This is my wish for you: comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirit sags, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, love to complete your life."

Not really sure of who saw this wonderful poem that a mom who I met at the hospital with Avery a while back left for me. I have been reflecting on the lines in it since I got it. One line that REALLY sticks out to me right now is "Friendships to brighten your being".

About 3 yrs. ago I took a course on "My inner being", this was at a couple of yrs. after Isaiah was born and Rick and I were really on the rocks at the time. This course essentially saved my marriage and gave me the foundation to deal with my life. Hurricane Avery followed soon after. Anyway, alot of the course focused on some of these sayings in the poem. Especially surrounding yourself with people that fill your being and weeding out the ones that don't. I tend to struggle with this alot. But in my life I really CANNOT survive unless I have the right people in my corner and that goes with all aspects of my life.

I was thinking the other day on how different my life was a yr. ago. We were living in small town Spencer, which I loved, BUT.... It surely was in the middle of nowhere and I am sure they have or will never see a biracial family with 2 kids in wheelchairs. LOL. But everything has a time and place in life and if I had not lived there then I would not have met one of my good friends that fills my being. Robin, I love you guys.

But if we did not move then I don't know where I would be today given Avery's medical decline. Maybe I would have been in the nuthouse. This move has DRAMATICALLY changed and helped our lives for the better. We are surrounded by such wonderful community of people and have so many extended families. The hospital is so close, family, and no commuting for Rick (Yay). For as many times as Avery has been in the hospital we always had someone to call for Janessa and nurses for Isaiah. We have also reconnected with some of our friends which lived in the area. I feel like we have always lived here and am so blessed that things worked out the way the did.

I know I have veered off topic a bit but not really, moral of it all is
remembering that I do have alot of the tools said in the poem and some I don't but am working on. I love to laugh alot (Carla you are with me there), love to complete your life is checked off, I can see the beauty in life and forget often to take it in. I could go on but I won't bore you. Just thought that was a beautiful poem for anybody to live by and we can each see some things in it that we need to do and others we may have mastered.

Thanks Shana