Finding Blessings In Disguise

Tonight I lost a friend that I've had since elementary school.  I have so many conflicting emotions right now.  I'm mad and I'm sad and I'm devastated and my heart absolutely aches for the two little girls who have been left behind.  I've walked that path and I know the heartache of your daddy missing all of the big moments in your life - prom, graduation, going to college, getting married, having children.  I wouldn't wish that fate on my worst enemy.  My friend was only forty years old.  He served our country as a young Marine and then re-enlisted in the Guard after 9/11.  He did not die in combat, but he wasn't afraid to do so.  I give thanks for him, his spirit, and others like him. Because of men and women like him, I am free to write whatever the hell I want out in here in cyberspace or just about any other place where I feel so inclined.  Tonight I'll have a beer, listen to some classic Zeppelin, and remember the good times that I shar...

Tonight I am lifting up prayers, praying for a miracle for a childhood friend who is on life support.  The circumstances surrounding it point to his history of self-destructive behavior, but that doesn't diminish the reality or severity of the situation.  Tonight his wife and his mother are holding vigil and will be making decisions with doctors tomorrow after a repeat brain scan.  I want to yell at him and kick his ass for doing something stupid, but instead I pray.  I pray that God will grace his family with a miracle and he will wake up from this nightmare.  I pray that two little girls will not have to face their futures without their daddy. I pray that God will hold his wife and his family through all of this and give them peace and strength to make difficult decisions if a miracle doesn't happen.  I give thanks to God for my family, my husband, and my children.  I give thanks for the sound of my husband snoring down the hall. I listen to the musi...

Snow in the South is always a big deal - especially for young children who have only seen it a handful of times in their short, precious lives.  I'll admit it - it's a big deal for me, too.  The snow fell on Friday and school was preemptively canceled so that kids didn't end up stranded on buses as they tried to get the children home.  The temps stayed below freezing all weekend, so the backroads were still a mess today and my kids got another day of freedom.  Don't get me wrong, I love my children but there is only so much that a parent can take when the roads are a mess and there's no escape from the cabin-fever induced ravings of small children.  Tomorrow my oldest goes back to school and I give thanks to the snow-melting God in Heaven for that little gift of peace and quiet.