Let’s be Better Fixers.
Grandma was a fixer….
From very early on, when she was only 9 or 10 years old,
she was the cook, laundress, housekeeper, and “mother” to her younger siblings after her young mother died.
She learned to splice electric wires and plumb a bathroom,
she could make a hearty feast from a bone,
she mended and hemmed and soaked and bleached and waxed and scrubbed.
She did this throughout her entire life.
She washed out bread bags and hung them on the line to dry to re-use.
She repaired lawn mowers and glued broken concrete bird baths back together.
When I was young, I thought it silly.
Sometimes I was even embarrassed of her patched clothes
or meager belongings and “fixed” things.
But Grandma is gone.
And the longer she is gone, the more I admire the way she lived.
She didn’t throw things away – she fixed them.
Do we too quickly throw things away these days?
Marriages? Friendships? Aging parents and grandparents?
Kids with bad behavior or bad grades?
We need to cherish what and who we have while we have them.
Because some things we love won’t last or be with us forever.
We should love, care for, fix when broken, and heal when sick our “broken” things.
We keep them because they are worth it.
Because we are worth it.
Let’s try to throw less away, and let’s be better “fixers!”
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Great piece of advice. Those that we think are nothing today can become very useful tomorrow. Let’s learn to cope and help them when it looks as if they are useless and head-ache causing. Thanks for sharing.
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Those who fix things outside are better healers and fixers inside too. Like anything else, “wanting to fix” is a state of mind. It can be a tractor or a relationship. Very well written Jodi..
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Great thoughts!
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Amen! Love this. 🙂
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Thank you Kathy!
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Totally agree, Jodi! I really dislike throwing things out, just because they need a bit of fixing, but nothing like Grandma of course! I continually admire our predecessors, the way they lived and managed with what they had! We all need to do more of it! Great post! 🙂
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I am really learning to think more this way. Thanks Anica!
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Jodi,
I love your post this morning ! I have the same found memories of my Grandma who was also a great “Fixer” and I wholeheartedly agree with everything you are saying in this post. In today’s world we are too quick to throw things out (be it physical or emotional things). We have less “fixer upper’s” out there today and less folks willing to take the time to make good something that might be broken, but easily repairable with just a little bit of patience (be if an old cherished family treasure, past down thru the generations or something like an existing marriage that may just need to be fine-tuned a bit, rather than to necessarily end in a divorce). I really miss our Grandma’s out there, they taught us so much when growing up and helped to make us who we are today. Thanks for posting this. Gary
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Thanks so much Gary! I strive so hard to be this kind of Grandma to mine. I’m only 10 months into this grandparenting gig – but I am into it with my whole heart!! ❤
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Excellent post Jodi! Such wise and wonderful words!
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Thanks PJ! Happy Sunday!
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Happy Sunday! 🙂
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This is so beautiful and inspring Jodi! Your grandma was a strong woman ❤️. There’s a quote that says- the problem with this generation is that we are quick throw away things rather than fix them. Your grandma certainly knew the wiser
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Thanks so much Ameena!
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Beautifully said! Thank you for this wonderful reminder. 🙂
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Thank you for reading Jane! I appreciate your friendship! And your kind comment on ETSY too! 🙂 It’s fun to think a little piece of mine is in your home ❤
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There’s are a lot of “things” we don’t need too that I give away. Know my grandma and my Mom were fixers. Seemed things could be fixed back then. Products today are made to last a few years, can’t be fixed, and force you to buy something new. Happy Sunday! 🌷 Christine
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Very true! It’s a different world. But things like marriages and friendships and kids – hopefully – we will work on fixing those instead of throwing away 🙂 ❤
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Absolutely! That’s a given for me! 🌷
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She sounds like my own granny, would never throw anything out without trying to fix it herself. x
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🙂
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Lovely wise words. I completely agree =)
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Thanks Tam!
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Such a heart warming post. People actually knew the worth of everything and they treasured them.
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what happened to us???
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I am still like that people call me hoarder and old soul because i cant let go. My first approach is to repair.
Once i was talking to my friend she said ‘ we are the biggest users of a masking tape, we try to mend everything’ i said ‘ we have secured our whole lives with masking tape’ 🙂
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🙂
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🙂
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I so enjoyed your post today. This hits home for me in not only the “fixing” of things whether its the lawn mower or a broken vase. My daughter is struggling with a broken marriage and she just told me she’s decided to give her husband one more chance. They are going to marriage counseling, they are trying hard to fix their marriage. It’s encouraging to read your words as I pray for my sweet daughter and her husband and I hope doors of communication open up to them and they can find happiness together. So often we just want to throw it away, whether its a repairable item or a broken relationship. I’m glad I found your blog! – Kindly, Diana
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Oh Diana – my heart aches for you as you ache for you daughter. I can only imagine how difficult it is. I so hope they can “fix” things!
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Great post! My Dad was a fixer. Thanks for giving me the nudge to think of him today. I miss him!
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Awww! You are so very welcome! Sweet daddy!
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In my lifetime we have become a disposable society. My generation and the generations since have welcomed all the things that made our lives seemingly easier and more functional. Now, it seems that many of these conveniences have become the opposite, for the continuance of our very lives on this planet we call home. The plastic bags and bottles are filling our lands, oceans and seas to the peril of all that dwell there for the lack of thought to proper disposal. Landfills are packed with every item we decide we no longer need or want, with little thought to a better use. Our sins against earth are endless. Sadly, we have carried this same trend into our interactions with each other. Our Grandparent’s generation, my dear “Gram”, respected the earth and all that resided in it, their lives depended upon it. We are flagrantly destroying our heritage…shame on us!
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Climbing off my soapbox to say Thank-you for an excellent post! The tractor photo takes me back to the very one on Gram’s Farm. Ah, the memories of riding in the wagon pulled behind it over the acres of farmland, often with picnic lunches to share with the farmhands.
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such sweet, beautiful memories!
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so so so true Ellen!
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What we need is “fixers” that can invent a re-birthing of our discarded items that eliminates landfills, etc. and we need it yesterday!
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indeed! Amen!
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Enjoyed your poem today, Jodi! 💕❤️ Makes me wish I could spend some more time with my Grandma. She was always so loving and kind. 😊 The poetry class I told you about starts on Tuesday. 😍 I’m really looking forward to it! 🌈💚
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Thanks Jill! Woohoo! I have to look up that link again!
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Nice words, Jodi.
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Thanks Tom!
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I whole heartedly agree with everything on your list except the washed out bread bags. My grandma did that too and for some reason, don’t know why it still grosses me out as much as when I was a child. Great concept, wonderful advice. We really do need to cherish our lives and those that share it.
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LOL! I hear ya!
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AMEN my sweet friend!! ❤
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🙂 ❤
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This is beautiful and I love that it went beyond just fixing things! This was so meaningful!
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Thanks Blue!
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Yes, lets! A wise and lovely post!
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thank you!
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Wise words!
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thank you!
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I do agree, I love the photos and the sound advice! If it is broken we tend to discard and not try to fix! As you stated even with relationships which is even sadder! WE need to be fixers like grama!
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❤
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I absolutely loved this poetic and loving tribute to your dearly loved Grandma.
This could be written about so many wonderful men and women, Jodi! There was a generation who went through the Great Depression and really were amazing “fixers!” ((Big hugs))
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thank you Jodi, very important thoughts and words…
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Indeed, Jodi … wise words! Anita 🙂
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🙂
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Our grandmothers had much wisdom in living life. They did not take anything for granted. Good advice. (K)
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🙂
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These days, your grandma would be a trendy re-purposer! I love that kind of role model…
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I know – right??!! ❤
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Our lives should be filled with your words, Jodi. Thank you for reminding us.
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Awh. Thanks George. I need to remind myself too!
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Your grandmother was a very wise and resourceful woman! And I think you make an excellent point: the more we throw away things, the easier it is to throw away relationships as well. And the sad thing is, most of them can be fixed if we’re just willing to try!
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She really was! I hope we will try a little harder on fixing important things and relationships. ❤
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