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Sound the Trumpets - A New Blog for the Older Brigade has Arrived!

Tis The Season of Goodwill!

The season of goodwill is upon us!  The shops online and in the High Streets are buzzing with Christmas fare.  There are 3 for 2 and 50% off, etc, enticing us to spend our hard-earned cash.  But I have become more savvy over the years.  I now make a list and stick to it with self-inflicted discipline to keep myself from going overboard.  I learned my lesson the hard way years ago, and now I am one step ahead of the crafty retailers’ advertising. Seriously, write a list. I do mine around the beginning of August (yes, as early as that).  And, bit by bit, I find out what the grandkids have their little hearts set on, except George, who is 7 and will chop and change from one week to the next and start putting money aside when I price things up.  The older grandkids all want money, so that is easy, and I begin to put money away for them from the beginning of the year; believe me, you don't notice it so much. Around October, I look at my Christmas decoration...

"Heavenly Tag Team: Jack’s Afterlife Request"




Heavenly Conversation!

Thinking like a six-year-old can be a rollercoaster—equal parts hilarious, heartwarming, and slightly terrifying if you're over 70. Take, for instance, a visit my husband and I paid to our grandsons, some ten years ago.  

We'd only been at their house for about an hour when little Jack, age six plopped himself beside his grandad. He gave him that look—you know the kind kids give when they're about to drop some life-altering truth.

Jack stared up and asked, “Grandad, how old are you?”

Grandad, unaware he was about to be spiritually recruited, casually replied, “I’m 71 this year.”

Jack’s eyes widened like saucers, his brain clearly doing the mental arithmetic that only children can perform—equal parts math, mortality, and Saturday morning cartoons.

Jack pondered quietly for a moment, fiddling with a tiny wrestling action figure in his hand. Then, with all the sincerity in the world, he looked up and said:

“You’re quite old, Grandad… and when you go to heaven, would you say hello to the Ultimate Warrior, please? Because he’s dead!”

I almost choked on my  tea and Grandad broke out into hysterical laughter.  Meanwhile, Jack just sat there, unable to grasp our response.   Pulling myself together I said, “Yes, of course, Grandad will… he’ll be sure to pass on the message.”

And just like that, Grandad officially became Heaven’s newest tag team partner!   

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