HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SON

A single pumpkin always reminds me of the birth of my firstborn on Halloween eve in 1963.  Having a birthday on this day was a special day.  A time for dressing up in homemade costumes with whatever we could find around the house.  An old plaid flannel shirt made the start of a good outfit.  After celebrating with German Chocolate cake with homemade frosting and scoops of ice cream I would take those attending to a haunted house for more scary fun. This was even more fun for him than opening the birthday gifts.

The fall has always been favorite season for me as well as my son.  As the leaves fell,  he and his sister would rake up piles of leaves to jump into and cover themselves up.  After tiring of that they would get an old pair of their fathers jeans, tie string at the bottom of the pant legs and stuff them with leaves.  Then finding an old flannel shirt they would stuff the shirt full and sit this in a lawn chair on the front porch.  Using an old wig and  Styrofoam shape for a head they painted on the face, topping it off with an old hat. Ah....the memories this brings back.  It was simpler times then and they could go door to door in the small town where we lived without fear of receiving tainted candy.  When they were young I took them and enjoyed walking through the crisp air as they enjoyed their childhood innocent fun.

Now his two boys who are now seven and eleven are enjoying dressing up in store bought costumes and going to a few select homes to trick or treat.  They have never made a scary leaf stuffed creature to set on their little porch.  The do however love to have paint faces on their pumpkins.

ENJOYING THE MOMENTS

the hole

"It's not so much the hole inside me that I mind,"

she said.

It's the weight that's in that hole"

"then take the weight out and

leave it behind and fill the hole

with things that will make you fly,"

was her reply

terri st.cloud

The weight inside my heart was was very heavy many times during the month of September, so much so that I realized I had not truly enjoyed the beautiful weather and all that nature provides.  I stepped out onto the deck and there on the glider seat lay a single red maple leaf reminding me again how much I had missed of life just as the maple leaf did about twenty-five years ago.  All of our trees have green maple leaves still so I was thankful that this special leaf once again landed to give me a wake up call. 

 So I started to list the moments I could remember when I experienced miracles of the day. The first was assisting Daryl and Chris and their two dogs on Labor Day and what a blessing they were in my life.  Then I recalled the times during September that the Hummingbirds were feeding morning and evening storing up energy for their long flight to southern parts unknown to me. 

Taking our dog Sunny to Washington Park one beautiful day to read and try to get my life in balance.  As I got Sunny out of the car a young Mother called to me that her little one wanted to see my dog.  She brought him over and as I leaned over to talk to him he reached up his little arms for me to pick him up.  I hugged him close and his chubby cheeks were just inches from mine and I didn't want to put him down.  His Mom said he doesn't go to strangers and was surprised by his reaching up immediately.  She told me that she was taking classes at our Junior College and had skipped classes to be with him.  She was on bed rest during her pregnancy and that she had never left him with babysitters and that her parents were watching him while she went to school and I believe she was a single Mom.  His name was Uriah and he was a year old.  I picked him up again after he petted Sunny and his little body felt so precious.  I have never had that feeling even with my own Grandchildren.

I watched her as she showed him the ducks and walked around taking pictures of him by the trees and flowers and I felt old as I reflected back to my days as a very young Mom.  That memory of holding little Uriah and feeling God blessed me with that precious baby wanting me to hold him..  I came home and looked up the meaning of his name and in Hebrew it means 'God is Light' or 'My God is Light' and I knew the Divine placed him on my path that day and that God's love nourished my soul.

Buying the book by Norman Vincent Peale on Positive Imaging that my friend had blogged a story about I came across a story on page 95 about an elderly gentleman that had a habit of saying 'Today is going to be a terrific day'.  I changed this and for the past week have said many times throughout the day 'Today is going to be a beautiful day,'   This has  changed the way I view my circumstances as I set out to enjoy the beauty of life.

Someone recently said to me that at night when we lay our head on our pillow to know that I  did the best that I could that day.  So every day I strive to do the best I can and enjoy each beautiful day because we don't know how many beautiful days we have.