Reflections From a Country Girl

Well I finally did it. I was on a camping trip for a few days and went to a convenience store for some gas and a cappuccino.

I had seen those tickets a million times before and, to be honest with you, I had actually no idea how to play them.

Friends of mine play the lottery faithfully every time they have a chance. Others don’t play at all. I included myself in the latter until today.

So after we gassed up, my “experienced” lottery player friend and I went in and I was told – step by step – what to ask for.

I felt like I was in elementary school again learning how to do something for the first time.

It was relatively painless and my few dollars went to the experience. Just some numbers appear on the ticket. I understand that tomorrow I can find out if I won or not.

So, I bought my first lottery tickets and now I know how to play.

I’m not sure where you stand on playing the lottery. I guess you either love it or hate it. I do know that, for those who play it, they like the chance they take…a few dollars for a chance at a big jackpot…and a feeling they are helping out education in SC in some way.

I’m not sure if I’ll play again. I will check to see if any of my numbers matched.

Humh. What will I spend it on if I win?

My wish for you today is that, if you play the lottery, you will be a winner some day. Enjoy the experience and play responsibly.

~ Joellen

Are you a camper?

I used to think the only way I wanted to camp was at a Holiday Inn or some other kind of hotel/motel.

When you have a son that’s in scouts and you are a single parent, you learn how to. Children get so excited about camping and they want to share what they have learned with their parents – who are often not interested at all in the camping scene.

There are many humorous stories about my son and me camping. I’ll never forget the night we were cooking “Beaufort Stew” when camping at the beach. As I was placing the potatoes, shrimp and sausage in the pot of boiling water, my son said “Mom, something fell in the stew….there goes another one.” I laughed it off only to find him with a flashlight aiming the light on two big Palmetto bugs that had just fallen in from the tree limbs above.

Needless to say, we went out to eat that night.

So when I started dating a camper – and one that really would rather primitive camp, I thought I was in big trouble when he convinced me to go camping with him one weekend.

I am a “seasoned” camper now and really like going to state parks camping.

I just returned from a two night stay at Santee State Park which was just a hop, skip and a jump from where I live. We had a great time even though the weather was a bit hot. The nights, however, were perfect and we had a wonderful time.

When you go camping, you meet some of the nicest people. This time, we met a couple from Canada. They were coming back from Florida and headed back toward snow country. They were a cute couple and obviously enjoyed each other’s company.

I just bought a new tent that looks like a modern day teepee. I was quite comfortable. The cot helped as well.

The best thing about it was not having a computer there. It MADE me take a break from my otherwise hectic computer life.

I actually enjoyed the change…though I had a mountain of e-mails when I returned.

My wish for you today is that you give camping a try and be open to the experience. You might just find you enjoy it more than you thought AND you may just meet some new friends along the way.

~ Joellen

Do you have a teenager with a curfew? Are you a teen who has a curfew?

It’s been awhile since my son lived with me. He’s 24 now and lives on his own.

He still stays up all night on occasion.

Did I set curfews? No. I probably was one of the few parents around that didn’t.

Right about now, if you are a teen, you are probably wishing you had a parent like me.

If you are a parent reading this, you are probably saying “What in the WORLD was she thinking?”

Let me explain.

I never would have suspected I’d say that as a parent. After all, I have been a school counselor for years and saw teenagers get in some pretty big trouble staying out all night. I mean, the world is a bad place at night. Right?

As a baby, Pierce Cook was always inquisitive. So when his father handed three year old Pierce a camera, it wasn’t a surprise he asked lots of questions about it and fanaticized about making movies like Steven Spielberg.

Soon he was taking pictures regularly and within a few years, he had a video camera planted firmly in his little hands. One would often see him making “movies” of things like a wind-up plastic Christmas tree disappearing down the toilet with the Wizard of Oz wicked witch of the west theme song playing in the background as the tree said “I’m melting, I’m melting.” Within seconds the tree would appear at the front of the house jumping from the ditch saying “let me in, let me in!”

There was also the infamous movie “HamsterAnna Jones” where he took his loveable Hamster, Sylvester, complete with a little bandana carefully tied around his neck, and had him riding in a wild runaway coal car attached to his electric train.

Pierce saw Jurassic Park 18 times. Some thought that was obsessive. He smiled confidently when he heard those comments. Pierce knew it was because he was watching each filming angle to see if he could reproduce it with his toy dinosaurs.

Yes, Pierce kept everyone entertained with that camera. He became a college student in the 10th grade just so he could take a filmmaking class at Trident Tec. He went on to become the youngest student taking an adult filmmaking class with the SC Arts Commission Southeastern Film Institute. While other high school students were relaxing over the summer, Pierce attended filmmaking classes at the NC School of Performing Arts or was filming his first full length movie and using our house as one of the sets.

As a teen and during the time when most other parents were imposing curfews on their teenagers, I never worried where Pierce and his friends were. They could be filming well into the night and editing the rest as they carefully created sound effects for the footage they shot.

All this said, I think when you have teenagers with a healthy passion or involvement in something they love; you often don’t have to worry about a curfew. He never gave me any thought of not trusting him, and he has grown up to be a healthy young man to this day.

My wish for you today is that, if you are a parent, that you never feel the need to set a curfew. If you are a teenage, my wish for you today is that you never give your parents a reason to think you need a curfew…and that you will be responsible with your freedoms as you mature.

~ Joellen

Today I talk about hurts. We all have them. Often, they creep up when you expect them. Other times, they come out of nowhere and you are totally unprepared for them.

Sometimes, hurts are associated with holidays. Many of my most memorable hurts occurred close to or on holidays. As the years have come and gone, I have had other memories filling those days. I suspect they were there to help me adjust and they’ve done a good job of that.

A recent study suggested that, for some, time does not heal hurts or wounds. They suggested that it took at least seven years for someone to adjust to the death of a spouse. For divorcees, the study said, there are often people who are bitter for the rest of their life and never quite get beyond the hurt and anger.

This past weekend we celebrated several significant days. For many of us, Sunday was a holy day – Palm Sunday. I went to church and received a blessed palm which now holds a special place of honor in my home.

Sunday was also April Fools Day…the day – 29 years ago – that I got married. I know. I know. You are probably saying “what were they thinking?” Well, it was either that or Labor Day…and we didn’t like the connotations of Labor Day…at least for a wedding.

Both these days will hold a special place in my heart for several reasons. One is because I married a minister who was dear to my soul, we had two wonderful boys and I was with him for 11 years before he died.

The other was because I celebrate a significant day in my Christian faith while I was in a church with someone who has grown to be very dear to me.

My wish for you today is that you embrace those times in your life where you may find hurts and wounds, gently process them for what they are, and that you are able to move on from there. It’s in those times that we can reflect and see our way clear to grow beyond the hurts and move on in life.

~ Joellen

I hear that the real you is who you are in the dark when no one is looking.

While I suspect some of that may be true, I also know that who you are in crisis is who you really are as well.

Yes, like Phil Collins sings, it is your true colors that come shining through then.

One never really knows who you are when they deal with you casually. Usually, people strive to put their best foot forward. When we see people walking down the street in their clean, comfy clothes with a smile on their face, it makes us think they are great to be around – especially if they are handsome to boot.

Yes, beautiful people to look at often equates, in our minds, as beautiful people to be around.

It’s when you really get to know someone that you are aware of their perfections and imperfections. It’s when someone’s true colors come through that you decide if you want to be around them or not.

Hopefully, if your true colors creep through in a negative way (and that is not who you usually are all the time) those who experienced it will be forgiving. There are times in our lives when we do and say things we wish we had not done. When that happens it is often too late to take it back. You just have to live with the consequences.

I have, lately, been seeing the true colors of some of my acquaintances and I am inspired by what I see.

One of my cowboy friends has a girlfriend who has been diagnosed with cancer. While I have no doubt they love each other deeply, I think it’s a brave man indeed with an inner strength and courage who will stand by his woman and be with her through invasive surgery and chemotherapy.

She lost her hair over the weekend and is having some adverse affects from the chemo. It’s not pretty, and she is weak…but the determination she has to live and the support he is sharing so freely makes all of us appreciate the relationship they have even more.

Yes, there are many out there who dare to share their true colors by doing courageous but simple things on a daily basis.

Will you be one of them?

My wish for you today is that you show your true colors of bravery and courage in your daily life. Be a positive example for us all. We need people who are willing to share their inspirational true colors with the world.

~ Joellen