Little House on my Mind

Yesterday, our family (minus the one out of town) went for a spontaneous drive up the canyon. I love living in Utah, where everything is only minutes away. Totally beauty. After we parked, we did a mini hike down to the creek side and began to eat the lunch we had made, when it started raining. It was really only a heavy sprinkle, but my hubby used to work in those Wasatch canyons and said it could turn to a downpour in a matter of seconds. So, we headed back up the mountainside to eat in the car. The food was just as good anyway and the rain..... slowed way down. My doc said I am not supposed to go hiking to where I changed major elevation and got my heart rate up. Yesterday, I may have disobeyed him. Not my brightest decision, but I reasoned it was a healthy activity with my family, so I did not need to worry. No worries, I rested in the car and was fine. In fact, I felt really good after that little outing. We even stopped alongside the road to pick a big bouquet of wildflowers. It was a great day. Even late at night, when my heart was giving me some pain, it was still a great day.

Today, I am exhausted. I am sure it was from the outing, but I would not trade it for the world, especially when I woke up this morning and there on the table is the bouquet of flowers we picked. I can think of my boys running and climbing up the side of the mountain to pick me the beautiful flowers I wanted. It does my heart some good to remember. My heart is behaving today, for the most part, but I seem to need a lot of rest these days. I used the need to rest to my advantage this morning since I wanted to finish up an episode on the Little House dvd I have from the library.  It is due tomorrow, after all.

I love Little House on the Prairie. It is one of my favorite shows of all time. Although I did not read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books until adulthood, as a kid I watched every episode of the show, I am sure, more than once. Now I am indulging my childhood memories with watching the whole series during the times that I have no strength to do anything but rest. Call me old-fashioned, but I love the sappy music, the tears that get my own falling, and the moral messages of the stories. I was more than a little disappointed, though, when I learned that "based on a true story" does not necessarily mean that Colonel Sanders actually did come to Walnut Grove with a fabulous restaurant idea of only selling a couple of chicken based menu items. Sad day for Walnut Grove. That chicken is so addictive and finger-licking good.

The episode I watched today was from Season 2 called "Remember Me." It is about a widowed mother who finds out she is dying and has to find a new home for her children before she does pass on. Now of course, all movies, books or songs with ill mothers make me cry. I am emotional, what can I say? It strikes a whole new level when you find out you really are sick, or that your major organ is not working properly. I am not saying I am going to die, but I do think a lot on where my life is going and what legacy I would leave when the Lord does call me Home. In the episode, the mother dies and at the funeral, the Reverend reads a note she wrote to her loved ones. It says, "Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I'll remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, then don't remember me at all." I think that is beautiful.

When my time does come to go Home, I want to be remembered for the way I raised my children, for the way I loved my husband, for the music I wrote that touched lives, and for my wompy chicken comments. I want to be remembered for the sock wars we would have as a family, or singing opera while we conversed while making cookies, for the humanitarian projects we got involved with. I want to be remembered for the "after 10 pm" biological drunkenness I am known for (no alcohol involved, I promise!) and for all my chocolate cravings!

I am an ordinary woman striving to live an extraordinary life of love. This is what I hope to be remembered for. What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? One of love, smiled and laughter, I my hope.

My name is Jenny McKinney. I love Little House on the Prairie and I really want some chocolate!