We have a cold going around our house right now.  I thought I was going to avoid getting it but no such luck.  I took some medicine which temporarily relieved my symptoms but now I feel jittery.  I was about to give up on writing until I realized I could ask another good What Would Grandma Do? question.

In my initial list of challenges, I included that I would like to use less toilet paper.  With cold season upon us, I may have found one way to reduce my use.

Whenever my kids have a cold, they grab a roll of toilet paper and carry it with them to use for blowing their noses.  At the end of the day, the various trash cans in our house are filled to the brim with bunches of used toilet paper.  The little poofs of white paper collect like clouds, and I find myself smiling because they remind me of my kids.  It is one of those endearing moments I never would have understood prior to becoming a parent. 

However, when toilet paper is unavailable, my middle son is prone to using the front of his shirt to wipe his nose.  Although the toilet paper clouds are much cuter, the t-shirt method is probably a step closer to how my grandparents would have handled a cold.  My grandparents did not use disposable tissue paper or toilet paper to blow their noses.  They used hankies or handkerchiefs.  I did an internet search in an attempt to find a picture of a handkerchief to use for this post.  Most of the pictures I came across showed a handkerchief being used as a fashion accessory and not for blowing one’s nose like originally intended. 

My dad and his father, my Grandpa Pickies, both still use hankies to blow their noses.  Even though I usually use toilet paper or Kleenex to blow my nose, I have never really thought it was gross that my dad and grandpa use a hankie.  I actually get a warm, fuzzy feeling whenever I see a blue handkerchief like the one my dad uses because it makes me think of him.  Strangely enough, I seem to have lots of fond feelings associated with the act of blowing one’s nose! 

I cannot be the only one who associates good memories with one of the most basic of human functions.  I am willing to bet some of you have your own stories to share!  And so it is your turn to tell me your best hankie stories.

What did your grandparents use to blow their noses?  What do you use?  Would you be willing to switch to using a handkerchief in order to use less tissue or toilet paper? 

As part of my two week break from blogging, I spent three days at a monastery called, St. Gregory’s Abbey in Three Rivers, Michigan.  There is almost no quieter place on earth than spending time in the company of monks.

It was just what I needed.

From the moment I arrived until the minute I left, I found myself pondering one thing - the fact that my life has grown too noisy (again).  I knew very little about the blogging world prior to starting my own and while this has been a deeply satisfying journey, it does not fit well into the other parts of my life.

And so it is with a true sense of sadness that I have decided to close down My Grandma Was Green. 

I have struggled with this decision because on the surface it seems my reason is as simple as my life has grown too busy and full.  And in the American culture where a full schedule is praised, personal busyness hardly seems a reason to step away from something.  However, I have discovered that busyness can be and often has been a source of disconnectedness and pain in my life.  Consequently, busyness hardly lends itself to creating a more sustainable and simple lifestyle.

I never took time to define the word sustainability while writing my blog but I think I have started to form a working definition for my own life.  I believe living sustainably means taking only that which I need to live a meaningful, generous and connected life. 

In order to do this I need to be diligent in learning how to distinguish between wants and needs - no small feat in a culture that is saturated with advertising aimed at turning every single thing into a need!  I realize my definition is somewhat ambiguous because the words meaningful, generous and connected can be defined in a variety of ways.  However, when I view sustainability in this context, it puts me on a path of wanting to take less and give more.  It breaks down the walls of my everyday, ordinary life and forces me to consider the well-being of others in each decision I make.

I seem to have a passion for “s” words such as simplicity and slowness.  I am now committed to moving forward in my journey with another “s” word to pursue - sustainability.  Each of these words is connected in so many ways but the tie that binds them together for me is relationships.  I believe I can pursue deeper and more meaningful relationships with self, God, my family, friends, neighbors, community and the world if I commit myself to simplicity, slowness and also sustainability. 

Therefore, I am going to persist with the changes I have made and I will continue to make more changes in the future.  Only now I will have to record my journey in the old-fashioned way - in the pages of my journal, through conversations with friends and family and in the quiet moments of my days.

I am not sure which part of this short journey has been the most important - recommitting myself to a slower pace, my growing awareness of important changes I need to make toward a more sustainable lifestyle, or reconnecting with my grandparents and my own history.  I guess each one is important in its own way.

If you are interested in learning from and connecting to your grandparents or any older person who is significant to you and/or learning about sustainability by looking to the past, I would encourage you to make use of the extensive questionnaire developed by Virginia Allee called, A Family History Questionnaire.  It proved to be an invaluable resource in asking my grandparents to share their story.  I trust you will find the same.

Thank you for all of your support in this endeavor.  I have learned a lot and will continue to be inspired by the stories I have read and by those individuals who are making great changes through the blogging world.

Goodbye for now,
April

Today is an anniversary of sorts for My Grandma Was Green.  I have been writing this blog for exactly three months and have managed to see my way through twelve Grandma Challenges. 

It is time for me to pause.

The chair in the picture is my favorite reading chair.  It is tucked into a corner in my living room next to a table with a lamp.  I love to sit in this chair at night when the house is quiet and my kids are in bed.  It is a precious moment of the day when I can read, reflect and rest.

I have not been able to sit in my favorite chair nearly as much since starting My Grandma Was Green.  I am okay with that since I knew this would be a season of action.  However, I do feel the need to take a little break in order to rest, regroup and reflect on what I have learned so far.

Stay tuned for for my next post on Tuesday, October 7.  I will share some of my reflections and return with a new set of Grandma Challenges as well as some updates on the ones I have already implemented. 

In the meantime, please continue to collect your best “grandma” stories and dig around in the archives if you are new to my site.  Although I am taking a little break, feel free to leave a comment or drop me a note at april@mygrandmwasgreen.com  I will still check my site and take time to respond to your comments and stories!