MRB's Talking Fingers

For me, last week was quite a week of celebration. It wasn’t a personal celebration, but a global recognition of Elizabeth, the reigning queen of Britain and the Commonwealth. Can you imagine that it is seventy years of commitment to a life of service that began at a very young age when her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon., as well as Head of the Commonwealth. To try and write any facts to introduce her dedication, I have turned to Wikipedia for the following sentences... "Significant events have included Elizabeth's coronation in 1953, and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively. Elizabeth is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, the longest-serving female head of state, the oldest living and longest-reigning ...

  Some of us had been planning and anticipating in the 61 st anniversary of our graduation from nursing school. The second weekend of May, 2022 finally arrived and it was even better than what we were expecting. Whoever thought we were getting too old to have a party, just don’t know any nurses! We’ve had a lot of practice! We were able to check into the hotel on Friday afternoon, and Marj., one of our classmates, did a wonderful job of booking the suite on the 12 th floor with a view of the city and the mountains, and staying in contact with the hotel until the day of we were to arrive, making sure there were no ‘glitches’. Other classmates were arriving during the afternoon, some who were waiting for the classmate who is sharing a room, and others who were not planning to stay after the banquet, but came to help start the ‘party’. Enjoying a glass of wine (donated by Maureen and Jack D), and snacking on bagged peanuts, pretzels, and chocolates (donated by Carole and Morris S)...

It was 1958 when a group of almost one hundred young girls, most having just completed high school, met for the first time. It was the beginning of a three-year adventure… living and working together. They often socialized together, shared some tears together, and enjoyed daily fun times. In 1961, they graduated as Registered Nurses, and the ‘Sisterhood’ was well established. Many moved to far and near destinations, some to further their education, some to new employment opportunities, and some were finally able to marry the love of their life. The tradition of celebrating a Homecoming Reunion every five years with the ‘Sisterhood’ became an event that was fondly anticipated. Letters were written in cursive handwriting to stay connected, giving updates on life and family, and shared with other classmates. A weekend of activities, starting with the Homecoming (Alumnae) Banquet at the Palliser Hotel, followed by a Coffee Party in the Sunken Lounge of the Residence and a tour of the hospi...

The news is filled with stories about people who have been scammed by a phone call, an email, and even in person. The temptation is to think that it will never happen to us. Why would any decent person want to hit on anyone, young or old, to make them miserable or even destitute. Maybe we are even tempted to wonder if the persons who were scammed were just too gullible and hope they have learned their lesson. As of last week, I have a story to tell; (watch for the ' red ' flags. For a lot of years, since the beginning of the Internet, I have done consignment selling for customers who didn't know how, or have the time, to post items for sale on the Internet. I started by selling on Ebay, researching the value and/or reasonable asking price, then packing and shipping the 'sold' item to the Buyer. Things have changed over the years, more opportunities, more technology, more customers, but there are also many opportunities for the ruthless and unethical people who are...

While watching the news this evening, it gave me an idea for a new blog from me. I do enjoy writing but the last couple of months have been filled with ‘other things’, and my list of ‘no-no’ topics that won’t be entertained by me is getting longer. I try not to be a ‘negative’ person. There is too much of that these days. Back to the news this evening… a town in the northern part of our province has announced that the last pay telephone in town will be retired, because it had only been used about ten times the past year. Following that announcement, the news broadcast stated that there are still 700 payphones in use in our province. I guess this is an important and newsworthy item for this second week in February! We even got to hear the sound of coins dropping in the coin box. Wow! That was exciting! OK… I didn’t promise not to be sarcastic! Payphones were important in my younger days. There were many reasons that we needed to make a phone call when away from home. We had no idea ...

 It’s been quite a year, and I wish you all a Happy and Wonderful New Year! I’m sure that the past year has been similar for most of us… some ‘hav- to’ jobs, some happy moments, and lots of spare hours. As I wrote in our year-end newsletter, I did a bit of cooking, a bit of cleaning, a bit of napping, and spent many hours refreshing memories through boxes and albums of photos, writing letters, sending emails and text messages, and talking on the phone. I use my computer every day, but I’ve been reminded about the progress of the telephone in my lifetime. The first eight years of my life were on a farm, and there was no phone to be had. There was no power and no running water, and the evening light in the room was an oil-burning lamp. When we moved to the city, our first telephone was attached to the wall in the hallway, and when we finally had a ‘curly’ cord, I could sit on the floor when talking on the phone. There was no area code, just a number like 75945, and we dialed ‘0’ to...

 We have seen so many changes in the last several generations, and this past year, with many of us who have time to spare, may have reconnected with friends from our past, and some who we may have never met in person. Technology has given all of us the ability to communicate quickly with friends who live on the other side of our planet. Gone are the days of pen and ink used to write letters that were delivered by the Postal Service, sometimes weeks after it was posted. Even though we understood that we would never meet in person, I have learned that two of my treasured cyber friends (Clydene and Barb), who I met on the NOTH website, have come to the end of their earthly journey. We enjoyed many chats online over the years and looked forward to meeting at our Eternal Home. Clydene was the first person who sent me an invitation to be her friend, and I was pleased to accept. Her home was in an area that we would pass through on a planned road trip to Branson, MO. I have never forgotte...