Little Changes

None of us stay the same...we are always changing.  Also, nothing around us or things that surround us, ever stay stagnant.  Just witness the daily change in a newborn!  At a certain age we start to look the same.  We are all "grown up".  In time even that maturity changes into looking old.  The body may be in what seems a natural decline but the Spirit/Mental health, if a person is fortunate, remains intact. I have been caught off guard with comments and impatience and judging of senior citizens.  My sister (oh, do I miss her!!!) used to say overweight people and senior citizens at some point become invisible!  She felt they were treated as if they were brainless!

One of my most favorite things about aging is seeing the changes that have come about.  Seeing how things used to be done...fade away.  Seeing new things come into play and realizing...it's just a replay of something that had faded!

I bought a gift card at a burger stand (named Major's).  On the door it had a sign ...Closed on Sundays. I thought that was wonderful and told the fellow so.

In my life this was an accepted thing...of course stores were closed!  It was Sunday!  No one complained.  They thought ahead.  Prepared.  And filled their Sundays without the hustle and bustle and running around.

I wondered what year stores started opening and found this...

In the 1970's stores started opening on Sundays. In the 1960's even in big cities everything was closed except gas stations. 

Some of the greatest sales were on a Sunday only special!

What a change that made.  Not really so little in impact!  One single change...stores open on Sunday has impacted all of us!  Hello, ChargeCards!

Also when I was growing up they had Liquor Stores.  They were State run.  True you could drink in a bar (Alaska had a lot of bars.  Some said as many or more than Churches) but you could not buy a bottle of liquor except in these State licensed stores that were strictly regulated, and to my knowledge, the licenses were covenanted...Spendy but they made the bucks.  

The shelves were lined with all sorts of liquor bottles. Liquor stores were small in size...just a room.  Then came the time that pressure, in politics and the public, transferred that opportunity to private retailers and this brought hard liquor into grocery stores.  I remember being stunned when I saw liquor in grocery stores.

I decided to look up what happened here in Washington State...in 1934 it was State controlled.  In 2012 Costco was really wanting to get that right to sell booze and some called it the "Costco bill".  That is just the bare bones of a long battle and I don't know about your Costco but our Washington one just keeps adding new aisles of liquor.

One change, not so little, to be able to sell liquor in stores and Wow!  that has impacted a lot of lives!

Terry and I were talking and I told him...Through all the struggles and challenges and ups and downs and changes (large & small) in life...my life...the one source of pure joy...the one certainty of truthfulness/happiness for me, is my core belief in Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel and living Prophets and Apostles!!  That base of feelings, so deeply embedded is one thing that has anchored me, to truth.  Yes...I love change and it means growth and excitement and learning acceptance but my core truth is not up for change!

Conference is coming up and I will be surprised if no big changes come in regards to women!  

(Natalie- I just noticed your comment.  I'm not sure when I reply if you see that fact or not. When I saw your name, I was thinking that other than Kathy Broze, you have known me longer than anyone else on the face of the earth!
My note:
So glad to hear from you, Natalie! I hope you are healing and getting stronger and stronger. I've always been thankful that we don't get a brand new basic to-do list each Conference! I'm thankful that the core basics remain the same and we just keep developing those foundational habits of prayer and study and Church attendance and service and Temple attendance and those sorts of things. It's interesting how themes sometimes emerge. I also love how a person can listen to one talk and feel one way and notice one detail that is just the thing for them and then read the same talk a few months, or even a few years later, and still be helped/advised, but in an entirely
different vein!)