Sent: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 4:00 pm
Subject: Connie Circle update - 6/9/09
Hey, All -
Hard to believe it's been a week since my last update - "no news is good news" is a cliche for a reason!
I've added a few people to the distribution: J/M M, M/B B, K/R G, B/M H, M/C M, D/K C, E L and J/L A - continued love, prayers, purple candles, cards, skyward intentions are appreciated...
Lots of good days for mom, most of them prompted by the support of friends and family - D, K and E came up last Tuesday night for a visit... and we had Chinese Food Night last Wednesday with her Flowery Branch friends/neighbors (R, A, C, S, D, R) as well as me, Mari and Julia...
D stopped in Saturday morning... and my Sarah (soon-to-be-28, believe it or not!) was here (from Florida) Friday through early this morning - we had a most delightful long weekend, with Mari and Julia spending most of it with us, and Brad coming over Sunday for a family dinner...
A, G, M and B are coming up tomorrow and bringing lunch - it will be grand to see them, as the last time was at Aunt Marie's funeral (almost a year ago, actually)...
We just can't say enough good things about Crossroads Hospice - every nurse/health care aide/administrator has been friendly, compassionate and knowledgeable every step of the way. Arranging for mom to stay in her own home throughout the journey is everyone's priority - as her safety net widens, her anxiety level decreases... which is a win/win for all...
We did indeed get wireless here last week (thanks to my little sister!)... and Mari has begun working from mom's house each Monday and Wednesday so I can get to exercise class with two of mom's friends/neighbors (thanks, A and D!) - each day brings a finetuning of the processes, options and opportunities... and it is slowly becoming the calming and nurturing routine we envisioned...
Mom's church family has been wonderful... with a married couple coming every Sunday morning at 9:30 to pray and administer communion... and mom's priest visited this past Sunday afternoon for The Anointing of the Sick rite (after watching the Tony Awards later that evening, we realized he looks like Elton John!)...
I miss my husband, children and dog terribly... although it appears they are faring just fine in my absence - Chico and Eric bought a gas grill... so buy stock in the Publix meat department!)...
This time is all about mom... and we are making sure she eats healthy food, gets as much rest as she wants/needs and *lives* each day with joy, peace and love... surrounded by the amazing people she has blessed with her goodness over the years... who are reciprocating a thousandfold now. So she's not the Energizer Bunny anymore - she's doing a pretty good imitation of a Buddhist monk (be here now... :-)
Much love to all - thanks for everything... <3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DailyOm
A Life of Learning
Earth School
May 21, 2009
Life is the province of learning, and the wisdom we acquire throughout our lives is the reward of existence. As we traverse the winding roads that lead from birth to death, experience is our patient teacher. We exist, bound to human bodies as we are, to evolve, enrolled by the universe in earth school, an informal and individualized academy of living, being, and changing. Life’s lessons can take many forms and present us with many challenges. There are scores of mundane lessons that help us learn to navigate with grace, poise, and tolerance in this world. And there are those once-in-a-lifetime lessons that touch us so deeply that they change the course of our lives. The latter can be heartrending, and we may wander through life as unwilling students for a time. But the quality of our lives is based almost entirely on what we derive from our experiences.
Earth school provides us with an education of the heart and the soul, as well as the intellect. The scope of our instruction is dependent on our ability and readiness to accept the lesson laid out before us in the circumstances we face. When we find ourselves blindsided by life, we are free to choose to close our minds or to view the inbuilt lesson in a narrow-minded way. The notion that existence is a never-ending lesson can be dismaying at times. The courses we undertake in earth school can be painful as well as pleasurable, and as taxing as they are eventually rewarding. However, in every situation, relationship, or encounter, a range of lessons can be unearthed. When we choose to consciously take advantage of each of the lessons we are confronted with, we gradually discover that our previous ideas about love, compassion, resilience, grief, fear, trust, and generosity could have been half-formed.
Ultimately, when we acknowledge that growth is an integral part of life and that attending earth school is the responsibility of every individual, the concept of "life as lesson" no longer chafes. We can openly and joyfully look for the blessing buried in the difficulties we face without feeling that we are trapped in a roller-coaster ride of forced learning. Though we cannot always know when we are experiencing a life lesson, the wisdom we accrue will bless us with the keenest hindsight.
And from my 5/29/09 TUT (Totally Unique Thoughts):
A Life of Learning
Earth School
May 21, 2009
Life is the province of learning, and the wisdom we acquire throughout our lives is the reward of existence. As we traverse the winding roads that lead from birth to death, experience is our patient teacher. We exist, bound to human bodies as we are, to evolve, enrolled by the universe in earth school, an informal and individualized academy of living, being, and changing. Life’s lessons can take many forms and present us with many challenges. There are scores of mundane lessons that help us learn to navigate with grace, poise, and tolerance in this world. And there are those once-in-a-lifetime lessons that touch us so deeply that they change the course of our lives. The latter can be heartrending, and we may wander through life as unwilling students for a time. But the quality of our lives is based almost entirely on what we derive from our experiences.
Earth school provides us with an education of the heart and the soul, as well as the intellect. The scope of our instruction is dependent on our ability and readiness to accept the lesson laid out before us in the circumstances we face. When we find ourselves blindsided by life, we are free to choose to close our minds or to view the inbuilt lesson in a narrow-minded way. The notion that existence is a never-ending lesson can be dismaying at times. The courses we undertake in earth school can be painful as well as pleasurable, and as taxing as they are eventually rewarding. However, in every situation, relationship, or encounter, a range of lessons can be unearthed. When we choose to consciously take advantage of each of the lessons we are confronted with, we gradually discover that our previous ideas about love, compassion, resilience, grief, fear, trust, and generosity could have been half-formed.
Ultimately, when we acknowledge that growth is an integral part of life and that attending earth school is the responsibility of every individual, the concept of "life as lesson" no longer chafes. We can openly and joyfully look for the blessing buried in the difficulties we face without feeling that we are trapped in a roller-coaster ride of forced learning. Though we cannot always know when we are experiencing a life lesson, the wisdom we accrue will bless us with the keenest hindsight.
And from my 5/29/09 TUT (Totally Unique Thoughts):
Which sounds like more fun, Susan: Being showered with miracles just because I love you, or being showered with miracles because you dared, stretched, went out on a limb, raised the bar, threw down the gauntlet, faced your fears, and grew into more than you ever knew you could be?
Dare ya, The Universe
Challenge yourself, Susan, every single day.
SONG: Don't Ever Change by Amy Rigby
BOOK: Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow by Elizabeth Lesser
POEM: In Blackwater Woods by Mary Oliver
Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
QUOTE:"In the East they say that luck favors the prepared mind. I believe that life favors the prepared mind." ~ Robin S. Sharma
Challenge yourself, Susan, every single day.
SONG: Don't Ever Change by Amy Rigby
BOOK: Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow by Elizabeth Lesser
POEM: In Blackwater Woods by Mary Oliver
Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
QUOTE:"In the East they say that luck favors the prepared mind. I believe that life favors the prepared mind." ~ Robin S. Sharma
know that my thoughts continue to be with you and mom..... take care of you...
ReplyDeleteHey, sharon ~
ReplyDeleteOh, I do know that - thanks so much for checking in and holding us close... <3