In Those Final Moments...........

I'll go out there and make my mistakes. I'll fall down, get hurt, cry, laugh, love, and get back up I'll let my imagination run wild and let my spirit soar. Why? Because when my life flashes before my eyes in those final moments, I want to have something worthwhile to watch, with plenty of love and laughter, good times and bad. I don't want to regret a thing and I plan not to. Remember, it's not usually the things you do that you regret, it's the things you don't do and leave unsaid. Laugh out loud. Cry in the rain. Love with all your heart and soul. Get hurt. Tell the truth. Go crazy. But never forget that you only get one shot. One shot at this day, one shot at this minute. One shot at this age. One shot at life. So make sure your life is one you will enjoy watching in your final moments.

One Door Closes, Another One Opens........Welcome New Year!

As this year ends and a new one approaches, I sit here, looking back over the year, I am struck by a thought......I once told someone that when God closes one door another will open.  I believe that with all my heart.  This approaching new year is my next open door.  I want to walk through that door with my heart wide open and my soul full of all the possibilities that lie ahead for me.

But I first must reflect back on the year that has so changed my life.  In just a few short words....I survived......I went through fire and came out the other side, a little toasted around the edges, but I came through it.  I made new discoveries about who I am, where I am headed, who I want to take with me, how I want to live my life.......

In this past year I have laughed and I have cried, I have loved and I have been loved, I was married and now I am a widow.  I again have come through a serious illness, though remnants of which will be with me for the rest of my life. 

My support base (mother and father) have passed to the other side.  My husband (though we had a troubled marriage) was also a support base for me, has also passed to the other side.  Three such devasting lossses brought me to my knees.  But then, yes there on my knees, I found the strength I needed to move forward.

This past year not only brought sadness but it brought some surprises too.  New friends, old
acquaintances, and memories thought long ago put up, brought down from the attic of my mind, to be rediscovered again and delighted at and sighed over in loving fondness..............treasures no one can take away.

This is the old year, the past year. 

I await the new year with all the new possibilities it will bring......hope, joy, happiness, life,  friendship, love, desire....................I welcome it all.........with arms wide open.......a heart open to love and desire...........a soul full of joy and wonder.............

Welcome New Year!

Blessing of a Christmas Tree

God of all creation,

we thank you for this tree,

which brings beauty

and memories

and the promise of life to our home.

May Your blessings be upon all that gather

Around this tree,

And who keep the Christmas festival by its lights.

We wait for the coming of Christ,

the days of everlasting justice and peace.

You are our God, living and loving,

forever and ever.

Amen

 

On the twelfth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Twelve drummers drumming,

Eleven pipers piping,

Ten lords a-leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four calling birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree!

On the eleventh day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Eleven pipers piping,

Ten lords a-leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four calling birds,

 

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the tenth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Ten lords a-leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four calling birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four calling birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four calling birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree.