he's made his decision

My son has decided to move in with me. The car he purchased a few months ago died on him yesterday. The repair shop told him it needed $4k in repairs to get it running again. So in a few short weeks, my household will hold one more... my son's coming home.

At the end of August 2004, my Chicago angel Liz told me my children would come back to me. Five years she said... it would take five years.

This August, it will mark only three. I didn't believe her at the time. There was not one ounce of faith left in me. The devastation was complete.

I have two friends who are close to the parents of two children right now dying of cancer. Those parents are believing for miracles to happen. Those parents are trying to hold on to a little bit of faith.

I had it no where near as bad as them. My children were healthy... simply not with me. I told a good friend of mine a few weeks back that she was lucky her children lived with her. Then I stated that others would say I was lucky simply because mine were still alive and able to call me and talk to me.

Yes. I am blessed in many things... and grateful for the life I now lead.

We all have different crosses to carry... some so heavy I have no idea how those who continue down their path survive.

We forget sometimes when we're so wrapped up in ourselves how blessed we really are with our health, our homes, and especially our families. Please send healing thoughts and prayers of blessings to the children in our worlds that are sick and in need. Whatever your beliefs, hold these two in your hearts...

www.caringbridge.org/visit/nathancosby

http://sydneythweatt.com/20060519.html

I pray for them to be at peace...

riding in the rain

"Empaths identify with many forms of nature and frequently feel affinity towards storms. "
~Jadoa Tai Alexander

Rain was predicted all weekend. The weatherman was half right.

Yesterday, I took Hope out for a ride in the rain. It was overcast but not gloomy. The beach was filled with tourists not afraid to get wet from above as well as from below. The island was full of activity... electricity. No matter what type of weather we have, there is always life happening on this little piece of land surrounded by the gulf waters.

Alive. The island is alive. Riding Hope makes me feel doubly blessed to live in a place filled with so much life and then breathe it in while gliding down the road.

The first thing I noticed about the rain is that the gentle drops turned to sharp pellets hitting the skin when my speed went from zero to sixty. I don't remember it feeling that way before, but yesterday it did. Must be that I'm getting more and more comfortable riding. I'm noticing new things every time now.

I didn't have the windshield on. I prefer to ride without. Those pellets brought me into a world of feeling everything times a hundred fold. They stung. They hit hard. They felt sharp. The pain made me feel as if I was part of the storm.

An action that caused a reaction. It was glorious. I never wanted the pain to stop. I never want to stop breathing. I always want to feel this alive!

On my way home from a couple of hours of flying, I noticed a weird sound when I was braking. After passing it by the guys at Hawg's, I believe it's simply an issue with the rain. I went out again tonight for an hour and a half and the sound appeared to be gone. I'll watch for it again though... just in case.

There is so much to learn about the bike. I need to know how to fix her. I need to know what to look for when things are starting to go wrong. Up until this point, I've simply joyfully jumped on Hope, started her up, and went for a ride. I've only checked my tires once.

I know... I know... I need to be more diligent. I need to learn about her.

This weekend was an awesome adventure... and also a kick in the pants to get me moving in the direction of "maintenance". I need to shop next payday for the manual that shows me how to change the oil. I need to buy a few tools. I need to get out of the simply enjoying mode and into the taking care of my ride mode.

It's time.

But for today... for today and for yesterday --

It's been a wonderful two day ride. One day in the rain and one in the setting sun and twilight. Hope, once again, has brought me contentment... she's brought me peace... she's centered me and brought my mind to where it needs to be.

Hope will always be home to me... don't know why, can't it explain and don't care to...

Thank you, God, for giving her to me... thank you for giving me hope...

*sigh of relief*

Congrats to my kids for working so hard in their studies at college!!!

Posted on the forum earlier when I got the call but wanted to hit my blog with the big news too!!! Can't post from work 'cause for some reason the editor is AWOL on that puter....

I am always very proud of my kids but today I celebrate their dedication to their own hopes and dreams -- and their ability to make them come true...... :-)

You are awesome..........

Love,
Mom
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just got a call at work from my daughter's boyfriend/eventual husband (they're two peas in a pod... *lol*). They’re both going to be college seniors next year.

Well, he received his MCAT scores (for medical school) today – he got a score of 3700q and is in the 96 percentile of everyone who took the test. Only 4% of the people taking the test did better than him. That pretty much makes it his "choice" of where he wants to go... his advisors have told him he'll get in to one of his top choices.

My daughter called me yesterday... She got a perfect 6 on the writing portion of her GRE test!!! This means that for graduate school she might not have any out of pocket expense at all. The funding and scholarships all go by your GRE scores. She was over the top excited. Not many get a perfect score...

Omg… great news for both of them! The sky's the limit... they're making great choices. They're following their dreams....

I had to be the proud mom and share. I figured you wouldn’t mind... thanks! :-)

The Book of Storms

Discovered this link through Rosey's profile at AS. Always interested in new views on the subject of empaths. The writer's research has come to a few conclusions including:

"An Empath is sensitive to the visible as well as the invisible. An Empath reads body language, tone of voice, body movements, the words people choose when they speak, the words they avoid, the logic they use; and the hidden things that only an Empath can sense inside another person."

My favorite empath link no longer works for some reason. I'm not sure why.

Just sharing...

:-)

The kids are home safe and sound

The kids have made it home from their sibling summer vacation out east. They visited many places the last few days including Fenway Park, Ellis Island Immigration Museum, the Statue of Liberty, the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Natural History, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, Times Square, Planet Hollywood and Niagra Falls.

I'm impressed with both of them. For a 21 year old and an 18 year old to take a 2700+ mile road trip alone out east and drive in the large cities they visited and take the subways took a lot of courage and independence. A wrong turn even had them driving in the Holland Tunnel at 2am into New York City. They were surprised at the traffic in the city that never sleeps... *lol*

To do the road trip in ten days was amazing. My children are adults now. They know no limits to what they can do. Their future is an open road. Their lives will be full of adventure. It's a wonderful view from here to watch them blossom and grow. May they always know that life is worth living and living is bigger than life itself. They make me very proud.

:-)

In Loving Memory of my Aunt Betty

She has been given peace...

God's Garden

God looked around His garden
And He found an empty place
He then looked down upon this earth
And saw your tired face.
He put His arms around you
And lifted you to rest
God's garden must be beautiful
He always takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering
He knew you were in pain
He knew that you would never
Get well on earth again.
He saw that the road was getting rough
And the hills are hard to climb
So He closed your weary eyelids,
And whispered, "Peace be thine."
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you didn't go alone
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.
~John J. McGowan