Living your Dream

This is CRAZY!!! I have been listening and reading with much interest the last few months regarding teachers and the budget cuts. It appears that all over the country due to the economic hardships, our state budgets are falling short and they are cutting into the Education fund. Click here to read what SC BiZ Daily reports.

The frustrating thing to me is that there is ONE thing that we can do to help. RAISE THE CIGARETTE TAX to at least the national level. Our tax is the one of the lowest in the country. WHY?

I think we need an education grass-roots rally! This is insanity! There is an answer to the question!

Please pray, make phone calls, vote on who can make a change for our education system…remember our future depends on it!

Sitting by a foggy window
Staring at the pouring rain
Falling down like lonely teardrops
Memories of love in vain

These cloudy days, make you wanna cry
It breaks your heart when someone leaves and you don’t know why

I can see that you’ve been hurting, baby I’ve been lonely too
I’ve been out here lost and searching, looking for a girl like you
Now I believe the sun is gonna shine
Don’t you be afraid to love again, put your hand in mine…

Baby, I would never make you cry
I would never make you blue
I would never let you down
I would never be untrue

I know a place where we can go where true love always stays
There’s no more stormy nights, no more cloudy days

I believe in second chances
I believe in angels, too
I believe in new romances
Baby, I believe in you
These cloudy days are coming to an end
And you don’t have to be afraid to fall in love again

Baby, I would never make you cry
I would never make you blue
I would never turn away
I would never be untrue
I know a place where we can go where true love always stays
There’s no more stormy nights, no more cloudy days

Today, 25 years ago I married the love of my life. Some people wonder if it is possible to love more than one person in a lifetime. I think it is. However, I think you only have one true love in a lifetime.  We raised 4 wonderful children together. I just went on my daughters facebook pages and looked through their pictures in awe. These two beautiful girls that we raised have pictures that show how much they love their lives, God, friends and family members. They also show how much they are loved. I know this would not be possible without the love and guidance of their Mother and Father. It doesn’t stop there. We raised two incredible young men who have blessed our hearts beyond measure. One taught us the true meaning of life as we watched a young man struggle with a chronic illness. There was no obstacle he could not overcome in spite of the difficulties that it presented. The oldest has become a man so strong and so loving that I think he is the new Rock of Gibraltar. His strength and character has carried our family through many difficult days. I remember as he struggled with choosing a college. My husband took him to McDonalds one night and took a napkin and wrote the three colleges he was contemplating. Together they did the pros and cons of each school. I remember so well the look on their faces as they came back in from their “man to man” talk. Our son looked at me proudly and said, “We decided I am going to The Citadel”. Good choice, I thought. I sighed, thinking how thankful I was to the man, leading the man.

There are many other examples of how our lives were shaped by this marriage. All of our children and friends were a part of the Northwood Assembly Church family. We had it all. The all American dream.

Unfortunately like so many others our dream was short lived and our marriage ended in divorce. The reason or turn of events leading up to that is unimportant today. I experienced a death of a child and a divorce within 4 months of each other. I experienced in four months what no one should experience in a lifetime. I have realized after almost 5 years how similar the pain is. However, the reactions are so different. No one calls you on the anniversary of your marriage and tells you how sorry they are, and that they are thinking about you. I personally have found that talking about loss is helpful, as well as recalling the happy memories. It seems to be acceptable in death, but not in divorce. I felt closer to my son’s friends than ever before after his death. The friends of the departed marriage partners are strained at best.

Divorce is a slow agonizing disease that creeps into the bloodstream causing pain and anguish. There may be periods of remission. Sometimes the remission is permanent and other times it is fatal. It leaves a trail of destruction as wide as a deadly tornado. The everlasting effects are permanent and horrific.

On this day, what would have been our Silver Wedding Anniversary, I say “Happy Anniversary” to the love of my life.  Thank you for the memories and thank you for our four wonderful children! We are blessed.

Carolina One Real Estate hosted a Trunk or Treat on Thursday, October 29th.  We parked our cars around the parking lot and some wore costumes and had elaborate decorations. Children went from car to car trick or treating! It was great fun and the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves. I loved the feel of our office coming together, and the community coming out to support our children.

I have attached a picture of my granddaughter, Caroline and her new friend, Emma. Emma is the daughter of Nathan and Sarah Henderson.

Watch for next years Carolina One Real Estate Trunk or Treat!

MUSC and the trip to the Drugstore

My Mom has been experiencing bladder problems for the last six or seven years. Five years ago she had a device implanted in her hip called an Interstem. This is a device that sends electrical impulses to the nerve that activates the bladder to tell it when it is full. If you are following my blog you will remember that I am now in the stage of life known as “Parenting the Parent”.

We went to MUSC where the only doctor in town is familiar with this and had a checkup. All went well and he tweaked the device after hooking it up to his laptop. We laughed as he asked her to tell him when she could feel the impulse’s “down there” as he ramped it up.

She has a remote control that she can use to turn up the impulses or turn them down as needed. He told me when we left that would need a new 9 volt battery.

After further testing he decided that he wanted her to “catheterize” herself a few times a day to be sure that she was emptying her bladder well. A nurse came in and gave my Mom instructions on exactly how this was done. I tried not to pay too much attention until I was told if she needed any help that I may want to know what to do! I don’t do medical stuff. God made me with the gift of talking and that is how I make my living. I never felt inclined to go into the medical field other than when I found out how much they made! $$$

As the nurse was finishing up with our lesson she turned to me and said, “Now you are going to need to pick her up some K-Y Jelly, unless you have some.”

Well I thought if I did I certainly was not going to share it with my Mother!

After I got my Mom back to the assisted living and all settled I ran up to the local pharmacy right around the corner. I walked in and the manager asked me if he could help me. I told him I needed a battery and snickered to myself, and some K-Y Jelly!!

As I stood looking at the lubricant section I realized how funny this was going to look. Walking up to the register with a battery and a tube of K-Y Jelly!

It was kind of like when I was young and first had to buy feminine products. You always walked up to the register praying it would be a woman.  Yes, as I made my way there I saw a sweet little grey haired lady at the cash register. Maybe I should explain to her about my Mom?

I laid the items on the counter and smiled.  As I walked out the store, I thought to myself, who would have ever believed this? Batteries and K-Y Jelly, for my Mom of course!!

Today is 09/09/09 and a little baby girl was born to Dawn Rienzo Haas. She named her Jolene Brittany. Brittany is after a very good friend of mines 20 year-old daughter who went to heaven 1 year after Gregory. What a wonderful tribute to Brittany’s memory!  Dawn’s Facebook post said she was so happy to have a part of Brittany as a part of her family now. Unbelievable! How much joy this must have brought to my friend.

My Mother has been ill for quite a few years. She was not well the week Gregory was missing. The long trip from Alabama was difficult for her.  I barely remember her being here for those few days for the Memorial Service. It seemed as if she were gone as quickly as she had arrived.

Today I visited her in the hospital. As time passes these short stays in the hospital have become much more frequent. As I walked in to her room, she seemed much more frail than I remembered. I quietly walked in and sat down on the side of her bed. As usual, I asked her how she was feeling. To my surprise, she reached out and took my hand in to hers.  She told me she was sorry for  causing me so much trouble  during this week. Friday, September 11th will be 4 years since that horrendous day, when Gregory was discovered missing during a surfing outing with friends. For the first time that I can remember, I hugged my Mother and cried. I layed my head on her chest as she held me and felt safe to cry and release all of the pain.  For those few moments I was a child again. Being comforted with the love that only a  Mother can give. 

My friend calls moments like these “God stops”. Where out of nowhere, when we least expect it, God stops us in our tracks, and gives us a HUGE  blessing.  Today, I was blessed with two. One by a new Mother and her baby, and one by my Mother…and her baby.