In Memory of Uncle Mike

Uncle Mike was 93. He was a sweet man with a ready laugh. He passed on last Monday.
As the family grows older, I come to cherish them more. Our cousin, Larry, did the Rosary service. He shared such great thoughts, and exhorted us all to listen like Uncle Mike did. To truly ask how people are doing when we see them, sort of in memory of Uncle Mike.
I thought of how David had told me stories of Uncle Mike and Aunt Kaye one night some years back after some get together. I'd never heard those stories. So I asked him how he knew that stuff. "I asked them." was his reply.
And tonight, as I reflected on it, I wished I'd asked them more myself.
Uncle Mike and Aunt Kay had always asked about Dave. They so appreciated him. It's amazing what an interested ear can do. And a caring, sensitive heart.
I try to stick to my theme on this blog, but tonight I'm a bit melancholy. All month I've thought of the old song, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got til it's gone. Paved paradize, put up a parking lot."

again with the spin

So, I admit, through the 1st half of Feb., I didn't have much going on besides my workouts.
So, at the start of our "spinning " class,I challenged the girl next to me to a race in the beginning, to which she gladly agreed, as her stationary bike was positioned slightly more forward than mine.
(Guess who won)
As I pedaled, I pondered,once more, the madness of sitting on a stationary bike cranking away in a dark purple room and getting nowhere. But then, in an effort to encourage myself, I thought, "This is not really going nowhere. I'm working my way into a healthier lifestyle." I thought of the increased stamina and energy I've experienced in the last month. And of how, even though I've felt at times like the old lady failure in a very fast spinning group of young,leotard clad people, and like it wasn't doing much, the reality is that it is working. The reality is that I've had to push through the first weeks of really wanting to give up, of not wanting to do this. I had to make it a priority. I had to plan for it, giving myself time limits at work, treating the workout like an important appointment, and even packing workout clothes and water in my car.
Then I saw the analogy. It's like prayer. It seems, at times, like it's not working, not getting us anywhere. Like the prayers are hitting the ceiling. But if we plan for it, meet with Him on a consistent basis, and really pursue Him, it is bound to work. Being in the presence of God begins to change us. We behold dimly, but as we look into His glorious face, we are slowly changed. From glory to glory- His redemptive, transformational work happens. We become stronger and develop more stamina.
"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall run and not faint." Isaiah 40: 31