I have often heard the phrase, “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness,” and it has been in my thoughts since the days have become shorter.
A minor Google search brought up that fact that it was something that JFK said, but it also offered other people and origins.
It doesn’t really matter to me who said it, or what it referred to. All I know was the light for my garage door opener was burned out, and any time I got home after dark, I wanted to curse the darkness. Well, not really curse it, but just to shed some light on it, and let’s face facts, lighting a candle was not practical in that circumstance.
Early in December I found a small, but very bright flashlight that I thought would be a solution. However, the problem with that was I tended to misplace the light. After spending a couple of weeks without finding it, I happened to notice it was in my purse; no wonder the purse was so heavy.
When lights are put into a new building, apparently it is not thought as to what might be needed 10 years down the line. I have other lights in my garage; however, none anywhere near where my van or door to the house are located. So I would stumble around in the dark garage, with my cane, and my not-as-young-as-it-used-to-be body, and half fall up the two-and-a-half stairs from the garage into the house.
When I went shopping I would either forget to look for a light bulb for a garage door opener, or else I would remember but not be able to find one. I knew I could get a grandkid to come over to replace the old with the new, but no bulb.
Then I got an idea. One of my granddaughters works at Menards, so I asked her to get a bulb for me. She forgot the first time, but a couple of days ago she not only brought me a bulb, but also an extra one for the future. Even better than that, she installed the new bulb.
Now that I have light, I know how blessed something so simple can be. It kind of makes me wonder how I made it so long without that light. It may not be a candle, but the light it sheds is much appreciated.
Candles were popular in my house in January and November as my kids were growing. I have two sons with January birthdays, and one son and one daughter with November birthdays. In keeping with my mother’s tradition, we almost always had angel food cake for birthdays. Of course, my mother had chickens, and so her angel food cake was made from scratch, while mine comes from a box.
Over the years, I have goofed on the preparation, even with the simple box mix. Somehow, the cake always turned out, with the birthday kid grinning from ear to ear.
Those days are gone now, with my kids grown and out on their own for many years. However, I enjoy reminiscing about those old times, with candles glowing on the angel food cake, and grinning children, ready to blow the candles, and then I let them eat cake.
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