Category: Mother Fran

92 + 11 = A Whole Lot of Love

I wonder if my Nana knew on July 22, 1927 that she was giving birth to such an amazing person. Mother Fran will turn 92 in a few days and I am honored to be part of her family. My parents had nine kids, yup NINE! Each and everyone of us turned out to be pretty well-adjusted, happy adults. I think that is quite an accomplishment. My Mom is not super affectionate, she isn’t the type to brag about her kids, she isn’t even the type to tell you when she is proud of you. That being said, I have never doubted her love for me or for the rest of the extended family.

Mother Fran isn’t the only one to have a July birthday in my family. My Fenway turns 11 this month! I adopted her when she was 4 months old and as no one could give me an exact date of birth, I thought she should share with Mom. I can’t say that Mom was honored but she didn’t complain! Fenway has always been a bundle of joy (and energy) and has plenty of love to share. We are getting ready for a birthday brunch with 5 of the 9 kids, 1 grand child and 4 great-grandchildren. This family knows how to party!

Birthday Brunch is all planned! Image by Karen Arnold from Pixabay

When I tell people that Mom is turning 92, they usually respond with “bless her”. Personally, I think she must already be blessed to have reached her 90’s with her mind and body in pretty good shape! She keeps herself active by wearing her fitness tracker and playing cards with her kids. She says it is funny to walk into a room and know you are the oldest one there! In human years, even Fenway isn’t close to Mother Fran in age! If it wasn’t for the shades of grey around Fenway’s snout, you would think she was a puppy.

Mother Fran told me once that her love for me was “unconditional”. Isn’t that an amazing thing to say to your grown up daughter? I have never forgotten that or taken it for granted. Now Fenway can’t talk but I am willing to bet that her love for me is unconditional as well. This 92 year old woman and 11 year old dog have a whole lot of love to share and I am blessed to be firmly planted within that circle of love.

Feel the love! Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Who do you get a whole lot of love from? Go give those people and pets a great big hug, they deserve it! Today seems like a good day to make sure the people you love know how much they mean to you! There is no guarantee that you will have the opportunity to tell them when they reach age 93 or 12! If the person you need to recognize has passed away or is no longer reachable, writing a letter could be a good way to express your feelings and generate some happiness!

Lake Girl

What Else Will I Inherit?

If you read this blog at all, you have a pretty good idea that my Mom is super important to me. I affectionately call her Mother Fran and have learned so much from her as it relates to health, wealth and happiness. She is 91 years young and still enjoys playing bridge, cards, doing puzzles and reading on her kindle. Playing Canasta is her favorite past time and she is always ready for a match. I have inherited her love of games!  

Mom has always been ahead of her time when it came to healthy eating. She only allowed the healthiest breakfast cereals in the house. I remember Product 19, Shredded Wheat (plain), and Grape Nuts. I used to try to sneak sugar into my cereal bowl to give it some taste! I don’t recall her cooking breakfast but Papa Jack would routinely cook eggs, pancakes, and French toast. Two vegetables were always on the dinner menu and fruit was always in the fridge when we were hungry. We had huge gardens and Mom used to send me out to pick the veggies right before dinner. I have inherited her interest in nutrition and healthy eating. 

I remember she had a subscription to Prevention Magazine, always took vitamin supplements and tried to pass carob powder off as chocolate. We only ate whole grains, rarely had soda and the only time we had candy was on Halloween. I remember her swallowing a tablespoon of olive oil in the morning because she knew it was good for her.

Through her 80’s she used her arm weights, ankle weights and did seated yoga.  She used to engage in exercise every day but over the last few years, her love of games has gotten in the way. Now,  Child #7 makes her stretch her neck and do shoulder shrugs in between rounds of Canasta! She also used to listen to relaxation tapes daily and take long afternoon naps. I am kind of a nap failure but I do love my daily quiet time. Guess I inherited a need to take time to myself every day in order to recharge my batteries. 

I have learned a lot about optimizing health from my Health Coach Training, reading a ton of books, listening to podcasts and modifying my own diet. I focus on making one good decision after another to reach my health goals. Recently, I have begun to track healthy habits in an App on my cell phone which has really helped me stay on top of my game! I have definitely inherited Mother Fran’s interest in living a healthy lifestyle. 

Mother Fran is wonderful but she is not known for her patience. If she wants you to do something, she wants it NOW. I remember several years ago, I was resting on the deck after driving 6.5 hours to visit her. She asked if during my visit I could move a bunch of rocks that had fallen off a rock wall. I said sure and closed my eyes. About 30 minutes later, I see her carrying a large rock out of the corner of my eye. When I asked her why she was moving it, she said well you weren’t getting around to it! I am afraid I have inherited her lack of patience too!

 

As my honey and I gear up for a long visit with Mother Fran and Child #7, I look forward to sharing some of my favorite meals and newfound healthy living knowledge with her. I want to get her talking about her own interest in health living to see what she can teach me as well.  I am 100% positive we will play hours upon hours of Canasta. We will hit the beach and some favorite restaurants. Who knows, maybe can brainstorm ways to improve our patience too!  

I wonder what else I have inherited from Mother Fran???

 Lake Girl!

Check out these articles to see how Mother Fran can influence you to choose health too!

Be Like Mother Fran

Mother Fran’s Tips to Stretch the Food Budget

Waste Not Want Not 

Are You My Mother?

Today is Mother’s Day 2018! Who should you thank for Mothering you?

 I am Child # 8 out of 9 of an Irish Catholic family. I grew up with 2 loving parents, with a mom that stayed home to take care of the family and the home. My dad was a NYC police officer who retired when I was about 9, and my parents moved from Long Island to Upstate NY with the 4 youngest  kids.

Can you imagine raising 9 kids? Personally, I never felt the pull of motherhood. I think at a young age I recognized that it was hard work. Don’t get me wrong, I love kids and enjoy spending time with them but at then end of the day, I am happy to return to my quiet home to walk my dog.

This is more my speed

Continue reading “Are You My Mother?”

Do You Love the Water?

I have been hanging out in Florida this week with Mother Fran and Child #7. The weather has been ok but regardless, it has been nice to get away from the cold and the snow. They live in what feels like a pretty congested area with busy roads full of traffic and every store you can think of within a 10 minute drive. Usually I would hate this type of area but they have something I crave with every ounce of my being. They live on the water. Don’t get too excited, it isn’t the ocean or even a lake; they live on a small pond. They share the pond with a bunch of other houses, each one faces the pond with their back porch.

Mom’s  back porch is screened in and the entire thing overlooks the pond. It has a table and chairs, small couch and comfy chair. You can also walk out the porch door and set up a lounge chair on the grass when the need overtakes you.  You can’t swim in this pond or even toss in your kayak (apparently that is frowned upon) but people do fish and enjoy the view.

The pond looks like this!

Continue reading “Do You Love the Water?”

A Match Made in Heaven

I grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s when processed food, T.V. dinners and fast food were the norm.

Nobody told Mother Fran though! She was ahead of her time when it came to ensuring her family ate healthy meals.

Not in Mother Fran’s House!

Continue reading “A Match Made in Heaven”

Embracing the Gray

Growing up in the 1970’s as Child #8 out of 9 meant I was always one of the “little kids”, always one of the youngest. When my whole family gathered, I  always sat at the kids table, always got booted off of the couch for someone older, always wore the hand-me-down clothes. I spent my childhood wishing I was older – like a teenager! I wanted to go out at night with my siblings, I wanted to stay up late eating ice cream with Mother Fran, I wanted to babysit the neighbor kids to earn a little spending money. I seriously remember thinking “when I’m big, I am going to eat cake and ice cream for breakfast”!  I knew how to dream BIG.

Chocolate please!

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Be Like Mother Fran

Many of the people I work with in the nursing home don’t seem to have much going on in their old age. They sit and stare into space or at the television screen until it is time for bed or their next meal. Whatever leisure activities they enjoyed in the past either cannot be completed in the nursing home setting or they have lost the interest or ability to participate.

I have worked with some elderly patients in their home as well and some of them are in the same position. They wait for the phone to ring, for their favorite game show or for a visitor to stop by.  I want more in my old age! I want to be more like Mother Fran and other seniors who still know how to live life with a purpose.

I want to do more in my old age

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Creating New Traditions

When I was a kid we celebrated Thanksgiving in the traditional American way. Our family got together and prepared a delicious turkey dinner with all of the fixings.   It doesn’t sound like a big deal but thinking back it was a complicated process that all of us engaged in. Think of an orchestra where every musician brings their special talents; knows what to play and when to play it in order to create a masterpiece!

Everyone had a part to play

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What Do You Hate to Spend Money On?

I had some friends visiting from Massachusetts last week and we had a wonderful time! These are the kind of friends who have been in my life for what seems like forever and no matter how mad we get at each other, all is forgiven over a glass of wine or a really good meal.

This friend of mine has a pet peeve bigger then Big Papi’s ability to score a home run in clinch situation. My friend refuses, absolutely refuses to pay for parking. He would rather walk across a bridge, 2 miles in the rain than fork over $5 bucks to park his car.

We jokingly talked about this while driving to go on a  hike last week. My honey and I were trying to figure out how to get to a hiking spot we have done many times but we wanted to park at the summit of the hike (where parking is free) vs at the base where parking cost  $7.00. Somehow I knew my friend would understand.

I hate shelling out good money on poopy bags for Fenway. It seems such a silly thing but why spend money on squirling away poop? I hit the jack pot over the winter when my honey and I were doing some clean up at her parents and we scored 2 boxes of unused bags that are the perfect size to take care of Fenway’s business. I think I even did a happy dance when I tucked them into the car. I should have plenty of bags on hand to get me through 2017. Yeah!

Then again, it beats buying cat litter!

Continue reading “What Do You Hate to Spend Money On?”

Schedule It!

The long winter of 2017 is over and spring has been pretty wonderful, although a bit rainy.  I managed to plant my small garden several weeks ago which is pretty early for this area. I have tomatoes, basil, parsley, scallions, and peppers. I have been doing lots raking, weeding and planting in my own yard and with others.

Not my house, not my garden!

Continue reading “Schedule It!”