Radar Ridge

So it looks like Ridge inherited more than his love of farm equipment and basketball from my mom. Well, I guess he could've just as easily gotten that from Rowdy, too. But, that's besides the point.

My mother, Radar Rhonda, and her sister, Forewarn Janet, are like cats on a hot tin roof when the weather turns dark and loud. When the clouds are still cruising over Wichita Falls, Texas, or somewhere in between, these two have the skinny. By the time they are rolling on Western Oklahoma, they are buzzing around like day stock traders, a phone stuck to each ear while flailing their hands about like air-traffic controllers. One watching Gary England and the other watches that balding frat boy on KFOR and the swap information back and forth. And now my grandmother, the most experienced meteorologist of the storm chasers, has some weather walkie talkie that picks up the going ons of several countries. Needless to say, if one raindrop falls from Erick to Weatherford, they know about it. I joke about this at their expense, but in all honesty, if I am concerned with my safety, I know the Tornado Trio will tell me what should hit and when.

I bring all this up to set a historical and hysterical context for a conversation Ridge had on my barely-functioning phone with his Auntie Lyndi. Since she and I talk on the phone literally daily, these two also have frequent convos. Lyndi will be a temporary Western Oklahomans next week, so we were making plans for that. About that time, Ridge came walking through the kitchen and Lyndi requested him. I think she was hoping to talk about her upcoming sleepover and food and movie bonanza, but that is not at all what Ridge wanted to discuss.

Somehow he knew that increment weather would soon be upon us or, in the very least, he nailed down a really lucky guess. All I could hear was this end of the talking, but here's how it went.

Ridge: "Aunt Wyndi, you can't stand by the windows if the rain starts hitting on it."

Silence, where I suppose Lyndi was responding.

Ridge: "If the rain hits your windows and then there's the lightening, you have to go get in the closet and shut the door. SHUT THE DOOR, AUNT WYNDI!"

(Ridge's grandma's safe room is in her closet.)

Silence again, more muted questions from Lyndi.

Ridge: "You HAVE to go. The rains will hurt you and break you......I love you."

Just as quickly as he spouted off his orders of safety, he handed the tattered phone back to me. I think Lyndi was still talking to him when I got back on the phone. Of course she hadn't caught all Ridge's cautionary tale, so I filled her in what she missed and what it meant. So, it looks like he will be a storm safety advocate like his NaNa. Hey, I think there's a ring to Radar Ridge.

Oh, you can still donate to Lyndi's fundraiser for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other blood cancers. The full story is in the older posts, but a link remains at the bottom of this page.

Run, Lyndi, Run -- Help Raise Money for Leukemia Research and Care!

Lyndi and her momma Jan in NYC
"Be kind, for everyone you know is fighting a great battle," my darling friend Lyndi has said to me many times. She is a woman of wisdom and tolerance and, really, she has been since she was a child. Although this is one of her favorite quotes, borrowed from someone else, I'm amazed she wasn't actually the first person to say it. As long as I've known her, she's always had a cause. She inherited that from her grandma, I believe. Improving the lives of others has been one of her most committed missions. Sometimes it's just welcoming a newcomer or befriending a broken-hearted stranger. Other times she labors for some of the world's more overbearing problems. You know, the ones wealthy and powerful politicians discuss only in desperate, sentimental election years. Like a trusty old stand-by girlfriend, these world "leaders" drop 'em when they have a more promising, lucrative cause (like their hedge fund or trust fund or skiing in Sweden fund), but come again courting with sweet talk as soon as they need something again. In the meantime, Lyndi and good people like her chip away at the issue, no matter how big or small.
Recently, she called, like she does almost daily, and told me of her newest conquest. I'm awed not only by her simple sacrifices of others, but how hard she works to do it.
She said, "Well, I think I am going to run a half marathon."
"Really, that's pretty cool. I'm impressed. When are you going to do this?"
"On October 19th in San Francisco," Lyndi responded. "It's the annual Nike Women's Marathon. I think I may have mentioned last year that I wanted to do it. I am training to run with the Oklahoma Team on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society."
She went on to explain that leukemia claims the lives of more children than any other disease and 1,900 new cases of it, lymphoma and myeloma are diagnose EACH WEEK.
Of course I thought running 13 miles would be her donation to the charity that works to find cures of these three disease as well as Hodgkin's disease, as well as improve the lives of terminal patients and their families. But no, that's not even close. I'm telling you, this Lyndi really makes me feel like a selfish bum.
In order to even be eligible to go run in this marathon, she must either raise or donate $3,600. She's a school teacher here in Oklahoma and you may or may not have heard that they are kinda underpaid. She is going to contribute her own extra money and is having a garage sale/bake sale as a fund raiser. Beyond that, she will be working at Red Hawks games because the team will donate $45 to her cause each time she goes. She doesn't actually get to pocket any of the cash, but it will eliminate some of the money she must raise to participate in the marathon.
However, even with this monetary donations and work granted on her own part, Lyndi probably still won't met her required amount. So, she needs our help to help others. There is no donation that will be too small and of course there isn't one that's too big. Naturally, all donations are 100% tax deductible. Donations will be accepted until the Lyndi leaves for San Francisco in mid-October, but receiving them before July 30 will help measure how much further she needs to go.
So, if you would like to give to Lyndi so she can give to others, please do. You can contact me at shondy26@hotmail.com or at 580.821.2866.