I am intensely fascinated with culinary shows on television. God help you if you want to watch a program and there is a cupcake war on or a boss of cakes scheduled for programing at the same time. You lose that battle with the remote. I consider myself a pretty good cook. If under pressure or if I am not in my own element my cooking skills are then a bit challenged. Also, I know that I really can bake much better than I can cook.
My fascination just continues to grow and my abilities get better with time and of course I will look at everything in some sort of bazaar philosophical way. My life in learning and understanding grows and my fascination with figuring out myself as well as others gets so much easier. I am able to trust myself more, I have tweaked my behaviors and am truly able to see how we evolve as human sponges.
I was peacefully sitting at the dinning room table this morning drinking my warm caffeinated cup of heaven and my mind wandered. I went deep into a happy thought about how I am very much an adult. I thought about the certain naivety I had when I was young. For instance, there was a point in time when I was in boarding school (we all relied on Raman noodles as if they were the last food on earth) and some of my boarding school sisters had come to realize that I honestly thought that a pot of water could burn up if left on the stove too long. Yes, I truly believed this at one point in my life! Although at the time I provided a good laugh for some of my pals, I was well aware that I was totally immature and a failure in the kitchen.
Just like my evolution from embarrassing culinary confessions I have finally evolved from such naive personal ideals. I look at myself, the earth, the universe, people, animals and nature in a whole different light. It's like walking through a long tunnel but I have finally reached the opening and a field full of wonder stands before me! Hence the obsession with providing myself and my family the food of life with pure enjoyment.
Its awesome that in life, even though we can "burn" we also can continue to grow, we learn to make things better.
Live your life.
Never stop yourself from learning.
...........and don't burn the water!!! ;)
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Human Soldier
"Stand straight like a soldier" I say to my boys. "Be strong like a soldier" I tell them when I want them to be tough about something. But what does it really mean?
A soldier is a person. A human with skin, blood pumping through his veins, he has thoughts and a thriving spirit. To me, soldiers are humans who transform into super-humans! The decision that a person makes when stepping into the life of a soldier will forever change them. These people will forever amaze me!
My father, my children's grandfather, was a true super-human in every form. I will be delicate when speaking of this angel of mine because I want to protect his memory while telling the truth. The truth is very important to me. He was a man who was very protective. His voice was so loud you felt the vibration in your chest when he spoke. His laugh was contagious! He was a friend to anyone who crossed his path. This was a man who would on occasion invite a stranger for dinner if they needed a meal. My father was more than a man, he was a walking angel. He was sensitive and played the flute. I remember him opening his beautiful case, adjusting the pieces before pulling it towards his lips and there it was......that sound! My father and that sound....
Many nights I would hear my mom and dad laugh and listen to music on the record player for hours until I fell into slumber. This was the happy man I knew, the fun man.
My father was a soldier. A soldier that hated war. I find it important to make sure my dad's story is told. The story we never really heard from beginning to end, the story we heard in bits and pieces enough to satisfy our hearts but for only a moment before the wondering would start up again.
Everything we know through the movies and documentaries about Vietnam is so close to the truth. Another reason I have had a fascination with any type of Vietnam or military movie is my wish to better understand what my soldier father went through. I can't jump inside the mind of man especially now that he is gone but I can for sure learn more to grow closer to him inside my heart.
My father fought a war he did not believe in. My father was sent to another area of our earth. He was commanded to fight humans he did not know and did not hate whatsoever! I know one thing for sure, this soldier fought with his own human instincts the whole time. My father voiced the fact that he was the sole survivor in his entire platoon. I can't even imagine what this soldier was going through. I can't even fathom. I tremble to put down the truth. There was so much death. My soldier father was traumatized in truth. Not one person survived, except for my father, in the group of soldiers he was fighting with. Not one. Soldiers watch their friends die. We then watch a human part of the soldier die. They are never ever the same no matter how hard they try after going through so much.
Agent Orange was a whole other story and my father was affected by it.
My soldier father was injured real bad and that is probably what may have saved his life. At the end of his tour he was sent to Okinawa Japan to a hospital where he would then stay until he was repaired enough to come back home to California.
The war was over for him.... Or was it?
Of course growing up around a soldier father there were some interesting behaviors brought home with him. He never answered me with a yes or no. My dad had always answered "negative" or "affirmative". He always griped about how much time was to be spent in the shower, how things should be folded and many other habits I found funny at a young age.
He was such an amazingly kind and light soul. I dearly love my father and wish with all of my heart that I could just tell him this. But alas, I am. If only he could read these words from the heavens above.
Every time I think of a soldier I think of super human mental strength and physical endurance that puts them on a pedestal high above the ground. If I think of them as just human people with skin and blood, my heart will break without repair.
A soldier is so much more than just a person. I wish with all of my heart that one day our country will take better care of these super-humans! Until then, out of respect for my father and other soldiers who are here or passed, please take EXTRA special care of them. No soldier should ever have to feel fear or worry when they are home.
Next time you see a soldier of war, make sure you give that man or woman the ultimate respect they deserve. They go through so much mental and physical conditioning. It's time to condition their hearts and care for our own because they go through things humans were not programed for.
PEACE & LOVE!
A soldier is a person. A human with skin, blood pumping through his veins, he has thoughts and a thriving spirit. To me, soldiers are humans who transform into super-humans! The decision that a person makes when stepping into the life of a soldier will forever change them. These people will forever amaze me!
My father, my children's grandfather, was a true super-human in every form. I will be delicate when speaking of this angel of mine because I want to protect his memory while telling the truth. The truth is very important to me. He was a man who was very protective. His voice was so loud you felt the vibration in your chest when he spoke. His laugh was contagious! He was a friend to anyone who crossed his path. This was a man who would on occasion invite a stranger for dinner if they needed a meal. My father was more than a man, he was a walking angel. He was sensitive and played the flute. I remember him opening his beautiful case, adjusting the pieces before pulling it towards his lips and there it was......that sound! My father and that sound....
Many nights I would hear my mom and dad laugh and listen to music on the record player for hours until I fell into slumber. This was the happy man I knew, the fun man.
My father was a soldier. A soldier that hated war. I find it important to make sure my dad's story is told. The story we never really heard from beginning to end, the story we heard in bits and pieces enough to satisfy our hearts but for only a moment before the wondering would start up again.
Everything we know through the movies and documentaries about Vietnam is so close to the truth. Another reason I have had a fascination with any type of Vietnam or military movie is my wish to better understand what my soldier father went through. I can't jump inside the mind of man especially now that he is gone but I can for sure learn more to grow closer to him inside my heart.
My father fought a war he did not believe in. My father was sent to another area of our earth. He was commanded to fight humans he did not know and did not hate whatsoever! I know one thing for sure, this soldier fought with his own human instincts the whole time. My father voiced the fact that he was the sole survivor in his entire platoon. I can't even imagine what this soldier was going through. I can't even fathom. I tremble to put down the truth. There was so much death. My soldier father was traumatized in truth. Not one person survived, except for my father, in the group of soldiers he was fighting with. Not one. Soldiers watch their friends die. We then watch a human part of the soldier die. They are never ever the same no matter how hard they try after going through so much.
Agent Orange was a whole other story and my father was affected by it.
My soldier father was injured real bad and that is probably what may have saved his life. At the end of his tour he was sent to Okinawa Japan to a hospital where he would then stay until he was repaired enough to come back home to California.
The war was over for him.... Or was it?
Of course growing up around a soldier father there were some interesting behaviors brought home with him. He never answered me with a yes or no. My dad had always answered "negative" or "affirmative". He always griped about how much time was to be spent in the shower, how things should be folded and many other habits I found funny at a young age.
He was such an amazingly kind and light soul. I dearly love my father and wish with all of my heart that I could just tell him this. But alas, I am. If only he could read these words from the heavens above.
Every time I think of a soldier I think of super human mental strength and physical endurance that puts them on a pedestal high above the ground. If I think of them as just human people with skin and blood, my heart will break without repair.
A soldier is so much more than just a person. I wish with all of my heart that one day our country will take better care of these super-humans! Until then, out of respect for my father and other soldiers who are here or passed, please take EXTRA special care of them. No soldier should ever have to feel fear or worry when they are home.
Next time you see a soldier of war, make sure you give that man or woman the ultimate respect they deserve. They go through so much mental and physical conditioning. It's time to condition their hearts and care for our own because they go through things humans were not programed for.
PEACE & LOVE!
Friday, December 23, 2011
A moment of protest & quiet...
Tonight I found myself give up for a moment. Mentally, emotionally and physically drained. I was between two racks of clothes on the floor sitting with my legs crossed......ready to start chanting. Okay I wasn't going to chant but I had finally had it with the stores and the insane lunatic holiday shoppers. I clearly needed a hot second to stop and think.
Me, a THIRTY-FIVE year old sitting on the dirty floor. In public. My darling life partner was somewhere around the bend looking for a sweater with my son when I had my adult sized tantrum. I did sit there quietly. Everything in my head went very quiet. I was staring almost perfectly into an opening where dozens of people were crowding a register. All I could think was "Oh my God. This is NOT what Christmas is about!"
As I was sitting there, my head was getting all these thoughts like flashes. I found myself getting physically ill the more I thought about how intensely materialistic we are & how life is not meant to be so freaking technical! Yes, I am one of "those" people that would be MUCH happier moving to a commune where only problems could arise if there wasn't enough compost or rain.....why can't I just worry about simple things.
I did not cause a scene. I just stopped, literally, in my tracks. Sat down. Between two metal racks. Not one person was near me. I felt extremely alone at that moment too. Why do i have to feel like this? Why do i have to constantly meditate just to get my mind right?? Why can't I get my dad off of my mind right now? I am brought back to a point where all of my self assured confidence flew out the store window!
After what felt like an eternity but was only a couple of minutes, I stood up slowly. Looking around to see if anyone noticed me sitting there like a freak. No one.
Wait..... That WAS my moment of meditation!!?!!?
After trying on clothes that will please my significant other and his family, after losing my mind going to different stores looking for specific gifts that grown ups have requested, after spending two days worrying about how I'm going to find the time to bake for extra people, after feeling under the weather but still doing everything without missing a beat.....I think that I was well overdue for some relief!
I guess I can look at it this way, I didn't fall out, I was lead to this spot. God gave me a few moments of peace and truly let me see, once again, what life was truly about. A minute to recharge mySELF.
I was raised a Catholic. I am a Christian. By no means am I one of "those" Christians who proclaim the word of God all day then proceed to be a hypocrite. I believe God is everywhere all the time in everything and everyone! I had to make that clear. I have found that meditation is the closest I can become to being spiritual, even more so than entering any church out there. Our thoughts are powerful and come from God. There is no arguing this.
After coming home completely spent, I sit down next to my little guy on the couch and start to unwind. I click the top button on my iPad and begin to check Facebook per usual. I was then reminded in black and white lettering that I was not alone. I also have found the most amazing loving friends through this network of people. I have been warmly received and do not feel so alone when it comes to real deep matters of the heart. I do not have a strong network of people that back me up in my everyday life. No tight relationships I can count on. The only TRUE BLUE friend that I have as a constant and trust with my life lives hundreds of miles away. I have pleaded with God and universe to bring me some sincere comfort and low and behold he did! We receive exactly what we ask for, it just may happen in an unexpected way or maybe after a long series of events. I may be feeling stress and heavy loss for my dad right now but I'm full of a special kind of peace at the moment. I couldn't be more grateful once again.
~ I want people to know how incredibly important it is to meditate. I have been doing this for almost a year now (thanks to a couple special ladies in LB who taught me) and it has given me a strong grip on my mental and emotional health. When meditating everything will truly slow down and clear up.
....Oh and please don't follow my lead and drop to the floor when the spiritual need is present but keep in mind that meditation is all in the heart and mind which makes it easy to do ANYWHERE! :)
Me, a THIRTY-FIVE year old sitting on the dirty floor. In public. My darling life partner was somewhere around the bend looking for a sweater with my son when I had my adult sized tantrum. I did sit there quietly. Everything in my head went very quiet. I was staring almost perfectly into an opening where dozens of people were crowding a register. All I could think was "Oh my God. This is NOT what Christmas is about!"
As I was sitting there, my head was getting all these thoughts like flashes. I found myself getting physically ill the more I thought about how intensely materialistic we are & how life is not meant to be so freaking technical! Yes, I am one of "those" people that would be MUCH happier moving to a commune where only problems could arise if there wasn't enough compost or rain.....why can't I just worry about simple things.
I did not cause a scene. I just stopped, literally, in my tracks. Sat down. Between two metal racks. Not one person was near me. I felt extremely alone at that moment too. Why do i have to feel like this? Why do i have to constantly meditate just to get my mind right?? Why can't I get my dad off of my mind right now? I am brought back to a point where all of my self assured confidence flew out the store window!
After what felt like an eternity but was only a couple of minutes, I stood up slowly. Looking around to see if anyone noticed me sitting there like a freak. No one.
Wait..... That WAS my moment of meditation!!?!!?
After trying on clothes that will please my significant other and his family, after losing my mind going to different stores looking for specific gifts that grown ups have requested, after spending two days worrying about how I'm going to find the time to bake for extra people, after feeling under the weather but still doing everything without missing a beat.....I think that I was well overdue for some relief!
I guess I can look at it this way, I didn't fall out, I was lead to this spot. God gave me a few moments of peace and truly let me see, once again, what life was truly about. A minute to recharge mySELF.
I was raised a Catholic. I am a Christian. By no means am I one of "those" Christians who proclaim the word of God all day then proceed to be a hypocrite. I believe God is everywhere all the time in everything and everyone! I had to make that clear. I have found that meditation is the closest I can become to being spiritual, even more so than entering any church out there. Our thoughts are powerful and come from God. There is no arguing this.
After coming home completely spent, I sit down next to my little guy on the couch and start to unwind. I click the top button on my iPad and begin to check Facebook per usual. I was then reminded in black and white lettering that I was not alone. I also have found the most amazing loving friends through this network of people. I have been warmly received and do not feel so alone when it comes to real deep matters of the heart. I do not have a strong network of people that back me up in my everyday life. No tight relationships I can count on. The only TRUE BLUE friend that I have as a constant and trust with my life lives hundreds of miles away. I have pleaded with God and universe to bring me some sincere comfort and low and behold he did! We receive exactly what we ask for, it just may happen in an unexpected way or maybe after a long series of events. I may be feeling stress and heavy loss for my dad right now but I'm full of a special kind of peace at the moment. I couldn't be more grateful once again.
~ I want people to know how incredibly important it is to meditate. I have been doing this for almost a year now (thanks to a couple special ladies in LB who taught me) and it has given me a strong grip on my mental and emotional health. When meditating everything will truly slow down and clear up.
....Oh and please don't follow my lead and drop to the floor when the spiritual need is present but keep in mind that meditation is all in the heart and mind which makes it easy to do ANYWHERE! :)
Monday, December 19, 2011
"Signs.. signs.. everywhere are these darn signs!"
"I've never met a writer that decided to write because they 'thought it was a good idea.' Writers are driven by passion or pure emotion." ~DRL
I absolutely have no intentions of writing anymore until I make something very clear. I did not just wake up one morning, scratch my head and exclaim "I think that I will be a writer!". That is not how I work. It's a passion that I was afraid to expose, but I have recently been hit with the inclination that I am suppose to write. After a lifetime of journals, poems and therapeutic unsent letters; I have now seen the signs and have decided to follow this path. This is the path that I was meant to take. I know what people are thinking. I see signs, yes, it sounds crazy as heck but let me enlighten you a bit.
My whole existence there has been signs but not until recent years did I realize how to really read them and acknowledge that they actually and quite rationally do exist! For example, as a child I would read the signs without knowing what the heck I was doing, people just called me sensitive so I did as well, but there is more to it than sensitivity. As an elementary student for the short period I had attended public school, I rode the bus with the other neighborhood children. There was a morning I woke up and remember very clearly how I entered my mom's bedroom, slowly approaching her with a nervous stomach and explained to her that I just didn't feel right that morning. I remember looking to the side of her bed at the television on her night stand.....when I heard the word "bus". I began to cry really hard and I remember the look in this poor woman's eyes looking down at her daughter who now was completely distraught.
I begged for only a few seconds to stay home from school before my mom had the phone in her hand excusing me from today's attendance. It wasn't long before my mom got a phone call that the bus had been pulled off the side of road. No one was hurt but the phone call was to inform parents that the children will be arriving late and everything was taken care of. If my memory serves me correctly I believe the bus driver was intoxicated and that was the cause to whatever had happened that morning.
I told this story to give a small example of how the rest of my life would then be like. Many many times I've seen the signs and listened, sometimes not even knowing what the heck I'm doing but just trusting my gut instinct. There are many more times I ignored these signs which has probably been the reason for some of my life's negative outcomes.
Last summer I took a very important and long overdue trip. I connected with some amazing relatives. While surrounded by these beautiful loved ones I was given an opportunity to read the contemplations and beautiful declarations of my Grandmother who has passed, while looking through an old album. There were a couple of intensely thoughtful and sensitive short writings in that book of pictures. She was a military Sergeant, a wonderful grandmother, and a great writer among many many things.
After the loving connection with these family members I then unexpectedly connected with something amazing and very powerful.... Self.
After thirty five years of being, I was filled with something new and very special. Call it a very personal and spiritual quest or whatever you will but I now see everything a little differently. I have the spiritual ammunition to try to help my children grow into instinctively aware and loving individuals.
I am confident. I am contented. I am connected.
After going through this spiritual awakening of sorts I also learned the art of meditation. With a little guidance by loved ones I now can try to meditate, pray and ask God and Universe let me see the signs that I need to see. I watch for them with a very open mind and with a heart full of love. I try.
As a final example, a few months back we took the children to the Lincoln Park Zoo and we spent the whole day downtown Chicago. This was the day I read my final sign.....
I absolutely have no intentions of writing anymore until I make something very clear. I did not just wake up one morning, scratch my head and exclaim "I think that I will be a writer!". That is not how I work. It's a passion that I was afraid to expose, but I have recently been hit with the inclination that I am suppose to write. After a lifetime of journals, poems and therapeutic unsent letters; I have now seen the signs and have decided to follow this path. This is the path that I was meant to take. I know what people are thinking. I see signs, yes, it sounds crazy as heck but let me enlighten you a bit.
My whole existence there has been signs but not until recent years did I realize how to really read them and acknowledge that they actually and quite rationally do exist! For example, as a child I would read the signs without knowing what the heck I was doing, people just called me sensitive so I did as well, but there is more to it than sensitivity. As an elementary student for the short period I had attended public school, I rode the bus with the other neighborhood children. There was a morning I woke up and remember very clearly how I entered my mom's bedroom, slowly approaching her with a nervous stomach and explained to her that I just didn't feel right that morning. I remember looking to the side of her bed at the television on her night stand.....when I heard the word "bus". I began to cry really hard and I remember the look in this poor woman's eyes looking down at her daughter who now was completely distraught.
I begged for only a few seconds to stay home from school before my mom had the phone in her hand excusing me from today's attendance. It wasn't long before my mom got a phone call that the bus had been pulled off the side of road. No one was hurt but the phone call was to inform parents that the children will be arriving late and everything was taken care of. If my memory serves me correctly I believe the bus driver was intoxicated and that was the cause to whatever had happened that morning.
I told this story to give a small example of how the rest of my life would then be like. Many many times I've seen the signs and listened, sometimes not even knowing what the heck I'm doing but just trusting my gut instinct. There are many more times I ignored these signs which has probably been the reason for some of my life's negative outcomes.
Last summer I took a very important and long overdue trip. I connected with some amazing relatives. While surrounded by these beautiful loved ones I was given an opportunity to read the contemplations and beautiful declarations of my Grandmother who has passed, while looking through an old album. There were a couple of intensely thoughtful and sensitive short writings in that book of pictures. She was a military Sergeant, a wonderful grandmother, and a great writer among many many things.
After the loving connection with these family members I then unexpectedly connected with something amazing and very powerful.... Self.
After thirty five years of being, I was filled with something new and very special. Call it a very personal and spiritual quest or whatever you will but I now see everything a little differently. I have the spiritual ammunition to try to help my children grow into instinctively aware and loving individuals.
I am confident. I am contented. I am connected.
After going through this spiritual awakening of sorts I also learned the art of meditation. With a little guidance by loved ones I now can try to meditate, pray and ask God and Universe let me see the signs that I need to see. I watch for them with a very open mind and with a heart full of love. I try.
As a final example, a few months back we took the children to the Lincoln Park Zoo and we spent the whole day downtown Chicago. This was the day I read my final sign.....
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
A Thousand Yard Stare at the picture of my past
Looking through pictures and I wonder....
How is it that for someone who would crave the attention from her friends and family, someone who sought it out with vigorous effort for many many years can actually end up with so VERY few pictures of her children with any of those friends or family???
I have no ego anymore and need to get some things out and into the open (hence the writing).....
I was one of many who did not have the cookie cutter life growing up. That sentence just made me giggle. My mom and I headed for the hills on a cross country trip from California to Chicago when I was real little, I couldn't have been older than about five years old. My mom still often will tell tales of that hair raising trip she took. She packed up her belongings, strapped me in a seat and drove through mountains, endured a couple intensely frightening situations, drove long and far with Chicago as her destination. Back home for mom.
Both of my parents were born and raised hard core Chicagoans. My father was moved out to Cali after my grandma noticed my dad & uncle were getting into a bit of trouble as a teenagers as well as to somehow protect my phenomenally gorgeous aunt who was the youngest. Thanks for trying grandma. My mom grew up close to my dad and they were friends but hadn't gotten together until years later after he was in California for a while.
My Aunt, mom's only sibling, and cousins still lived in Chicago. My grandma was tucked away for a while, before grandpa's passing, in a little town called Knox, Indiana. I really loved that town, the little Dairy Queen down yonder & the big ol' drug store that sold just about everything.
My parents had a love that grew for many many years even before they had gotten together. I was born out of that amazing love not long after they reunited when he returned from Vietnam. We lived in my grandma's house in Garden Grove where I was surrounded with family until my mom's move. When we moved to Chicago my mom and I lived in a really cool apartment on the bottom floor. We didn't have much but I was so loved I didn't know the difference between have and have not. My mom worked her fingers to the bone and eventually was even able to send me to private schools for most of my education. Only a couple times did I attend public, one year a public school attempt was due to hours of begging and not for financial reasons.
My father would go back and forth between trying to be a great dad here and going back to California. Please understand that when in Vietnam my father was the sole survivor in his platoon. He was a man who hated war. He wasn't the same person anymore. He was ill. His intentions were good. He was injured and even refused to receive his Purple Heart award. I respect him for that, I do. I love my father even if I didn't understand him then, I do now. I hurt, ache, for him now.
I grew up becoming quite attached to my cousins and aunt in Chicago. So much so that I started to almost believe I had brothers and sisters. Though many a night I would ask my mom when I could go see everyone in California but my mom would never entertain the thought of me leaving her sight for too long. She brings it up plenty these days how she wished she would have kept me closer to them.
The last time I saw my father was the day he left to go back to California. It was merely days before his departure that my father had promised to buy us a house and we even discussed that we would get a Great Dane to add to our little family. I will never forget that. My mom dropped me off, after picking me up from school, with my dad but he was in a real big hurry for some reason and didn't talk much. He made me nervous. Soon enough he took me across the hall, knocked on the door, and explained to our neighbors that he was in a hurry and had to catch a flight. He asked them to watch me until my mom got home from work. I gripped him tight, I began screaming, crying and begging as soon as I realized what was going on. To no avail. He let go of my grip. The strangers grabbed me and pulled me in. In a flash he was gone. He wasn't coming back.
Not long after, my earthly father was received into heaven. It was Dec 30 when he was taken from everyone who loved him. I was only a year older than my oldest son is now when cirrhosis of the liver took my dad.
This is always a strange time of year for me. So is the issue of alcohol. I myself have fought with that demon.....and I won!
After the years go by and I look at the small picture of my past I realize that nothing is perfect. I can't be so upset all the time that I don't have the connection I deeply crave with my family out in California. I shouldn't hold this deep regret for the loss of time with my father, my grandparents, aunt, great aunts or even friends who have passed. I can't be sad that after I endured a very unhealthy marriage which resulted in much needed divorce how I somehow lost even more family and friends here in Chicago. I've wasted too much time with regret.
I am now coming to a peaceful understanding that people may come in and out of our lives when they do for a reason. What reason you ask. I don't know for sure. I just know that I'm not the only one in the world who has felt the sense of loss or feeling out of place somehow. I also know that out of everything tough there IS something beautiful that can happen as result. I know I will teach my children the importance of exposing themselves to family and friend's that they love as much as possible, even if I'm not an expert these days.
I am currently on this path of learning all of life's lessons. I appreciate everyone who has touched my life in whatever way they have. I will not have regrets even if I have made a million mistakes. I am also working on building a strong sense of contentment and a peaceful mind when it comes to the fact that dynamics change between people and not to to be upset by this. I've learned to keep to myself and put all of my efforts into my family but will try to keep my heart open and available. God and universe will bring people in and out of our lives for a reason and we learn something from everything I suppose.
How is it that for someone who would crave the attention from her friends and family, someone who sought it out with vigorous effort for many many years can actually end up with so VERY few pictures of her children with any of those friends or family???
I have no ego anymore and need to get some things out and into the open (hence the writing).....
I was one of many who did not have the cookie cutter life growing up. That sentence just made me giggle. My mom and I headed for the hills on a cross country trip from California to Chicago when I was real little, I couldn't have been older than about five years old. My mom still often will tell tales of that hair raising trip she took. She packed up her belongings, strapped me in a seat and drove through mountains, endured a couple intensely frightening situations, drove long and far with Chicago as her destination. Back home for mom.
Both of my parents were born and raised hard core Chicagoans. My father was moved out to Cali after my grandma noticed my dad & uncle were getting into a bit of trouble as a teenagers as well as to somehow protect my phenomenally gorgeous aunt who was the youngest. Thanks for trying grandma. My mom grew up close to my dad and they were friends but hadn't gotten together until years later after he was in California for a while.
My Aunt, mom's only sibling, and cousins still lived in Chicago. My grandma was tucked away for a while, before grandpa's passing, in a little town called Knox, Indiana. I really loved that town, the little Dairy Queen down yonder & the big ol' drug store that sold just about everything.
My parents had a love that grew for many many years even before they had gotten together. I was born out of that amazing love not long after they reunited when he returned from Vietnam. We lived in my grandma's house in Garden Grove where I was surrounded with family until my mom's move. When we moved to Chicago my mom and I lived in a really cool apartment on the bottom floor. We didn't have much but I was so loved I didn't know the difference between have and have not. My mom worked her fingers to the bone and eventually was even able to send me to private schools for most of my education. Only a couple times did I attend public, one year a public school attempt was due to hours of begging and not for financial reasons.
My father would go back and forth between trying to be a great dad here and going back to California. Please understand that when in Vietnam my father was the sole survivor in his platoon. He was a man who hated war. He wasn't the same person anymore. He was ill. His intentions were good. He was injured and even refused to receive his Purple Heart award. I respect him for that, I do. I love my father even if I didn't understand him then, I do now. I hurt, ache, for him now.
I grew up becoming quite attached to my cousins and aunt in Chicago. So much so that I started to almost believe I had brothers and sisters. Though many a night I would ask my mom when I could go see everyone in California but my mom would never entertain the thought of me leaving her sight for too long. She brings it up plenty these days how she wished she would have kept me closer to them.
The last time I saw my father was the day he left to go back to California. It was merely days before his departure that my father had promised to buy us a house and we even discussed that we would get a Great Dane to add to our little family. I will never forget that. My mom dropped me off, after picking me up from school, with my dad but he was in a real big hurry for some reason and didn't talk much. He made me nervous. Soon enough he took me across the hall, knocked on the door, and explained to our neighbors that he was in a hurry and had to catch a flight. He asked them to watch me until my mom got home from work. I gripped him tight, I began screaming, crying and begging as soon as I realized what was going on. To no avail. He let go of my grip. The strangers grabbed me and pulled me in. In a flash he was gone. He wasn't coming back.
Not long after, my earthly father was received into heaven. It was Dec 30 when he was taken from everyone who loved him. I was only a year older than my oldest son is now when cirrhosis of the liver took my dad.
This is always a strange time of year for me. So is the issue of alcohol. I myself have fought with that demon.....and I won!
After the years go by and I look at the small picture of my past I realize that nothing is perfect. I can't be so upset all the time that I don't have the connection I deeply crave with my family out in California. I shouldn't hold this deep regret for the loss of time with my father, my grandparents, aunt, great aunts or even friends who have passed. I can't be sad that after I endured a very unhealthy marriage which resulted in much needed divorce how I somehow lost even more family and friends here in Chicago. I've wasted too much time with regret.
I am now coming to a peaceful understanding that people may come in and out of our lives when they do for a reason. What reason you ask. I don't know for sure. I just know that I'm not the only one in the world who has felt the sense of loss or feeling out of place somehow. I also know that out of everything tough there IS something beautiful that can happen as result. I know I will teach my children the importance of exposing themselves to family and friend's that they love as much as possible, even if I'm not an expert these days.
I am currently on this path of learning all of life's lessons. I appreciate everyone who has touched my life in whatever way they have. I will not have regrets even if I have made a million mistakes. I am also working on building a strong sense of contentment and a peaceful mind when it comes to the fact that dynamics change between people and not to to be upset by this. I've learned to keep to myself and put all of my efforts into my family but will try to keep my heart open and available. God and universe will bring people in and out of our lives for a reason and we learn something from everything I suppose.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Do kids like puzzles? Ask me, I'll tell ya!
After about five minutes of coaxing my ten year old, who "does not like puzzles", to play a five hundred piece Monsters Inc. puzzle, he finally gave in to my pressure! Ha ha! I then gambled to ask my four year old & his father. They both refused because neither of them were even slightly interested.
My oldest opened the unsealed puzzle box and dumped it over on to the table. Then a trillion pieces fell out! (Okay, not that many.) We feverishly spread them out in the middle of the table trying to scoot them slightly to one side. We turned each and every piece over to see it's pattern while exchanging pleasant chit chat.
After little bouts of excitement and giggles when we would find an extremely sought after puzzle piece, my youngest started to take notice from across the room. Papa and my youngest were busy entertaining themselves on the XBOX the entire time up until the little one jumped up when he finally had it with all the fun we were having over at the dining room table without him!
I had eventually lured all of the boys to the table. You couldn't wipe the grin off of my face at that very moment if you tried your hardest!
I achieved my goal. I summoned my family to a little much needed calming and peaceful interaction without having to throw a mini Mama tantrum. <wink>
Even though we never put together the entire puzzle we actually had fun!.....
Am I horrible that I forgot to mention that I was fully aware that this puzzle was missing pieces but was so desperate to get everyone to comply with my activity that I presented it as "new"!?!?! Haahaa!
Rockin' the puzzles & pushing them as often as possible now! :-)
Thursday, December 1, 2011
International Denounce Your Classifications and Announce Your Humanity Day
~I want to declare a day that everyone as a worldly collective will denounce their classifications and announce their humanity!~
I'm so exhausted from hearing about race, culture and lifestyle that I just refuse to acknowledge it anymore from this day forward....
I too have had some ignorant things said towards me & behind my back by grown adults. After my feelings were mended I just assumed it was the personal insecurities of that particular individual and shrugged it off. I have been told that I am slightly oblivious to some of these things.
I have finally "HAD IT" with ignorance and negativity. People are constantly getting "hated on" for just being themselves and those who are trying to live in peace.
I was so upset to see more crappy news today. Basically it was the various examples of discrimination and how much attention that it received. I believe we all should be free to just LIVE. Think about how ridiculous it is that we have this huge amazing earth and people should be free to LIVE on it. Can you imagine God looking down from the heavens pointing his finger at earth and saying, "You people must stay in your own corners of the earth & do NOT whatsoever try to get together & unite as one earth of civilized humans! Oh, also You MUST be angry, stressed and hateful. "
This was not the intention of God and Universe!
To be.
To thrive.
To LIVE.
To love.
Where is our focus?
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