Barbara France
Managing Editor
bfrance@lassennews.com
Jan. 18, 2011 — Have you ever felt like turning around and heading back in time to the most idyllic time you can remember? I know I can’t really do that. Those times really only exist in my dreams, but I must say 2011 has not started off the way I’d prefer. The truth is the longer I am on this planet, the more death I see and have to process. Death is the juxtaposition to living, but for the first four days of the New Year I had a friend or acquaintance die.
On Jan. 1, a dear old friend of 88 died. He had been living in a nursing home for the past few years, and his health had been declining. We called him Grandpa Vern because he and his lovely wife Lila willingly would watch my youngest when we had youth pastoring events to go on. He was always smiling, and I know if he could he would say, “I’m home with Jesus; rejoice!”
Jan. 11, 2011 — Today I was reminded of the words to a song I considered my “theme” when I was younger. I have not thought about this song from the musical “South Pacific” in years.
The lyrics are: “Happy talk, keep talking happy talk; Talk about things you’d like to do; You gotta have a dream, if you don’t have a dream; How you gonna have a dream come true?”