Birthday Full Moon & Love

When I turned 60 we were in Hawaii, and I couldn’t wait to get back on a surf board.  This year, on my 65 birthday in Puerto Vallarta we explored old town, but MaryBeth was sick and that ended our celebration early.  Late that evening, as I stood alone on our balcony and watched the full moon surf the waves below, I was awed by just being, and so very mindful of the gift of love others had shared along the way.  The next morning, I again stood in awe of the moon setting over the city, and cried as I felt my parents unconditionally love, parents long passed, but who would have been 100 in 2013.  Let love rule 2014!

Puerto Vallarta Vacation

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta on December 14^th and left on the 28th, for a 2 week vacation.  Our room was on the 22^nd floor with a balcony that faced the ocean and amazing sunsets.  The front door faced the city, etched like a painting in the valleys and foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains.  The first time I used the elevator I was baffled, for the 1^st floor was designated 11 not 1, but then I felt an internal smile realizing I was already half way home.  It’s the little blessing in life when recognized, that become the gratitude filling our lives with joy.  On these last days of 2013 take time to be grateful for life’s little blessings. 

Crabbing with Dad

It’s the small sweet surprises in life that give us the inside joy smiles that connect us with ourselves and others in powerful ways.  In two days my daughter Chandra will turn 33, what a sweet surprise 33 years ago.  I can still picture the obstetrician with one arm in his scrubs, and the other catching this rosy red little bundle of joy, who once out let it be known that she was here.  That little bundle of joy grew up and became a beautiful strong woman, and now a mother.  What sweet surprise will you give someone this holiday season, that will grow inside joy smiles for a lifetime? 

A Calling That Counts

Yesterday, I was the substitute teacher for the cancer survivorship Laughter Yoga class. It’s always a small class of cancer patients and caregivers, who are looking to a break from the anxiousness, anxiety, and worry that cancer can bring. I’d stepped in several months ago and several of the patients and caregivers were back. The couple from Hawaii, she was out of her wheelchair, and a woman about my age whose eyes told me she was glad to be back. I’m always nervous at the start of teaching, but as we warmed up, giggled, and laughed I found my peace and let myself “just be” in the moment. We had fun, some of us laughed till we cried; tears that wipe away our fears. Allow yourself a moment to “just be” today. Laughter Yoga MDACC

Pride in the 101 Airborne Division

He stood behind me wearing an US Army baseball cap in a restaurant line at the Tampa airport.  I thanked him for his service and he told me he’d served in the 101 Airborne Div. in Vietnam.  As I turned to walk away I could hear a memory slide from his mouth, “we waited at the train station, my mother and I crying, I didn’t want to go and die”.  We walked to our tables and I ask, “Are you proud of your service now?”, “You bet, it changed me, changed my attitude about life.”  He and his wife raised 3 girls; put them through nursing school to care for a world in a different way.  Pride expressed through gratitude is a wonderful gift for a world that needs more caring.  Care more this holiday season!

Mid-60s LSU Lakes

It had rained hard for several days, and the low bridges were beginning to flood. I had been catching fish in a pan as they were swept across the bridges. My 48’ Willis Jeep had no doors or top, I overturned a curve; the jeep went into a spin that sent the jeep and me into the lake. A wrecker pulled the jeep out, and on Saturday it started up after we drained and replaced all the fluids. My dad sat in the driver’s seat way too long, finally he turned and asked, “Billy what did you learn from all this?” I answered way too quickly, “Not to drive in rain?” He got out of the jeep, grabbed me in a bear hug, “you could have been killed, but there is a greater power than your stupidity at work in our lives!”

Moments of Possibilities

We all have moments, days; maybe weeks we wish we would not be. Obligations, events, activities requiring our attention or presence, pieces of life we’d rather avoid. And then they are over and we realize the anticipation had rearranged our lives, put us on edge with a fear believing these moments would go on forever, but they don’t. During my 10 years of hospice work as others shared their walks, I learned many lessons I’d never requested participating in last moments. Moments the dying fully lived, as only moments, to be added to a journey we don’t understand. Live each moment today, realizing after these moments, life will go on, and is overflowing with possibilities.

Pressed Joy

Every morning I drive by our ever changing 7 acres of MD Anderson prairie of native grasses, wild flowers, and winding trails dotted with a few clusters of trees and crape myrtles. This morning as I sat at the red light adjacent to the prairie, I could feel the grasses dancing and the flowers yawning. I was back in the late 60’s in Germany working as a lifeguard in an orphanage and every morning walked across fields of grasses and red poppies. That summer I read James Michener and pressed poppies in his books. I still have pages of pressed poppies reminding me of delicateness, yet resilience and joy of our lives. Press some joy in your spirit this holiday season!

 Poppy Fields Dancing

Live It!

Sunday I was on my way to Atlanta where I’d be teaching at CDC for several days.  I was #26 in the Southwest Airlines line and a young man wearing a baseball hat was #25.  “You going back to school?”, “nah, I’m in the Army, and going back to work”.  I told him I’d been an Airborne Ranger, he told me he served in the 75^th Ranger Brigade.  We talked briefly about losing friends in wars separated by 30+ years.  We moved to our seats, and I immediately fell asleep dreaming about the synergy of connection and passion.  As we left the plane, I turned and told him, “Stay alive”; he smiled, nodded, and said, “Live it”.  We both walked away smiling knowing that’s what we are here to do – fully live every day!