Donna Highfill
  • Home
  • About
    • About Donna
    • What People Are Saying
    • My Other Blogs
      • Dame Nation Blog
      • Huffington Post
  • Services
    • Power Up BUSINESS
    • Coaching
  • Books and Tools
  • Blog
    • Fave Products
  • Contact Me

Appreciating Family, Even When It Stings

Donna HighfillBlogNo commentsDecember 18, 2014

The holidays either make us want to hold our families close or knock them about the head and shoulders. Either way, we don’t always appreciate the people who were with us when we were scared of the dark, or covered in chicken pox, or crying in the mud after falling off of a swing. We forget the importance of having someone in our life who remembered us when we had a crush on G.I. Joe – the doll.

Those with whom we spent time in close proximity know us, flaws and all. Hopefully, they love us anyway.

I asked my readers to share some of their stories of family, love, and light, because I don’t want this site to just be about me. There is no limit to the number of stories that we all have accumulated over this vast, amazing lifetime.

Many thanks to my dear friend Sarah Simmons for sharing her story — a reminder of why we should appreciate each moment we have with them, even when it hurts.

Sarah’s Story

[Dr. Sarah J. Simmons is a retired Assistant-Principal in North Carolina, and a Professor of Education at Roanoke College in Virginia.]

My father lived to be 92 years old, and my mother was 90 years old when he died. But she never looked her age, as you can see from the photo below.

smile

Just after my father died, my mother decided that she needed some straw. My parents lived on a farm, so this was not a rare occurrence for us, except that my 90 year-old mother planned on climbing the barn ladder to throw out five bales of straw from the top of the barn loft onto the ground. The ladder and opening to the loft was very narrow, so I insisted on doing this chore for her.

Things were going well until I retrieved the fifth bale. Just as I picked up the bale, a swarm of yellow jackets surrounded me, and I realized that I had aroused an angry group of bees. I yelled to my mother who was standing on the ground looking up at the opening in the barn loft, “There are yellow jackets here and I am getting stung!”

My mother, the product of the Great Depression, calmly replied, “Just go to the back of the barn and get the fifth bale before coming down.”

Like a good daughter, I obeyed.

After finishing my chore, I climbed down from the barn loft with bees still attacking me. My mother just looked at me and quietly said, “A little pure vanilla extract will take care of the stings.”

I carried the straw bales to the house and applied the vanilla extract, as recommended. And, of course, it worked.

Growing up, my mother always had the answer to whatever hurt I had acquired. She had a remarkable way of taking the worst situation and making it okay. Her calm demeanor just made things always seem better.

My mom passed away at the age of 96,  but I feel her presence each day. When I start to get uptight or worry, I consider what my mother endured during the Depression.

We are survivors and life is a journey, bumps and all. I just hope that I can continue on my journey with the same dignity that my mother displayed.

Tags: Change, donna highfill, inspiration, inspirational stories, motivation

Related Articles

Since That Day . . .

September 11, 2010Andrew

Change is but a Dream

July 30, 2012Andrew

Human Cells Change; Why Can’t We?

January 31, 2011Andrew

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Learn How to Tell a Better Story and Achieve Success!

Sign up below to receive 48 FREE Energizing Messages.

Connect with Me

Email
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest

Recent Posts

  • A Cab Driver Who Appeared as if from Nowhere
  • Here’s Some Honesty For You
  • Laughter is My Hero
  • A New Year in Old Clothes
  • Why I Will Face the Fall

CHECK OUT MY BOOK

highfillcover

As a leader, do you implement change only to watch the projects, processes and initiatives stall because you can’t get the people driving them to change? In my new book Real People, Real Change: Stories of a Change Warrior in the Business World I share real stories to illustrate how leaders can move people to action.

Archives

Where Donna Will Be Speaking Next

  • April 22, 2015 - SunTrust Women's Networking Group
  • April 23, 2015 - SunTrust Women's Networking Group
  • May 12, 2015 - LPGA Championship, Kingsmill, Williamsburg VA
  • May 21, 2015 - Education Association of Fundraising Professionals, Eerie, PA

Certified_hi-res

mbti_certified
huffbadge

Learn How to Tell a Better Story and Achieve Success!

Sign up below to receive 48 FREE Energizing Messages.

Recent Posts

  • A Cab Driver Who Appeared as if from Nowhere August 9, 2017
  • Here’s Some Honesty For You March 16, 2017
  • Laughter is My Hero January 10, 2017

Contact Me

804-370-6665
[email protected]
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright
  • About Donna
  • Contact Me
Copyright Donna Highfill 2014