but the Mermaid says we can’t stop when we’re having so much fun!
Molly, Molly – come away with me to my Kingdom in the Sea
is she serious?
who knew being a Princess could be so tiring?
honestly, Nana – I think I’d be happier in a swing
***************
Yesterday afternoon Nana and Naynay had the great pleasure/treasure of watching 21-month-old Little Sis Molly playing with her four year old Big Sis Ella. The imagination of Ella the Mermaid combined with Molly’s adoration of her big sister bring great joy to their Nanas. In these perilous times at home and abroad, I hope they give you a tiny break with a smile on your face.
Pretty and #1 Son Drew all smiles as tournament director Brian
announces their Championshipin Mixed Doubles
The fourth year the Mother/Son duo of Pretty and Drew played in the 8.0 Mixed Doubles Fall Tennis Mixer at the Spring Valley Country Club saw them win their second championship under bright blue skies in ideal temperatures on clay courts in good condition.
Pretty Too Caroline, granddaughters Ella and Molly, and I were their “box” supporters; as Pretty and Drew did warm-ups on the court for their match, the quiet murmur of the crowd was interrupted by four year old Ella who shouted in her best outside voice, Go Daddy, go Nana!
The Victory lunch after the match took place at a Chili’s restaurant with fajitas, chips and salsa the Champs choices for food, breaking down the weekend matches the Champs choices for conversation. A good time was had by all.
Congratulations to Drew and his mom on the 2023 Championship – your “box” is very proud of you!
“While there are no set beliefs in Quakerism, you will often see a common group of goals, called testimonies: simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship (SPICES).” When I read this on my Google search for information on Quakers, I said to myself Wow, this is what you’ve believed all your life, these are your core values, turns out you’re a Quaker. Oh, gosh. I was a Quaker for almost a hot minute before I looked at the division within the Friends on the issues of homosexuality and abortion. Sigh. Personal deal breakers for me. So much for community and equality, but count me in for simplicity and peace.
And while I’m thinking of peace, I must say I hesitate to write about people, places, or events that have the potential to (1) display my ignorance of the world outside my life with Pretty or (2) unintentionally do more harm than good to the universe or (3) some combination of these. However, the events in Israel over the past two weeks have evoked feelings of outrage eerily similar to the feelings of anger I experience daily with the updates on the continuing suffering of the people of Ukraine for the past twenty months. Whether for two weeks or two years, the clarion call for peace is difficult to ignore.
President Biden addressed the nation this week to reaffirm America’s commitments in Israel and Ukraine, but our assistance is now delayed by our own House divided in the legislative body that is responsible for appropriations – stymied in a quagmire of political posturing for power by people with no moral conscience while a world desperate for responsible leadership waits and hopes.
During the hot minute I thought I was a Quaker I read a famous quote by an even more famous Quaker named William Penn. Last night Pretty reminded me to refrain from my focus on situations beyond my control, and the Penn quote today hammered home Pretty’s philosophy of living in the moment.
“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness or abilities that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
It seems to me the issue is not about labels, but the questions remain timely for the ages. Can we be kind, will we do good to our fellow human beings? If not today, when? If not us, who? Live in the moment for sure, leave the past failures with their guilt behind – focus on the present with its opporunities for outrageous acts of kindness, everyday rebellions for building communities where equality and inclusion are the foundations of peace.
Aces MVP A’ja Wilson has emotional moment with teammates Chelsea Gray (left) and Alaina Coates following their victory in Game 4
Every time Pretty and I walk past the A’ja Wilson statue in front of Colonial Life Arena where the University of South Carolina Gamecock women play basketball in Columbia, we see people posing for pictures at this remarkable tribute for the Hopkins, SC native. Wilson is much beloved by Gamecock fans who regard her as one of the greats in our program’s history. No one seemed happier than Gamecock Coach Dawn Staley Wednesday night as she sat on the floor of the Barclay Center in New York with the Aces to watch her former player Wilson take the team on her back in the third quarter to lead Las Vegas to their win over the New York Liberty for a decisive Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Championship series. The Aces also won the 2022 WNBA Championship which made them the first team with back-to-back championships in the league since the 2001-2002 Los Angeles Sparks.
Huge congratulations to the Las Vegas Aces for their historic second WNBA Championship in two years, to MVP A’ja Wilson, and to Coach Staley for having two former Gamecock players (Coates played with Wilson on the 2017 NCAA championship team) on the Aces roster!
my grandmother Louise (second from top left) with her Schlinke family
outside their Rosenberg home in 1917
matriarch Selma Buls Schlinkeseated, pregnant with last baby Mary Ellen
Louise and Mr. Boring with theirfirst child, JamesMarion Boring, Jr.
Widowed in 1938 at forty years of age with four children to support, debts to pay, the Great Depression in full swing, a third grade education, living in rural Grimes County, Texas where opportunities for employment were limited – my maternal grandmother Louise waged a private war against poverty, loneliness and depression for many of her remaining years. In 1948 my mother, father and I moved in with my grandmother to share expenses and me; we lived with her for eleven years until I was thirteen years old. I believe selfishly those were the happiest years of her life because they were some of the happiest years of mine, and when we moved 125 miles south to Brazoria, the old enemies she had fought for most of her life reappeared to haunt her home. She didn’t have a car and wouldn’t know how to drive one if she did.
my grandmother Louise Schlinke Boring (r) with her immediate family
mother of four, grandmother of six atSchlinke family reunion in Houstoncirca 1962
As Fate would have it, or when the vicissitudes of life played tricks on us according to my daddy, no matter where you ride to, that’s where you are. My mama and daddy moved to Rosenberg, Texas as soon as I started college at the University of Texas in the summer of 1964. My grandmother Louise had been in and out of mental hospitals for years when she moved to Rosenberg to live with my parents in 1971 following my mother’s exasperation with her mother who she felt could be fine if she just had “somthing to do.” My grandmother died in a hospital in Rosenberg in April, 1972 – she had come full circle to the place where she had been born. Since I had used my savings to make the plane trip from Seattle to Houston at Christmas for the holidays the previous December, I didn’t have the money to fly home for her funeral which was on my twenty-sixth birthday. I was heartbroken for the loss and for not being there when she needed me.
Lots of love, Mother
This coming Friday, October 20th. is my grandmother’s birthday, and I remember her for the unconditional love she gave me for as long as she lived. She was kind, compassionate, caring and a strong woman who refused to allow the old devil to defeat her faith. I honor her every time I tell my granddaughters how much I love them.
I'll Call It Like I See It 
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