Poor Poor Me.....Not!

Yesterday feeling a tiny bit sorry for myself. Yes me but I'm so damn optimistic that I can't wallow long at a time....sucks a bit! Yes I would like to have a pity party every now and then. LOL

I have so much to be thankful for the best of which are some wonderful friends! A person who has friends is a rich person. They will be there when you're down....when you're in need...or just when you need someone to talk to! I was reminded of that yesterday. I was also reminded that I have my health and the blessing of seeing today. There is a young girl fighting for her life...the same age as my daughter...her body is rejecting her new heart! I haven't heard anything today but I'm praying that she makes it!

I also came here and reread some earlier entries and they helped immensely! Tears help to cleanse the soul so its okay to cry a little but you must remember the important things in life!

We are only mere humans but gifted with the ability to see past the dark clouds to the rainbow.

Call a friend today....give a hug....share a smile and your world will be that much brighter for it!

Are You Intexticated?

I returned home today from a two day road trip. Traveling down the interstate I saw so many drivers texting while driving at speeds in excess of 70 miles an hour...70 being the legal speed limit. Of those motorists texting quite a few were driving semi's! To see a truck driver texting on his phone instead of watching the road was scarier than any horror movie I've ever seen!! Do you know the kind of damage one of those big rigs can do to a car and even worse to someone on a motorcycle?

Come on people! Stop the madness! Stop driving INTEXTICATED!

What are your opinions concerning texting and driving??

The Best Things In Life Are Free!

I hear every day how tough it is today to make a living. I know first hand of this truth. There doesn't seem to be enough money to merely survive much less live to enjoy life's luxuries. Don't let yourself become so focused on money and the things it can buy. The best things in life are still free and oh so abundant!

It doesn't cost anything to give a smile, a hug, or a kind word. Some of the most beautiful sights to be seen are free...the sunrise, the sunset, the moon, the stars, the first smile of a newborn baby and the look of awe in a childs eyes as he sees the wonders of a world we have long forgotten. To take a walk with a friend or your lover enjoying mother natures beauty is priceless yet requires no money. Reading a book beneath a tree, playing with your children, going on a picnic in the park are all things even the poorest of us can experience!

The list is a never ending one! I challenge each and every one of you, my friends, to make such a list yourself the next time you begin to feel sorry for yourself because you have no money...and turn the page!

Feel free to add to the list through your comments. I look forward to hearing your experiences, suggestions, and to reading them!

Comforting The Grieving

What do you do....what do you say to comfort a person who has just lost maybe the most important person in their life? There is nothing you can say or do to ease the pain or make it go away. Life seems surreal at this time!

As a mother who has lost a child...a sister who has lost her brother...a child who has lost both of her parents I hope to be able to help you in your quest.

These are a few things you can do to offer comfort that will long be remembered!

1) Come bearing plenty of kleenex

2) Say "I'm here" and listen if they want to talk

3) If they don't want to talk just hold them while they cry (i.e. the kleenex)

4) Keep them company during the quiet time

5) Run errands, clean the house, watch the kids (trust me all biggies)

Don't forget that the strong silent types need the same comfort too. They are easy to overlook because they seem to be handling it all so well. This is far from true. They are in the same time warp that death seems to inflict on those grieving.

I remember well those that were there for me, quietly listening with lots of hugs,sometimes crying with me! Angels disguised as mortals!

A True Love

The story....the love of a boy for a girl. The stars....Randall and Tasha. Randall is my son. Tasha is his exgirlfriend at the time. Lets begin shall we.

It was a day unlike any other day in April of 1998. I recieved a call telling me that Tasha had been involved in a car wreck and was in critical condition. She had suffered a head injury, was hemorraging from the brain and the next 24 hrs were crucial. I walked into my son's room that night after work finding him down on his knees crying like a baby and begging God to let him change places with her! She pulled through the night but the boy with her driving the car wasn't so lucky and died that same night.

My son was always an affectionate boy but became even more affectionate. He visited friends and family he hadn't seen in ages. I found out later that he told his friends what songs and what clothes he wanted should anything happen to him....death.

Two months to the day of Tasha's accident my son was a passenger in a car that was involved in a car crash with one fatality....him. He was flown to the same hospital, put in the same ICU bed, and had the same head injuries as had Tasha. He fought for 10 hrs to stabalize enough for us to see him then he was gone two hours later. It was like he held on just so that we could say goodbye one last time!

I believed God answered his prayers that night as he knelt on the floor pleading for Tasha's life. The similarities are too great! Also, Randall was an organ donor and all of the donor receipiants were released from the hospitals one week after the transplants. Not one rejection! A miracle as if it was meant to be.

The love he felt for her was immense. The type of love where you are willing to give your life for....true love! Although it has a sad ending nontheless it fills my heart with hope that I too can have that kind of love....that it still exists today!

Remembering My Son

This is about and for my son Randall,July 26,1980 to June 15,1998.

An old soul not meant long for this world with one purpose---love.

I can still see him as a smiling, loving little blonde headed blue eyed boy. He would cry if scolded as if a stick had been taken to him and would not stop til he was allowed to hug me. A mama's boy if ever there was one; a fact he seemed proud of as a teenager!

When I was pregnant with Randall his daddy and I both worked the night shift. His shift began two hours before mine but we had only the one car. We would ride in together and I would visit with my parents til time for me to go to work. One night his daddy decided to let me sleep in and asked his mom to bring me down the mountain. There was a head on collison that night. My husband was bruised and banged up a little but the passenger side was demolished. Had I been in the car that night Randall would surely never been born. How odd that he died in a car crash almost 18 years later!

Randall seemed to make friends easily growing up and the house was filled with kids. He played baseball, football, and was an avid bowler. He could talk on the phone for hours and did! He went swimming, to the mall, camping, played video games, raided the fridge, and hanging out with his friends. He cleaned house for me and never let a day go by without telling us he loved us or giving us a hug. Almost your typical average teenager!

When Randall died his friends came from Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. The funeral home had to open the adjoining room to accomodate all of them. I heard stories from both kids and their parents of how Randall had helped them through difficulties one time or another. All he did was lend an ear and give a hug ( that was my son) but it left an impression. Did I mention that he gave the best bear hugs in the world!

I do believe that Randall was an angel sent to me by God. I still feel my angel surrounding me with love and peace even to this day.

Love never dies but grows even with death!

Life 101

We all are here to learn life lessons, to evolve, to become the best possible person we can be. I'm not talking about acquiring monetary or materialistic wealth but the richness of spirit and mind.

Oft times what we see as hardships, mistakes, and losses are in fact learning tools as we make our journey toward the person we are meant to become. I'm grateful for being blessed with a sense of humor, a positive attitude, stubbornness, pride, a sense of fair play, and a large heart at the beginning of my journey. I must admit those have helped the rough spots along the way!

I have been blessed all of my life and when I say this I have gotten those "she is a crazy woman" looks. While it's true I've not had an easy life, no silver spoon here, I have learned well.

The early years of my marriage were at times physically abusive and at most verbally. How can I see that as a blessing you ask. I learned so many life lessons from it. I learned how to believe in myself when no one else did; how to be happy in spite of my circumstances; how to be self sufficient; how to trust in myself; and how unshakable my spirit was. I attained strength,self love,acceptance, tenacity, humility, and compassion.

As a mother I learned even more of life's lessons. I attained perseverence, patience, hope for the future, a rebirth of a childlike wonder of the world, faith, and unconditional love. My sense of humor came in handy during the terrible T's: two's,three's, and teens!

When I thought I had learned it all my son died in a car accident. I learned just how strong a survivor I really was. I attained a new zest for living, loving, laughing, and the conviction to follow my dreams. I learned just how strong my faith is and how short life really is.

The birth of my granddaughters reaffirmed my faith in the continuing cycle of life! They are the greatest thing since the creation of tv dinners. They bring much joy, love,laughter,and play into my life. It's like I'm being rewarded for lessons learned thus!

I love this woman I have evolved into! I am enjoying this journey even with the hardships I am facing (like most people...economy wise). I wake every day wondering what life will throw at me.....a curve ball or a fast ball? Bring on the lessons oh "teacher" of life 101. I'm in no rush to take my final exam.

I smile cause I'm still here!