Looking Back with Gratitude-The Year in Pictures

Thankful for stormy seas that bring us back to shore,
with wonder in our hearts and gratitude in our soul.

 Josh on a medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic during his Spring break.

 Josh- one of the directors of a mobile unit helping the underserved

 Daniel playing around

 Carl loving life

 Disneyworld

 A beautiful day

 Josh receiving his white coat

 Fishing is life

 From the roof of the Vatican
In Rome finding peace 

 On the way to Monteray

 Daniel's first Spanish Mackerel

 The Florida Keys

 We lost our Angel this year

Thank you for coming here to read and to comment, I wish you and yours a happy new year.

Happy Birthday Daniel

Dear Daniel,
Happy Birthday my sweet boy!
Today you are ten years old . It's hard to believe that ten years have flown by. The first time I heard the sound of your cry I smiled. The surgeon in the room said,"look at the color on this one!" because your skin was pink and your lips were red. Today you turn "double digits" as you say. You are tall and you are wise beyond your years. You are always thinking, always dreaming. I love you and I love everything about you. You were shy as a toddler and you had imaginary friends. I watched you as you became confident in preschool and you became a leader. This year you were elected into student council and you took pride in the responsibilities that came with the position. You love to collect rocks and your shoes are always full of sand  because you are searching for fossils in the school yard. Your smile lights up a room and lights up my life. You write and you paint. You are creative in so many ways. When you grow up you aspire to be a scientist and you want to find the cure for Cancer. We read and we laugh and we have conversations at bedtime. You tell me about the Bey Blades that you play with and about your friends. You help others and in your room there's a jar of money that you collect for charities.You make up jokes and I laugh because you are funny and I am your greatest fan. You swim like a fish. You gracefully do your Kung Fu forms. You are sensitive to others and on your night table there are mementos from grandpa. You have watched me mourn the loss of both my parents. You make sure to tell me that you miss them. We devour books together and even though now that you read long chapter books, once in awhile we enjoy reading an old one like" The Kissing Hand" or" I Love You Forever". You are a fisherman at heart, like your father and your grandfather. I have pictures of you fishing when you could barely hold a rod. You love to explore for hermit crabs and shells,you love it all. You are amazing, kind, sweet, smart, simply charming. I will tuck you into bed tonight and rub your back while you hold your bunny. I will wonder how long he will remain under your arm.I will wish that you stay a boy a little longer. I will savor this moment. I will try to linger in your room as you fall asleep. I will kiss you goodnight and I will be thankful that you are my son.

Christmas

Merry Christmas and happy holidays. 

I wish all of you happiness and love.

Happiness

The road was rough this year,
the electric bill was collecting dust,
a loaf of bread was left,
there was no help in sight.
She placed an ad on line,
she needed to work so desperately.
She was called for a job,
they gave her a Santa costume.
She wore it with a smile,
her face lit up with gratitude.
Proud that she had a job,
hopeful that things will get better,

her merry attitude inspired those watching.
She stood in the cold waving,
smiling as the world was passing.
Doing her best,giving it all.
A testament to lending a hand,
a small job,a new beginning.

The lovely Antico Arco

"Fear less,hope more;Eat less,chew more;Whine less,breathe more;Talk less,say more;Love more,and all good things will be yours."-Swedish Proverb

Today I will try to let go of the stress of the holidays, and follow this proverb. Today I will delight in remembering happy moments of this past year. A beautiful dessert at a wonderful restaurant on a beautiful Giancarlo hill. A dessert shared with my childhood best friend. The friend that I can call at two o'clock in the morning when I need to. The friend that I share my life with like an open book to read. Today is a day to celebrate those I love.

                        
                           

Villa Borghese

As I reflect on this year, I think back to my trip to Rome. Villa Borghese is one of those places that I will always remember. It was built for Scipione Borghese as a party villa and to house his art collection. The villa is surrounded by beautiful gardens. Gardens that whisper stories of long ago. As I stood in those vast rooms, drowning in the beauty around me,I felt whole. My parents had been there years ago,and they marveled at the beautiful sculptures of Bernini and paintings of Titian and other old masters. I walked through the rooms and the pain was numb. Home the sadness seeped in like the wind through the cracks of a windowpane. But in these rooms that I walked through I was inspired and uplifted. In these rooms I felt as if they were walking beside me.

A Love Story

Love exists, love blooms, the kind of romantic sweep you off your feet kind of love. I was fortunate to be a witness of a love like that. My father fall in love with my mother the first time he saw her. He told her that she will be his wife. When she heard his statement,she laughed. Their love affair went on for almost sixty years. They were married for richer and poorer and they built a beautiful life. There were times my father would sing or read poetry out loud to my mother. He would write her poems and send her flowers. He was charming in more ways than I can describe. As I am writing this post, I am crying as I remember,the last time I saw my dad alive. I was visiting my parents, my dad was helping my mother up from her chair and he embraced her tightly. Then in a joyous tone in his voice he said,"I love this woman. To me she is still the same girl I fall in love with." I looked at my mom and said,"you are a lucky woman!" because I knew that my dad meant it.That vision stayed with me. My father was my mothers care taker in the last two years of his life. He would not complain. He would do more than we knew for her, and even though it was difficult he made it seem effortless. They were best friends and true partners. They would laugh and they would argue. They were everything to each other. They would hold hands and whisper sweet nothings. As I ache today, I stop and think how lucky I am. I am lucky that I was a part of the love that they had for each other. I am lucky that I watched a great love story unfold.