February 13, 1965

Life's slow and steady progress. More slow than steady.

February 13, 1965

I went to the Library for stuff on Napoleon and Waterloo. I waited for 3 hours for Dad to come and pick me up. Three boys, about 9 or 10 years old, came up and shot at me with squirt guns. I finally caught one of 'em and slapped him around. Oh, how I itched to do that! I bought a 45 cent pattern for stuffed animals and some foam rubber stuffing. I already got 2 orders for a horse and a cat. I made myself a dog - his name is Pudgey Mutt. He's so cute.

February 13, 1997

I have followed this new habit for six weeks now. Like putting a new block on a tower, I placed it gently, then waited with anxious breath to see if the tower would fall. It hasn’t. It’s trembled now and then, but I do have time for exercise and reflection every day now! It seems like a minor miracle. Now I want time for music or work — creative time — several times week. How do I get it? One possibility if obvious; get up earlier. Evening is not a real productive time, and I should probably go to bed  earlier, anyway. I will try…in bed by 10:30, and up by 7. (Watching TV in bed until 11:30 doesn’t count!)

Meeting Wilma Mankiller yesterday was quite an experience. My first reaction was “She looks so ordinary.” But isn’t that the key? Her message was “If I can do it, anyone can.”

February 13, 2023

What an afterthought! “Oh and by the way, I met Wilma Mankiller, the former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.”

She had given a lecture to  students at the University of Maryland. As representative of one of the sponsoring programs, I was tasked with meeting her at the airport and being her driver/guide during the visit. Because her flight arrived late in the afternoon on a weekday, I picked up my teenage daughter at school and brought her along to meet the great woman. Then in her early fifties, Mankiller looked not only “ordinary” but weary and physically weak. Yet years of health issues - kidney disease and other serious conditions - had not prevented her from devoting her life to service to the Cherokee Nation. 

And there was I, in my late 40s, making yet another attempt to get organized, be productive, and have some space in my life for - what? Perhaps for joy.

On the bright side, I haven’t slapped anyone around since 1965.