A Tribute to abra a collection of her comments

[Synonymous]

A precious one from abra:

"Golf is the cruelest game, because eventually it will drag you out in front of the whole school, take your lunch money and slap you around."
— Rick Reilly

Comments on this Puzzle:
montyb
May 22, 2012, 8:08 pm
And next week you go do it again.
LLapp
September 30, 2014, 8:46 am
I had no idea that golf was such a brutal game until I started doing these cryptograms.
Barnabas
December 1, 2014, 3:39 pm
You're a glutton for punishment, Monty.
wigoddess
February 19, 2017, 6:56 am
nope.. not into golf... yet
montyb
July 19, 2019, 11:18 am
Yet I am so very close to finally breaking 80.
imsoeasy
December 16, 2019, 12:22 am
You'd think these golfers are swinging their clubs at each other.
Ian123
June 23, 2020, 2:13 pm
I think sometimes they are.
abra
September 12, 2020, 2:49 am
When I was a teen, wee moved to a new house that was a block from a 9 hold golf course. I don't know if my dad ever played golf before, but he played then. I just remember that it gave new things to buy him for gifts. Bermuda shorts and polo shirts. He didn't live to be old. I'm glad it made him happy.
Synonymous
September 16, 2020, 12:36 pm
Spent 10 minutes looking for my ball once. Finally someone yelled out "Look in the hole!" I did and it was my first hole in one. Surprise! And, montyb I seldom broke 90. Keep going.
marnita
December 15, 2020, 4:24 pm
My father tried to take up golf, but he had a terrible temper, so he didn't stay with it for long.
abra
June 23, 2022, 10:28 pm
I found out on FB that that golf course I mentioned above was the first golf course west of the Allegheneys. When they added nine holes it became the first eighteen hole course in the country. It was soon turned back into nine holes. We never knew that it was historic.

[LLapp]

Lots of grandmother memories, plus a message from Abra to her grandsons. (And I love her message to me at the end.)


"Uncles and aunts, and cousins, are all very well, and fathers and mothers are not to be despised; but a grandmother, at holiday time, is worth them all." — Fanny Fern

oddcouple
January 4, 2013, 2:32 am
I miss mine.

gryhnd51
August 20, 2013, 4:13 am
If you were lucky, like I was, to have had that truly "wonderful grandmother"...then this quote will surely touch your heart and bring back happy memories.

wvwoman
April 9, 2014, 12:53 am
oh, gryhnd51, i had one of those wonderful grandmothers--besides doting on me (!), she taught me so many things, like canasta, huck weaving, how to make a bed, how to bake...lovely memories.

Quizzical
July 2, 2014, 6:23 am
You were truly blessed.

killdozer
December 27, 2015, 6:23 am
I never like these kinds of warm fuzzy generalizations. Not all grandmothers are wonderful - or mothers or fathers or anything else.

wigoddess
December 15, 2016, 5:08 pm
True enough killdozer... I had one warm, fuzzy and loving grandmother and the other wasn't.

Persephone59
January 8, 2017, 9:04 pm
I have a beautiful granddaughter, who's 11 now. She has 3 grandmothers. I am her father's mother. I am the one who lives far away, the other 2 (her maternal grandmother and my ex's wife) are near at hand. I am totally left out. And yes, I've lived here since my son was young.

abra
September 15, 2017, 2:11 pm
I didn't live that near to my grandmother, I had only one living grandmother. She was tremendously talented, a wonderful baker and cook, and an expert at all needlework and crafts. I loved her and I know she loved me, but I don't think our relationship was as gryhnd and wvwoman have described theirs.

CCCookie
June 27, 2018, 2:08 pm
I never knew my grandparents. I made sure my sons knew their grandmothers; their grandfathers died by the time my oldest son was 4. I've tried to be a good grandmother -- but it hasn't always been easy. When parents don't provide much discipline it's difficult for grandchildren to appreciate discipline from a grandmother. Nevertheless, I try to create good memories with my grandsons.

zayda1
August 1, 2018, 11:11 am
I had the best grandmother, & coincidentally her name was Fanny F. just like the author of this quote. She & my equally wonderful grandfather lived just a half block away when I was a child. They didn't have easy lives (among other things, everyone they left behind when they came to US was later murdered in the Holocaust) but they were never bitter. Although she's been gone almost 50 years, I still hear my grandmother's voice often.

skeeter
March 5, 2019, 11:54 pm
wvwoman, you really brought back a great memory. My sixth grade teacher taught all of her students huck weaving, which she called Swedish huck embroidery. It was part of our studies of various countries and their cultural endeavors. I still have the two hand towels I made that year!

abra
October 26, 2020, 3:01 am
I hope my Grandsons will remember me and love me. I think that they will. They are teens now but i know they have memories from when they were little. We decorated cookies at Christmas, and made ornaments. We painted and did crafts. I hope they'll remember those things.

abra
August 4, 2021, 7:25 pm
I have a collection of beautiful felt ornaments made by my grandmother, probably about 30 of them. There are stars, elephants, rocking horses, Christmas Trees, and many others. They're beaded and have sequins. It's hard not to remember my grandmother at Christmas time.

LLapp
January 10, 2022, 2:06 am
I would be such an awesome grandmother. Sigh.

abra
May 15, 2022, 10:48 pm
One of these days, LLapp, one of your kids will give you this fantastic, news. You will want to shout it from the roof tops, and they will tell you ''Don't tell anyone''.

[LLapp]

"The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most." — John Ruskin

abra
July 13, 2015, 1:41 pm
Usually, when they speak of someone who loves color, it means someone who surrounds themself with a lot of bright colors. Pastels, and neutrals are colors too. Who doesn't love color?

darkyr
February 24, 2017, 2:53 am
Everyone loves color, but it is a contest to see who is the most pure by loving color more than everyone else. On your mark, get set, GO!

Marboy
April 7, 2017, 12:54 pm
Ummm, teal - I really love the colour teal!

abra
April 19, 2017, 1:35 pm
This room is bright red. I am wearing bright red today. Our dining room is cadet blue. I win.

[LLapp]

"Man cannot live on chocolate alone, but woman sure can." — Unattributed

skeeter
April 28, 2015, 5:16 pm
If I have but five minutes left on Earth, I want some chocolate and a foot rub, then I'll be ready to go.

abra
April 25, 2022, 2:31 am
I'd even give up the chocolate for the foot rub.

[LLapp]

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it." — Mark Twain

Universalmom
September 26, 2012, 2:57 pm
I love this quote - there's a wealth of warmth, wisdom and truth in it.

thresa
June 7, 2014, 5:35 pm
hooray for wonderful, wild, witty sons

LLapp
December 2, 2014, 5:12 pm
I love this quote too. My son was a challenge and also a great soul from the start.

GtrZan
September 1, 2016, 5:42 am
my wife texted me at work just last week... "Help! Heavy metal guitar in the basement, Hungarian Dance violin upstairs, and me in the middle!" with a frowny face. My reply, "sing it with me now, 'You're gonna miss this, you're gonna want this ba-aack'" Her reply? "Yeah, I know"

abra
April 25, 2019, 3:00 am
GtrZan, stock up on earplugs then sit back and smile. Empty nests are too quiet sometimes.

blueladyblue
June 27, 2020, 6:46 pm
I think this sentimentalizes troublesome children. My son was wonderful, the most perfect child I ever could imagine -- until puberty. Then he made up for lost time and the following few years were the worst of my life. There's trouble -- and there's TROUBLE!

abra
April 10, 2021, 5:54 pm
We probably could have told by the time he was three, that our son would be dutiful. We don't ask him for help, but if we ever needed it he'd be right here. Nice to know now that we're growing older.

Synonymous
January 13, 2022, 10:11 pm
But you love them, no matter what.

blueladyblue
May 6, 2022, 9:21 pm
Yes, we do.

momof7
June 20, 2022, 5:18 pm
This made me smile and think of one child in particular.

[LLapp]

"If you put off everything till you're sure of it, you'll never get anything done." — Norman Vincent Peale

JenDiaz72
November 12, 2014, 11:26 am
You trying to tell me to stop playing games and get back to work?

montyb
November 26, 2014, 1:29 pm
I think I'll dive into another puzzle right away.

marnita
October 15, 2016, 6:43 am
Onward!

camper228
May 7, 2017, 5:08 am
Just one more puzzle and then I'll get back to work

abra
December 1, 2018, 12:12 pm
marnita, your comment made me think about a time when we were moving to Indiana. I saw on the map a town near the base called ''Onward''. It sounded perfect. I wanted to live in Onward, Indiana. It turned out to be a near ghost town in the middle of the cornfields. It had a feed store, and a junk shop. I'm not sure if it still had a post office. Onward...

[Synonymous]

Comments on this Puzzle:

saipanwriter
September 14, 2013, 12:57 am
or go south to year-round warmer climes
kb83
May 7, 2014, 8:20 am
I love that there is an "s" in his first name.
DeskJockey
August 17, 2014, 4:06 pm
..just to hit the ball, and touch 'em all...a moment in the sun.
Allen
November 3, 2014, 4:23 am
There's an 's' in his last name, too. Coincidence? I think not!
abra
October 6, 2015, 8:55 am
I've always assumed that "Rogers" was a family name. A check with wikipedia confirms that his mother's maiden name was Rogers.
LLapp
August 21, 2016, 1:13 pm
Each of us plays many roles; we should all hang an S at the end of our names.
skeeter
March 17, 2017, 3:38 am
skeeters agrees.
abra
November 27, 2018, 6:35 pm
I love this quote. As soon as Christmas is over, I will be feeling this way. -- abras
abra
September 26, 2019, 9:22 pm
After the end of the 2019 season, I may be a little apprehensive about the return of baseball. Nah, I'm a cub fan. We'll get 'em nest year.
abra
April 18, 2020, 5:05 pm
And now I'd be so happy just to see them play. As Ernie said, ''let's pay two''.
abra
June 28, 2021, 1:54 am
I have an LED menu board in my kitchen. For the past three years, I have put this quote up in late winter. See you next time.
abra
December 4, 2022, 9:57 pm
Hi, abra. I'm so surprised to see you here.

[hrossa]

"Children make you want to start life over." — Muhammad Ali

abra
January 3, 2017, 3:02 pm
Recently, I saw a beautiful little girl in the commissary. and she saw another little girl wearing the same Elsa dress, that she was wearing. She was so excited. She asked her mom "does that mean she's my friend?" I probably didn't want to start over, but she certainly made me nostalgic for days so innocent.

NotTooOld
March 5, 2017, 2:43 am
I think in some ways I may have been too serious as a parent. If I get a chance to be a grandparent it will be a bit like starting over.

LLapp
April 6, 2018, 4:24 pm
abra, thanks for that. What a sweet moment.

LLapp
January 25, 2019, 8:22 pm
That story warmed my heart again. Thanks abra.

abra
November 22, 2022, 1:42 am
It made me smile to read it again, LLapp.

[Eureka]

"Memory is what tells a man that his wife's birthday was yesterday." — Mario Rocco

gryhnd51
October 30, 2014, 7:46 pm
My husband always forgets, but so did my father when he was alive. I still love them anyways.

abra
November 4, 2014, 3:01 pm
My husband's never forgotten a birthday or an anniversary. I haven't either, but he's better at it.

[LLapp]

"Few women care what a man looks like, and a good thing too." — Mignon McLaughlin

abra
October 18, 2016, 6:02 pm
First attractions are often about looks. My husband was a cutie. I've known him since he was 15. I still think he's good looking, but looks quit mattering a long time ago. We're closing in on 50 years. Next year will be 49.

abra
January 27, 2018, 1:23 pm
Yeah, but he's a silver fox.

[montyb]

"The best that can be said for Norwegian television is that it gives you the sensation of a coma without the worry and inconvenience."
— Bill Bryson

mazereeuw
December 28, 2013, 8:44 am
Their television may be boring but if I had to move from home, it's the one place on earth I'd like to move to.
wvwoman
August 1, 2014, 4:28 pm
funny!!
Annamariah
November 27, 2014, 3:50 am
I actually like I kveld med YLVIS (Ylvis Show).

intelligencia
August 11, 2016, 1:56 pm
An excellent writer... his books are so enjoyable.

abra
November 25, 2016, 6:58 pm
Annamariah, I wondered what you would say about this quote. I don't understand it ) but it's nice to know.

Eureka
March 12, 2019, 1:33 am
That made me laugh.

LLapp
August 6, 2021, 6:38 pm
So not only do they have universal healthcare, good pandemic management and awesome furniture, but people are not glued to their TV sets? I'm packing.

[LLapp]

(This was a thread that intertwined two themes, one romantic and one political. I've left out the political comments, though I personally found them worthwhile, because they don't belong in this tribute.)


"Heaven will be no heaven to me if I do not meet my wife there." — Andrew Jackson

smoochie222
April 26, 2009, 1:45 pm
He loved his wife mightily.

montyb
May 20, 2013, 12:45 am
I met my wife in a college hallway.

JenDiaz72
October 28, 2014, 10:19 am
I met my husband in a bar and I kicked his butt at pool...

abra
May 10, 2015, 12:27 pm
I remember that there's an old movie about Andrew and his wife, and the "scandal" of their marriage. It sounds like he loved her dearly. I met my husband in high school, in a general science class. That was decades ago.

JJ20paws
October 28, 2016, 11:25 am
Got engaged on Halloween, he was Frankenstein & I was the Bride of. 11 years later it still works

Deanna48
October 18, 2019, 9:30 pm
I fell in love with my husband in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War. Got married 2 months after we returned. It's been 28 years.

oddcouple
October 19, 2019, 7:44 am
I met my wife in a church Bible study. I fell for her right away, but had to wait two years for her to wake up and dump her loser boyfriend.

abra
May 1, 2021, 3:08 am
I love all of the how I met the love of my life stories. Hope everyone is still happy.

montyb
September 15, 2022, 5:52 pm
See how science affects your life, Abra?

[LLapp]

(I apologize to abra for including such a horrid quote in this collection, but her comments are delightful.)


"The idea of seeing another person experience the same pleasure reduces one to a kind of equality which spoils the unutterable charms that come from despotism." — Marquis de Sade

abra
August 8, 2014, 12:05 pm
shudder, barf, what a vile person.

LLapp
December 24, 2015, 8:15 pm
Sick, sick, sick.

maradnu
March 29, 2016, 7:51 am
I have a great deal of disdain for anyone who takes pleasure in the pain of another. Even more for someone who revels in that pleasure, as De Sade does.

nelnose
June 20, 2016, 1:42 pm
I bet if his victims enjoyed his "pleasures", he wouldn't have taken pleasure in them.

abra
July 6, 2016, 12:27 pm
It's a shame he didn't cross paths with some 18th century Lorena Bobbitt.

MissKitty
February 22, 2018, 5:45 am
what a nutterbutter kind of guy.

SippyGurl
April 16, 2018, 6:16 am
icky de sade

opallady
October 3, 2019, 7:42 pm
I love abra's comment. Go Lorena!

autumngirl
May 14, 2021, 7:30 pm

LLapp
June 10, 2021, 4:54 am
Autumngirl is silent in the spring.

abra
September 20, 2021, 2:39 am
But, I picture her being lovely in the fall.

universalmom
October 4, 2021, 1:51 pm
Somehow I didn't see "despotism" coming.

LLapp
June 30, 2022, 5:28 am
umom, isn't that always how it happens?

piefka
August 9, 2022, 3:32 pm
So close, I just want one quote where every letter is used.

abra
September 30, 2022, 8:31 pm
piefka, there is a crypto legend that there is one out there. They talk of it around campfires late at night. Children whisper about it on playrounds. I've never seen it, but I believe it's there.

Synonymous
October 28, 2022, 1:58 pm
There is one which uses all the letters and Stephen comments on it in the comments section, here it is: admin July 25, 2018, 1:39 pm I realized we didn't have any quotes in the system that used every letter in the alphabet, and figured we had to include at least one. Congrats to those who solved it! This pangram dates back at least to 1930s, and was featured in a number of typing manuals from that time as a means of testing each key stroke. "Six javelins thrown by the quick savages whizzed forty paces beyond the mark." — Rupert Pitt SoRelle

[LLapp]

August 14: Abra's Backspace Re-Comment Day

"A holiday is when you celebrate something that's all finished up, that happened a long time ago and now there's nothing left to celebrate but the dead." — Abraham Polonsky

abra
August 14, 2019, 1:54 am
Oh, I think a holiday is much nicer than that.

abra
August 14, 2019, 1:55 am
I think I've discovered something new and fun. I hope I'll get back to this quote again sometime soon.

LLapp
December 4, 2019, 2:51 am
Abra, what happened?

mistyswiss
August 18, 2020, 6:02 pm
Will you tell us in the twilight zone?

writeon
September 5, 2020, 8:24 am
For me, just solving a cryptogram is cause for celebration. It's like a holiday when I get above average!

writeon
September 6, 2020, 1:22 pm
For me, just solving a cryptogram is cause for a holiday celebration when I get above an average score.

abra
October 11, 2021, 3:06 am
Wow, the cat has been let out of the bag now. I'm just really surprised to look back now and see this was on my birthday.

LLapp
August 22, 2022, 1:13 am
Abra, this thread is historic! This is where you discovered how to time-travel back to the same thread and leave a second comment. I say we make August 14th a holiday.

abra
September 21, 2022, 2:43 am
LOL. Oh you're a holiday, such a holiday --Barry Gibb and Robin Hugh Gibb.

[Eureka]

(No wonder abra didn't like creepy crawlies.)

"That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be good for the bees. " — Marcus Aurelius


montyb
March 13, 2020, 8:37 am
Last summer while mowing the lawn I literally walked into the midst of a swarm of migrating bees that wasn’t there five minutes before. It decided that our sweet gum tree would be a nice place to rest. The bee keeper who collected them estimated the swarm to be around 10,000. It’s a good thing that the bees were so engorged with honey that they couldn’t bend their abdomens enough to sting.


abra
October 3, 2020, 1:10 am
Monty that would have been terrifying to me. when I was a preschooler I walked into a bumble bee nest. I've been terrified of bees, and all stinging insects since then. I'm glad your bees were very full.