Ruth’s Story

June 19th, 2010

Ruth is my younger sister. I love her profoundly.      George Caywood

I was born on Easter Sunday, April 14, 1946. The story is that I interrupted my father’s Easter dinner. I was the 6th of 6, four girls and two boys. My parents met when they were nest door neighbors in Tucson, Arizona.
My mother came from [...]

String of Pearls 123: Parenting II

June 8th, 2010

-Raising my children was far easier for me than raising me was for my parents. That is true because there was far more good information available to me than they had.
-My Dad taught me to read. We had devotions on my mom and dad’s bed every night. Each child took a turn reading a verse [...]

String Of Pearls 122: Parenting l

June 7th, 2010

-The myth that all kids need is quality time is a damaging myth. Kids need time and lots of it.
-Kids need to believe in their hearts that when they speak their parents hear and respond to them with care and kindness. The program saying applies here. “Say what you mean, mean what you say but [...]

To JoAnna

June 4th, 2010

It was big, exciting news when your mother told me she was pregnant. Your family waited, with very limited patience, for you to be born. All our friends and neighbors  were  thrilled with us at the prospect of another Caywood child. As soon as you were born, your sisters put up a big pink flag [...]

String Of Pearls: 121 Trust and Surrender

June 3rd, 2010

-Faith seems to me to be the result of seeing change in myself and in others. That’s why it is good for me to go to some of the same  meetings each week and share often. If I do that, I can hear of others growth and they can hear mine.
-Faith comes by hearing and [...]

String Of Pearls 120: Meaningful Boundaries

June 3rd, 2010

-I do better with boundaries if I develop my boundaries with the help of my sponsor.
-The first thing I need in order to set meaningful boundaries is a powerful determination to be myself.
-The most basic boundary is giving myself permission to say no.
-In setting my boundaries, my need to explain why I set the boundary [...]

String Of Pearls 119: I Can’t be Purrfect

June 3rd, 2010

I went to a great meeting this morning. The topic was perfectionism.
-I After I shared, I was filled with dread because I did not think my pitch was perfectly delivered.
-I hate seeing that I have not perfectly dealt with my perfectionism.
-My humanity is included in the love covenant I have with my Higher Power. To [...]

String Of Pearls 118: Fear

May 26th, 2010

-I could not possibly count high enough to count the fears that the passage of time has proven to be totally baseless.
-When I first started my recovery, I often listed the things I was afraid of in the morning. That evening, I reexamined my list and noted how many of my morning fears had proven [...]

String Of Pearls 117: Progress

May 24th, 2010

-Practice makes perfect is a deadly idea for me. Practice makes progress works.
-”Do your best’ is a threatening idea. I guess I feel that way because growing up, I did my best to do my best and it was never good enough. “Now My aim is to the best I can today given my situation [...]

Limericks

May 18th, 2010

There once were two girls named Mayer,
Who were smart, wise and wondrously fair.
They gave me my “Bad Jokey” name,
That shows the source of my fame.
It’s my hope that I can soon see their lair.
—GMC
-
When I was a very young girl
I had a cat white as a pearl.
After his nap
He would sit in my lap
and there [...]