Honorary BVG

It is October 5, and I just finished wrapping seven Christmas gifts. Six of them I made, three of them for the Bethel Valley Girls. When they read this they will roll their eyes, I'm quite sure. They will say I'm just channeling my inner Martha Stewart, or as they say, MFS. I don't do this to make my Sisters envious of or upset with me. My daughter will be having her first baby any day, so we have a trip to California coming up to hold our second grandchild and to help our daughter and son-in-law. We'll make another trip there in December to enjoy a big family Christmas. Because of these trips, I need to be ready for Christmas much earlier than usual.

While I was making gift cards for the BVG's presents, I realized for the first time that they each have an i in their name. While my BVG name, Firstelle, has an 'i' in it, my real name does not, and that's what I'm talking about, real names. Theirs have i's and mine does not. And why are they not at home making and wrapping Christmas gifts? It's because they are at work. They are all gainfully employed, but I am not. I'm retired without a pension. Thank God for my husband who does a great job supporting me in the manner to which I have become accustomed since I quit teaching piano five years ago.

These are three commonalities between my friends, the Bethel Valley Girls:

* They all lived on Bethel Valley Lane----I did not
* They all have i's in their names---I do not
* They are all gainfully employed---I am not

It is as I have always known: I'm not REALLY a Bethel Valley Girl. I am just an HONORARY one.

But we have this in common:

WE LOVE US!