A story of a life

When you get to be my age, you discover that life holds more endings than beginnings. I am in the process of another ending.
My cousin David Bugbee (my mother's nephew) has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. On Sunday, Rick and I went out to Buffalo to see the family. David's sister Sylvia was there with her daughter Shereen. I've not seen them in years. David's daughters, Sheila and Luanne flew home from where they live in Alaska. The last time I saw those girls, they were just little tykes. David's wife, Bonnie, is as beautiful as the day he married her.
We were brought together because of David's illness. This makes me wonder how we can get so wrapped up in our own lives, that we just think those we love, who are far away, will always be there. Life has a way of reminding us that our time on this earth is temporary.
I guess my theme today is, let the folks you love know that you love them. No matter how far away they live, or how long it's been since you've spoken to them. Call, e-mail, send a card.....times passes too fast. To my family, I love each and every one of you!

A feeling of pride

When you have children, you have a proprietary sense of pride. You cheer each accomplishment....from their first step onward.
This past weekend, we burst with pride for our son Derek. He has honorably served our country in the Marines and is now back in college, going for his degree in Theater. His theater company is in the midst of their run of "Rent". We expected him to do well, but he (and the rest of the cast & crew) blew us away. While watching him onstage, I was watching "Tom Collins", not Derek, the son. I can't say enough about his performance except to say that there were two parents in the audience in awe of the talent onstage.
But, as a parent I am blessed in so many ways. Each of "my babies" is multi-talented. Matt designs remarkable things (and sings a mean Neil Young...especially if he thinks no one is listening!)
Josh has a brain I envy.....I couldn't begin to figure out how to create video games. And some of my favorite music CD's are the ones he made while in college! Tiffany has such a wealth of compassion for others (which is why she'll excel in her line of work!) and has the voice of an angel.
So much talent and so much beauty. And yes, each of them is beautiful. I love my babies, more than they know.

Green is beautiful

This time of year, my favorite color is green. After the long winter of white (or brown) it's such a treat to see everything starting to turn green.
We have some bushes (although I don't know what their name is) that we refer to as our "spring bushes". We use them to know whether we are done with snow for the season and if we can safely take the snowblower off the garden tractor! How you ask? Each spring, after they have leafed out we have no more snow. That doesn't mean that it won't get cold again, but it's never snowed after the leaves have come out.
In early spring when we take our walks, we start looking to see any signs of green on these bushes. As the tiny leaves start to emerge, we get more hopeful.
I'm happy to report that these leaves have opened and the snow is officially over! As you drive down the road, you'll see these bushes as a beautiful haze of green. I know that when I see that the worst is over and we're heading straight for spring.
Of course I also need to give a nod to the willow trees. They seem to be the first tree to open their leaves to the spring sunshine.
I'm sure that back in the olden days, that was one of the ways that folks knew winter was over and warmer weather was finally on its way.
All I know is that these are beautiful signs of spring!