Dream Lists

You know, we all have dream lists and love when our dreams come true. Well, I also have a  “Not on my dream list”   list. It is things that happened that I certainly was not dreaming of or hoping would happen.

So, here goes……………….this was not on my dreams for the future list.

Wearing one of these 24 hours a day~~~2012

But, then again…neither was this on my list:

1996

or this 1997

Or this 1997….lung surgery

image from sciencedaily.com

Or this 1998

or this 2006

or this  2007…night oxygen

or this 2007—Kidney surgery in Denver

image from marvistavet.com

or this 2009

image from chirocity.com

or this 2011 Heart Cath in Colorado Springs

image from abcnews.go.com

None of these things did I want nor plan on having in my life and yet here they are. Today I sit here waiting on them to bring the oxygen with the portability bottles as for some reason they have not determined why….my oxygen goes to mid 80′s when I get up and walk around. If I don’t move, just sit or lay here….it stays ok.  So, my choice is…be in the scooter ALL the time or carry a portability bottle so that I am mobile. My choice was the bottles.

I am a survivor and I am tough. But here is the funny part. I walk on forearm crutches still, wear a brace on my right leg, wear a fancy Tens unit with 4 electrodes to help control my pain and use a power chair half the time…and now need to figure a way to carry a portability bottle around with me when I am on my crutches….for an oxygen hose on the floor is an accident waiting to happen. Now you see why son calls me Robo Mom. LOL  ….Here is the solution for the bottle.  Won’t I look like a train wreck that already happened when I walk into a room with a leg brace on, forearm crutches, a tens unit on my hip and this back pack and oxygen hose on my face?  LOL When I went in for the oxygen portability test which requires you to walk for six minutes while a nurse walks beside you testing your oxygen…they thought I had been in a bad wreck and told me I needed to heal before they did the test. I laughed and told them this is it folks.

or this…portable oxygen 2012

image from amazon.com

Now, the point here is not for people to say oh my gosh you poor thing. The point is…that I planned for none of these in my dreams and yet my choice has always been to keep going forward. I don’t let anything stop me or hold me down. Oh I might get days where I feel so bad I can’t move and when that happens, I just lay here and rest and restore and read what others write to entertain me. But then, when I feel a little better…I do this>>>>>>>>

video by abo1121

Life isn’t just a journey folks…it is a MARATHON….and yes, life will knock you down and knock you to the ground even. But the choice to stay on the ground is YOURS.  Happiness is not about having all good times. True happiness is shown in how many times you deal with the real world and the ugliness and are STILL happy…you let nothing take your happiness. I am a happy person and always have been. And I am a fighter. I didn’t plan on any of these things for my dreams for the future. How about you?  But, the one things I learned was…if you can’t do it one way…figure a new way. Don’t let it stop you. Keep your eyes on the Dreams List….. Be a hero to those around you and never ever give up and don’t lay in it and wallow either.

video by benmcdonald08

See, while I didn’t have any of those things above on my dream list, I did have this on my dream list. image from anyten.blogspot.com

Life can be tough…but no matter what it throws my way~~not matter if it  takes part of my health~~~my strength away…It can’t take my soul. Always keep going and when you can’t walk, crawl but never stop.

image from citizensusa.wordpress.com

video by]
video by hollywoodrecords

From The Heart Of Man

As I sat watching a movie one night about a family in the 1800′s that was struggling to keep their farm going, I heard one of the characters say, as he looked lovingly at the land…”you know, history comes from the heart of man”.  That thought really got me to thinking. It is what is in the heart of a person that brings about history. If our forefathers had not had it in their hearts to come to a new world and build a new home, we would not be here. If the colonists had not had it in their heart the desire to be free, we would still be colonies of England, not our own country. That is history.

I love small town America. No matter where I have lived…what small town I have lived in..I look around and see history everywhere. It is in large town too but the crowded way of life in a large town keeps us from seeing it. When we lived back east and in this town we are in now, I look around and think my gosh this place is fragrant with history. Just as a gardenia or wisteria vine floats its own scent through the air, the history permeates the air like tiny droplets of moisture in a fog.

When I first looked around the town and saw the faded advertising on the sides of the buildings, I could instantly visualize horses and buggies slowly meandering down the streets, signs of a time gone by. As I listened to the stories the old ones told in the different places I lived, I heard stories of rolling stores, tobacco sale days, five cent Saturday matinees in town, the old train coming through town and people standing waiting on passengers to disembark, the ranches and times that make you think of Bonanza, mining stories and on and on.

A friend told me once about when she was little and the rolling store came around. She said when she saw the rolling store approaching, she would run to gather eggs to trade with the man so that she could buy pretty ribbons for her hair or go to the matinee with her father. I am not sure we would know how to act if all we had was a rolling store. One thing for sure, we would not be smothered with all the choices in the stores today. Sometimes I think if we had fewer choices, our money might go further. I personally don’t need ten brands of oatmeal or other products.

When I look down the main street and see the word “Antiques” on the store fronts, I want to go up with a marker and write “History”.  As I look at these stores, I realize that the people running them have the same dream, from their heart they want to make this town go. From the heart of a person comes history and we learn from history.

Ride around one day and look at your town. Look at the architecture and see the history. Historical Societies try to preserve all the historical buildings they can. We lived in one little town and as you drove down the main street of housing off the main street of town, you will see the architecture change from one period of time to another. We lived in a little southern town and driving down the street of houses was a trip spanning architecture from the Civil war, reminiscent of Gone with the Wind on to the Spanish influences with stucco and clay shingles to homes with large veranda to modern-day homes. All of these homes were built from the heart of someone. They would not be here if someone had not had it in their heart to make a home there and build their home with love and care. Unfortunately, you don’t see people treasuring homes anymore. It is just a transition of buying bigger and better over and over with so many. The heart of the house is lost on many.

Take an afternoon ride one day in the country. Look at the old churches and cemeteries. Buildings and tombstones bear the mark of people..real people from another time who were once par of the mainstay of where you live. From the heart of man came history. If those people had not felt in their hearts that this was the place to make home, some towns might never have existed.

From the heart of man comes history. You can see it in all the old cemeteries. People that lived their lives, had children, raised crops, ran businesses and fought for our freedom. And some people are still fighting for our freedom and are continuing to make history. I wonder what will come from the heart of man who will make history for our children and grandchildren?  What will come from your heart that will one day be history?

Muted Edges

Another one of Mom’s articles from her Column, posted by son

MUTED EDGES

(Picture from : http://www.fishseddy.com/browse.cfm/4,2871.html)

I have always felt that we were put on this earth for a reason. Discovering exactly what the reason is can often be difficult because the boundaries have muted edges. I like to think of life as a large canvas upon which is painted a wondrous picture..the last brush stroke being made with our last breath.

As I sit and look at different paintings, I notice that there are so many different little lines to them. And I start to compare that to my life. Our lives are made up of all these tiny brush strokes, each one representing something specific in our lives. Each brush stroke is our contribution to the canvas. It seems often we are puzzled about what our contribution in life is because we are not looking at the brush strokes and only see the muted edges.

Muted edges…a blending of one event into another…the overlapping of events in our lives. I have often pondered why I was here. I am sure we all have. And about the time I think this is the reason, I see another brush stroke and the whole picture begins to have muted edges.

When I became a parent, I thought this was my reason for being here. I loved my boys and enjoyed them so much and I do to this day. But, then I became divorced and was forced to work full-time to support us and I only saw that I no longer was the full-time at home parent that I was before..

And then I started teaching school and I thought…this is it. It is still children and I am still a parent too so my reason for being here is still children. I felt I had found my reason for being here. Then, when my health changed, I suddenly did not know why I was here anymore….I didn’t know what my contribution to life was. Then one day, into my world came this precious bundle…my grandbaby and I was once again teaching…..muted edges…overlapping events in life…a blending of one event into another.

Many lines are on my canvas of life, some good….some sad. And yet, they all make up what is on the canvas. I still believed that children and teaching were my contribution to life. Anything to do with cancer was definitely something I did NOT want painted on my canvas of life.   And yet, there it was in vivid brush strokes glistening with tears. Family members with cancer…my grandmother, my mother, my sister, myself….friends with cancer…even my pet with cancer. Painful brush strokes on my canvas. And I had to wonder …what was the contribution here?  How could this be contributing to what my reason for being here was. And then, one day I formed a cancer support group online and the contribution became more evident. My reason for being here was to help others.

What I learned was that each brush stroke on our canvas of life, led us to another event. Life is a continuous moving from one event to the other. We do not hold still….time holds still for no one. And so, if we try to make the brush strokes stay on one thing….our canvas goes empty.

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Life would begin. At last it dawned on me to see that these obstacles were my life. This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time…and remember that time waits for no one… Happiness is a journey and not a destination.

Alfred D. Souza

Each stroke on our canvas represents something significant in our lives.  Sometimes we get lost seeing the forest instead of the trees. Sit one day and look at your canvas of life and look at all the twists and turns and all the strokes on the canvas of life you have. Remember that our lives are not as clear-cut as we would like them to be. Our lives are filled with muted edges..with the blending of one event into another…and not all events are joyous ones.  But, all events make us what we are.

Mini Cinni’s

Son just cooked these. They look so good. This is another dream come true. …to have a house where the kitchen is centrally located and lots of yummy cooking going on. Our next dream is to remodel the kitchen and take out a long closet and make kitchen bigger as it is the center of our house.

MINI CINNI’S

2  eight ounce cans of refrigerated crescent rolls

6 Tablespoons softened butter

1/3 cup brown sugar firmly packed

1/4 cup of pecans…ground or very finely chopped

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

================

GLAZE

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk or half and half

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Mix together and drizzle over warm mini cinns

================

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Open the crescent rolls and separate the portions into rectangles. (would be two crescents per rectangle)

Mix all the ingredients into a paste.

Spread on all rectangles

Roll rectangles up into a log like a jelly roll

Put in freezer for ten minutes so it is easier to slice into bite size pieces.

Each log should be cut into six pieces.

Place pieces on greased cookie sheet.

bake 15 to 18 minutes and toast brown

pull out and put on plate and apply glaze if you want.

Makes about 50 mini cinns.

Recipe came from http://www.coloradocountrylife.coop/

Just click on recipes

A Jam Packed Day

Today has been a long and hard day. It was Doctor time in Pueblo. I think I am married to them I spend so much time with them. Things went better this time than with the ugly doctor I had three months ago in Colorado Springs. And if this test comes back ok, I will be able to wait longer between visits. Oh I am so excited at that possibility. Not that I dislike this doctor for he is such a caring and compassionate doctor. I am just sick of doctors.

Tomorrow I have another appointment to have a biopsy on my back. Then I have a call telling me my cardiologist needs to reschedule us and am waiting on Denver to call. My prayerful dream is that 2012 is a year with a lot less doctor visits and hospital visits.

While we were in Pueblo, we decided we needed to pick up a few supplies and get my medicine so that we are ready if the snows hit us. That meant going to Walmart and then to Home depot to get an insulation sheet and into office max to pick up a part. So, it turned into an all day event.

We got home and both of us AND Jack were whipped and everyone went to their respective rooms and went to bed. Oh, the joys of having that pot of soup already made up. We just microwaved a bowl for supper and now everyone has full tummies and probably will hit the sack early.

My other son sent me a picture of my grand baby. Sweetpea was six the last time I saw her. She is now almost a teenager and is beautiful. She rides horses and competes in the rodeos. I am so proud of her and of my son and his wife. They have made the horse fun a family event and spent a lot of time together going to the rodeos and out to the stables to let her practice. I ask my son how he is feeling and he always says  “oh I am fine Mama”.  He doesn’t realize that a mama hears the tiredness in his voice and knows that he pushes himself to keep doing. You know how us mama’s are.

We are going to make more cookies. Mama makes us peppermint bark every year. I want to send her some crescents and jelly cookies and I want to make some sugar cookies for a very special person who loves them.

I am so excited. We evidentially got into the program of the governor’s called weatherization to help disabled people get their homes weatherized for the winter and summers. Son and I ran the last of the papers to them today while in Pueblo. I did not want to risk putting it in the mail when the deadline is tomorrow. We don’t know what it means for us but they do things like storm windows, insulation, storm doors, replace out of date furnaces, etc. We would be happy with anything they chose to do.

Oh, evidentially it was NOT food poisoning we had for we found out the neighbors had this same ugly flu-like bug and were sick for days like we were. They said it was horrible and son said “you are not telling us anything we don’t know”.  So, maybe one day, I will eat at the Chinese place again. LOL  The neighbors said it was going around all over town. I think I will hunt up my face mask. Maybe that will protect me. But of course, I go to the sickest places around….doctor’s offices and hospitals so no wonder I ended up sick.

Son filled up my bird feeders and hung them out. This one bird just sat on the feeder, not eating when I saw it, almost like he was guarding it. Directly a second bird showed up. It won’t be long before they will discover the feeder and we will have them fighting over the food, especially with this cold weather.

And now, this weary lady is going to head to bed. The weather looks bad outside, snow is predicted and I am ready to snuggle deep in my fleecy covers and sleep ….sleep ….sleep.  .

Complications and A New Hospital Day

I really should not be surprised that things did not go as planned, but sure is a pain in the arse.  I called this morning to see what time to report in tomorrow and after searching frantically, they told me that they can not even find me on the schedule. She looked about five times.. She had my folder with all my records and the stress test and CTA but no name on the list…..OMG>>>>>>>WHAT????????????

So, this means a quick shift in reservations and getting things set up again.  The nurse told me the two days available are Wednesday the 30th…that is not too bad…or Dec. 7th…a week away.  I am sitting here waiting on the call to tell me. If we can not do it on the 30th..leave tomorrow and have done next day….then I will have to set the reservations all over again.

I am just waiting on my doc to say…well it is cause you are so “special”….hahaha…that is what he says about my medical..I am so complicated on how to take care of me cause I am so special with all my things wrong. This happened once before and where two tests were supposed to be scheduled, only one got scheduled. Does not make me feel good right now but all things will work out.

Now for the good news….the van is up and running…thanks to the Creator and all who helped us. So we are ready, geared up and waiting on the Heart Center to call us and tell us when to come now. I had just gotten myself in that peaceful zone all ready for this to be done in the morning…and then BAM…this happens. Oh well…it will be when it is. I will post an update as soon as they call me. We will either leave tomorrow or next Tuesday. And now, I think I will take a nap and sooth my fractured nerves.

A Heart Full of Gratitude

I want to thank those of you that sent to help us with getting this van going. Hopefully, if all goes well, tomorrow the last will be done and we will be on our way to Colorado Springs to the motel. Then Tuesday I will be at the hospital there for the heart stuff. And from there, I do not know as they said they can not tell me beyond me getting there due to one thing hinges on another so they can not tell me if the surgeons will go full steam ahead with the kidney surgery or not.

But, my heart is full thanks to those of you who have sent help and those of you that have supported me in other ways. I am so independent that I have always fought to do on my own but sometimes in life, we just can’t. And I am blessed to have so many people in my life that are angels unaware.

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
– Albert Schweitzer

You all have lifted stress from me and helped so much and re-lit the fire that I need to go forward with all of this. Thank you from my heart and from son’s heart.  You all walk ten feet tall now in my book and are giants in the world of compassion. And now, I have removed the link for paypal as I promised I would once we had enough to fix the van.

Help others get ahead. You will always stand taller with someone else on your shoulders.   Bob Moawad

My heart is filled with gratitude and love and it is because of you all. Some of you helped with the van. Others of you give love and support emotionally and some of you send beautiful pictures and videos to try to keep my spirits up and I am touched beyond words.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
– Melody Beattie

Gratitude for wonderful, loving, caring people like you all in my life lifts me up and helps me see the future with greater strength.  All this with the van had brought me down and made it harder for me to handle all the stress of what is coming up medically. And today, I was struggling to stay focused on all the positive and on what everyone has done and worrying about what is left to do.  This morning someone sent me a quote…and I loved it for it told me exactly why I was feeling so sad when I woke up.  And now, I see the brightness of all the light you all have surrounded me with.

So often we dwell on the things that seem impossible rather than on the things that are possible. So often we are depressed by what remains to be done and forget to be thankful for all that has been done.
– Marian Wright Edelman

And so, I have spent the morning preparing for the upcoming trip. It requires a lot of list checking to make sure I have not forgotten something important like oxygen machine, nebulizer, meds, etc. But the fight comes in being ready for this procedure and the kidney surgery that will follow at some point. And I am working on that.

It’s not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference.

You have made this journey easier for me and from the depths of my heart I thank you. You have lifted a huge burden and made it possible to work. And you have filled my heart with your love and joy. And soon, I believe son will be posting a picture to you all of me on that hospital transport, with a big ole thumbs up, letting you know that I have made it through the heart stuff and then again when the kidney stuff is done. You are awesome. Thank you again. One day, I will pay it forward. love to you all.

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.  Arthur Ashe

The Princess and The Pea Saga

The story of the princess and the pea was always one of my favorite childhood stories. Little did I know it would become something that would be in my adult life. The Princess and the Pea is about how a prince could prove that the princess was real by putting her on 100 mattresses (or whatever number) and she could still feel the pea under the bottom one.

Hans Christian Andersen

The Princess and the Pea is by Hans Christian Andersen is a delightful tale. I must be a princess for sure son says after all the mattresses I have piled up on my bed.

When we lived back east, over six years ago, and back in the days before I had a doctor that even half way listened to the complaint of constant pain….my bed had about ten eggcrate mattress toppers on it. Son began calling me the princess and the pea then. It was the only way I could get halfway comfortable. That and 10 or 12 bed pillows. Ohhh what a pain it was because by the time I got one under each arm, some under legs, some under my head, one under my hand, etc and would get eased off some, I would have to go potty and have to start all over. And that was a major event in itself. It meant sitting up on the edge of the bed, and turning and putting both palms on the mattress and then pushing up, much like a child with hands and feet on the floor. And laying down literally meant, falling into bed. But, it was SO much better than the alternative..a bed with no foam eggcrates and no pillows. I had no hospital bed but I created an alternative with what I had.

To be upset over what you don’t have is to waste what you do have.  ~Ken S. Keyes, Jr., Handbook to Higher Consciousness

When we moved out here, the doctor ordered a hospital bed. What a God send it is. Son put a four-inch memory foam topper on it that he cut down to fit the hospital mattress as a hospital bed is not even twin sized. And I thought I had died and gone to heaven it felt so much better. That plus the fact that we can crank it up high so I can just barely bend my knees to sit on it, made it wonderful. That helped make life a little easier.

Many people cringe at the thought of a hospital bed. Me?  I thank God daily for this bed for without it, my life would be so much harder. And the beauty is friends that know this room and this bed are where I spend most of my time have set out to turn my room into a paradise for me, with beautiful soft covers, chimes, pictures, tiny little bear picket totems, books of clouds, and inspirational things that light up my room along with the beautiful lights I have around the room that were sent. It is a safe haven fit for a princess.

The only disability in life is a bad attitude.  ~Scott Hamilton

So, let me continue the Princess and the pea saga. When we moved and came over the LaVeta Pass and arrived at the Rio Cucharas Inn, we were welcomed by two people we had met two years before when we stayed there. So, we felt like we had come home in a sense. It was out right below my beloved mountains and in the country and just beautiful. Well….you know how low motel beds are.I was exhausted and in high pain and could barely get up and down off of the bed. Son and I had adjoining rooms. Son took the mattress off the second bed in my room and piled it on top of my bed so that it was higher and the “princess and the pea” name started being used again..even by the guys there.We ended up spending seven weeks at the Rio and so having the Princess and the Pea bed sure made life easier.

In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.  ~Albert Camus, Lyrical and Critical Essays

After we moved into our new home, the hospital bed was doing this mysterious changing of heights on me. I would have trouble sleeping and son would find that one end of the bed had dropped four inches. Oh dear, the evil step-mother must be casting a spell on my bed. After a couple of weeks of this, son decided to be the prince who saves the day. He ran into town to the hardware store and bought something called a “self setting metal screw”.  Whatever it was, it worked. He cranked the bed up to just the right height and put those screws in the legs of the hospital bed and it has not changed since then.

But, now even more changing has come. I can lay only on one side and if I fall onto my back, I wake up in such agony that I can barely move. So, son has taken a board and put it beside the railing so that it will hold the pillows placed there better. That way, I can lay on my side with three pillows between my back and the board and am propped just wonderfully. Isn’t it amazing how we learn to adapt things to us to make life easier.

  “humans are the only animal that adapts the environment to them, whereas the other animals adapt to their environment”.

I think sometimes we can get so focused on what we have lost, what others took away from us, what life has deprived us of, that we don’t see what is left of what we can still do. I am the kind that finds a way to keep doing and going, no matter what my health is. Son told me once he had never seen someone use a power chair like me because I could do things in it other seemed to not be able to do. I told him that was because I considered the power chair part of me and we worked in harmony instead of fighting the chair.

“Oh, my friend, it’s not what they take away from you that counts.  It’s what you do with what you have left.”  ~Hubert Humphrey

It is all in attitude. If we give up on ourselves or feel sorry for ourselves or act like we have given up…..others will feel the same way about it. We set the tone for what people think and how they treat us. If we don’t value ourselves…no one else will.  It it takes being a Princess and the pea or using your scooter like an acrobat to get things done…then do it. And find a way to do it with joy and laughter. life is so much easier to live when  you are burdened down if you can learn to laugh and see the humor instead of clinging to all the things you can no longer do.

Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.  ~Author Unknown

I have become the best scooter vacuum lady in the world. I place my feet on the vacuum and hold the handle between my legs and use my scooter to go back and forth vacuuming the room. I told son he needed to invent the vacuum scooter that just vacuums as you go through the house. And put hose attachments on the side. Now is that not a visual for a handicap person?

If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.  ~Mary Engelbreit

Life is what we make it and that means adapting to it, changing our attitude about it and trying to see the good that is there. It is also about learning to laugh when we really want to cry and seeing that it is not as bad as we think.

The sun is coming up in my world while we are talking. I hope it is in yours. What a beautiful way to start the day.

It is 14 degrees outside and I am blessed to be inside looking out and seeing such beauty as the sun climbs higher into the sky. How can a picture like this not lift your spirits when the beauty is so breathtaking and just right outside my window.

And this princess has had the most fun calling to son and saying  “hey son, Jack wants some turkey and dressing” and hearing him reply back to me  “OHHHH   NO NO NO..H ..NO”   giggling.

Yes Virginia, There IS a Santa Claus

I am so overwhelmed today and so filled with gratitude that I am finding words hard to put together. I am sure some of you that know me well are saying “her not be able to talk?? Impossible”.  I can talk, it is I just hope to make sense when I say all of this.

The coming weeks are stress filled for me and for son with all of this critical medical facing me and yet some very special people with  huge hearts decided to make this easier. I only hope one day I can pay forward what they just did for us today. We were struggling to figure out how to get to Colorado Springs and where we would stay as there is no way I could have the heart catheterization, spend the hours required after in the hospital…after driving two hours to get there..and then drive two hours home. And we didn’t know what to do about Jack for he is a special needs dog that people do not want to have to take care of him for he requires special food, a special bed and really watching over and we didn’t have the money for a specialty clinic.

And out of the blue, a dear friend told me that they were getting us a motel room for not one but for two nights so that we could drive up the day before and I could rest. Traveling is really hard for me…even two hours. And they wanted me in the best shape possible to have the heart stuff done. I could not find the words to say what my heart was feeling. Words were not enough to express the gratitude and love I felt in my heart.

Not many people reach out in this day and time to help those that are going through tough times and stressful medical times. And unless you are there, you can not begin to know the despair of wondering will you have to do this in the hardest way possible?  How will you manage? What will you do about this or that? And they understood the tears and despair I was feeling wondering what to do with poor Jack, who would not understand being put in a vet kennel, even if we could have afforded it.  I had cried many tears trying to figure this out.

And then my dear friends Sassy and BOS just blew us away with their love and generosity and gift of the motel. But they didn’t stop there. They wanted to assure that the next few days were joyful, as stress free as possible and full of memories for son and I with such serious medical things about to happen. So, they sent son to the grocery and told him to ask for the manager. And the manager told him he had a gift card for him to buy Thanksgiving dinner.  All son could manage to say was “Really???”  “Really???” and I blubbered til I was going “he he he he” like a little kid does that has cried too much. Son came home with bags of groceries containing a big turkey that will provide sandwiches after the day is over and fruit and juice and pie fixings and all sorts of goodies. Oh my!

Our FIRST Thanksgiving in our new home and what a joyous day it will be filled with delights to fill the senses with memories galore from the wonderful smells that will go on with the turkey cooking and other foods and of course my special pumpkin pie that son will help me make but also with the wonderful Christmas lights son put up. Now there is a memory in the making for sure. Add to that wonderful holiday music and of course messaging and talking to loved ones and this holiday will go down in the hallmark of fame for the best ever.

And these two special people took us from having the heart stuff and the kidney surgery in the forefront of our lives to having this wonderful day of Thanksgiving right there in front of us..real and in 3-D.  Talk about a change of focus. And the stress of what is coming has moved back a few steps with the motel reservations and the joy of the love of these two people has stepped front and center and the encompassing love has transformed our lives right now.

All day, I thought about the  little girl named Virginia who asked the newspaper man was there really a Santa Claus. And his reply contained this line:

“Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.”

You can read the whole story of Virginia’s letter and the editor’s answer here:

http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/

Oh yes, there is a Santa Claus AND there are Angels on earth, and the love and generosity and devotion of these two special friends have etched on our hearts in a way that no words can explain. We have a picture of Sassy out side last year at Christmas with a Santa hat on and that picture flashed before my eyes so many times today with the love Sassy and BOS bestowed on us.

And so, I raise my glass in THANKSGIVING and say:

THANK YOU Sassy and BOS from our hearts. We pray the love and goodness you did today comes back to you ten fold for you certainly deserve it. We LOVE you.

Shift the Focus–Thanksgiving

I was laying here thinking about Thanksgiving as it is fast approaching and Thanksgivings past. No, no ghosts showed up but I got to thinking about what Thanksgiving meant to the first pilgrims and how much it has changed. Now, Thanksgiving represents the holidays and the BIG sales and cooking more food than an army needs and family fights and traveling to family events. It is a time of overeating, football, running to sales and spending money and self-indulgence.

I remember all the family around the huge dining room table and as we grew the kids were sent to another table. Then all the men folks went to watch the football game while the women cleaned up and put away left overs. The buffet had so many foods that if you took one bite of everything, your plate was full. We had Turkey, dressing, gravy, potato casserole, green bean casserole, fruit salad, rolls and other dishes and then there were all the different pies and cakes for dessert.

And for many, the holiday is about the black Friday sales and getting up at the crack of dawn and rushing from store to store to get all the “bargains” and spend, spend, spend.

And so, I was thinking about what this day meant to our ancestors. It was being thankful they were alive…that they survived and that they had just a small amount of food and a place to live. When did we change to all the extravagance and over indulgence?  When did we lose sight of what it really means.

This year I am thankful for many things. I am thankful for my home. It might be a small cottage but it is so filled with love and joy and comfort. I am thankful for my son who takes care of me and my other son back east and his family and Sweetpea. I am thankful for my Jack. I am thankful for Mama and family/friends like Sassy and BOS, who love me so much and who support me and care about me. I am thankful for finally getting moved on this side of the mountain. I am thankful for the wonderful doctors I now have and all the care they are giving me. I am thankful I am still alive with all my health issues and I am thankful that some big issues will be taken care of. I am thankful we made it another year. I am thankful for my faith and the simplicity of my life.

We plan on cooking a small hen, dressing, green beans and a pumpkin pie and sharing it together. Son will be the chef and I get to enjoy. Nothing extravagant but being together. Son loves for the cooking to be done on Thanksgiving Day, especially the pumpkin pie and that will be my job. He loves to smell the pie cooking. Just a small simple meal together and eating it on our pretty red dishes at our dining table. Our FIRST Thanksgiving in our new town and our new home.

We plan on getting up and turning on the parade and watching it while preparing the food and just enjoying each others company. Son put up Christmas lights and the tree for me so that I could enjoy before surgery, so we will have those on to fill our house with beautiful light. No plans for big sales. No plans to go shopping. Just being in our home together and enjoying each other’s company..calling Mama and loved ones to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving and being thankful for all that the Lord has given us.

We have been so blessed in spite of the hard times we have gone through and the biggest blessing is we are in a home, warm, with enough food and happy. What more could we ask for?

To me, Thanksgiving is a time to say Thank You….thank you to our Creator for all He has done for us……. thank you to our loved ones for loving us……thank you to those who bring smiles to our faces…thank you to those who send notes of love and encouragement and care to us…thank you to special friends for sharing their lives with us…thank you to yourself for fighting hard to make it one more year….thank you to the Postal Server for braving all sorts of bad weather to bring us our mail, thank you to the Policemen and Deputies that protect us, thank you to the Firemen who risk their lives to save us and the EMT’s that rush to help us when injured or sick…thank you to the garbage men who haul our trash off…thank you to the radio stations for playing us that lovely music and the tv channels that entertain us…and thank you to the employer who hired us even when times were tough or stuck by us when times were tough and kept us on…and the list goes on.

THANKSGIVING

A Time of Giving THANKS