#MondayMusings

 

     This last weekend was a bit busy, which is why I simply didn’t get around to posting Friday.  Life stepped in, asked me to dance, and I obliged.  Saturday marked my husband and my 18^th wedding anniversary.   A lot of anniversaries have come and gone without much fanfare.  This one, we made plans, and followed through.   We took the kids to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum for the day and had a ball.

     So much to see, so much to do,  so much to learn, and tons of pictures to take!  I actually took over 200 pictures.  I wasn’t the only one snapping pictures.  My daughter and husband took pictures with their phones too so we have a lot of photos to document the day.          

      Highlights of the day included getting up close and personal with dinosaurs, the transformers Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, taking a trip to China, learning all about religions from all over the world, and goggling amazed at a 43 foot tower of colorful blown glass.  As much as I hate waiting for trains to pass, I still managed to enjoy the train exhibit they had that included vintage toy trains and a life size replica you could climb aboard and experience a simulation of traveling down the tracks.  Another favorite from the day was the show we took in at the museum’s planetarium.  Very cool to sit back and travel through the galaxies and catch a glimpse at how the universe formed, the planets of solar system, and the millions of stars.

           Indianapolis is about a 3 hour drive from where we live.  On the way home, we stopped at Grissom Air Force Base and took in some of the airplanes they have on display outside.  Unfortunately, the museum itself was already closed for the day but we still got to see some pretty cool planes.

         Sunday we took the swimming pool down and put it away until next summer.  Even though the days are fairly warm, the nights are reaching the 40’s so the days of lazily floating in the pool were numbered anyways.  The rest of the day was spent with being lazy, napping, watching movies, laundry, and a run to the grocery store.  I was happy to discover that the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame won their football game this week, but unhappy to learn that their starting quarterback, Malik Zaire, was injured and will be out for the rest of the season.  Hopefully Coach Brian Kelly has another amazing quarter back to take the reins and lead NotreDame to victory for the rest of the season.  GO IRISH!!

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World Cancer Day 2014

         Today is World Cancer Day.  21 years ago August 12, cancer claimed another victim.  Cancer didn’t just claim a faceless victim that day.  On that day I lost my mom to cancer.  She was 51 years old when she died.  She seemed so full of life, so full of joy, and lit up my world.  Sadly that day cancer doused her light forever and part of me died with her.  She didn’t even last a year after the diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma, a cancer that attacks the blood marrow.  By the time of diagnosis the disease had attacked her whole skeletal system.  There was absolutely nothing that could be done except to endure the pain and wait for death to come.

Click on picture for more information!

          Maybe if she had made going to the doctor a priority, maybe if she was diligent in going for checkups, the dreaded disease could have been contained and stopped before it spread so wildly out of control.  Maybe she would have stood a chance.  Just maybe I would still have my mother and my kids would have had their grandma.   World cancer day is all about spreading awareness, promoting early detection, and getting ahead of the dreaded disease before it claims another victim.  It is about research, learning even more, and dispelling the myths.  It is about being informed.  Only when we are informed, can we be protected.  Only then can we fight so that maybe one more life can be saved and maybe, just maybe another won’t have to endure the excruciating pain, sorrow, and aftermath of devastating loss.

Remember cancer can be prevented.  

Spread awareness and in doing so, give hope.

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My Earliest Memory

I have been tagged by Sheethal Susan Jacob at "Scribblings" to share my earliest memory.  After much thought, the following memory surfaced.

       I went to stay with my babysitter, Dorothy, daily until my mom quit her job when I was in first grade.  When I was about 3 my mom had a hysterectomy and had to be in the hospital for a long time.  Unfortunately at that age, I simply didn’t understand where my mommy was.  My dad was an over the road truck driver all of his life so it wasn’t unusual for him to not be around.  What was unusual was the sudden disappearance of my mommy.  

      Even at such a young age I knew what time my mommy normally came and picked me up.   Right after I watched Bugs Bunny on television, she always came for me.   I would wait watching out the front window until I seen my mommy’s car pull into the driveway, and then race to the door to greet her.   One afternoon, my mommy didn’t come.  I waited and waited, growing more upset the later it got.  Tears streamed down my cheeks.  I wanted her to come get me.  I had always gone home.  I had never spent the night at Dorothy’s house before and I was scared.   All I knew was I didn’t want to stay there anymore.  I wanted my mommy and I wanted to go home.  When supper was ready, Dorothy would coax me away from the window and sadly I would go eat.    Every afternoon from that day on I would wait in front of the window crying for my mommy, and Dorothy would try to comfort me the best she could with plenty of hugs and by keeping me occupied with toys and games.

        Finally my dad came and took me to the hospital to see my mom.  I remember being so happy.  The hospital seemed like such a big place!  Now that I had her back, I didn’t want to leave her there at the hospital.  I wanted to stay with her!  While there, my mom gave me a collection of little plastic cups to play with that she had received every single time the nurse had brought her pain pills.  She had saved them just for me.

        I sat on my mommy’s hospital bed, playing with those little cups, perfectly content to be at her side once again.  When it was time to go I was careful not to hurt her when I hugged and kissed her goodbye.   She promised me she would be home soon and told me to be a good little girl.  I took those little cups back to Dorothy’s house and took care of my dolls and stuffed animals, giving each a single M+M as their medicine.  Somehow I was convinced that if they were all well, mommy would come sooner rather than later and take me home.  One day she did.

Now it is Hema Anavatti’s turn!  Be sure to visit her at "Pixie's Take on Everything" and read all about her earliest memory!

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My Compliments

        Today Write Tribe is challenging me to write about the best compliments I ever received in honor of National Compliment Day.       The best compliments I have ever received came from my readers in the form of comments.  It is those comments that marvel how my fiction story could be real, how my post made someone laugh, shake in terror, or made them cry.  It is the comments that compliment my writing or my art.  The best ones that say my writing or art evoked exactly the emotion I was aiming for when I created what I did.  That is a big thrill!  The comments that are so kind they bring a tear to my eye.  They ring with a shred of truth and authenticity.    In other words, the person isn’t just trying to find something nice to say.  They have convinced me they mean what they say!!!

   It is those comments that keep me from throwing in the towel and continue writing even on my darkest days when my heart is filled with doubt of my abilities.  It is those days when I pray to God that if I am meant to write then He should give me the words.  It is then that the words seem to tumble through my fingers onto the computer screen as if on their own accord.  The stories, blogs, poems, graphics, and music come together easily.  It is then I know I am doing exactly what I should be.

      It is exactly why I answer every single one of my comments and return the favor by reading their work and leaving kind words for them.  It is so easy to spread a little love and share a smile.  It will make them feel good, and you will feel good in return.  It is a win-win situation!!  It is National Compliment Day, so go forth and spread the love!  

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Only One Knows All

     “Give me 5 seconds and I will tell you everything I know!” my Dad often randomly proclaimed with a grin.  Surprised, everyone would stop and stare.    A brief moment of silence would elapse, a giggle would escape, and then life would continue.  

       In all the years my Dad proclaimed this, he never once elaborated.  He moved through life confident seeming to know all and in complete control of his destiny.  One day he suffered a stroke.  It was as if God mocked “So, you think you know it all?”  He learned only one knows all and sadly it wasn’t him.

Fleeing From the Pain

This fictional story was written for Write Tribe's "Hemingway this Wednesday" writing prompt.  I chose the quote “You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”  taken from Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" to build my story 
from.

        It was hard to believe a month had passed since the funeral.  She still expected to round a corner and see her husband sitting in his favorite chair watching the football game or out in the garage tinkering.  She would call his name and then remember, he would never answer her again.  He was dead and gone from her forever.   Not a moment went by that she didn’t think of him.  Not a day went by that she didn’t long for him.  There was always something new to tell him.  The most mundane things really, still something she would have always told him about.  Her heart ached, and the pain was palpable.

         Jack was only 50 when he died.  Not really old at all.  He had his whole life ahead of him when he was diagnosed with cancer.  Though afraid, he had fought valiantly and assured her he was going nowhere.   He would win this battle.  Only he hadn’t.  The cancer had won and left her a widow at 48 with her whole life stretching before her in an empty chasm of loneliness.  She had thrown herself into her work.    She worked tirelessly long hours.  She never slept anymore and rarely ate enough to keep a bird alive.  She knew family and friends worried about her and talked about her behind her back.  She didn’t care.  Jack was gone and her life was over.  The home they shared seemed too big to her now.  She wandered around looking for Jack remembering everything constantly in tears.

           She encouraged the kids to return to their lives.  Go back to college she told her youngest.  You have your own family she told her oldest.  Don’t worry about me she told them both.  I will be just fine, she assured them all.  It wasn’t until almost another month passed when she decided to sell the home they shared and start a new life for herself in a new city.    She packed up her memories and moved closer to where her children now lived.  The only problem was that despite the fact that the new house was lovely and she loved the area, she realized she still loved and desperately missed Jack and their old life.  No, he had never been to this place but his spirit followed her in her mind and heart.  She still longed for him.  He was a vital part of her and always would be.  They had shared a happy life together and now that was over.  He was gone, and she was still here.

 

          She soon realized she couldn’t run or hide from her grief and memories. They followed her everywhere she went.  She soon understood that you can’t get away from yourself by moving one place to another.  Only the passage of time would heal her broken heart and soothe the pain felt from Jack’s death.  Moving to a new home or city is simply geography and the heartache followed her and was just as strong there as at home.

         Her life would go on without him.  She would make new memories on her own and follow the path God had for her.  In time she would find happiness again while she carried the memory of Jack deep in her heart forever.

Fire

    A nonet poem written for the Write Tribe prompt.  It is my first ever attempt at this form of writing. A nonet is a poem which contains 9 lines. The first line contains 9 syllables, the second 8, the third 7, and so on in descending order.  The poem can be written on any subject and rhyming is optional and not required.  

Flames gain momentum consuming all

Heat grows intense as time passes

Billowing smoke climbs higher

Feathery fingers reach

Stretching to heaven

All engulfing

Sizzling

Embers

Burn