13 minute read
Things My
By Erin Roberts
Things My Papa Taught Me
Our gentle, quiet, strong, and sacrificial Papa. It’s been a year now since he went home to the Father, but I think of him often. I can’t help but miss the friend he was to me, but I also want to purposefully remember the details about him so that I don’t forget him with time. He is so much a part of who I am that I know I could never really forget him. There is so much joy in remembering that.
The lessons and values he instilled in me have helped shape my thoughts and actions and I am grateful for the things Papa taught me. That man lived through so much and held so much wisdom. I couldn’t help but share a few of those things. Grandpas are special, and I was fortunate enough to know mine and learn so much from him.
Family First
From a young age, Papa’s family was a priority. When his dad suffered from a stroke and was no longer able to work, Papa, without hesitation, enlisted himself into the Navy at seventeen in order to send money back home. Afterward, he forewent a college education at Auburn University in order to work and take care of his mother and sisters, one of which was dying of cancer. That didn’t change as he had children and then grandchildren. He has always lived in such a way as to be able to save and give what he had to those he cared about most – his family. Papa taught me the gift of family and how special that is. Family comes first, and at the end of the day, they are what matter most.
The Value of Hard Work
Papa taught me about the reward of hard work and labor with your own two hands. I learned this on our walks through the growing vegetable garden and talks over iced tea admiring our freshly mowed lawn. My grandfather worked tirelessly (yes, to provide) but I am convinced he secretly loved the satisfaction of it all. the reward of seeing what your hard work produces is a feeling that makes it all worth it. I am thankful every day to have witnessed this lesson first hand.
Teach People How to Treat You
I remember one time complaining to Papa about the way I had been treated at a job during his last months here. I tend to be the biggest people pleaser and sometimes that means caring too much about what others think or getting walked over. I remember Papa telling me to “make them respect you.” I thought about this for a while, and what he meant by that. Papa has always carried himself with so much dignity and humble confidence, that he didn’t have to tell someone to respect him, they simply did because he respected himself. I believe that is what he meant.
We teach someone to respect us first by knowing our own worth and value, which shapes the way we act and respond to whatever comes our way and whoever we encounter. I’ve never met a man more consistent and sure of who they were. He was “our rock” and still is.
He experienced hardship in a way I cannot begin to relate to, and he chose to sacrifice so that his family would be taken care of. There is so much to be said for pouring yourself into something and getting to witness the fruits of your labor. Even when the process isn’t “fun” or “enjoyable,”
People Don’t Owe You Anything
Papa taught us not to go through life expecting things to be done for you or
believing that you are “owed” anything. Coming from humble beginnings, Papa worked his entire life and never expected anything to be done for him or handed to him. Not once did I ever hear him complain about the life he was handed. He found joy in simple things and ultimately in Christ. My grandfather understood that every breath on this earth was an undeserved gift of grace and that drove everything he did.
Other people don’t owe you a thing, and that is a hard truth to believe, but knowing that changes everything! You are much less disappointed when someone doesn’t meet the expectations you have for them. We also better ourselves when we realize we are not owed anything because we see our own capability and potential! This lesson made me slower to complain and helped me not to be disappointed by other people so much.
Be Quick to Listen and Slow to Speak
My grandfather taught me the value of being quick to listen and slow to speak. This is a lesson I will probably never master the way Papa did. The tongue as we know is one of the hardest things to tame. Maybe it was the way Papa grew up, having been faced with a lot of trials early on in life, that he kept a lot of things to himself. But I also believe my grandfather just walked in a great deal of wisdom and understood the value of being slower to speak and quick to listen. Which made the words he did speak, that much more impactful.
Be Good
“Be good,” he told me before I drove away from our visits each week. The sweetest and simplest lesson of them all. Papa was a man of few words, but these two words said many things to me. They summed up his way of life and who he was. I think of something John Piper once said – “All heroes are shadows of Christ.” Papa wasn’t perfect and never pretended to be, but he always did his best to be a shadow of Christ. He was our hero and because of him, I understand the character of the Lord so much better.
This article first appeared in the Dogwood Journal, an online publication of Dogwood Media Solutions, LLC.
www.dogwoodmediasolutions.com
Mexican Street Tacos
Easy, quick, authentic carne asada street tacos you can now make right at home! Top with onion, cilantro + fresh lime juice! SO GOOD!
Ingredients
I 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy
sauce
I 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime
juice
I 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided I 3 cloves garlic, minced I 2 teaspoons chili powder I 1 teaspoon ground cumin I 1 teaspoon dried oregano I 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak, cut into 1/2-inch
pieces
I 12 mini flour tortillas, warmed I 3/4 cup diced red onion I 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves I 1 lime, cut into wedges
Directions: 1. In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, lime juice, 1 tablespoon canola oil, garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano. 2. In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine soy sauce mixture and steak; marinate for at least 1 hour up to 4 hours, turning the bag occasionally. 3. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add steak and marinade, and cook, stirring often, until steak has browned and marinade has reduced, about 5-6 minutes, or until desired doneness. 4. Serve steak in tortillas, topped with onion, cilantro and lime.
Yield: 6 servings, prep time: 1 hour 15 minutes, cook time: 15 minutes. total time: 1 hour 30 minutes Source: www.damndelicious.net
Disabled golfer prepares to take game from Alabama to London
His story isn’t about losing his leg in a motorcycle accident more than a decade ago. It’s about so much more.
Birmingham resident Chris Osborne is also a champion golfer, poised to represent the United States as Team USA takes on Team Europe in one of disability golf’s premier match play events, the Cairns Cup, taking place May 2022 in London.
“We’re really excited about the Cairns Cup,” Osborne said. “Golf is one sport that really equalizes – a lot of people grew up playing it, I started at about 12 years old. I play with my daughter, my son and my wife. It’s just one of those things where you can get out there and feel some sense of normalcy.”
Osborne felt that sense of normalcy as he hit the greens at Greystone Golf & Country Club for the postCOVID return of the Regions Tradition Celebrity Pro-Am. He calls it a full circle opportunity.
“I covered this event as a news broadcaster, first as a camera guy, then I worked my way up through the ranks and worked it as a reporter, and then as a spectator when I was not in the media,” Osborne explained. “Now, to play in it, it just culminates all the years that I have been in Birmingham, so it is very special.”
Osborne notes the most special part of it all is that it benefits Children’s of Alabama and other local nonprofit organizations.
“Knowing the charities that this benefits, it is just incredible the work that they do. And for Regions to be able to put this on and make sure those sacred entities in our community are supported, is great,” Osborne said. “Being in the health industry with the health department, we work very closely with Children’s on a number of different projects and we know the work they do and certainly they deserve the utmost support.” As the day came to an end – and Osborne looked ahead to London – he offered words of inspiration for others. “Anybody who is disabled that is looking for an outlet – it may not be golf – but I always encourage people to find something. What is your something? And once you find that something, enjoy that something.”
This story originally appeared on the
www.DoingMoreToday.com
Helping Widows and Widowers
Move Forward On Their Own
The loss of a spouse can be devastating, both emotionally and financially, especially if it was unexpected. The stress of handling all the legal and financial issues can be overwhelming, even for women or men who are financially savvy.
Widows are one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the United States. In addition, some of the statistics about widows are startling. The average age that women are widowed is 59 years old. In addition, 70% of Baby Boomer wives will outlive their husbands; 80% of women will be single at death. Half of women over age 65 will outlive their husbands by 15 years.
Financial Thoughts with Susan Moore
By Susan Clayton Moore, J.D.
Principal of Moore Wealth Management, Inc.
334.270.1672, or email Sarah@ moorewealthmanagement.com, for more information and reservations.
Every June, Susan Moore of Moore Wealth Management, Inc. (MWM) conducts two free workshops in Montgomery. One is designed especially for widows and their supportive friends, another one for widowers. The workshop for widows was produced by Kathleen M. Rehl, PhD, CFP, in conjunction with the Protective Life Insurance Company. The workshop covers the following topics: the impact of grief and emotion, the 3 stages of widowhood, avoiding common financial mistakes and next steps to take. Due to the pandemic, the workshop will be conducted in a webinar format.
The June 2021 workshop for
widows will be on Wednesday, June 23rd at 12 p.m. Please call Kathleen Rehl is a financial advisor who was widowed at the age of 60. Although she and her husband had been financial advisors for several years and she had helped various clients go through the financial and legal issues after the death of a spouse, it was a more difficult experience for her than she would have expected. “For me personally,” she said, “I didn’t remember my Social Security number. I could not recall where I put my car keys. I wondered if I was going crazy. I was not. It was just a normal part of being a new widow.”
Attendees to the workshop receive a free copy of Rehl’s book, Moving Forward on My Own, A Financial Guidebook for Widows, in addition to other valuable educational materials.
In addition, Susan will conduct a
webinar for widowers on Thursday,
June 24th at 12 p.m. The workshop for widowers is based on the book The Widower’s Journey: Helping Men Rebuild After Their Loss, by Herb Knoll, Deborah Carr, Ph.D., and Robert Frick. Please call 334.270.1672 or email
Sarah@moorewealthmanagement.
com, for more information and reservations.
Susan Clayton Moore, J.D., is a financial advisor and wealth manager of Moore Wealth Management, Inc, with offices in Auburn, Montgomery, and Alexander City, AL. Susan has under advisement assets over $170 million (as of 3.31.2021) through Kestra Financial and has been a financial planner over 38 years. Contact Susan at 334.270.1672. Email contact is susan@moorewealthmanagement.com.
Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisory Services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS) an affiliate of Kestra IS. Kestra IS or Kestra AS are not affiliated with Moore Wealth Management, Inc.
https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures
Move Forward On Their Own to register, call our Montgomery office at 334.270.1672
sarah@moorewealthmanagement.com
AUM OLLI Members Benefit from ZOOMing
For four terms – Summer 2020 through Spring 2021 – some AUM OLLI members have stayed connected and continued learning through the online platform ZOOM. This program has allowed members to see and hear one another while learning online. Screen-sharing even allowed the use of PowerPoint presentations and the ability for all members of a class to look at the same document at the same time.
Although the use of ZOOM eliminated the personal contact and sense of community that OLLI members appreciate, those who registered for the online classes praised the classes with words and phrases like “enriching,” “learning opportunities,” “personal satisfaction,” and “highly knowledgeable and respected instructors.” Commendations for instructors and courses have come to the OLLI staff with some frequency, regardless of whether the classes are online or in-person.
An added benefit of using ZOOM for OLLI courses has been the development of OLLI Shares. This program allows OLLI members from AUM, Auburn University, the University of Alabama, and the University of Alabama – Huntsville to register for some classes offered by other campuses. There is some talk of continuing selected online courses through OLLI Shares in the fall of 2021.
Even with the success of the ZOOM classes, AUM OLLI is planning a gradual return to in-person courses beginning with the 2021 Summer Term. This particular term is short – only the four weeks of June. There will be a limited number of courses offered during this term: Pain Management with Tai Chi, Lee Smith’s Fair and Tender Ladies – Novel and Music, Basic Jewelry Making, and Brain Bowl. These courses will meet with all safety protocols in place: small classes, social distancing, and wearing masks.
The short term allows AUM OLLI to determine whether people are ready to come back to in-person classes and whether the staff can handle the return, which necessitates sanitizing rooms of the Center for Lifelong Learning between classes.
The June offerings for AUM OLLI give old and new members a chance to determine if they are ready to put their “pandemic anxiety” behind them by venturing out on a limited basis.
Come get acquainted with the many benefits of AUM OLLI. Visit the website –www.aum.edu/OLLI – to see membership and registration opportunities.
