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Cuz ~ I love the carrot, egg and coffee story. A counselor used a similar, albeit shorter, allegory when I questioned how my two children turned out so completely different even though raised in the same environment by the same parent. "The same boiling water that hard boils the egg also softens the carrot." I like your story better, because it's much more in depth and brings in the coffee effect.
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This is kind of a long one so I hope you won't mind but I thought it was kind of interesting.
LovCuz

Carrots, Eggs & Coffee

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee....You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen.. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word...
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'
'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
May we all be COFFEE!!!!!!


Happy New Year to all.
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Petty and controlling. Within reason, (see rules for disposal by state) people should have say in the disposal of their earthly remains...That was just un-fair and snotty!
Hi dee ho from Spokane. 19 degrees here, but sun was out...
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Hear, Hear, Rossella!! It's pathetic. I should not speak against a close relative by marriage, ahem, but when the Father died, the 3 brothers gathered around the open casket for photographs. I resort to Eww! Ew!! Why?!?! Let's bring out, instead, his photo as a young man in uniform, smiling and proud. Some are more evolved than others. I swear, I will light my own funeral pyre if I have to. Throw me the torch, Jeanette Isabela! Or however it goes. Lalalalala! Bring the torch, is the correct request, and the name is: Rossella Bella! Whoo Hoo! Xoxo
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My goodness one is not even free to choose about his own funeral because his relatives have something to say!!!! The heck with relatives.
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You sure are. Your posts never fail to bring a smile.
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I am? What did I do?
Thank you, Sheila. We shall not live in vain, dear one.
{{{{{Big Hugs}}}}}
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Christina ~ You are such a ray of sunshine.
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HI everyone! Wow, things are really happening here.
They finished my kitchen yesterday while I was at the specialist. The lens is working but the doc whats to try one more "adjustment" so I have to wait another 5 weeks. Oh well.

Our IH aide for Mom is quite a chatty Kathy! She just started last Wednesday but she has called me several times to report on how things are going with Mom. Well, Mom really doesn't want her there and tries to get her to leave.

We had to lie and say the insurance is paying for this care so she won't outright cancel it. I'm paying so she has no control over the payments.

Finally we have some solid evidence presented to her doc by the VN's and the Medical Social Worker. While he has refused to "diagnose" the SW did some cognitive testing and presented the results to him in a letter, cc to me. Wow, what a difference it has made in my ability to get help from the doctor's staff!

So even though Mom isn't liking all the medical people coming to check on her, I feel we are finally making some progress.

I'll try ti get caught up. I've missed you guys a lot lately and felt sort of lonely at times and really wanted to share what's been going on.

Christina and Cricket - have fun with your classes! I am envious. lol

Got to run for now. I'l try to check back later. Love and hugs. Bee
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Primitive, man-made, guilt-ridden, fear-based RITUAL--is how I see it, Lilli. A little ego involved. Some people leave nothing else to prove they were here. Concrete is certainly lasting, as are the scars on the soul from unkind words and treatment.
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Good Morning All...such a nice day here today...sunny, warmish, and no snow in sight (for now)...I thank the good Lord everyday, because winter weather just makes me cranky.

Christina and Cricket: good luck with your classes...let us know what you learn...always liked school and learning new things...now, go do your homework ;o)

MeanW and others: reading about your experiences with "final arrangements" and doing as your loved one requested was inspiring to me. That is the "natural" thing to do. All this overblown pomp and circumstance and expense is unnerving to me. It is just a show or competition for others to participate in. Unfortunately, that is a remnant of our parents' generation - my Mom wants the full regalia. All my mid-boomer family and friends feel differently. I hope it starts a trend. (btw, laughing at inappropriate times is my favorite human emotion.)

When an older friend passed away recently, he requested cremation and a party. The elder members of the family vetoed his childrens' desire to respect his wishes and they had the full funeral with an open casket (what is the purpose?...does anyone know?) and the graveside burial with a gaudy headstone and lots of flowers. Can you imagine what the money they spent on this spectacle could do for a family in need? I guess I am too practical or romantic. I like the idea of ashes being scattered to the 4 winds. As the song goes, "...take me where the wind blows..."

Rosella: congrats on the new doggie...a cutie. And you have a kind heart to take in a little critter that needs a home.
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Good Morning! I hope everyone is well this morning and the "folks" are doing good. I to like Christine am taking a class with the difference being that my class is online so I can still do something for me while caring for Dad and I am only taking one class. It feels good to be doing something for me.

How is everyone doing? What are you all up to? What's going on with you and your loved ones?

Cricket
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Morning, even though it's still dark. My poor house. I think I got the plumber from plumber hell. Oh no. Yesterday for the short time I was home, I watched them struggle to get the hot water working in each bathroom. The hot water would not shut off at the rainhead and there was no hot water at our bathroom sinks. Half inch of dust in some spots. You know what happens if water hits that, like when they say "turn on the water, check for LEAKS?" Slurry. Lovely. lalalalala, as my Lindaheart says...speaking of?
Rossella, I say the same thing as your Father about leaving space for the living. I like to focus on the spiritual body, which lives on, and is not dense--as in physical matter-- and clumsy, as in physical matter. Oh, to Soar like Jonathan! I loved JLS, as well as 'Reluctant Messiah' by Bach. That dimension is essential for me to consider, as I have always felt reluctantly earthbound. Not that I don't want to be here, I just don't like feeling confined to this dimension. Haha!
So many wonderful rocks in my class last night. Fossils and learning about all the geological provinces of California. Love it. So far, I answered most of the questions thrown out to the class. As a child, I was afraid to speak out in school. I was not comfortable and very insecure. Now, I am like a metamorphic rock. WhooHoo!!
Today, I shall devote my afternoon to Mother. Take a good long walk in the fresh air, trim her hair, sing, hug, eat sliced pears and savor the time spent here on earth. Love you wonderful people, giving your best in all you do. YOU make a huge difference on the planet. You are valuable, you are Blessed. Christina xo
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Meanwhile2 - Thanks for the laugh about laughing!!! Something we should all do more of.Enjoy the day everyone.
xo
-SS
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Love it, hope everyone gets to go out the way they want. I guess the laws vary in different places. It was a good thing I checked into it before hand. The deputy and the Justice of the Peace didn't know.
I hope I didn't offend anyone. How we deal with loss is different for every one. I actually hope that in 20 years I will still be missing my Sam. I don't want to forget him. Rossell, the book for your father was great. Indio put a hawk feather in the casket with Sam. And his daughter asked me to put a picture of her in the casket. I put in a little stuffed heart I had given him for Valentine's day one year.
Christine I'm sure you will be the teacher's pet. Hope you enjoy your class, it sounds very exciting.
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Meanwhile, when my father retired, after a life in an office with jacket and tie, he started to wear only jeans, in summer and in winter. Jeans (pants), jeans shirts, jeans jackets. And as he had blue eyes, it fitted him very well. He made us promise we would bury him in jeans (well actually he wanted to be cremated because (his words). "It's cleaner and you leave more space to people still alive") and in fact when the moment came, he wore his jeans, a jeans shirt, and in his hands a book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" which was one of his favorite books. It is one of my favorite too, but we liked different sides of it. He liked the part where Jonathan left the flock to practice extreme flight; i liked the second part where he had understood he had to help other gulls to learn how to fly. The message he got from that book is that you can do everything if you really want to. I got other messages from it, but this explains a little bit what my father was. And as he had loved reading so much in his life, anyway, we thought it was right he went away with a book.
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Meanwhile2, I love that you did that for your husband!! I told my husband that if I go before him that he is to have me cremated and to keep half of my ashes in and urn with him forever to haunt his new wife and the other half to take to the mountains and toss into the wind. No funeral for me either, I told him to just have a big party and everybody can get drunk and tell stories about me, hah!
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For real, Meanwhile2? Way to go! Literally. I thought there was a law that you had to do the embalming thing, and the casket had to go in a concrete vault.

I've told my kids that I don't want any money that's left to go for a big, expensive funeral home wake and cemetery burial. I want to be cremated, and I want the urn to go on my daughter's mantel, so I'm always there for family gatherings. And I don't want any sad wake or memorial service, rather a fun party. I just hope no one mistakes the urn for the cocktail shaker.
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Meanwhile, you might be a redneck if your patio furniture used to be your living room furniture... Or when you hear the phrase, ' just say No to Crack', it reminds you to hitch up your jeans. I love Jeff Foxworthy. Those are not quotes because I am ways laughing so hard I can't remember the lines. My newest favorite stand up comic is Sebastian Maniscalco. His routine is called, "What's Wrong With People?" yep, that's why I like him. I adore Kevin James, too. So hunky cute! Heehee
I finally got a parking space at school. It is a very stressful part of the day, because everyone is needing a place so as not to be late for class. Must get to parking lot 1 hour before class begins or you are sol. Class is the easy and fun part. The parking dilemma is a piece of cake for me: l'm a caregiver. I can handle anything:) Hope my Anthro instructor remembers me. It's been 5 years, and I've been to Peru and Mexico ruins since then. I love it.
I love You Guys!! Hugs, Christina xo
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Meanwhile, love it go out the way you want. Recently my nephew passed away and his wife (my niece actually) told the funeral home that if he had a suit on she would not come. He was dressed in his highschool football jersey, wearing jeans, and his favorite hat. She even told them not to shave him as he always had a shadow.

For me I want absolutely no fuss, no funeral home, no services and a great big party afterwards for my friends as I love to host parties. I only hope my guy loves me as much as you did your husband to honor it.
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The radio station was doing their redneck comedy. It was about a couple of good old boys, and their pa died. He happened to be in Dallas at the time, and ended up buried there. So they went to the cemetary, and dug up Pa, so they could bring him back to West Texas. Were just horrified to find out he had been buried in a suit and tie, and no boots. Figured the funeral director stole their Pa's boots. Anyway, they got him in some overalls, and boots, and buried out behind the barn. It was funnier on the radio, and I just about laughed myself silly. My husband threatened to haunt me if I buried him in a tie. He wanted to die at home, so I skipped the funeral home. Just called the sherriff, and he called the Justice of the Peace. They wanted to call the funeral home, and I refused. I had been taking care of him for months, why stop there? I dressed him in jeans, a western shirt, and put his boots on him too. Indio helped me get him in the coffin, wrapped in a blanket that looked like a confederate flag. We called friends, (one with a back hoe), and went to the cemetary. If you skip the embalming,( which just sounds like a terrible way to treat a body), you have to be in the ground within 24 hours. His friends were there, and people said their good byes. It was great to have that part over with. OK, now you guys all know what a redneck I am.
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Tried one myself and found that those people just wanted to wallow not recover. How about someone starting a Grief recovery group that let's you laugh and encourages you to remember your loved one and lets you be you. Oops sounds just like this blog, way to go everyone!
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I have good company here. Thanks everyone. That grief group was just too depressing. I know we all have our downs, but we try to pull each other up. I found a couple of old army helmets in my husbands work shop. Indio is going to weld them to some pipe, and we are putting them on my husbands grave.
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Good Morning all,

It's another beautiful day here in South Florida. I hope everyone can start off the day remembering to pat yourself on the back, I'm doing it right now :)

Love ya,
Cricket
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Already in the nut house! Soon I suppose I will be on the highway to hell! It is 3:30 and Dad is finally asleep! Guess I will do the same now! zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
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Meanwhile2 ~ "I am so going to hell. Or the nut house."
I'm absolutely sure I'm already there. I'll be waiting for you with open arms.
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Meanwhile2-Happens to the best of us! You had me laughing just reading your post! When I used to attend church especially when my Mom was living, we used to look at each other and almost pass out trying to hold the laughter inside! It is just an overwhelming urge that for some reason is uncontrollable! Personally, I think the party you guys had sounds awesome!! XXOO

Good night all! Checking in! Love you guys! Kimbo,Kimmy,Kimmie,Kim
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My very concerned, and caring sister talked me into going to a grief support group tonight. She knows me better than anyone else. But, when everyone got to talking about the lovely funeral services they had for their deceased family member (some even had videos). I had to hide my face in a wad of tissues, trying not to burst out laughing. All I could think about was the party my husband threw (before he died), with the keg of beer, pizza, and barbeque goat. Not sure if they will let me come back to their grief group. One of the ladies finally said "my grief must be so raw right now". I think she thought I was crying. Really, I feel bad, I am so going to hell. Or the nut house.
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No guilt here either...Just different situation. ..too disgusted and praying for him to die now!

Think of it this way, where would they be if you were not here looking after them?

Everyone here is an angle on earth, even if it is "just doing the right thing" then they are "Just doing the right thing angels" surrounded by well meaning or can't be bothered twits....

Good, Safe, Sane week....
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Wow what a wonderful group of people you all are. Grief is something you need to feel and there is no time limit. No one can tell you how long, how much or how come. After my Mom died I did not cry, my siblings thought me heartless but I had been grieving for 15 years watching her go and the last six months her and I grieved together. The day of her funeral as the car was pulling up to the cemetary I finally broke down, not because of the pain of lossing her but of a very silly thing. I was never a good liar to my Mom, she always new when I was not being truthful and would call me out. During her stay at the nursing home, she was very concerned that I go to the cemetary and bring in the urns. Well with everything that was happening at the time I didn't do it, it wasn't that I forgot I choose not too. Who knew she was going to die that winter. So on a very cold January day, as the car I was in from the funeral home went to the gravesite, I made them stop, help me dig up the stupid urns through 12 inches of snow and remove them before I would allow them to bring the coffin to the site. Between the priest trying to calm me down, my brother laughing so hard he could hardly stand and the men from the funeral home thinking I lost my mind, it must have been a site. But at that moment my grief took me down the path that my mother would not 'see' that I lied to her.

I haven't been able to come on in the last few days but find such comfort in reading the strengths of others, it helps me not to feel so weak.
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