Day 1: Ready:Okay

Vai com Deus.

In Gratitude

John 3:15

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁵ That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
 but have eternal life.

 
One of our childhood friends suffered
the passing of her brother
yesterday.  It's never anyone awful
passing too soon or unexpectedly.
It's always the sweethearts
who probably felt too much, worked
too hard and died with their feelings buried
deep in their souls as not to burden others.

Uncle Joe and I always sit in awe of the families where both
parents and all the siblings are still alive.  Maybe it's because
we sustained  losses of a parent and a sibling too soon.
We are older and wiser and know the blessing of siblings
and parents. 

We understand the loss and
mourn, not only this special man, but for his family,


Today, find gratitude for all the small things.
Call your mom and dad.
Mend fences with your siblings.
Tell them you love them.

Words of Encouragement

Deuteronomy 28:7

New International Version (NIV)

⁷ The Lord will grant that the enemies 

who rise up against you will be defeated before you. 

They will come at you from 

one direction but flee from you in seven.

Fill your heart with courage.  

Make crafts.

Make memories.

Collect something. 

Smile.  

To Be Known and Loved Anyway

We've loved each other for a lifetime.
More like sisters, really.

Our lives have often paralleled.
She knows all the good and bad
and loves me, anyway.

Mr. Lee had a smile plastered on his
face and tears rolled for me.
Here's what was in our anniversary
package.

Thank you Boland family.  We love
you back.  

Kindred Spirits

Is there anything more lovely than friendship?

Maybe a tall husband....

 

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. 

It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Two funerals and one wedding

This was the subject line of my friend's email. 
Chrisy and I have been friends since before I could
speak a word of English.  We were four years old.

Aunt Minnie, our neighbor at 424 Purisima, said
we couldn't possibly be friends because
we were like Mutt and Jeff.
She was tall and thin and I was tiny. 

No matter.  We liked the same things, we were born
days apart, and Chrisy had Portuguese roots. 
We were both the babies of our families.
Shared the trials of life together,
reason enough to have 44 years
of friendship behind us. 

A sister in-law passed, a nephew passed
with a sister in-law's wedding just around the
corner.

I bawled with the news.  Her pain in my
pain.  I know what it is to lose a sibling and
I can't imagine losing any of my nieces or
nephews.  Lord, let me be spared the lost
of a child.  The children of the next generation.

Our families are so intertwined. Donna, the
sister just above Chrisy, is the same age
as Joe.  It was her son, Karl, who
lost his battle to cancer.  The present
and the past woven together, as
I recalled Karl as an infant.

The four of us would play together,
go to school together, and grow up together.

Donna, Chrisy, Joe, Me

We made the leis from fresh daisies from our neighbor's yard

Today's message is to relish every day.
Stay close to your beloved. Patch up
any hurts.