old white-haired sisters  My great-grandaunts, Golda and Olive, pictured above, were two such strong women. They were two of eight children born to George and Cora Telfer. Golda (on the left in the photo) was born in 1891, and Olive (in the dark sweater, on th

  A young boy from shoulders down, dressed in shorts and blue sweatshirt, wading in a creek It's been an interesting week, one which was fairly quiet for me personally, but one which was more eventful for some family members. Some events were planned for, and I anticipated being needed to help, but it turned out I really wasn't. Other events were unscheduled, but again, my presence wasn't required. So I've had more free time than I thought I would. As I've been wading through this week, I've been thinking about how the advice airlines give to "put your own oxygen mask on first," and how that can relate to everyday life. I think when I'm on a plane, it's easy to think, "Of course I would need to put on my own mask first," but in non-aviation-related reality, it somehow seems selfish to put my own needs first. I've been realizing this week that taking care of myself first is selfless, because it allows me to be in a better position