Remember how the teachers used to seat us in alphabetical order? Remember how I always sat behind Jerry Velling and in front of Jeannie Walker, or Matt Weinberger, Angie Tice was next to me and the windows were on the other side of me. I never talked to Ken Barrea or Jeff Baskett because they were totally on the other side of the world.
Well now that I'm a Swanstrom instead of Vlach and he's a Seven instead of Lemmon, now were alphabet buddies. How cool is that? We've never been in an alphabetical list together as adults, so I didn't realize. I hope that Paul Sposare posts a picture next to mine.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
What Have You Seen?
As life does not discriminate and the planet turns on with or without us, somewhere in between, for those of us who are fortunate enough to have made it this far, I am certain that each of you, like myself...have had some incredible things happen to you, be it good, bad or funny by now. Whether you believe in God or not, life can throw us for loops that defy words or explanation. It is the stories we carry in our hearts, the things we have seen that stop us in our tracks but are seldomly told by us to others because we think most people won't care, and maybe they don't, so we don't share them. I have come to find that when I dig down a little deeper with each person I come to know beyond the surface, there are usually jaw dropping experiences they carry with them that profoundly blew me away when they told me and gave me pause to hear them. I now understand, we all have our own cross to bare regardless of your divine belief.
As a child growing up, My Mom and Dad were two of the best people a child could have as parents. The sad truth was, my Mom was an alcoholic, but a great woman, with as much love for my brothers and I as a mother could have. My parents split up when I was in kindergarten when her disease finally came to a head in a drunk driving accident that nearly killed my brothers and I. My dad felt he had no choice but to protect us by breaking up the marriage. This led to a lifetime of parental separation, a long and difficult road growing up watching my Mom suffer through years of addiction, never quite able to put her life together for more than short periods of time but she never stopped trying. My Dad never gave up on her. He was always trying to do everything he could to help her. She was always doing her best to beat her addiction, cause she always wanted so badly to be together with us again. For 28 years since they split up, I had always suffered silently the pain of their separation, always wanting to see them together to no avail.
Six years ago, after a good fight and a final three straight years of sobriety, my Mom died of lung cancer. In the final year of her life while she was battling it, my Dad would drive up from Olympia 3 days a week to take her to her appointments. As things were seemingly getting better health-wise for her, their true love for eachother had finally found it's way back to them. To make a long story short, her remission was short lived. I was summoned to the hospital where she lay in her final hours of life. I walked in the room to see my Dad, brothers and their extended family in a semi circle around her bed holding hands together. I joined in the circle with them. As it became quiet in the room, my Dad spoke softly, and in a broken voice, told me that... the night before, as my Mom was still conscious, they called in a priest, who renewed their marriage vows in a simple ceremony. In the end, My Mom died, married to my father, It was all I ever wanted. In twenty eight years of being apart, my Dad never dated another women even once, she was always his love. UNREAL! But life is what happens when you are making other plans.
This is why I would love to hear your amazing story, funny, inspiring or rediculous, does not matter. That's what life is all about.... I hope mine brought you something too.
As a child growing up, My Mom and Dad were two of the best people a child could have as parents. The sad truth was, my Mom was an alcoholic, but a great woman, with as much love for my brothers and I as a mother could have. My parents split up when I was in kindergarten when her disease finally came to a head in a drunk driving accident that nearly killed my brothers and I. My dad felt he had no choice but to protect us by breaking up the marriage. This led to a lifetime of parental separation, a long and difficult road growing up watching my Mom suffer through years of addiction, never quite able to put her life together for more than short periods of time but she never stopped trying. My Dad never gave up on her. He was always trying to do everything he could to help her. She was always doing her best to beat her addiction, cause she always wanted so badly to be together with us again. For 28 years since they split up, I had always suffered silently the pain of their separation, always wanting to see them together to no avail.
Six years ago, after a good fight and a final three straight years of sobriety, my Mom died of lung cancer. In the final year of her life while she was battling it, my Dad would drive up from Olympia 3 days a week to take her to her appointments. As things were seemingly getting better health-wise for her, their true love for eachother had finally found it's way back to them. To make a long story short, her remission was short lived. I was summoned to the hospital where she lay in her final hours of life. I walked in the room to see my Dad, brothers and their extended family in a semi circle around her bed holding hands together. I joined in the circle with them. As it became quiet in the room, my Dad spoke softly, and in a broken voice, told me that... the night before, as my Mom was still conscious, they called in a priest, who renewed their marriage vows in a simple ceremony. In the end, My Mom died, married to my father, It was all I ever wanted. In twenty eight years of being apart, my Dad never dated another women even once, she was always his love. UNREAL! But life is what happens when you are making other plans.
This is why I would love to hear your amazing story, funny, inspiring or rediculous, does not matter. That's what life is all about.... I hope mine brought you something too.
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