Snail Mail

        Doesn’t anyone, anywhere write letters or

send cards in the mail anymore?  Could there be anything better than walking out to the mailbox and finding something other than bills or advertisements?  Sadly the days for sending cards or letters (now referred to as snail mail) is a thing of the past.  People just don’t do it.  It is so much easier to shoot an email to someone or type up a status on Facebook.  A few keystrokes and you’re done.  Not only that, it is cheaper, and instantaneous.  You don’t have to wait for the mailman to show up. 

         Recently a blogging group with whom I am affiliated, Blog-A-Rhythm, challenged all of us to connect via snail mail.  It was during a time when I was taking a break from the internet and writing.  Quite honestly, I hadn’t even seen the buzz about it on the group wall on Face Book.  My dear friend Hema (you all know her as Pixie @ Pixie’s Take on Everything.), enlightened me.    Her way of enlightening me was telling me she needed my address because she wanted to send me something.  OK dokey!  It was after the fact that I realized that it was for a writing challenge and a way for all of us connected online to become more connected in the real world.

         Anyways, one day the mail came and I discovered a lovely card from my dear friend.  She couldn’t have found a more inspiring card for me.  I simply love it.  It sits right beside my computer so I can read it whenever I need inspiration or self-affirmation.  She believes in me, and I believe in her.  She is one amazing storyteller and collects college degrees of all sorts like I collect movies and card games.  Just goes to prove she is scary smart. 

          
          I am blessed to have such a dear friend.  My life is better because of her.  I have met people from all over the world through blogging.  My life is richer because of them, and I hope that in some small way their lives are richer for knowing me.

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That One Crazy Friend

 

     A song playing and I am transported.

      Stunned, I quickly crank the volume losing myself to the beat. 

      Tears glisten in my eyes, as I belt out the lyrics. Priceless snippets of you flood my senses:  dancing on tabletops, mooning the student body at the pep rally.   I even remember the aftermath of that one crazy night that began with shots of tequila, stealing the Mackinac Island Ferry, and ending in a night in jail after your speech to the cops that you were Jack Sparrow.

  I’d sacrifice everything to experience reckless insanity again with you just one last time.

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Party Haiku

festive atmosphere

gathering friends and family

food music and games

Inspired by the prompt at

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Letters Unsent

This letter is in response to the Write Tribe writer's prompt "Letter's Unsent". While I struggled with this prompt, I woke up this morning and the words and tears flowed. So, thank you...I needed that.

To My Dearest Friend, 

    It seems unbelievable to me that nearly 20 years have passed since we last laughed.  Tomorrow it will be exactly 20 years to the day since you left.  I learned so much from you Mom.  Didn’t we have fun?  Oh the memories we shared!  I know you didn’t want to go, but had little choice.  I knew as soon as I found you your pain was finally gone and you were at peace.  You looked joyful and I have carried that image with me ever since.  It was at that point I realized my life would never be the same.  To be honest, I never once believed you would actually die and leave me.  Maybe that is why the loss rocked me to my very core for years after.

     From your life and death I learned that life is all about changes and that nothing stays the same.  I learned friendships don’t last.  All those so called best friends I had throughout school that dropped me one after another were only ever acquaintances.  You would disagree with me once you knew they were friends with me on Face Book.  I can hear you know saying “Kathy, look at all the friends you have!!”  What I have learned is most people who friend you there only want the connection.  Their inborn curiosity demands to know your business and take a glimpse into your life.  With social networks they can do that without ever having to really connect with you in person.  Still the encouragement I find there gives me so much comfort.

         I can finally look back and understand that friendships are fleeting.  They never last.    After your death I made up my mind that I would never waste my time on believing someone was my best friend again unless they were my family as you were.  They come and they go plain and simple and it is best not to get too attached but to appreciate them while they are here and let them go when they are ready.  It is amazing to me how people pass through one’s life.  Still there are a couple of those Face Book friends who have touched my heart.  One in particular chats with me constantly.  It is amazing that she and I have never met in person but I know if we did, we would be the best of friends!!

     You will be happy to know that I have a daughter who is the image of you and of me.  I also have a son who I love to pieces.  You would have loved them both so much and it breaks my heart that you never got to meet
them. I know you would loved my husband and I know he would have loved you. They have become my best friends in your stead.   I thank God for my memories where you still live so vividly and I can’t wait until the day when I see you again.  I realize now how lucky I was to have a best friend in you.  I know now, you weren’t perfect but I also know that I loved you with every fiber of my being, that I would of done anything for you I could and did, and that with you I have no regrets.  Twenty years later, my heart still aches for you and the tears still flow.  Don't worry Mom, I am OK, really!  I love you.  I promise I will see you again!!

 Love, Me

    

     

I Blog Because…. BFF 204

      I blog because I can, and I don‘t have to work at it.  The words flow from somewhere, and everything some how falls into place.  That is the best part.  You couldn’t get much simpler than that.  I wouldn’t have to.  I never aspired to be a writer while growing up and surely didn’t do it for fun then.  I don’t aspire to write books.  I don’t imagine myself to be particularly good at it.  I just know that the words flow from somewhere and I type them out.  Before I know it I have a blog.  I edit the hell out of it because I am a perfectionist that way.  I always have been.  Once I am happy with the words, pictures, and music I unleash it to the world.  I never put up something I feel is half a$$ed.  Before I hit publish, I am pleased with my effort or I delete it.

      Back in 2009 I was surfing the internet looking for a way to make a little money from home.  That in itself is a laugh.  In my experience, there isn’t a lot of money to be made from home doing anything, let alone writing.  There are no get rich quick schemes, just a lot of slimy people running a good scam.  Still somewhere along the line I must have filled out something because the next thing I knew this company called me up and asked me to write reviews for them.  They would pay me $5.00 a pop. 

         There is always a catch though.  I had to pay them $200.00 to set me up with a website.  At the time I wasn’t even sure I could write.  I thought what the hell, why not?  My husband told me to go for it and I did.  What did I really have to lose aside from the initial $200.00?  So away I went.  They were kind enough to teach me the ropes and over the years I learned a lot and made my money back and then some.  By August 2011, the company that got me started went belly up.  I was left with a website I could no longer update. 

         By then I had been bitten by the writer’s bug.  I grabbed a free blogger site and designed it from scratch and kept on writing away.    Writing gave me purpose.  It helped the 3-6 weeks my husband spent on the road pass more quickly.  It helped me vent.  It helped me stay sane.  Through it I met some amazing people who also wrote online and they became friends.

        Why do I blog?  That is a very good question and not one I really ever think about.  I surely wouldn’t have too.  At this point I do it because I like to.  I enjoy putting the graphics, music, and words together.  It is fun.  It is a hobby and it is an added bonus when folks drop by to read and let me know they have been here with their comments.   It is a little like having a virtual open house all the time.  Folks come on over to my little home on the internet, read my words, jam to my tunes, and hopefully enjoy what they find.  If I am lucky my words move them, or at least make them giggle.  The best part is I don’t have to dress up for company or even have the house in order.  I never have to leave my house, only fire up my computer. 


      

       I have no illusions that I am more special than anyone else or that anyone in the free world would give a rat’s a$$ about what I have to say.  I don’t claim to be another Danielle Steel or Stephen King.  I am just me.  What you see is what you get basically. I write what I think.  I love participating in the writing challenges put up by the groups I belong to. It is fun.  I love the interaction and reading what others come up with for the same challenge.  It is like being apart of a club.  Everyone gets together to encourage everyone else and have fun at the same time.  When you get down to brass tacks, I write to express myself until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Thank You Kind Strangers- BFF 188 and GBE2

     It seems especially fitting after the week I have had with my son’s accident to take the time to thank all of you for your good wishes, thoughts, and prayers during this chaotic time in my life.  When disaster struck, I was in the last phases of the A-Z challenge determined to finish.  Finish I did.  Writing calmed my nerves like nothing else could.

      You were all quick to offer your outrage and support at the treatment we received at the local hospital’s ER department.  You gave your prayers and kindness quickly and often over the course of these dark days as my son’s condition went from bad to worse.  Jenn, Mary, and Jo offered their kind loving hearts and sympathetic ears by instant message when I needed someone most.  Thank all the kind bloggers who belong to the GBE2 and Writer's Post's groups!   I can honestly say that when something like this happens there is no other time I feel more on my own with my husband on the road and me here to cope.

       Today my son is home once again.  Even though he returned to school on Tuesday because his fever finally broke, by yesterday he had suffered a relapse from simply doing too much to soon.  He came home from school and instantly fell asleep on the couch for 4 ½ hours.  When he awoke, he was once again burning up with a fever of 103.9, complaining of a headache and pain in his legs.  It seems we have gone through a lot of Motrin and Tylenol in the last week in an attempt to keep this fever at bay.  

       Panic gripped my heart once again.  Once again I notified my doctor at home.  Once again he told me to treat the fever, and report to the emergency door of his clinic first thing in the morning.  Once again I found myself watching my son being checked over thoroughly by the man who has cared for me and my family my entire life.  It seemed fitting to remind this kind, wonderful doctor that we first met 44 years ago this Saturday.  That’s right, this same doctor brought me into this world all those many years ago and he means the world to me.

        With a note excusing my son from school for the remainder of the week, we headed first to his school to drop off the note, then home so my son could relax, I could clean house, and as always I could write.  It seemed only fitting that I sit down now that the dust is settling and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel to thank all of my kind readers for reading my words, for your kind comments, thoughts, and prayers.  It seemed fitting to thank Dr. Robert Abel for his kindness and dedication to the care of my son, and my family throughout the years.  A lot of family doctors keep themselves at a professional distance from their patients, if even at times a stand offish snooty stranger.  Dr. Abel has always seemed more a dear lifelong family friend.

         Before I am all said and done, I would like to thank Sherri who has been like a sister to me my whole life and for being that kind, concerned voice of reason when I was losing my mind.   Thank you to my dear husband, who I love more than life itself.  Without him, life just wouldn’t be worth much.  I am so happy and relieved he is finally coming home today!!  This blog has opened me up to a world of wonderfully kind people who are nice enough to visit my little place in cyber space, read my words, and often join in the conversation by putting in their two cents.  Thank you for being a friend, whether stranger or not, until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Wordless Wednesday: Best Friends

Learning to Be Thankful- BFF 134

    This Thanksgiving I am so thankful for the things I have in my life.  I choose not to agonize over the things I don’t.  It would be so easy to lose myself in the depths of despair over the fact that my parents are no longer alive to celebrate with or that money is in short supply.  I may not have all I want, but I have all I need.


      It seems life is never easy, but I get G0d’s purpose for life’s struggles.   He wants us to depend on Him for strength, be thankful to Him for all blessings no matter how small, and value the priceless things in life that can never be replaced.  Therefore I am thankful that unlike last year, my husband will be home for Thanksgiving.  I am thankful everyday for the companionship and devotion of my children who march through life at my side.  I am thankful that except for a cold, my family is healthy.  I am thankful for a car that runs, a roof over my head, and my dear sweet pets who snuggle against me to keep me warm at night. 

      I am thankful for the wonderful parents I was blessed to have, and even though they are no longer here I am thankful for the precious memories I have of them.   I am thankful that G0d blessed me with the ability to cook and magically create a delicious meal.  Even though it would be great to have the newest shiniest SUV to drive, I am thankful I don’t have the hefty payment that would go with it!  I am thankful for my blazer and the fact that is paid for.  I am thankful for the kind neighbors that have befriended me on both sides making me feel less alone.  I am thankful for dear friends, precious memories, and the promise of tomorrow with no mistakes.

      I am thankful for the outlet to express myself on this website and those precious folks that read my words, watch the music videos, and in doing so gaze directly into the depths of my soul.  I am thankful for the feedback I receive from my readers through their comments.  I am deeply thankful for all the friends it has brought my way.  Mostly I am thankful to have learned the valuable skill of taking life one day at a time, and learning to laugh, even through my tears.  Until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Getting By With My Online Friends

    Online friends make my world go around. Who would have thought??  While I was in school or  working, I had a whole host of acquaintances that put on the mask of friendship while I was in close proximity.  As soon as I moved on, graduated, or quit my job…Boom!  Those so called friends were gone like a fart in the wind.   Some might say hello if they seen you in public, still the rest would most likely cross the street and avoid your existence.    Life is constantly changing and people move through our lives at a steady rate.  Few stick around for very long.  They serve their purpose, and then on they go.

        Over the past two years of active blogging I have come across the nicest people and only a couple honest to goodness nut jobs.  Amazing considering we are advised to warn our kids to be wary about making online acquaintances because they are all disguised as child molesters, rapists, and murderers.  There is a very good reason why sites like Face Book have age limits.  The problem is, most people ignore them and get on Face Book anyways putting in bogus birthdates so they can play the games or mingle.   For some reason parents have a false sense of security about  face book no matter how many law enforcement and school officials warn against it.

        Back in the day it was the in thing to sit on the telephone for hours.  Now it is more acceptable to sit on a computer communicating by instant message or texting from a cell phone.  Does anyone really interact in person anymore??  I don’t,  except for the occasions that my husband is actually home.   I interact with him because he is my best friend and I married him.  Hate to state the obvious but I interact with my kids because they are my kids.    Good moms are supposed to do that.  Beyond that I have a direct connection to the rest of the  world through the world wide web.

       Upon thinking about this week’s topic, I realized something.  I consider some of my best friends to be the people I interact with online and have never officially met.  They come from all corners of the globe and are very much apart of my everyday life.  They read my blogs.  I read theirs.  We chit chat on Face Book.  We are united in our need to share our writing or photography with the world and with each other and in the process become friends.  Oh yeah, and there is always that underlying desire to make a little do-re-me, and some of us share the never ending pursuit for that  and even the almighty illustrious Google page rank.  We help each other, support each other, leave comments, and give advice.  We even learn new skills from some of the more tech savvy folks we find online.

      Most days I rarely leave my home.    Am I lonely?  Not really.  I have still mingled with folks states and continents away.  They are my friends.  True there are some people on my face book that are mere acquaintances.  Like other people, I gather friends on face book like trick-or-treaters gather candy on Halloween. Why?,  so I can promote my blog, plain and simple.  


       Regardless of how friendly people are on Face Book, most still are the next best thing to strangers.  Still, I am happy to have my group of strangers because they have become some of the best friends I have ever had and they help me get through the ups and downs of everyday life.   Until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.