Family

Family...ah yes, those people that at one time or another you wished you could exchange for a better model or nothing at all. But really, if you had the "real" chance of doing this you wouldn't. Come on, who are you kidding? You've already broken these people in and put up with their "stuff" all these years. Do you really want to start all over again?

My family has been there for me through thick and thin. They have also kept my feet on the ground with the occasional "reality check". Let's face it, we all get those checks when someone in the ranks feels we are lifting off the ground onto that "high horse" and need to be brought back down, with love hopefully. Your family knows what made you tick as a baby, child, adolescent, teenager, and young adult. Now it is up to you to show what you have learned and what you are all about now that you are an adult.

We go to work and somewhere along the line are reminded that our mothers are not going to come behind us to clean up. We go through the rest of our lives realizing that "hey wait a minute, I have to do this myself?" Then it begins to click in our minds what we really do have. There are others that don't have that much and wished they did. Don't get me wrong, I am not going on a tangent of what our parents or grandparents reminded us of everytime we refused to eat something on our plate. "Do you know there are starving kids in ---- that would give their right arm for a feast like this!" Of course you only think it in your mind, if you're smart: "Well, can I mail it to THEM?"

Families on the short end of things are either for you or against you. But you have to be honest with yourself when you are criticizing them. Are you being honest when you say to yourself, "I don't do anything and they yell at me for nothing!" Because if this is true then you answered your own question of why they treat you the way they do. You aren't doing "anything". I don't have the answers for all of this but what I do know is the one set of people you can't fool....you guessed it--your family!

So while summer is upon us and the BBQ's will be starting full speed ahead, it would behoove you to make peace with your people and have a good old fashion party in the backyard. It brings families together and you never know what surprises may come, but whatever you do, always strive to have fun. Your family is what makes you, you and granted now you can add your two cents when the conversations start...

My Father On The Throne

My Father on the throne
Where have I gone wrong
The fight is long and hard
I grow weary where I stand
My heart refuses to yield to the fear
I see within my own eyes
For my God, my Father is still on the throne
Regardless of all I see
My heart my Father spoke to
still beats within me!

Lesson In Love

Never take someone for granted

Hold everyone close to your heart

If not, you may wake up one day

and realize that you lost a diamond

while you were busy collecting stones.

Always Learning, Ever Changing

Writing short stories and poems since I was thirteen years old, I always wondered what it would be like to actually write a book. Now I do. I am not published yet but that will come, I am sure of it.

The romance novel I wrote took three months to complete. Editing and serious revisions took a year. Still plugging away at it though. I refuse to give up because some people who shall remain anonymous think I have potential. No, I am not including my mother or sons or anyone else in the family. Though it seems that normal to have these people in your corner because quite frankly you will need them when and if the rejection letters come and you know they will.

You began to notice as time goes on the stories you write begin to mold you as a writer. One person pointed out certain things in my manuscript that needed some changes. At first I became a bit defensive, then I realized if I was going to be successful I needed to start being a little more flexible. It didn't mean I would lose my voice as a writer, but that I would become a better writer. I learned what works and what takes too darn long to explain a simple action.

This journey has made me cry, wonder why I became a writer, and what started out as a hobby turned out to be such a chore. I am at the computer from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed. I am on Christmas vacation from school and have a month off. This is as good a time as any to revise the darn thing.

You know sometimes life gets in the way of creativity. But if I don't climb back in the chair and try to improve what I can and let go of what I can't, then I am no better than the person who so easily gave up. You have to wait for your moment to shine. It will come. Patience is a virtue and by that I mean you will have to learn the difference between want and need.

What are you hungry for as a writer? Fame and fortune? If so you will be disappointed. But if you want to become a published writer who can handle the success that comes with it and continue to be disciplined then half the battle is won. Why? Because you have learned a valuable lesson, always learning, ever changing.

Oh Christmas Tree

You knew the day was coming once Thanksgiving passed that it was inevitable a tree was going to be in your future. Some people are reminded by Santa's little elves otherwise known as your children, grandchildren, somebody's children, whomever. When you stopped making it all about you and finally did do something about bringing that stinkin' tree into the house whether it is artificial or real none the less you put it up. Or maybe you are stalling for time and have no problem ignoring the whining little elves a.k.a. those kids and they know who they are. They live for this stuff so you can't disappoint them. If you think you can put them off try living with a new name for a while, you know, the Grinch, who tried to steal Christmas.

The tree is sitting in a corner now just waiting to be decorated. Ah, was that so bad? But wait, you are reminded that new decorations are in order cuz the old ones just aren't getting it any more. You put on your jacket and trek to a nearby store and began to purchase your decorations. Pushing and shoving passed several little old ladies who seem to take hours for that one "special" little decoration for whatever reason. Finally, you settle on a box of balls, tinsel, you forgot to check if the lights still work. Oh well, you pick up another box.

On to the register you go with your decorations, so glad that you are through with the tedious task of all of this you round the corner find about 30 people whose faces are turning into the same as yours. You draw in a deep breath and resign yourself to making sounds when you think the cashier is taking long just to get on your nerves. Once it is your turn and pay for your purchases you run to your car as if someone is going to grab you by the nape of the neck and make you start all over again.

Finally all bags are in the car with you and you drive like a mad person possessed on your journey home. Feeling as if you accomplished a great feat you bring in your treasures and commence decorating. Coffee in hand you place the lights, every last ball, every last stream of tinsel and the star your little "elf" made on the tree.

Standing back you have everyone in the house and possibly your neighborhood and their families waiting and watching as you flip the switch and watch and wait for the accolades to begin...

Uh-oh the lights aren't going on. The lights! You forgot to check the lights! Your significant other hands you the "extra" bulbs and commences to take everyone rolling their eyes to the other room for refreshments while you try to fix the problem. Feeling something staring at you, you turn around and there stands one of your little "elves."

Smiling you try to suggest to the little darling to go get a Christimas cookie in the other room--far from where you are. The elf leaves and you are back to trying to find that bulb that is trying to make you look bad. You feel a little breeze on your neck and once more you turn to see what else in the cosmos interrupted you. It is that sweet little elf again. Only this time the little elf has something in it's arms. What is this you ask. The elf blinks and stoops to put something under the tree. Stepping back revealing a box wrapped in three different types of Christmas wrapping with a bow that has seen better days.

Tears fill your eyes and your throat tightens as the elf replies, "This is for you Daddy, Merry Christmas."

Friends Forever

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When we are looking for someone to be our friend I have often thought about where our starting point is. Sometimes we are so into the perfect someone that we miss the one that could have been the friend we needed and the search would've been over sooner. Then there is the popular person we think we need as a friend when the person who had been loyal to us was never chosen.

Maybe it sounds a little too far fetched, but what if "you" aren't what this other person is looking for? You do realize you first have to be the person whom you seek. Are you the friend who would never turn your back no matter what happens? The friend that cries when your friend cries? Stick up for them when everyone else accuses them? Better yet what if your friend's significant other starts a riff between you two. What then?

I have been that friend, chosen and overlooked, so I know what I am talking about. I have also been successful at choosing friends when I wasn't even looking. While I was attending school I met three kind souls who adopted me as their friend. I have written about these three friends in a previous blog and pray that I never loose touch.

The other day I was visiting Facebook and received a message from someone I had gone to school with. We were best friends in high school. She was having a hard time with her mother, the usual teenager vs adult kind of thing. I of course was getting along with my family but my friend was in trouble. So I did the only thing I could do--stand with her. I took a towel with some of my clothes inside and walked to school like nothing was wrong. When we met at school she asked me what the towel was for so I opened it up. When she saw my clothes her mouth fell open as she asked, "You would've done this for me?" Without hesitation I replied, "Yes." We cried together then laughed til we cried again.

In our Facebook messages back and forth to one another telling each other how good it was to reconnect after so many years apart (we live in two different states) we promised to stay in touch. When I finished reading her message she signed off as "Friends Forever" and the tears filled my eyes.

Some friendships can never be "planned" or "chosen" because they just "happen" when you least expect them. I wouldn't have it any other way, would you?

Blessings

At one time or another you will contemplate certain things in your life. Some good, some bad, but none the less they make us reflect.

I was sitting on a bench in the park thinking about what good things I could reflect on. I would have to say it would be the birth of my granddaughter in July of this year. Truly a blessing, every day a miracle. She was a preemie at under five pounds and was kept in the hospital for almost a week after birth because her little tummy wasn't the size of an average newborn.

Finally after a few days she had reached five pounds and was discharged from the hospital. I think a true miracle every time I hold her in my arms. Someone so small that can bring such a humongous happiness into our lives. A smile that can bring you to your knees, a gurgle that can bring tears to your eyes, with a laugh that can bring both.

I am truly blessed, very thankful and most of all accepting of all that it comes with. I thank God every day for all that I have and pray that He will help me through what I am in need of.

As all those blessed enough to have shopped for Thanksgiving dinner, please remember the less fortunate. Give if you can to a local church or wherever they are collecting for a family in need. Even one can of corn or whatever you can give, it doesn't take much and a little goes a long way.

Contemplate your blessings and make your goal to focus on others and what you can do to make this world a better place to live. This year has been one that I very proud to say I heard on the news or read in the paper that many youngsters have taken up the project of giving to others in need. We adults could learn something from them.

Blessings...they come when we least expect them. Share your good fortune at whatever level of life you are in....you will never regret it and sometimes the good Lord lets us see how it affected others. Either way, you get that warm feeling that you helped your fellow man and we should all remember that feeling and try to continue every chance we get...