A "Typical" Aries

March 20th to April 21st is the Zodiac sign of the Ram. Although I am not a castrated male sheep, I am a hard-headed, stubborn individual, who loves to be the best at everything. If I can't win, I don't compete. If you tell me I can't do something, I'll prove to you that I can. My first challenge came being born with clubbed feet in 1948. The doctor entered my mother's room with plaster on his hands up to his elbows, explaining that he had put casts on both my feet. He assured her that I was fine, but I would never walk. The plaster casts were heavy and I used to kick myself in the head every time I got excited or happy. After the casts were removed, my parents didn’t have the money for the braces or operation that should have followed. I was on my own to prove that I could learn to walk. My baby shoes were hard soled high top leather shoes that I wore on the wrong feet to keep my feet from turning inward. I learned to walk, but I fell down all the time, hitting my head as I fell. Headaches were the norm for my life as a hard-headed ram.

If you have an activity you want to promote, tell me that I can win a prize and I will gather friends and family to participate and prove to everyone that I am the best at it. As the activity progresses, if I am not winning (which rarely happens, but is always a possibility), I might wander off to seek other challenges.

Finding true love took a while. My husband had been married before and knew what not to do to make our marriage succeed. Basically, he had me on the pedestal that I deserved and showered me with loving inspirational cards every morning to start each day. When he sent me flowers, there were always only 11 flowers, because he said that I was the 12th perfect flower that completed the bouquet. Alas, he dies from cancer after only 20 months of adoration.

I was commissioned as a deacon in the Evangelical Church of America and served three years as a congregational deacon. I preached 4 sermons and helped serve communion for the early service during that time. As a widow, I researched the program offered by the church to help widowed members cope. It was decided not to pursue that program. As Sunday School Superintendent, I was able to establish a Mitten Tree for local children at Christmas time to compliment Samaritan’s Purse that was already being supported by the children.

Personally, I have been told that I am hard to get along with. I truly did not understand, until I moved into the Independent Senior Living Community and realized that I didn't know everything. Alas, it was a rude awakening. Once I accepted the fact that I could still learn new things, I set out to meet all the other residents and glean facts from each of that that I had not known before. After five years in the community, I have learned many new things, among them are: firsthand knowledge of the ship that provided radio communication at Normandy in World War II, studying voice and piano at the Eastman, and what it is like to fly in a fighter jet. I am friends with the woman who started and still runs the Senior center named for her in the town she raised her family in. Kindness has never been my strong suit but living with people who are kind to everyone has been an education.

Springtime is my favorite season with all the new life emerging. The excitement of finding that first flower in the still snow-covered ground will keep the smile on my face for days. That smile helps spread the kindness replacing the frown I used to have from all the headaches.