"Never say die." That's my expression for the day. It's not really my expression, but all I can find right now about its origins is that the expression was first used in the early 1800's in reference to perseverance and tenacity. The groups Black Sabbath and Dixie Chicks apparently turned this phrase into having more to do w/ sexual tenacity rather than persevering to accomplish a goal. My connotation for this expression is that even when we don't think we can keep going, we just keep pushing on and "never say die."
Enough of the etymology and derivation lesson, the reason this phrase rings true for me today is b/c the alternator in my car decided to die. Of course I was 15 miles from home, but at least I was in Spirit Lake where I could get help and a new battery to at least get me back home. Two months ago the fuel pump had to be replaced (my '01 Ford Escape has over 125,000 miles on it), and my daughter's car needed new brake lines. Then Maddy's moped battery had to be replaced so she could stop kick-starting it. To top it all off our boat motor blew up......first the upper unit and once it was replaced, the lower unit went out. It hasn't been a banner Spring for the Burns' motorized vehicles, but we just keep plugging away. What else are we to do? We can't just roll over and die, even though our automotive and recreational vehicles have.
I remember a picture I saw in one of Mom's albums. She had photographed their head stone shortly after she and dad bought it eight or ten years ago. The caption, in Mom's handwriting, was, "Not yet!" She definitely lived by the saying, "Never Say Die." She was a fighter to the end. I may have mentioned this before, but most people didn't realize how sick she was b/c she just kept going. For her, "never say die " meant "not yet." But even in life she was tenacious. If she couldn't figure out how to make something work on a pattern she was sewing, she just kept at it until she figured it out. When she wanted Dad to build an addition to their house (he's done three), she just kept after him until she finally convinced him they could make it work.
When I think I can't possibly survive one more day, I must remind myself that the end is "not yet" if I "never say die.
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