Sunday, January 30, 2011

Pondering It All

Technology hasn't been my friend lately.

Yesterday was my son's 24th birthday and I couldn't post on his facebook page because I couldn't get in?

My laptop died a sudden death a couple weeks ago.  The tech says the harddrive got too hot and burned out the monitor, he is trying to save my files (next time, I will have an external hard drive and save my writing there!).

Then, this morning, after spending hours at the ER because the incompetent pharmacy tech at my Walgreen's couldn't read the doctor's quantity last evening and refused to refill my daughter's asthma medicine, I came home to post on my blog and posted on my book blog instead!

Now, my son found his cell phone after it was lost for weeks and my cell phone is tinkering on the brink, and I am wondering if I need to invest in a tablet?  All the while, we have access and our brethren in Egypt have been cut off from all forms of internet service, just how powerful is this ability to be heard!

Last failure, I typed my morning article on my book review site, did I say that already?  Well, I threw in some references to Isabel Wilkerson's book The Warmth Of Other Suns which I will review in greater detail next week.

My daughter is better now, thanks to the ER tech who gave her the breathing treatments I could have given her at home had the pharmacy tech filled the prescription on a Saturday evening!  She is giddy and laughing now and ready to take on the world.

I thought about how technology failed us then.  We have been on the same medicine for years from the same doctor, what couldn't he made out?  From the same insurance?  I wanted to go back to Whaley's Pharmacy in Jefferson City where the pharmacists, understanding the severity of asthma, would even deliver the medicine and take care of the details later.  What happened to us?

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Continuously Happy New Year

I am a strong believer in how you start the new year will leave a mark on all the days to follow.

Last night, we were blessed as a family to start it with my husband's long-lost sister.

We fellowshipped in her lovely mansion amid the two cats, the kids declaring their approval of her media room, and Keziah exclaiming "this is the home of my dreams!"

I tried as much as possible to dip in and out of the room and just absorb the love and connection that was transpiring between my husband, his baby sister, and his newfound sister.  They were rolling out family histories and comparing their experiences with the father that connected them all.


It made me smile and made me hope.  They reached beyond expectations and touched their hearts.

They made a choice and their choice was to embrace, empower, and enhance one another as ten turned to eleven.

My heart was rejoicing for the three of them.  Their smiles were exuberant and for a brief moment, these forty-somethings were children again, meeting a new playmate, and sharing their toys.

She greeted us with love and hugs and warmly walked us through the renovation she had been undertaking for the past two years in an historic part of St. Louis.  The food was spread out as if kings and queens were coming to visit, and the room splendidly decorated.  It gave me pause for a moment and I stood in the middle of her piano room and just breathed it all in.

There was nothing flashy about her or the work she had done, she didn't have children but took care to make sure that if any or all of her nieces and nephews visited, there would be something for them.  She had the Wii and the media room all ready for the kids, she had popcorn and popcorn bowls and an entire floor of the house that was set for when they come for a sleepover.

Again, I just stood there and took in the unconditional love that knit these siblings together as if they had all grown up under one roof.

Their connection made my heart sing, for I knew, somehow, brining in Eleven in this beautifully arrayed mansion, was a little taste of heaven right here.

The night went on with the siblings chatting, the kids and I relaxing in the media room, when the two of them burst in the room with the hats and noise makers - it was Eleven!  Happy New Year!  Again, I could only smile and the pure joy I saw on their faces.

We packed up and promised to stay in touch, now that they were all in the same city at the same time.  The kids asked (repeatedly) if they could spend Spring Break at her house (yes) and Summer (yes, the pool will be open then) and they jumped up and down with delight.  The teenager tried to just look cool and calm until he thought about that huge bathroom that would be part of his retreat.  They all hugged their Aunt Mayblene just looked as if we gave them a gift beyond anything they received a week earlier.

The connection and the gift I think was knowing that there is someone else out there in the world loving and encouraging and accepting you for you and sharing their joy together.

That is how we brought in the new year, with family, with love, with promise.  Eleven only has to produce the same.  Happy Joyous Amazing Prosperous Continuously Wonderful New Year!









One-One-Eleven

It feels so fresh and new.

We are filled with so much anticipation and excitement.

The clock turned to another year and all the days ahead are filled with possibility.

One-One-Eleven it just sounds magical and wonderful and absolutely magnificent!

My wish for the new year is discovery, adventure, and fulfillment.