Journey’s seem to be all around me. Earlier this week my sweet friend’s journey, here on Earth came to an end. Came to an end all too young (42) and there seems to be a vacuum effect with the spot she has left. While mine and her interactions were sporadic and random, a text message here and there, facebook kept the pace of happenings and interactions and I loved her dearly. I cannot imagine what those that were much closer to her are feeling this week. My heart is broken.
I was sorting the mail this afternoon and in it was an envelope, handwritten, with the return address of one of the former youth in our church. It is actually the second one we have received this week, from a second former youth member (as well as friends of one or more of our children).
I pulled the other envelope from the stack and opened both. Both made me remember a third “former youth” and a road in front of him.
A journey ahead for all.
The first letter was raising funds for competition, under what is formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. The competition is in Belgium, where there will be mission type opportunities too. He says in the letter, that in addition to competing in pole vaulting, there is a goal of deepening his relationship with God and sharing his faith. A big change from the campus of UGA.
The second letter was raising funds too. This one is closer to home, but quite a journey in a huge way. In fact, this letter is what made me remember the young man that heads out tomorrow on his journey. Basically the same as the young man sending out fundraising letters: hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Six months from Springer Mountain Georgia to Mount Katahdin Maine. Two young men, on similar journeys, starting a month apart, taking time to test their endurance, search their souls, digging deep in self discovery, perseverance with a goal of achievement and finding a direction for when they return home.
The Dillon (letter gentleman) has traveled some. Lived in a couple cities – worked at an ice cream shop to cover rent and surfed in his free time, living life to the fullest in an easy going simple way. The friend that traveled this path with him, discovered he was ready to go back to school and finish his Batchelor’s degree. I will be excited to see what discoveries Dillon comes home with and what direction he goes next.
Our young friend Josh begins his tomorrow, with a college friend, and countless strangers. Josh is a post graduate trying to figure out his niche in this great big world. Transitioning can be overwhelming. I have been excited for him as this date as inched closer. I have enjoyed hearing how his preparations have progressed as he readies for this journey. For Josh, this has been a goal since he entered Boy Scouts.
And then I thought of our Traveler. Four years ago she was preparing for college graduation with big plans for living in the Netherlands. Graduation came, plans crashed and she struggled to regroup in her post graduate setting. She moved to a big city and has traveled extensively. Over the past year, her dad has had several phone calls asking for his thoughts on her ideas about finding a career – most the time about going back to college.
I noticed a bit ago, she had posted last night about figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up. I have to smile, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
As I type this about the journey's of five others, I do know this: the journey, no matter how well thought out and planned for, will take on a life of its own. It is best to embrace each moment and fill it with as much joy and love as possible and grasp the teachings that come with it. All the other details will work out, even if bumpy and even if in the end there are tears. Candy showed all of us, that were looking, how to do that. As she battled cancer, which is never what anyone wants on their journey, she lived. She lived with a level of faith, contentment and joy that was apparent in her smile and the peace of her journey.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
TP 235 Part II: Ross Alley Frisco
Ross Alley in San Francisco was a great spot for the letters and character theme that Carmi has been hosting. I knew China Town needed to have a quick run through, if not for any other reason than Ross Alley. We found the sign and hung a right.
But that was not our only stop in this alley. I had read about a gentleman, a barber, that had a very short appearance in the Prusuit of Happiness movie with Will Smith. And I read that if you asked the gentleman to play his instrument, he would. And he did. His name is Jun Yu and he did have a cameo in the movie. I had read NOT to have him give you haircut, so I did not ask my husband to take that chance. But I did ask him if he would play us a song. FIRST though, he takes the bow and with that cute smile works his way thru the bullet points that list the movie title, Will Smith's name, the channel it aired on, the date and time. Then he will play a Mozart piece on his ehru (kinda squeeky violin sound, made on a tin can looking piece that plugs into the wall). Sometimes those side steps in life take you to a spot with a little bit of sunshine and humor, if we let it. We experienced letters and characters that day!
This character has given me a smile thinking about that alley and the sounds and the sites.
Life has its bumps, and my excitement to be back blogging was challenged (and this post almost skipped) this past week by a friend's fight against cancer turning for the worse. As her family stays by her side to be a part of every awake moment there is left, I have thought about her life and what a great, while random and sporadic, spot of sunshine she has been in my world, and many others. She made fighting cancer look so easy, but what she really did, was live life in each moment with a combination of contentment and forward moving. Enjoying what was around her, but going for the adventure, whether the beach or Aruba or cheering on her son and his basketball team, she has remained involved and living life big.
Smile!
Past the arrow...
And past Superior Trading Company....
To the birthplace of the fortune cookie. Did you know that the fortune cookie is not a traditional Chinese treat? But an "American" Chinese treat? Created right here in the United States, right here on Ross Alley in San Fransisco.
But that was not our only stop in this alley. I had read about a gentleman, a barber, that had a very short appearance in the Prusuit of Happiness movie with Will Smith. And I read that if you asked the gentleman to play his instrument, he would. And he did. His name is Jun Yu and he did have a cameo in the movie. I had read NOT to have him give you haircut, so I did not ask my husband to take that chance. But I did ask him if he would play us a song. FIRST though, he takes the bow and with that cute smile works his way thru the bullet points that list the movie title, Will Smith's name, the channel it aired on, the date and time. Then he will play a Mozart piece on his ehru (kinda squeeky violin sound, made on a tin can looking piece that plugs into the wall). Sometimes those side steps in life take you to a spot with a little bit of sunshine and humor, if we let it. We experienced letters and characters that day!
This character has given me a smile thinking about that alley and the sounds and the sites.
Life has its bumps, and my excitement to be back blogging was challenged (and this post almost skipped) this past week by a friend's fight against cancer turning for the worse. As her family stays by her side to be a part of every awake moment there is left, I have thought about her life and what a great, while random and sporadic, spot of sunshine she has been in my world, and many others. She made fighting cancer look so easy, but what she really did, was live life in each moment with a combination of contentment and forward moving. Enjoying what was around her, but going for the adventure, whether the beach or Aruba or cheering on her son and his basketball team, she has remained involved and living life big.
So I thought, hey, don't step away from sharing the fun and enjoyable moments in my life and from sharing the thoughts and feelings. As I visited Carmi's blog to see this week's theme, I was glad it was still letters, and I was saddened to read of his family's loss and mourning. Yesterday he posted a single shot of how there can be a bright spot in the midst of the grayest of times. So I moved forward with the post, because the bright and pleasant moments are important too.
It felt good typing out this post. Go live and smile and make the most of all things this week. Even the squeeky moments in life!
Check out Carmi's Blog and maybe listen to Jun Yu play his ehru (I am a sorry video taker) :)
Smile!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
PT 235 - Letters, Words, Characters . . .
Amazing what a vacation can do for having something to blog about.
It also helps to have a day off and not be sick - southern pollen is a killer, be forewarned should you be visiting.
Back to the theme!
Carmi, the host (here), has provided a theme of Letters, Words, Characters
I thought the Balclutha was quite fitting for this! I knew the roman numerals were picture worthy!
The Balclutha is a ship on display as part of San Francisco's Maritime Museum, set around Hyde Pier. This ship is now in her 4th career - being a museum. She started out as a cargo ship that ran between San Francisco and England. She was used for awhile just on the West Coast - forgive me, I don' t recall exactly what function she served - I think it was Salmon and I believe it was between Alaska and California. Her third career was carrying timber from California to Australia. Another one of those things in life that make me go hmmmm... I would never have dreamed that Australia would need timber all the wayyyyyy from California. But they did!
While standing on board, listening to the docent share the history and some of the stories of the ship, I realized something: The bigger the boat, the less I notice the motion. Hubs has been telling me, if we had a bigger boat, I would not get sea sick. Maybe hubs will have even a bigger boat one day!
Play along or take a journey through all the posts on Carmi's site...
Smiles!
Monday, February 18, 2013
Go West!
What a grand way to begin a new year ~ with a vacation!
We took a real one.
By real, I mean: not work training; not for a child's play or activity; not to help out with maintenance and upkeep somewhere else.
Not that any of those reasons are not good, and do not make for a good trip or vacation. They are. But to just play? Just the Hubs and me? Priceless!
The furthest West I have been is Colorado. And this trip took us further to California. And did we make the most of it.
The first two nights in Carmel with my husband's Aunt and Uncle - unbelievable hosts; and the next 3 nights in San Francisco. I won't bore you with a lot of words, but I just HAVE to share some of the pictures of the beautiful sites we saw.
Having never seen the Pacific, I don't know if I had given much thought to the possibility that it might be different than the Gulf and the Atlantic.
We took a real one.
By real, I mean: not work training; not for a child's play or activity; not to help out with maintenance and upkeep somewhere else.
Not that any of those reasons are not good, and do not make for a good trip or vacation. They are. But to just play? Just the Hubs and me? Priceless!
The furthest West I have been is Colorado. And this trip took us further to California. And did we make the most of it.
The first two nights in Carmel with my husband's Aunt and Uncle - unbelievable hosts; and the next 3 nights in San Francisco. I won't bore you with a lot of words, but I just HAVE to share some of the pictures of the beautiful sites we saw.
Having never seen the Pacific, I don't know if I had given much thought to the possibility that it might be different than the Gulf and the Atlantic.
It was! I was amazed at the blue. The deep blue that it is. Absolutely breathtaking.
I am amazed, even though I do not know why, that the Gulf, the Atlanta and the Pacific can each have such different shades of color in the water that laps at each shore. There is no reason why not, especially when we think how each individual is unique. But it still amazed me. And amazed I wanted to be.
A whale siting on our first day, without having to board a whale watching vessel. Not bad, not bad at all!
And it wasn't just one, there were two.
... And a smile for the road.
Our first day was fueled by less than two hours of sleep - we had an ordeal with a flight canceled and trying to get to Atlanta for our morning flight - but I think regardless of the fatigue, this was a day fully appreciated and we were fully washed with treats. As dinner cooked, we watched the above sunset from the porch of Paul and Sue.
A wonderful ending to an amazing day!
Smiles!
Our first Pacific stop was Carmel Meadows. A little neighborhood with a beach access. We found out later, when we made it Paul and Sue's, that we had not been far from Betty White's home.
Now that would have been a treat too.
But the treats were not over for the day. As Paul and Sue spoiled us with their tour of the area (day 1 of the tours), we were all treated by an unanticipated show of nature.
We stopped at Monastery Beach, right around from where we had first touched the sand of the Pacific.
We were about to walk back to the car when Paul spotted something.
We turned and watched and after a minute or so we saw it...
A whale siting on our first day, without having to board a whale watching vessel. Not bad, not bad at all!
And it wasn't just one, there were two.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Fencing the Chattahoocheee
Beyond the flowers and the rails, on the edge of a town called Fort Gaines, is a hillside...
At the bottom of the hillside, is the Chattahoochee. You can't see much of it, but it is there.
Go fence jumping...just click above.
Smiles!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Memory Nudgers
I started today with my simple spider and web head piece and stockings with glued on roaches (I had on regular clothes too, I promise) and headed to work. My decorations were subtle, but those that noticed smiled and seemed to just enjoy the playfulness of the day. Only a few of decorated ourselves for this 31st day of October.
I took a few minutes to check out a favorite site, and a recent post touched on a memory.
These are homemade, you can check it out at TheKitchn...
My Grandfather's birthday was October 31st. I remember tootsie rolls being among one of his favorite candies (and butterscotch). I still have a tootsie roll cardboard bank that he gave me when I was a child.
Halloween was always spent trick or treating the neighborhood, followed by a quick treck to my grandparent's house at the end of the evening - just a mere four blocks away.
My brother and I would always go to the door, ring the bell and get to giggling at the thoughts of "tricking" my grandpa, by him not knowing it was us. I am sure he always knew, and I am pretty sure we were always the last. And we always received the count - many times in the 100 visitor area. Our neighborhood was rocked with door to door candy beggers.
We would visit for just a bit, after collecting our candy. Then headed home, many times in the first flurries of the first snow for the season.
Tonight, as we prepared our plates at Wednesday night supper (in the South, many churches still have Wednesday night supper followed by a quick presentation), they had a dessert table set up. Ice Cream and toppings. I usually skip on the ice cream, but just could not as I noticed the caramel topping.
Another memory nudged of my Grandfather. Really, of my Grandparents - Grandma did the fixing, but I truly believe that Grandpa set the structure: ALWAYS vanilla ice cream and ALWAYS caramel topping.
So today, an easy day to remember to remember, had some subtle memories nudged beyond that of costumes and tricks and treats.
It was a good day and the vanilla ice cream with caramel syrup hit the spot!
I took a few minutes to check out a favorite site, and a recent post touched on a memory.
Picture from TheKitchn.com
Tootsie Rolls!!!These are homemade, you can check it out at TheKitchn...
My Grandfather's birthday was October 31st. I remember tootsie rolls being among one of his favorite candies (and butterscotch). I still have a tootsie roll cardboard bank that he gave me when I was a child.
Halloween was always spent trick or treating the neighborhood, followed by a quick treck to my grandparent's house at the end of the evening - just a mere four blocks away.
My brother and I would always go to the door, ring the bell and get to giggling at the thoughts of "tricking" my grandpa, by him not knowing it was us. I am sure he always knew, and I am pretty sure we were always the last. And we always received the count - many times in the 100 visitor area. Our neighborhood was rocked with door to door candy beggers.
We would visit for just a bit, after collecting our candy. Then headed home, many times in the first flurries of the first snow for the season.
Tonight, as we prepared our plates at Wednesday night supper (in the South, many churches still have Wednesday night supper followed by a quick presentation), they had a dessert table set up. Ice Cream and toppings. I usually skip on the ice cream, but just could not as I noticed the caramel topping.
Another memory nudged of my Grandfather. Really, of my Grandparents - Grandma did the fixing, but I truly believe that Grandpa set the structure: ALWAYS vanilla ice cream and ALWAYS caramel topping.
So today, an easy day to remember to remember, had some subtle memories nudged beyond that of costumes and tricks and treats.
It was a good day and the vanilla ice cream with caramel syrup hit the spot!
My brother and myself, probably 1978ish...
My Grandfather, many years earlier, on a vacation to Texas
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Hopes For Others
I have been working on a project lately. It is another blog. But not a blog for me.
A couple months ago, I shared the journey our niece and her son are on (and his dad – they divorced quite a few years ago, and I don’t want to come across as disregarding his part and his pain in this journey, but I notice I mainly refer to my neice). You can read that post Here or you can read his story here.
In reading online one day, I came across a foundation. Noah’s Hand’s of Hope. How beautiful some people are!!
They, too, are traveling this road that Leigh’s Syndrome is taking them down. In the process they have set up this foundation. In addition to accepting volunteers and donations, one can submit a child’s name. They support the family in many ways. From the child that is fighting the disease, to their siblings and to the family as a whole. Prayers, cards, calls, gift certificates. This foundation really touches suffering families in every corner of their lives.
I submitted Curt’s name and received a quick email from Kate. What a sweet person she is! One item was missing from the form though: a blog or a caring page or some way for the committee to verify Curt does exist and that his condition is real and this journey is true. A way to protect the foundation from being lied to.
It is sad that there are people out there, that will spend so much of other peoples energy scamming groups that are doing a wonderful act of reaching out to others.
The blog is up and posts are being made. Writing a post as if from a 6 year old is not all that easy. Our niece is busy with caring for him and two jobs and dealing with all the emotions that come with this journey, so extra time for her, well, needs to be spent loving on her Super C!
And while it has been a little odd and hard to post another's journey, there has been an award, other than having a way to share Curt’s story with distant friends, but in a way I would not have considered.
His mom told me she looks daily to see what is new with her and Curt.
Now I don’t share anything she has not approved or provided, but it seems that seeing the pictures and reading your story with someone else’s words can work. Can maybe give you another perspective? Maybe...
Another friend of the family said she had read it and oohed on how much more positive it was than the bits of a story here and a bit there.
It is so easy to hear the hurdles and miss those simple blessings that get lost in the less positive aspects of any day.
So while I struggled with the “should I have started it this way” I was encouraged to keep the pace.
You can visit Curt’s Corner here to read his story and maybe follow along with them. And if you will, include them in your prayers?
Also, there are few links on the side bar. One is Noah’s Hand’s of Hope, what a wonderful example of reaching out to others during one’s own time of crisis.
Another is the Tiny Sparrow Foundation. I stumbled upon it one day and was amazed by the photos. This not-for profit recruits volunteers that set up photo sessions with families whose children are terminally ill. Amazing pictures that will tug at your heart.
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
A couple months ago, I shared the journey our niece and her son are on (and his dad – they divorced quite a few years ago, and I don’t want to come across as disregarding his part and his pain in this journey, but I notice I mainly refer to my neice). You can read that post Here or you can read his story here.
In reading online one day, I came across a foundation. Noah’s Hand’s of Hope. How beautiful some people are!!
They, too, are traveling this road that Leigh’s Syndrome is taking them down. In the process they have set up this foundation. In addition to accepting volunteers and donations, one can submit a child’s name. They support the family in many ways. From the child that is fighting the disease, to their siblings and to the family as a whole. Prayers, cards, calls, gift certificates. This foundation really touches suffering families in every corner of their lives.
I submitted Curt’s name and received a quick email from Kate. What a sweet person she is! One item was missing from the form though: a blog or a caring page or some way for the committee to verify Curt does exist and that his condition is real and this journey is true. A way to protect the foundation from being lied to.
It is sad that there are people out there, that will spend so much of other peoples energy scamming groups that are doing a wonderful act of reaching out to others.
The blog is up and posts are being made. Writing a post as if from a 6 year old is not all that easy. Our niece is busy with caring for him and two jobs and dealing with all the emotions that come with this journey, so extra time for her, well, needs to be spent loving on her Super C!
And while it has been a little odd and hard to post another's journey, there has been an award, other than having a way to share Curt’s story with distant friends, but in a way I would not have considered.
His mom told me she looks daily to see what is new with her and Curt.
Now I don’t share anything she has not approved or provided, but it seems that seeing the pictures and reading your story with someone else’s words can work. Can maybe give you another perspective? Maybe...
Another friend of the family said she had read it and oohed on how much more positive it was than the bits of a story here and a bit there.
It is so easy to hear the hurdles and miss those simple blessings that get lost in the less positive aspects of any day.
So while I struggled with the “should I have started it this way” I was encouraged to keep the pace.
You can visit Curt’s Corner here to read his story and maybe follow along with them. And if you will, include them in your prayers?
Also, there are few links on the side bar. One is Noah’s Hand’s of Hope, what a wonderful example of reaching out to others during one’s own time of crisis.
Another is the Tiny Sparrow Foundation. I stumbled upon it one day and was amazed by the photos. This not-for profit recruits volunteers that set up photo sessions with families whose children are terminally ill. Amazing pictures that will tug at your heart.
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
He gently leads those who have young
~Isaiah 40:11
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