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Goodbye…Thoughts…Going Home

My childhood home

This painting is one of my first attempts to create. It represents my childhood home in rural Mississippi. The painting is from a photo in the spring of 2013. No one lives there anymore; however it is still in my family so I can go to this house and the land surrounding it where I spent the first 17 years of my life with my Mother, Father and brother.

…………Can anyone really go home again……….

So many mistakes with this painting yet it reminds me of the beginning of my artist journey; therefore I shall not try to repaint or correct the mistakes….Could not anyway…..

After high school graduation in 1965 I left this sacred place for college and I visited often and I always called it my home but I did not ever live there again.


By Dr. Dan Allender
Forgetting would take away so many memories that shaped some of the best of me. Goodbyes always so many goodbyes in this journey of life……
Did you know that the word goodbye we used today was God be with you during the 1500’s.

Now I can be joyfully and say God be with you….but the goodbyes….often I just rather look at the memories and allow their visions to wash over me like a gentle summer rain…
cooling my brow and bringing the leaping joy for all that was and the learning I continue to experience.
Yesterday a group of Delta Sky Sisters gathered together to remember and celebrate at a ministry one of our own began and her legacy is still going on…..
The memories of 50 years captured in our hearts and bonding us together…
Going home, could it be for 2 hours yesterday those of us who were together were at home.
Home where the memories of our life transport us to places now experienced in our hearts forever….

https://youtu.be/XTOABVJNZtU
I will not say Goodbye by Danny Gokey
Until I see you again or until I just remember I can always go home again and again…

God Be With You
Martha




…….Just not going to say goodbye…..

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The colors and falling leaves of Autumn

       Autumn Expressed

November 13, 2018

It was cold and raining when I crossed the parking lot to the studio for my painting class at Brookhaven Community College on Saturday, November 3rd.  It was one of those days that I was not in an artistic inspired mood.

The empty canvas was on the easel and the colors of fall on my palette. I began to create with the bittersweet memories of November running through my mind.

My Mother’s birthday is November 14th, and mine is November 22nd; although she has been in heaven for thirty-one years, this time of the year always brings back the memories of when she would come to celebrate our birthdays and Thanksgiving.

Often she would stay and we would decorate the Christmas tree with Shannon and go Christmas shopping.  She was one of my best friends and I miss her.  I have no regrets as I spent a lot of time with her in person as well as on the phone, and writing her letters.

                       NO INTERNET…..Regular dial up phone……Stationery,                                                             pen, paper……..Stamps and the good ole USPS…..

I treasure the letters that I saved and sometimes I re-read them…..yet they most always lead to tears…..Joyful tears……

Listening to Ed Sherran’s Autumn Leaves, painting with tears filling my eyes.

 

The canvas revealed the above painting as I remembered those November days long gone like the falling leaves of Fall with all their glorious, brilliant colors imprinted on this canvas as the memories imprinted on my soul of the joy that I shared with my Mother on so many Novembers years ago…….

                                No Repeats…….Just Memories……Grateful for Them

As Thanksgiving 2018 draws near I hope you are making memories with those that you love (family and friends and perhaps even strangers)  for our days cannot be repeated……Open your hearts with a deep gratitude that goes beyond the word, thanks.

We all have lost and just as the seasons change….so can we…. for losing never leaves us the same….Enjoy the colors of the falling leaves for they will not last for long…..Autumn is here; however winter is coming…….

I just wonder what  you would say Mom, about me becoming an artist at the autumn of my life…I can see her smile and hear her voice as it is painted in the treasured place of my heart…..

                 Dedicated to you Mom……Missing you on this cold November day…..

Gratefully,

Martha

 

 

 

 

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Reflections and Memories–Oh What Treasures

 

   REFLECTIONS

A few days ago I attended a luncheon to remember and honor one of our beloved Delta Sky Sisters at a food pantry where she spent many hours serving others.

It occurred to me that our career, (as stewardesses/flight attendants) was mostly about serving and caring for others; therefore serving others was just a part of who we are… (a volunteer resource galore).  An unexpected and unique family bonded by an identity we now call Sky Sisters. A generation of girls who became strong women and broke many glass ceilings… not to leave out our pilots and sky brothers…just remembering the way we were.

Behind the smiles we had our own struggles; yet some how we left those behind and focused on our duties.

                                    ….JUMP SEAT  THERAPY…. THE BEST, ….TMI OVERLOAD….

Some of those in attendance I had not seen for many years; however the memories of our flying days were fresh as a new hibiscus bloom in the heat of Texas.

Reflections of those memories remind me of how blessed I am to be a part of so many lives in a career that took us to places around the world.  So much beauty, experiences, romance, joy, sorrow, and loss, … a way of life that can only be understood by us.

                                   … So many people different than us yet the same…

                                       …Thousands and thousands of untold stories…

As I looked around the room, conversations about times of all those years in a silver tube painted with a widget of red, white and blue at 35,000 feet, among the clouds brought smiles to  my heart….trying to take it all in and not miss any moment.

                                         … Connected By the Wings on our Uniforms…

What a sisterhood!  Often miles away from home yet for a trip we were friends that remain in some ways a friend for life and close for forever in our memories.

                                                 ……    from all walks of life   ….

We grew up together in the 60’s as jet travel increased and the world became smaller; our perspectives changed as we learned to be more flexible with schedule changes.  Delays taught us patience and tragedies humbled our hearts and taught us to be kinder and more loving. The war of our generation: Vietnam …broke us as we tried to make sense of it all …Woodstock and free love and the pill gave us a lot to think about and decide …what’s it all about anyway.

… Laughter and Tears….

                                                  Different beliefs….but still a team

As we remember those who are no longer here in their earth suits, I thought out loud “Thanks for the memories on all those flights with Delta and for the friendships that last a lifetime and beyond. All of you are part of me and I am changed for having this experience with you.”

                                        …Not forgotten…no regrets…a million memories…

Like one small rock thrown in a still pond….the ripples are far reaching…..so it is with our Sky Sisters memories far reaching to the hundreds that we knew and the stories we hold close to our hearts forever…Even the annoying ones and the what the !?!? ones.

Reflections of the faces and the life of the ones we now miss are imprinted in the pictures of our minds and felt in the deep parts of our hearts… 

                                   … Just Like the Reflections on the Sea at Sunset…

                                          …….. A TREASURE TO BEHOLD FOR ALL TIME……..

My heart is full of prayerful and thoughtful thoughts to you all.

Martha

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Fireworks….In Remembrance

 

     FIREWORKS

…………………the  display of fireworks……………….celebrations………..remembrance…….

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words.  I am not sure about that.  When you look at a photograph or a painting can one really interpret the thoughts behind the image or the expressions on a person’s face, or the instincts of a bird, or an animal, or the pressure of a flower opening up under the sunlight after the rain.

I can merely imagine the beauty, the celebration, the pain, the stories, or the creation process behind the scenes.  Even then I the viewer am limited to my own experiences and can only imagine the story, the emotions of joy, pain, sorrow, wonder, hurt, love and loss….

Painting this canvas I named Fireworks reveals the explosion of colors in my heart filled with expressions of joy, loss, sorrow, adventure and even wonder, too many to mention or try to explain….Painting a meditation revealed on a canvas with oil paint…AHHHHHH…….

                   … SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A FIREWORK EXPLODING…

On Monday, May 28,  people all around our diverse United States of America will host, attend and engage in celebrations for Memorial Day. A day that honors and remembers those who lost their lives serving the USA in the military…

……………..too many wars…………so many lost…………..does it end……………

So many sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, friends  did not come home from war around this globe.

Fireworks will light the sky(colors of red white and blue) and patriotic music will be played, as millions of eyes look up to the dancing colors exploding like magic in the darkness.  The show will be over in minutes and our thoughts will change to the what’s next if we are not careful to remember why we are celebrating.

Where ever Monday evening finds you be still for a moment to remember. If you are watching a fireworks tribute, look up and give thanks.

I pray for a heart of remembrance for those I knew and those I did not, who never came home.

Be kind to everyone…..be the firework in someone’s life…….speak love and encouragement…..if a solider in uniform crosses your path…..say thanks….buy his/her lunch, coffee, drink etc….and remember……

Sending you remembrance and thanks,

Martha

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Oh How I Love Flying, the Gift of Feeling Free

           Flying Free

The wind was blowing with a gust, as I unloaded my art supplies and canvas from the trunk.  It was difficult to hold onto the canvas as the wind swirled around me like it would lift me in flight. Overhead I hear the sound of a jet airplane.  I look up and seeing the plane climb higher and higher, the blowing wind and the sounds of the jet engines jog my memories.  I am thinking about how much I miss flying and airplanes.

So many places, so many people, so many experiences racing in my mind at the speed of a jet.

As I enter the studio, this one memory penetrated my thoughts:  In 1970 I began to wear a POW bracelet made of stainless steel, engraved with the rank, name and loss date of an American serviceman captured during the Vietnam War. Praying daily for his return and  hoping that I would be able to give it to him or his family when he returned. (I will not reveal his name to protect his privacy.)

It was an ordinary day in April 1973, on a non-eventful flight standing at the airplane door greeting and welcoming  passengers on board.  The agent had informed me that we would be taking home one of our servicemen who had been a prisoner in Vietnam.  He and his wife would be boarding last.  The image of this man was difficult to process as he walked slowly onto the plane.  He was so thin and frail and I found myself wiping away tears.

During flight I approached him; trying not to draw attention as this was his wish.  I thanked him for his service. I shared about wearing a POW bracelet and the back story about how the bracelet program began.  I showed him my bracelet and said,” I hope one day to give it to him or send it to his family.”

He spoke so softly that I could barely understand…..this is what he said “You can give it to me that is my name on your bracelet”.  Tears of joy flowing from our eyes….  

Our reunion was short as the plane landed and he continued on his journey home.  This rare encounter shall forever be one that filled my heart with compassion placing me on holy ground.

                              Time to put earbuds in and select a playlist……

Rarely do I know what I will paint and what the finished piece will look like, I take this memory and my love of flying and let the process begin.

 Standing at the easel I swipe the you-tube app and begin to listen to “Leaving on a Jet Plane” by Peter, Paul and Mary:   https://youtu.be/Qc-7SnMnX78 .

Such freedom I feel when flying on a jet plane.  This accidental artist begins mixing colors and choosing the brushes and the palette knife, I move the paint covered brush across the canvas like a dancer gliding across the floor, interpreting the music.

All these memories of flying take over and the painting reveals my soul of how free I feel and how blessed and thankful for all the years that jet airplanes took me into flight to…  Beautiful and faraway places to many to name.

Even though my wings are clipped and I no longer stand at an airplane door greeting passenger/customers, the freedom of flight never completely escapes me.

As my playlist changes, this song begins “I Will Lift You Up on Eagles Wings” https://youtu.be/4rRea9qnjK4 .  I am reminded of one of my favorite scriptures….

“The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”    Isaiah 40: 28-31

Be free to fly with the wind lifting you to higher thoughts.   Be the incredible, amazing , gifted you.   You are unique.  Your fingerprints, your voice and your DNA is yours alone. 

With a grateful heart I thank everyone who has crossed my path on a jet plane or anywhere else for your presence is a gift I treasure.

Blessings,

Martha

 

PS   I find it interesting that somehow I was hired as a Delta Stewardess/ Flight Attendant and wore the wings for almost 36 years;  During the 1960’s and the present the experts say:  It is easier to get into Harvard than to be hired as a Delta Flight Attendant…..flying high was a dream that came true and changed my world forever…..

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