Forever Friends

We are having a special reunion today with friends who moved across the country about a year ago. It's like the kids were never apart. Two of the boys (the two in the middle) were born about an hour apart on the same day in the same hospital, so we call them twins. I interrupted their "Lava Monster" game for a quick pose (click on images to enlarge).And then for a hearty meal of pizza after a long day of outdoor play:

Perfect!

It has seemed kind of strange to have written two such long posts in the last 2 days relating to David's health situation again. Really not that much has happened or changed with HIS HEALTH in the last week or two, but suddenly with the beginning of the new semester I'm posting a lot and at length once more.

I mentioned this to my friend Ellen tonight, and in one sentence she made it all make sense! She put it so perfectly that I had to post this:

"Now that life is getting back to normal it's obvious that it's not normal."

Thanks Ellen!! That's it!

International House of Wafel

This weekend, Portuguese-Dutch me was taught by my Armenian friend how to make the Dutch treat stroopwafel. It occurred to me that rather than the International House of Pancakes (IHOP), we had the International House of Wafels (IHOW)!

She and I had actually been talking about doing this for years, and it finally came about, so it's even more of an event than the pictures alone indicate.

YUMMY!!

Ruminations and Reflections

I received the following in a note from a friend this morning:

"Four weeks ago, you and your family were thrust into a new and unexpected course, and today, David is home. Hope you both will be able to reflect on that wonder today, and look ahead to more expectations of recovery."

Yes, I have been doing some reflecting today. It seems like a century ago that Jacob was waking me up saying, "Mommy, Daddy fell down and he can't get up," but it has been exactly four weeks to the day. We have come so far.

It's unfortunate that it can often take something like this to jar us out of our routine and to cause us to look at the bigger picture.

I've been thinking a lot about TIME, what it is, how it works, how it feels.

I think earlier in life I would have wished to be able to see what was ahead. As a 42-year old with some life experience, I'm very glad we can't see the future. I'm thankful that God gives us our lives second by second, and that as things happen, things we would never have thought we could handle, God gives us the grace in that moment to deal with it.

Throughout this experience I can't help but think back to our wedding day, and not for reasons you might expect. What my mind keeps going back to is David's dad (who performed the ceremony) - how he was somewhat taken aback by our choice of scripture for the message. I remember him expressing during the ceremony itself how surprised he had been by our choice and what a challenge it had been to come up with a wedding message to go with that scripture.

Our passage was Psalm 34:1-10.

I guess he was surprised both because it was not a "traditional" wedding text, but also because although it contains a lot of joy, those verses also contain a lot of pain and struggle - a seemingly strange thing to be talking about on a wedding day. What Dad ended up doing was to weave that passage with John Bunyan's story Pilgrim's Progress and to talk about what a journey life is - a journey composed of many elements, some easy, some hard, some joyful, some painful, some clear, some confusing. He ended by admonishing us to "Taste and see that the Lord is good," that with God we would make the journey well, and that "happy is the 'couple' that takes their refuge in Him."

During this experience particularly, even 20 years after that message was given, it has come to mind for me and for David, and we have commented on how particularly appropriate that passage has been to our life together.

All lives have ups and downs, and we've certainly had ours - on the down side my four year struggle with deep depression, losing two babies to miscarriage, diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, David's stroke and issues with his heart - on the up side (so much that I can't list it!) loving friends and family, 3 WONDERFUL boys, jobs that not only provide financially but are also sources of joy and pleasure to both of us, opportunity to travel, twenty years of happy marriage, ETC!

Our lives are so rich! We have so much to be thankful for, especially for our faithful God who has made the journey with us in the good times and in the bad, who has been our refuge, and who so wisely gives us our lives, not all at once, but moment by moment and who gives the grace for each moment.

David and I had no idea what lay ahead when we chose that scripture as our wedding text. We just thought it sounded nice, that's all. But God knew.

Those are my thoughts today in this time of reflection when, because of current circumstances, our vision seems broader and life as a whole seems spread out before our eyes in a way that it typically is not.

In Memoriam

Thinking of you with love Katie!

World's Most Attractive People

I believe the world's most attractive people are those who are comfortable in their own skin - people who are genuine - people who know who they are and are not afraid to be who they are - people who don't have anything to prove (and are therefore free to be truly kind) - people who are perhaps a bit eccentric or quirky - ORIGINALS!

Today I will be attending the wedding of two such people. I'm very much looking forward to it and am sure it will be a fun and joyous event to remember for all present!

Private to Juliana and Ross: You are beautiful people!
Best wishes to you in your life together!

Pay it Forward

This goes from silly to serious, but it has a point. I don't know how to write about it without stringing all these thoughts together, so hang on for the ride!

A dear friend of mine traveled to England in the fall. She knows what an anglophile I am, and when she returned home she sent me an email with a photo attached. I downloaded the attachment with great anticipation. I assumed it would be a picture of Westminster Abbey or some other particular cathedral or castle that I love - or perhaps the home of one of my favorite authors. The following picture was what I opened:

WHAT?!

When I first opened it I was shocked - no castle? no cathedral? not even a hedgerow? A car?! Then I looked more closely. Clearly she is reading my posts and knows how special the Azores are to me! It's such a cool thing to have friends who really know you and pick up on it when something is special to you, even when they are not with you - even something as obscure as a taxi in England with advertising for the Azores on it!

I was touched.

This surprise of a picture brought to mind two more serious things that have touched me very deeply this year. One of these is that while this friend was in England, she lit a candle for me in Westminster Abbey and prayed for me, remembering a burden I've long carried. Another dear friend visited Israel last year and wrote my name on a slip of paper and put it in the wailing wall also with a prayer for full freedom for me.

Both have made me feel my burden lessened by their care and carrying it with me and bringing it before God for me in very special ways.

I'm using a lot of words, but these actions have touched my soul beyond the ability of my words to express.

As these have come to mind, I have a strong sense of wanting to "pay it forward." I want to take what they have done for me and pass it on by doing the same for others. I want to remember those in my life who are carrying burdens of any kind, to think of them, and to remember them before God, and, in so doing, to help them carry their burden.

If you are someone I know of who is carrying a burden, know that I am thinking of you in this way and remembering you before God in my prayers.

If you feel so lead, I'd like to ask you to consider "paying it forward" for others too. What a precious thing we can do for each other!

Friends are Friends Forever

"Friends are Friends Forever" (Michael W. Smith)A great thing in life is how true friends can pick up right where they left off even if they have very different lives than 20+ years ago when they met in college, even if they live thousands of miles away, even if they see each other very infrequently. Whenever they get back together again it's like they've never been apart. It’s also cool to be able to support each other in prayer, which too reaches across the miles.Another great thing about true friends is that you can generate so much fun just by being together you can experience that incredible emotion of laughing so hard you nearly pee!

Those are the good times!

Thanks for the good times! Thanks for being there in the bad times! Thanks for your recent prayers!

Thanks for everything buddies!

Remembering Katie

Yesterday, August 1, would have been her birthday, the birthday of my first best friend. In the past that would have meant my family and I would be taking her out to dinner. In typical fashion, she would have tried to share her dinner with the rest of us (so that she would have room for what was most important: dessert!).

I came across a news piece recently about a woman who is 116 years old. That article and the fact that it's the time of year for Katie's birthday have brought her especially strongly to mind. Were she still living, she too would be 116. Yes, my first best friend was 75 years older than I, but that was never an issue. As a toddler I would ask her to come over and make mud-pies in my sandbox, so she called me her “little mud-pie girl.” She didn't quite make 116, but she did live to be 95, giving me the privilege of a 20-year friendship with her.

Born in 1890, this very special lady witnessed a lot of amazing history. Cars, airplanes and computers were all invented during her lifetime. She became a teenager the year the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk. She was 16 at the time of the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake – and living in San Francisco! It wasn't until she was in her twenties that there was a “war to end all wars," which, of course, had to be renamed World War I after we ended up having a World War II.

Katie had been widowed very young but often spoke of her “hubby.” I had so hoped to introduce her to my hubby, but she passed away 2 years before my wedding. Katie had no children, and as far as I know the only family she had was one nephew who has also now passed away. Although she has no living relatives and was not widely known, she is not yet forgotten. I imagine not many people visit her grave, but I do.

When I look at her headstone, I feel sad, but I feel something else too.

Her middle initial “R” is there between her first and last names. Even if someone passing by were to notice her small headstone, only a handful could possibly know what the “R” stands for.

I am one of those few.

Her middle name was Rebecca, and when I see that “R” and whisper her name, I feel there remains a little secret shared between my first best friend and her little mud-pie girl.

After 21 years I still miss you Katie.