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Friday, April 10, 2020

Better Together

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My BFF when I was in preschool at Mrs. French's was a girl named Scarlet.

I wish I could find her now, because based on how much trouble we got into at age 4, I think she'd still be my tribe for sure.

Getting in trouble with Scarlet was the beginning of my storied career in D-Hall as I progressed through school.

I was always a great student grades-wise throughout school, and if there was a job where I could get paid to take classes full time, I'd be doing it to this day. Well I did get an F one time for telling a teacher she was insane if she thought I was dissecting a pregnant cat or a frog. My exact words were less than PG13, so I won't repeat them, and I'm not going to lie - my dad had a hard time suppressing a laugh when I told him what happened. He supported my decision to accept the consequence for something I was not willing to do, but he also was amused by my ferocity - he said it reminded him of some rebellious women in his family. While he was not exactly a rule follower, he was very easy going and not as prone to telling people to stuff it as I can be when someone crosses one of my red lines.

And guess what - that F hasn't hurt me yet! :)

But the public school mold wasn't made for my personality.

I like to talk, and I like to laugh and make other people laugh.

So I got in trouble a LOT.

Thankfully, it's hard to break my spirit, so I never cared that I got in trouble - still don't, if the offense is talking or laughing - but I think my mom did get tired of driving me there every Saturday - sorry mom! When I became a teacher later, I did have kids that I could see could easily have their little spirits broken by being in a situation where laughing and talking was bad, and I made sure I was never that type of teacher. I was teaching third grade at a private school, and I frequently referred parents to Montessori or other more appropriate schools when I could see my kids struggling as the square peg in a round hole.

I'm sort of hoping some changes come out of this weird time that get us back to the basics of being kind to people and recognizing that it's much more important to focus on simple joys we may have taken for granted.

I have found myself thinking about how little 4 year old me would have felt if suddenly I wasn't able to see Scarlet for weeks or months, and it makes my chest hurt - I would have been crushed. I wouldn't have understood. I would have been angry and sad. I probably would have been mad at my parents and her parents and anyone I knew.

So my heart goes out to all the kids who are struggling away from their friends. As hard as it is for all of us - my goodness my heart breaks for the littles.

So if anyone out there remembers my friend Scarlet from elementary school, or knows where she is now - I'd love to find her. Every year, I search Facebook for her, but no luck yet.

And when I saw this image, she's exactly who I thought of. This alone together stuff is for the birds. Actually I really like birds, so it's not even for the birds.

I colored the image with my Karin markers (Discount code below for anything they sell), and I added the sentiment from this adorable stamp set. All my hugs to my friends at Unity during this time. They are great people, and I need them to survive this, so please support them if you can!


Bunnies in a Balloon - Unity Stamp...
[ UNT ]
Feeling Off - Unity Stamp Company
[ UNT ]
Karin BRUSHMARKER MEGA BOX 60 Colors...
[ SSS ]
Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473
[ SSS ]
Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White
[ GNK ]
MISTI Stamping Tool
[ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ]
Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -...
[ BLIC ]
LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for...
[ BRG ]
Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC
[ ELH | SSS ]
Crafter's Companion GEMINI...
[ SSS ]
Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring...
[ SSS ]
Essentials by Ellen Storage...
[ ELH ]
Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets...
[ CHC ]
XL Stamp Storage Pockets
[ ELH ]
Mermaid tidy towel case and glue...
[ ETS ]
Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045
[ SSS | CST ]
Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies
[ ART ]



Easter has such a strange feeling this year. I hope you can celebrate it in your own special, new 2020 way. I'm sure for that reason, it will be the most memorable Easter/Passover season of our lives, so we have to embrace that specialness. I encourage you all to journal right now. Let's pass these stories on.

I hope you are well.

Loveyameanitbye.


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12 comments:

  1. What a great post and stunning card!

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  2. Go look at my latest Facebook entry. She said her two best friends on Zoom yesterday.

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  3. "So if anyone out there remembers my friend Scarlet from elementary school, or knows where she is now - I'd love to find her. Every year, I search Facebook for her, but no luck yet."
    Oh Lydia, I too, have a long lost but not forgotten best friend Lillian, who I ran away from home with in fifth grade. She (and her mother and brother) moved in the dead of night one weekend to get away from her abusive stepfather. I searched FB too.

    My firsties keep asking when we'll be going back to school 💔

    Love your card and its succinct sentiment!

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  4. Lydia this is awesome. I loves it! You are such a ambassador of hope. Thanks for all the joy jou spread everyday!

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  5. What a sweet image! And I agree - I've been thinking about the littles quite a lot lately too.

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  6. Lydia, first...THANK you for the great video yesterday! I've always been afraid to try the gel thing, but now I'm up for it 100%. Going shopping this a.m.! Next, your card is absolutely adorable. I will also be buying it today. Thanks for your words today for the 'littles'. I think they are the ones that are hurting the worst. Our sweet 6 year old granddaughter sobbed and sobbed to her momma yesterday, thinking that no one likes her. In her 6 year old thinking, everyone else was out there having a great time without her - none of her friends called for play dates, etc. Anyway, she looks JUST like the little on your card, so thanks for enabling me! Have a great day!

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  7. I just LOVE reading your blog posts. You're are my people. XO Love the card too!

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  8. I hope Scarlet finds you! 💕

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  9. I'm right there with you there was no way I was cutting up at cat I was not quite as vocal as you though!! lol! Lucky for me my lab parter was really into it and she did it all!! Have you tried searching her parents names sometimes the white pages give you the names of the people that are related to them or search her name if you know her married name. Good luck I hope you can find your long lost partner in crime!!

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  10. It’s pretty special when images bring you good memories. I love your stories. This is so sweet. I hope you find Scarlet.

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  11. My daughter (just finished 9th grade) really, REALLY misses her friends. I have to say I'm secretly happy that face-to-face contact matters to her... before this quarantine, I wasn't sure. But it does hurt my soul to see her miss her friends so much.... and to not know if and when she will be able to get back to a "normal" high school world.

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  12. Oh, you're my people! I refused to dissect a frog, so the teacher tried to get me to watch her and name the parts as she performed the dissection for my exam. I vomited all over her and ran from the room. Needless to say I failed the exam, but I like to think of it as an A for being humane! LOL My boys had an online meeting with their friends the other day, and to hear these 2 girls (5 and 7) talk about all the things they used to do but couldn't with their friends was heartbreaking! Love your card by the way!

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