Uncategorized – Join me on a blessed and heartfelt journey of discovery!

Finding Blessings in the Burdens

November 28, 2025
by admin

Another day of taking Mom to an appointment, tidying her apartment, prepping her next week’s meds, listening to the challenges she is facing, and trying to find solutions and offer comfort. Tomorrow I get to repeat the routine, minus the med prepping, as she has another appointment. Not the activity I would choose the day before Thanksgiving, indeed, not really the activity I would choose on any given day.

Truthfully, I had thought things would be different at this phase in my life. Semi-retired; children are now adults, and I have grandchildren to enjoy. I thought I would have more time to pursue all the things I had put off until later. But my writing is still done in stolen moments between obligations, scrapbooking, and other craft projects are left for a future yet to become the present. Meditation and energy classes bookmarked but not signed up for because, despite the pull of my heart, I don’t feel I can make them a priority. The list goes on. With the ever shifting needs of my mother, I am loath to commit to future obligations or begin new projects. This is the world I now find myself in, and I know it is a choice on my part – a choice to be there for my mother or a choice to follow my desires. And while I try to accommodate both to a degree, I have consciously chosen to make Mom the priority, to shoulder the burden of her care.

For all the disappointments and the occasional resentment that choose to express themselves with this arrangement, I am finding that, with the burden and responsibilities, there are also blessings and things for which to be grateful. Spending this time with Mom has allowed me to learn more about who she is and was as a person, at least from her perspective. I have heard stories about my ancestors I would have never known and listened to a history of experiences I never lived, learning lessons along the way. I have learned to have a voice and speak up for others in a way that is forceful when needed, yet always mindful of the need to not create enemies. My patience has grown as I watch her navigate ever so slowly down the halls of medical offices with her walker, and my attention to my own health is more focused than before. I have learned the ins and outs of making things easier for her while still respecting her sovereignty, including allowing her to keep her ‘organized’ piles of those things she wishes to stay visible on every counter and table surface possible.

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, a day given to remember blessings, usually focused on more pedestrian things such as food, the beginning of the gift giving season, and family and friends, I find I am grateful for so much more. While I am not grateful to find myself in a place in life I don’t really feel I would have happily chosen, I am grateful to have found the blessings among the burdens. I am thankful for the quiet moments, for the mending of a relationship that happens in companionship, the stories shared and new stories made together, and for the many life lessons I am learning. And perhaps, that is where the magic of this life manifests, and we are meant to live in the contradictions and embrace them. Perhaps it is the burdens that help us find the blessings.

Wishing you, dear friend, many blessings and much gratitude as you embrace the contradictions on your heartfelt journey. ~♥~

~ Perhaps it is the burdens that help us find the blessings. ~

What I Heard

June 16, 2020June 15, 2020
by admin

In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, a cry arose. A cry that demanded to be heard. A cry that had many stories to tell. Stories that mirrored the lack of respect of another person’s life just based on the color of their skin. As this began there was a request that white people silence their social media accounts except to share what black or other people of color had created to share. I respected this request for this was their story to tell and not mine. It was, however, my turn to listen.

What I heard were mothers that shared the concern they have for their children. This concern was not just about the happiness or success of their children, but concern about whether they would be alive the next day. Would they remember how to dress, how to speak, how to present themselves so they would not become another statistic? Fear for my children is something I understand but this was not a fear I had experienced once much less every day.

What I heard were voices mourning the loss of loved ones in circumstances that I would most likely never encounter and definitely had never envisioned.

What I heard were voices expressing the love of their community but not trusting the people in leadership because of generations of betrayals.

What I heard were voices asking for respect of their differences. Not allowances. Not special treatment. Respect.

What I heard were voices asking to tell their stories from their point of view without being told they were wrong just because their perception differed from the main stream.

What I heard were voices asking to be heard. Asking to be validated. Asking to be told they matter just as much as any other American.

What I heard were human voices expressing their love, their pain, their concerns, their hopes, their dreams…reminding me how alike we truly are despite any surface differences.

This was a novel experience for me, remaining silent and not offering my opinion, insight or judgement and it was not easy at times. There were times I was angry and frustrated. Times I felt I was being judged unfairly and not allowed to defend myself. Times I could not offer my thoughts or suggest another way. And in those times I would remind myself, what I was feeling, was only a small part of what people experiencing racism face on a daily basis.

This part of the journey is not over so I will continue to listen as the stories are told, no matter the discomfort. I will continue to learn so that I may understand and join my voice to those that are crying out against racism and injustice. I will continue to have compassion and empathy for all people despite our differences. For the truth is, there is only one race and it is through connection, understanding and compassion we can heal as a nation.

Wishing everyone much love and compassion as we heal together on this heartfelt journey. ~♥~

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
~Martin Luther King~

Endings~Today, This Moment

April 16, 2020April 16, 2020
by admin

As my boys were growing up they were involved in the usual team sports, soccer (AYSO-all your Saturdays occupied), basketball and baseball with thankfully only one season of football thrown in. My husband and I being the dedicated parents we thought we were supposed to be, were not content to sit on the sidelines and the majority of the time we found ourselves as coach, assistant coach, ref, team mom, etc. There always seemed to be need and not enough volunteers. Though the sports merry-go-round seemed to constantly spin and at times was overwhelming, those are memories that I cherish.

Finding Blessings in the Burdens

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What I Heard

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Endings~Today, This Moment

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