OUR GRATITUDE

Monday, May 5, 2008

THEY CALLED HER ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

Eleanor Roosevelt speaking at the United Nations, c. 1947Image via Wikipedia"Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it."
William Feather
1889-1981, Writer


I have had a day of reflection today! I lost a dear friend, although I had not seen her for a while, she was often on my mind. I actually appreciate days like this because it makes us take time to reflect and realize how precious our time on this planet is. It makes us want to get to everything done “yesterday,” but that is not what we need to do. It is much wiser to appreciate the day that you are in…the “now“…the “present“…always, as if it might be your last. Live everyday to the fullest, without just filling your day. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the loss of my daughter. If I had not had that experience (losing a child)I would not have been able to say to my friend’s children, “She is where she wants to be now, she is with her son, who she cared for through his cancer, into death.

It is really hard for a mother to have a child leave before them. I remember my mother’s passing (as I was the one that managed her care) and the night before, I sat with my Grammy as she sipped her glass of port and she told me precious, funny stories about my mother, my grandfather and my mother’s brothers and sisters. She got me through that night, and we did it with laughter. My Grammy was really strong that night, but after my mother passed, I think it was too hard for her. One of my Aunt’s said, she could not live knowing my mother went before her. I really never believed that because, I went on to care for my mother just after my child passed. You are as strong as you need to be, God always carries us through those times. I think that my Grammy just reached her time. They referred to her as Eleanor Roosevelt at her funeral, I’ve never forgotten that. She did quite a bit of traveling, despite any health issues she had. She was happy and she had a wonderful life. There was always laughter around her. This is what a day of reflection does....it shows you why life is so precious, why we should eat every moment as if it was our last bite.

So tomorrow, when you begin your day, choose to take a bite out of life, for all who passed before us, and don’t forget to have a lot of laughter...it is the best medicine, so they say.

Make a choice to watch it, read it or live it…but at least try it, and remember this:
The Secret

Thoughts do become things.

There are no coincidences.
Miracles are all around us.
Ask, Believe and you will receive.
It all begins with baby steps.

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