An old clock and some memories

Top left, the clock which was headed for the trash. Top right, working on placing the images. Bottom picture, A glimpse at Times Past proudly sits on my mantle along with one of my many antique cameras. Photo by Megan P. 

A few weeks ago I took an old clock that was about to be thrown away and decided that I could make something creative with it.
Now, I know you may be thinking how strange is she, but trust me, it turned out better than even I could imagine.
For weeks I would look at that old clock lying on the kitchen table, or in my house the “catch-all”. What could I do to turn an ordinary old clock into something I would actually display?
My mom, Sheila, actually put me on the right path. She said, “What about the Times Past that you type in the paper?”
GENIUS! Get it? Times Past, a clock... Anyways. So I grabbed the screwdriver and began to take the clock apart.
I grabbed some papers I had around the house and cut out page 5 and begin to figure out just how I was going to make it work.
Once I had the background figured out, I knew that I wanted to make this special and I knew exactly what else I wanted to place on the clock.
Growing up my grandfather, better known as Rabbit Tipton, loved reading the newspaper. He would read all the local papers from surrounding counties and I don’t think he ever missed an issue of the Lexington paper.
Poppy, as I called him, would save the papers he collected over the week and place them in his old army chest in “the cat house” (an old building he had out back where the cats would sleep in the winter time). When we would go visit them on the weekends he would tell me to go read this article from the paper, or “there’s a good one in there this week”.
I loved to go up and rummage around in that old army chest. Stories and articles and the comics of course. As I got older he began saving me newspapers he thought would mean something to me. I still have a lot of those papers stored at my house, and when I begin to miss my Poppy, I go through them and read a few articles that I remember him pointing out.
But anyways, back to the clock. So, since my Poppy first lead me down the path to my love for the newspaper, I decided I would make my ‘Times Past’ in memory of him and that’s just exactly what I did. I had some copies of old pictures of him, his military picture and one of him with an old car while on the military base. I cut them out and added them to the clock.
And, since you never saw Rabbit with Mary, I had to add my Granny and her sisters on there as well.
My clock now sits on my mantle at home and is a reminder of “Times Past”. When I look at it, I am reminded of a saying  I came across a few years ago and it makes me love my family and my memories even more.

Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. “Be still” they say. “Watch and listen. You are the result of the LOVE of THOUSANDS.”

Have I been a kind person today?

As January rolls to an end ,many of us are questioning our dedication to fulfill those New Year’s resolutions we made just a few short weeks ago. Have you been sticking to your diet? Saving your money like you promised yourself you would?I didn’t make any resolutions this year, instead, I made goals for myself. My first goal was to be kind. Now, many of you may find this to be silly and just quit reading this article, and that’s fine, but take a moment to think back and ask yourself “am I a kind person?”A few weeks ago I was in the kitchen putting food up for lunch the next day. I was banging dishes around and mumbling under my breath, when my mother, who was staying with us over the holiday’s, looked at me and told me that if I couldn’t do something with a kind heart then I shouldn’t do it at all. WHAT? I was tired, had been up since 4 a.m. doing the laundry and picking up the house. I had worked all day then went and sat through a two hour meeting and had just got home. I was in no mood to hear about how unkind I was while cleaning the kitchen. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how right my mom was. I wasn’t doing those things with a kind heart. In fact, I sometimes get so angry at being the only person who cleans and does the laundry, I feel as though I’m the only person who knows how to put a new bag in the empty trash can. But do I have to be hateful? No. Of course not. So I asked myself what was causing this unkindness within me?Kindness is defined as being a behavior marked by ethical characteristics, a pleasant disposition, and concern for others. Kindness is known as a virtue and is often seen as helping someone in need in return for nothing. When was the last time I had enjoyed being a kindhearted person?The more I thought about my mom’s words, the more I realized that I was beginning to lose my ability to be kind. I deal with people on a daily basis. Some of those individuals are nice and very helpful, others snub their noses and treat me with disdain because of my job. That’s right, my job. My job does not define me as an individual. My job is just that, my job. It is a paid position of regular employment. It is not who I am when I’m off the clock, but that disdain was leaking into my soul and I wasn’t letting it go. I was letting others attitudes towards my occupation cloud my attitude while at home with my loved ones. So I promised myself then and there that no matter what, I would show kindness to those around me. And I must say, so far so good. Each day I find a Bible verse or a quote to use as motivation to help remind me to have a kind heart. On my desktop at work the word KIND is my background. It’s a reminder that no matter what I am facing or how I am feeling, I must have kindness within me. I’ll end with my verse for today and maybe you’ll take a moment to reflect and ask yourself the same questions I did. Have I been kind to someone lately? “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” - Proverbs 31:26 KJV