My View from the Top of the World

I've struggled with what I wanted to say this week.  How to write about the holidays, keep it positive, without being trite... how to say something meaningful without taking for granted that everyone loves this time of year?  To be honest, I was totally over the "what are you thankful for?" question, and only put it on my chalkboard door, well, because it's basically what's expected for us to ask kids as we send them home for Thanksgiving break.  I was over it, that is, until the first kid gleefully added his blessings to my door - and then he became my first blessing of the day... Carter is thankful for "the sun and happy people," Parker for Mr. M. (Mr. M. becomes a tail-less mouse, mainly because his head didn't turn out to be the right shape!). Corbin is thankful for his life, and Anthony for dinosaurs. So far today, I am thankful for Carter, for Parker, Corbin and Anthony, their smiles, and for Emma, the Angel - Barista at a coffee shop in Mon...

Today, I have nothing to worry about... For months, I started my day with that simple statement. I journaled about that statement every day. It was more to convince myself than a statement of fact... but we know that if "we tell ourselves something enough times, we start to believe it" (quote stolen from Vivian Ward ~ Pretty Woman). In truth, I have lost years of my life - literally - to worrying. Without question, excessive worrying has affected my quality of life, and the quality of my relationships. Frankly, I believe that the greatest success of my life - other than raising some quality humans - has been to overcome the burden of worry and anxiety. No salary, achievement, or fabulous job title could be better than waking up happy, truly enjoying time spent with my loved ones, and being able to find joy (I'm not exaggerating) in each day. As a contributor to, or perhaps a symptom of anxiety, worry is about a lack of control. We worry about things that might h...

Mr. Rogers was my neighbor.  For three years, I lived in an apartment building not far from the WQED station in Oakland. Fred Rogers' office was housed in that apartment building. We would frequently run into eachother as we were collecting our mail. He had a warm smile and a friendly greeting, as you would expect. Our interactions never went much further than that, but it was a sweet thing, having Mr. Rogers for a neighbor, and looking back, I wish I would have known him better.  This week we celebrated World Kindness Day. WQED promoted #cardigan day to mark their 75th anniversary and to spread kindness while honoring their most renowned personality.  The city of Pittsburgh was all in, even some of the hospitals wrapped their newborns in tiny cardigans to commemorate World Kindness Day and to pay tribute to Pittsburgh's kindest neighbor.  In searching through Fred Rogers quotes, I discovered that he truly had important messages for all of us, not just fo...

There's so much to say today.  Six years ago on Monday, my father suffered a catastrophic stroke.  The stroke happened around 9:30am on Monday, November 4th, 2013.  The night before, I had my last conversation with him.  That conversation was so very normal for a Sunday night.  It was just me and him, as Mum was out and about, he reported with amusement.  On Tuesday, November 5th, 2013, Dad managed really well through PT and OT.  I vividly remember the look he gave us as the therapists insisted he stand up;  it was his last smile.  After therapy, he napped heavily.  He never regained full consciousness.  At 5:45am, on Wednesday November 6th, my dad passed away.  Mum told him that she loved him, but that it was time to go.  I whispered the Lord's Prayer into his ear, and he gently slipped away as we each held one of his hands. And thus began my journey.  For the next several years, I alternated between submis...