As for me, the news piles up! A lot of it, I can leave well enough, since I'm giving up talking about politics for Lent. I still read and listen to it, but I keep it to myself, even is someone asks my thoughts, I just digress. Instead I try to find more uplifting things to talk about. It isn't always easy, but if one looks for something good to say, one will find it. Case in point, my niece, Shelby, is qualified for the State Geography Bee in Brookings on March 30. It's a good, and rare thing to do that. I hope she does well.

     I see that It's passed the 1st anniversary of my Grandma Agnes's death. Her family still misses her, and I among them. It seems easy enough to say that she is better off now, or she's in heaven looking down on us and all that. And it's all true. But over the course of this year, I've discovered more. We who got to know Grandma were indeed blessed. We were given plenty of time to be with her. The fact that she was by herself when the end came was a little hard to take. I wish that I could have been with her, for even as much as just her last 5 minutes. I didn't have that luxury, none of us did. It really doesn't matter because the end result was the same. She was given nearly 93 years of life, and I dare say she wasted precious little of her time. She made the most of her life, and always let us know how much we meant to her. She didn't need any extra time, because she was never late for anything. And yet there isn't one of us who knew her that wishes they couldn't have an extra day with her.

     I hope you, the Reader, can use the extra day you have tomorrow to see, do, and reflect on all of the important things in your life. Make sure that you get things done while you're able. You never know when time catches up to you. I was at a Crackerbarrel in Mitchell at the time Grandma was dying. At the time i thought I was where I needed to be. How wrong I was! And yet, I knew that she loved me in spite of that, maybe even because of it! I knew that she loved me too. I hope I can say that about the person who's funeral I attend, or if need be that those of you so inclined should attend my funeral can say the same thing about me.