SIGNS OF LIFE

It is constant, overwhelming, assaulting....


     Planes crashing on purpose

     Laws that encourage hatred against those that are "not like us"

     People doing awful things to children

     Beheadings, bombings,  gunfire


Stop


STOP


STOP!!!!



But there is another Way... much more...if you shift your perspective...just a little...you can see

the SIGNS--


     The person honest enough to hand back to you the twenty dollars that you dropped on the floor

     A parent who lovingly holds their child's hand to cross the street safely

     The soft-hearted animal lover who takes in stray pets that nobody else wants

     The sympathetic glances from people at the grocery store when your child is misbehaving

      A friend who is always there when you need them with encouraging words

     Courageous people who sacrifice their lives fighting for the rights of others

   

  it is everywhere...it surrounds us

         CLARITY

 

         GOOD

         TRUTH

         PROMISE

         BEAUTY

 

 

Photo courtesy of Wikepedia Commons

All right in front of us.... if we can get past the distractions clouding our vision...

Pay attention

 

Notice

Look

Look closer

Can you see ?

 

Can you see the Signs of Life??

 

 

   

(click on the link below)

 

 

THE CAVE PLATO

   

   

   

INFINITE HOPE

Aaaah, finally the end of a long, neverending,  draining day--cannot wait to to get home--almost there. 


Oh no.  My phone is ringing again.

His voice sounds frail, fading...."Honey can you come over?  I don't feel well."

Ummm, no.  I can't....I really can't.....I have plans....I was going to....

flop on the couch

 

eat the lunch I never got to

 

go for a relaxing walk with my dog while the sun is still out

 

 

 

But I can hear it in his voice----

 

 

I'm scared

 

 

I don't want to be alone

 

 

What is happening to my body??

 

 

 

"Sure, I'll be there in twenty minutes"

 

 

 

His color is grayish-yellow.  I get that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

 

Both of us know but neither of us says it---what the doctor has told him---that it doesn't look good.

 

 

"Well, your blood pressure is good and your lungs are clear."  We visit for quite a while and talk about everyday things--make light conversation.

 

 

I understand

 

I get it

 

Sometimes you just need another person there---another human being to make you feel normal, reassured, alive.

 

 

 

 

 

I can't cure him

 

I can't take away all of his fear and pain

 

I can't even promise him that he will see his granddaughter's next birthday

 

 

 

 

But I can be present--be with him---let him know that he is not alone

 

And I can give him

 

hope

 

Hope

 

HOPE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope that everything will be allright.....just maybe not in the way he thought it would be

 

 

 

And yes,

 

I'm sure of it...

 

I know...

 

hope that everything will be

 

 

Way better than he could ever have imagined

 

 

 

 



 

 



 



 

 



SITTIN'

It happens to all of us at some point.....at a crossroads in life----



STUCK

 

UNSURE  OF WHICH WAY TO GO

 

WANTING TO MAKE A CHANGE BUT AFRAID TO TRY

 

 

 

 

But you have everything you need......

 

 

YOU ARE

 

STRONG ENOUGH

 

SMART ENOUGH

 

WORTHY

 

DESERVING OF ALL GOOD

 

 

 

 

THE WORLD IS OPEN AND WAITING....

 

 

MOVE

 

GO

 

BELIEVE

 

SEIZE

 

START NOW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN STOP YOU...

 

 

 

THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN MOVE

 

YOU

 

FORWARD.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXCEPT YOU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*For K and all who are on the brink of a new beginning

 

 

(click on the link below)

 

SITTIN' ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY PLAYING FOR CHANGE



 

 

 

 

 

THE DREAM

That same dream again



 

 

She is walking with him

 

 

 

 off in the distance are majestic mountains and lush green valleys as far as she can see

 

 

the light is so bright it is blinding her eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

He pulls her into a hug--she can feel her eyelashes brush against his cheek

 

it feels like home. 

 

 

Fun loving, He loves to joke and dance

 

 

They begin to run and laugh out of pure joy....

 

 

 

 

 

 

He knows her

 

the real her

 

the authentic one

 

that not many people see

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suddenly they are in a field of flowers up to her knees

 

her favorite colors

 

Lavenders

 

Purples

 

Pinks

 

of every shade

 

their perfume is intoxicating.

 

 

 

Can she stay?

 

Can she stay forever??

 

 

 

No, she has to wake up

 

She has to go back

 

 

But she can visit the dream anytime in her mind

 

And He is always there...

 

Always waiting

 

 

 

(click on the link below)

 

Higher CREED

 

 

 

 

 

 



AWAKENINGS

 It stirs something in her memory....

The soft breeze on her face

 

 

 

 

The sun so bright it blinds her eyes

 

Her heart begins to bud and open like a flower in bloom

Even the birds in the trees chatter and sing in anticipation

Beginnings

 

 

 

 



 

Hope

 

 

 

 

 

Life

 

 

 

 

SPRING

 

 

 

*Arise north wind! Come, south wind! 

blow upon my garden that it's

perfumes may spread abroad.

 

Let us go early to the vineyards 

and see

if the vines are in bloom.

If the pomegranates have blossomed,

There will I give you my love. 

 

 

 

*Song of Songs 4:16, 7:13



 

 

 

 



KATHY'S SONG

I finally asked him one day...

"How old are you, anyway?" as he moved her from the wheelchair to the bed.

Small thin build, soft curly hair, soulful brown eyes--- he looked about fifteen years old.

"Huh?"  he continued adjusting her pants and putting on her shirt.

"How old are you?"

The other nurse wouldn't come back-- said the house was just too sad.  Small and cottage-like it was tidy enough,  but there was something about the place hard to describe-- sort of a feeling of emptiness and lifelessness.

I noticed an old picture of her on the night stand---long curly brown hair, careless freckles across her nose, a wide smile-- he looked just like her.

"I'm twenty."  Wow, a twenty year old kid that bathed, dressed and did all the care for his disabled mother.  I had never seen it before.

"You know you really do a great job with her.  You take care of her like a trained professional would."

He just brushed it off--didn't seem to hear me.  But how did he become her caregiver?  I knew she had a husband and daughter. 

One day it all made sense.  Walking past a slightly open door on my way to the bathroom, I saw them, strung out, nodding off, out of it ----each in their own  dark world.  Ahhh, so that's how it was left to him to get it all done --to make sure she was fed, clean, cared for in every way. 

Time went by.  Her strength fading, she grew more and more dependent on him. He moved her hospital bed into the living room where he slept on the couch to keep a close watch on her at all times. 

Watching the mutual love between mother and son was very moving.

                                                                        

One afternoon, not long after, my phone rang

"She's gone.  We rushed her to the hospital last night.  She didn't make it."  I could barely make out the words through his sobbing.  "My aunt said I didn't give her the care she needed."

 "That's not true.  You did a great job with her.  You are a wonderful son."  I couldn't hold back the tears streaming down my face.  " She knows how much you loved  her."

"She was my whole world.  I don't want to forget her voice-- I found a recording of it that I can listen to when I want to be close to her."




Afterwards he would call me off an on-- sometimes every few weeks--sometimes several times a week just to talk.  He shared his fears, hopes, triumphs, heartaches.  I started to think of him as one of my kids.   By watching over her son whom she loved so much, I could honor her memory.

At first I wondered what he needed from me-- noone could ever replace his mom-- I didn't know how I could help.   It took a while and then it became very clear  -- he just wanted someone to keep her memory alive like he did. 



It's been several years.  It's still a struggle,  but he is moving on with his life ---just like she would want him to.

And I think he realizes it now ---that people may pass away,  may physically be gone, but they are always really here......

their essence

 

their memory

 

 

 

 

 

their song

 

 

live on in the people who love them

 

 

 

 

In special memory of all of our loved ones who have passed on

 

 

(click on the link below)

 Kathy's Song Simon and Garfunkel

 

LITTLE MIRACLES

"It's going to be about another half hour, my Grandma isn't ready yet," comes a voice from the kitchen as I enter the house.

Great

Perfect

Now I will be running a whole hour late for my appointments on this grey, blah day.  My dark mood fits in perfectly with the weather outside.

Grumbling to myself, I open my computer and prepare to sit and a wait.



"Whatcha doing?"  A little body approaches.  "What is that?"

"It's my computer"

"I lost my tooth.  Do you want to see?"

Hmmm  I guess so

"Look!"

"Yeah, yeah I see.  That's nice"

Finally I look up.  Long blond hair, round cheeks, clear blue eyes, about 5 years old--she is staring at me.  I catch my breath---  she is stunning!!  As she sits down next to me and starts to talk about anything and everything,  I feel my mood start to lift.  Laying her head on my shoulder, I am surprised by how touched I feel at her simple act of sweetness.  "Can I watch you?" 

Innocence

Purity

Beauty

it surrounds her ... incredible, radiant, almost overwhelming in its brightness

Love

Goodness

Transparency

I almost have to move away from her,  the light is so intense. And, like all children I have ever met,  she seems completely unaware of it-- how she fills up the room. 




"Paige, honey come over here and leave that nurse alone,"  that southern drawl again from somewhere down the hall.

"Oh, she's ok"    Stay.      Let her stay.     Let me absorb some of her happiness, joy, wonder.


They say that the best part about being close to a child is that we see the world through their eyes-- a place of perfection, hope, fearless exploration, endless beginnings. 



It reminds me of something I heard one time--- something a very wise man once said: 

         *THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO LIVE YOUR LIFE.  ONE IS AS THOUGH NOTHING IS A MIRACLE.  THE OTHER IS AS THOUGH EVERYTHING IS A MIRACLE

 

 

CHILDREN SEE EVERYTHING AS A MIRACLE

 

COULD IT BE THEY ARE THE WISEST OF ALL?

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Albert Einstein(1879-1955)