Why am I blogging?

I started a blog some 4 years ago by the name of Grammy Water. This was what my grandson called my Perrier water that I drank and still drink continually. The title was cute at the time, but somehow, it lost its cuteness as my grandson grew older than two. I felt like I had to write about all things grandmotherly, and although I love being a grandmother, the material was kind of limited. Soooo....I posted for a while, got bored, and that was the end of that.

The thing is, I'm one of those folks on the far side of 60. My daddy came home from WWII and before too long, I made my appearance along with a gagillion other babies. I figure that all those soldiers who came home to wives and girl friends had seen so much death and horror, that they wanted to make sure that life went on, that they were alive.

Of course, in time, someone labeled us as "Baby Boomers", a nomenclature that has been used so often that it causes me to groan---out loud. Yes, there are a bunch of us. Yes, we did actually change the world in the 60s. Yes, a whole bunch of us will be around until the last of us are dragged kicking and screaming to our grave sometime in the next 30-50 years. We post WWII babies are former hippies, bra burning, draft dodging, liberal minded, Beatles loving, cult following, tripping folks who simply refuse to believe that we are getting older. We have just mellowed into our own skin and have learned to accept stuff we would never had accepted in our youth. And, let's face it, many of us grew up to be responsible adults who occasionally revert to our 1960s and 1970s mentality.

So, I decided to start a blog again with the coaxing of my daughter who has a wonderful blog herself called imnothannah. Talk about a wonderful writer! This girl is good, really good. She has a way with words that borders on brilliance. Of course, she's my daughter and I'm a bit prejudice in her favor, but her blogs have made me laugh, cry, and get pissed off.

I've been a writer all my life. Even when I was a freshman in high school, I wrote a book. It was all teen-aged angst, but it was still a book and I saved it. I've been a newspaper reporter and columnist, and even was awarded first place in the Georgia Press Association Best Serious Column category. I now write for a local magazine and get paid for it, so I can really say that I'm a professional writer.

My real profession is that of an assistant director of the Adult Education Department at our local college. I also teach adults who have fallen through the cracks. When the ones who really put forth an effort finally pass their GED, it is just about as satisfying to me as it is to them. I've worked with adults for over 20 years, so the moments of glory for them and me have multiplied throughout the years.

So why did I name my blog "Little Mary Sunshine"? I have four children, all grown. For some reason or another, I am generally cheerful most days. I look at each new day as an adventure. When the children were small, being the morning person that I am, I'd wake them with the words..."Get up. Get up. Get uuuuup! Thinking back on this practice, my non morning person youngsters probably hated my guts at the sound of those words at the crack of dawn. Come to think of it, they were loud and decidedly obnoxious sounding.

My daughter is the one who started calling me Little Mary Sunshine several years ago when she was a smart assy teen-ager, so I figured this blog would honor my other name. I want it to be upbeat most time. Optimism is what I try to practice with pessimism taking a back seat.

So, here I launch my Mary Sunshine blog. I hope those who travel over the web and stop to read for a while will find some redeeming value in my words.