A Picture is Worth Thousand Words

… and my two co-workers are worth?  Simply put, they are priceless.

What does this picture say to you?

Because I am the sun … just kidding … I am a girl.

Because I didn’t ask anyone, I’ll go first.

If you would indulge me; tell me what you see in this picture?  Shameless attempt to get a virtual conversation going.

Ahem! Sniff, sniff.  That’s me clearing my throat and getting misty.

What do I see?

My roots need to be done. Lol! And that will get taken care of Saturday.

I am HAPPY.  I know because I am showing all my teeth.  And I NEVER smile with my teeth. That means I was in the moment.  I was carefree, not thinking about anything. And as dear heart Truly says and I agree, all we have are moments.  This one was good, dare I say more than good.

Feeling accomplished and grateful for our good deed.

Physical labor feels good.  Endorphins pop.  In the end, you’ve created something.  Today our claim to fame was completing 500 hurricane relief boxes in a mere 10 minutes.  The prep time was more than that of course but start to finish 10 minutes in assembly yielded 500 boxes!!  Four long rows moving in sync, drop two cans in, push box to next station, rinse and repeat.

And you know me.  I had to hug a few people I knew before chatting with complete strangers – comrades in arms I had barely met.  I made all the people at the corn station laugh.  My introspective self wonders how I have absolutely no problem doing this when other times I am the proverbial shrinking violet.  I guess with strangers there is nothing to lose.

This picture captures the essence of my post from this morning:  Mother Nature Brings Us Together .  Sure I still wish Irma had not wreaked her havoc.  But she did. So what do you do? Help as best you can.  Share and care.  Life’s too short to do otherwise ❤️.

As always, more to come.

 

 

Mother Nature Brings Us Together

Some people have tried to claim the recent natural disasters are a sign of how bad things are … a punishment.  To me, in the face of devastation, I’ve seen how good things are.  Sad to think it took Harvey and Irma to bring us together but together we are no doubt.  

How did we communicate prior to cell phones and social media? I remember when my son was playing baseball and we turn in our phone numbers at the beginning of the season.  We had a plan for emergency notification where one person would call another and so on.  

Last night my FB page lit up with a virtual call to arms.  I first saw the request for volunteers on E’s page, then G, then B, then I joined in and posted to mine.   Passing the word to sign up and volunteer to make Hurricane relief packages for our Tampa peeps.  In minutes, the word was out.  

Today as I prepare for my shift, I’m amazed by the wonder of it all.  How fast we unite.  Sure what happened sucked, the devastation is heartbreaking, I’d rather none of this happened.  But it did.  So what do you do? Help as best you can.  Share and care.  Life’s too short to do otherwise ❤️

Wishing you all a peaceful Monday. 

 As always more to come. 

9/11/2001 to 09/11/2017

An event simply known by the date.  I ask myself, has it really been only 16 years? Sometimes feels like twice that long and then other times feels like mere minutes or only days.  Time.  A construct of man. Strange that way.

My family and I were not directly impacted by the events of 9/11.  Still as a nation we grieved.  Anniversaries are usually celebratory but not always.  Definitely not anniversaries like this one but I am looking for silver linings anyway.

This is a moment in history where those of us old enough to remember will look back and recall exactly where we were and what we were doing on this day.

B was at work, Pony was at school, and Lulu was at Mother’s Day Out.  I had the day off and was at home cleaning, getting ready my house ready for company.  9/11/01 was my daddy’s 85th birthday.  The following Saturday we planned to all come together and have his birthday lunch at Snoga’s BBQ where he treated all of us because after all it was his birthday.  Then back to our house for cake, ice cream and presents.

Every year we’d ask “Dad, what do you want for your birthday?” and he almost every year he reply “I want good kids” and we’d say “Well you already have good kids, you need to give us some other ideas”

Thing is, knowing my daddy, having good kids is all he ever really wanted.  Family was everything to him.

What did we do to honor the fallen? In 2001, we continued with our plans.  We honored the man who was the focal part of our lives, who taught us to be good people, who always had a smile on his face and a kind word for everyone, who loved all of us unconditionally.  In 2017, I will take a moment of silence and I will say my prayers.  And I will remember my daddy and all the things he taught me.  How Sweet It Is!