Moon over My Annie

 

 

I am more sentimental than Granny's Bone China.

 

Here are a few images from my morning...

 

And this...

 

 

And these...tee hee...

 

 

That moon was the loveliest thing I've seen in awhile.  It felt like God set it there just for my delight.

 

 

My  Heavenly Daddy said, "I think I'll suspend the moon over Annie's neighborhood, so full and round, a jolly smiling 'face', just to remind her that I am here and that I love her.". 

 

 ...That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!...

 

These young people like up my morning, too, very much like Mr. Moon--

 

 

 

Every morning, we say a prayer called the morning offering.  Therese has been feigning annoyance with me lately when I imitate the current tween/teen slang. 

 

I began our prayer, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."  We rounded the corner.  I continued. "Oh My Jesus...  OH, Jesus is TOTES ADORBS!!!" 

 

A huge objection came from the back seat...  And a snort of laughter from the passenger seat ...

 

HUGSxxxAnnie

 

 

 

 

 

 

Egg Salad

This past week, Therese turned twelve.  Her birthday meal request  was simple--egg salad sandwiches. 

Why do we fuss so much when it doesn't have to take fancy meals and expensive things to make us happy?  I think that's the cool thing about children; they remind us that joy comes from the simplest things.

 

 

Some things I love: 

 

rain

 

peanut butter

 

bare feet

 

smiling eyes

 

babies

 

kiwis

 

lilacs

 

laughter

& laughing to the point of crying

 

potatoes

 

the smell of coffee

 

What are some things you treasure, the simple and uncomplicated things?  What is the egg salad in your life?

 

 

 

HUGSxxx Annie

 

 

 

 

The holidays are over now, my tree is still up, and I have a dozen things that need done yesterday...but...

I feel like writing--so I am writing.  My kids are on my mind today, and I want to write about them.  I also feel like writing about some recent blessings...

I also feel like smiling--so I am smiling.

Many of you know that my eldest son was born with a syndrome that caused a myriad of health problems from the very start.  In addition to that, he is profoundly hearing impaired.  I could not have ever dreamt that the little boy I raised with so many physical obstacles could be doing the things he does now.

A month ago, he travelled alone to Europe.  Just about every week, he goes to Youngstown with friends to a nightclub that plays big band hits and he swing dances!  Ian loves life so much!  He has been planning a cross country hike for over a year now.  He plans to WALK across our country, starting in March.  (I can't lie and say I am not concerned about his safety!) He is a wonderful example of someone who will not allow life's challenges to stop him from living a full life.  I have learned a lot from him, and am a much better person because I am his mom.

Now, just because I have written all these things about Ian, I do not want to focus less on the other young people who call me 'Mom'. 

Some days I sit back and ponder how much God must love me to have given me these beautiful people--my children.  I think of what an honor it is to raise them and mentor them in this life.  It is an 'awe'some task.  There is nothing I take more seriously than being able to arrive before Him one day, and honestly tell Him that I did the best job I knew how.  I have made many mistakes, I have failed so many times.  I just hope that my kids know that I love them completely, with my entire being.  I hope they can forgive me for my shortcomings.

One of the things that makes me smile are that my kids are not all caught up in the worldly junk that swirls around them.  Jacob is in his early 20's and when he goes out with his gang of friends, guess what they do?  They play board games.  Yes, that's right!  I love that they know how to have fun without going off the deep end like so many others in their age group. 

There are many nights a week that our house is filled with young people, eating snacks, playing board games, and enjoying each other's company.  Tony and Jacob's friends overlap somewhat, and even Ian's do at times.  There has been a longstanding date among my oldest kids every Tuesday.  If you go to Eat N Park in the wee hours of the morning, you'll witness a huge gathering of mostly 20 somethings, eating and socializing, and playing cards or games.  They always tip generously, too!  Ian is almost always present for that, and Jake and Tony are, off and on.

My youngest boy, JohnPaul, is a very cool kid.  JP is very quiet, very reserved.  He has a wicked sense of humor, and so many wonderful qualities!  He's been working on an online comic strip for years--he has (I think) almost 800 strips done so far.  Before he did the online comic strip, he used to make comics on paper--he has a stack of these about three or four inches thick of the ones I managed to keep.  His schoolmates were always pushing to read his funny stories in Middle School.  JP is known in the neighborhood as Scooter Elliott.  He spends many hours on his scooter--it's his thinking time away from all the noise!

And...my two flowers...Maria and Therese...they are both petite with blue eyes (like their daddy) and have powerful opinions.  I always wished for a sister when I was a child, but God withheld that pleasure from me.  (I love both my brothers so much, it's just that I wanted a sister, too.)  When He sent me two little girls, I felt that lifelong desire for a sister was satisfied.  There is a deep need inside me to share female things with someone else, and I'm so happy I have been given the gift of daughters.  I treasured taking Maria to shop for dresses for school dances and watching her blossom into a young lady. 

 My 'baby', Therese, is still a little girl in many ways, but she's on the verge of her teenage years.  I am thankful that she still likes to cuddle with me, and that I can kiss her and baby her a little from time to time.

During the Christmas Season, we received many beautiful blessings.  Several relatives enrolled our family in what Catholics call 'Spiritual Bouquets'.  These are Masses (they can also be other prayers) which are said for our prayer intentions and for our souls.  There is no gift better than that.

One day, an envelope came in the mail with no return address.  Inside, we found a gift card to the local grocery store--no letter or greeting card, just that little anonymous gift card.  What a thoughtful and helpful gift to our family that was.  It came just as it was time to start our holiday grocery shopping! 

Our whole family spend some good times together, I got to visit with my brother and his wife a few times, and we had a family dinner on the Sunday after Christmas at Muscarella's.  My parents arranged it and paid for everyone--what a beautiful gift that was.

My wish for all my readers is that if you are feeling low and don't feel like smiling...maybe I can do something to help you...I hope you will experience love or an unexpected blessing, too.

HUGSxxx Annie

Falling In Love

Remember when you fell in love?  The swell of emotion, the way that joy oozed from your very being?  Recall breaking into an ear to ear smile at any given moment?

Lucky me.  I not only have those memories with my sweetie, John, but with each one of the children that came into our life over the years. 

Love at first sight does, indeed, exist.  When my babies were first placed in my arms, I wanted to love them with every ounce of my being.  In fact, I couldn't do anything to stop myself from loving them that way.

The cycle of life, bringing a child into being, carrying them inside, seeing them as they make their debut...going forward with them as they take their first steps, speak their first words...onto school, and adolescence, ups and downs...and then, one day--how did it happen?--they are all grown up.  Like the day they took that first toddling step away, they now take their first adult steps. 

There's something about those steps that causes something of a bruise inside the mom.  It aches.  Sometimes it feels like that little contusion begins to heal, then something comes along to open it up all over again.

Today as I drove through the park, everything 'looked' right with the world.  The early autumn leaves, tinged with vibrant reds and oranges, cast long shadows over the grass.  Ducks glided across the still lake, and the sun's eastern glance reflected on the surface.  It's Friday and I have the weekend to look forward to.

The sky peeked down at me, cloaked in the most flattering shade of robin's egg blue, but tears formed inside the rims of my eyes.  A lump stubbornly planted itself in my throat.  All this because I spied the spot near the fountain where Maria posed for prom pictures in May.

Suddenly I missed my dear sooo much.  I'm so proud of her.  She made the decision to pursue higher education; and she stuck to her plan, moving away and going to college.  How is it that one moment, she was still my little girl, and the next moment, she's a young woman, on her own? 

Just because she did what she's supposed to do--grow up--what do I  do with that part of my soul that is wrapped around my child like a delicate, yet powerfully strong, spider's web?  I never expected to feel like this.  I had not anticipated it.

I think I understand why this is Earth, and not Heaven.  It seems that at no time in one's life, is the heart every truly content.  When all things seem right, there is always that 'something' that is off. 

Each of my children is everything to me.  I can't choose a favorite; they are all my favorite.  They are all my 'only' love.  They are all the best blessing I have known and will know. 

Being in love means sometimes feeling too deeply.  But I would never trade it for anything.  I miss my Maria today.  I think of her impish smile and dimpled cheek, and feel that swell of emotion.  There's nothing in the world as wonderful as being fully immersed in a sea of love.

Rainy

It's a rainy day today; I awoke with a migraine after a restless night of quasi nightmares.  That tells me that the headache was approaching while I slept.

I've decided to ignore the fact that I have not washed any clothes yet this week (OOOOOH, that is sooo not good), that the house is a mess, and that I need to start planning what's for dinner tonight.  Instead, I've gone back to my cozy bed to rest between a frenetic morning and a booked schedule for later on.

I know that an ignored migraine does not go away.  It only gets worse, and worse can turn into debilitating.

With that, I can justify lying here, listening to a solitary bird whistling a happy tune, with a backdrop of quiet dripping rain.

I'm thankful that today is the last day of school.  I realized as Therese jumped out of the van with her bag full of teacher's farewell gifts, that this was my final time to drop off a child at the elementary school.  For 20 years I've had children at the elementary level, so this is kind of a big deal for me.  One one hand, there is really a lot of relief, and yet, it's a bit like I'm losing an old friend.

At her 'graduation' yesterday, I wondered about us humans.  For twenty years, I've been witnessing certain boorish parental behaviors that have long since grown old.

When Therese's class was called to stand up, many of the parents rushed to be closer to the archway to take pictures of their children as they passed through it.  They were invited to do so, and I have no problem with that.  But, I was seated on the bleachers and decided to stay put and snap a photo from there.  One of the fathers planted himself square in front of the archway, with his back to the bleachers, preventing me from seeing my child when she arrived to get her diploma.  I had to slide over to snap a picture, and he still shows up in the photo. 

Now, I appreciate that he wanted a good place to get a photo of his daughter, but maybe he should remember that other parents love their children, too!  Would it have killed him to crouch down until the time his daughter was receiving her certificate?

I've grown weary over the past couple of decades with this kind of rudeness.  I see it over and over and over.

Tonight I will witness Maria graduating from high school.  I'm so proud of her; she worked darned hard through her entire school career.  I think back to the day she walked across the elementary gym to get her kindergarten graduation diploma.  How adorable she looked in a blush pink party dress made of tulle and satin, with a mortarboard cap on her head that couldn't stay put.  I laughed and cried all at once!

It did not help that I was in the first trimester of pregnancy with Therese and my hormones were on hyper drive.  I went through a lot of tissues that day.

Maria has had a busy senior year--directing her first play in the fall, starring in the Spring Musical, singing in the choir and chamber choir, enjoying Homecoming and Prom, all the while keeping her grades up to graduate in the elite top 10 of her class. 

That little girl with the slippery hat has grown into a young woman!  I hope she has better success in keeping her cap on tonight!  (Which makes me laugh at another memory--when Tony graduated from kindergarten, an adult helper taped the top of the inside of his cap to his hair!  It was a painful experience when he tried to take his hat off!)

HUGSxxxAnnie

Seeing With The Eyes Of Faith

The morning after our local elections, I've awakened with a dull headache, and a sort of hung-over weariness.

For the past few months I've walked down a path untrod (for me), and come through with a fresh sense of wonder.

As many of you know, I've been working and campaigning for my younger brother in this election for Common Pleas Judge.

Jim is a man that everyone should have the honor of knowing.  His soul is saturated with the presence of God; his word is gold, his integrity is stalwart; he is sign of hope in a dark and hellish world.

I admit disappointment in his loss at the polls; yet strangely, I feel invigorated with hope for him. It seems that God has ordained Jim for His cause--and no matter what Jim's 'Divine assignment' will be, it will show its face when the time is right.

I will never forget the day Jim came into my life and changed it forever.  I was 3 years old and Mom went off the hospital.  I remember weeping in my bedroom, missing her, and not thinking much at all about the new baby.  I just wanted my mom.  When she brought him home, I felt bewildered; I thought he would be an immediate playmate, but all he did was lie in his cradle, sleep, and cry. 

But I instinctively wanted to hold him, to care for him, to protect him.  I marveled at his tiny features, his precious golden curls, his crystalline blue eyes.

As he grew, I carried him, I danced with him, I played with him, and jealously guarded my baby brother.  I loved being like a second mommy to him.

Jim was already plotting his course in life, even before he knew it.  As a little boy, his favorite dress code was a suit and tie!  He and his best friend/cousin, Pat, would dress up as children and each time they parted, their goodbye was this: "Meet you at the office!".  What child would say such a precocious thing?  My baby brother, that's what child!!! 

That same little boy had a fondness for impish pranks.  I remember the first summer we travelled cross country, he was but seven years old.  He bought a huge rubber snake in one of the Midwestern states and he got a huge kick out of scaring our elderly aunts with it.

As Jim grew into a young man, I was there to watch him do his first solo in an airplane (holding my breath as I watched him take off!).  Jim was best man at our wedding at the tender age of seventeen, toasting us with a wine glass filled with root beer.

Jim found the love of his life, Kristina, just at the point where he was entering a new phase: he was in college, carrying 4.0 GPA and working full time at the local music store.  He completed his bachelor's degree (with highest distinction) in three years. 

Jim married Kristina after a long distance engagement (she, in Houston, he in State College), and they began their wedded life as he was entering law school.  Jim continued working and going to graduate school, learning to navigate the crazy roads of downtown Houston each day. 

 Law School, to those of you who do not know about it, is grueling.  It is intellectually, spiritually, physically, and mentally a test of great magnitude.  Jim told me that daily, people dropped out.  The classes dwindled until there were only a handful of students left at the end of the semester.

The college kept psychologists on hand to deal with the students who couldn't take the pressure.  There were suicides and nervous breakdowns.

Add into that the stress of moving numerous times, working a job outside of school, and starting off a marriage, and you've just earned a new threshold off the 'stress' Richter Scale!!!

Jim came through it all, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.  It was not easy, but he pulled it off.

The next phase was passing the Bar Exam, and establishing a practice.  Jim moved back to Pennsylvania, and Kristina was happy to oblige him.  She left her family, her established business, and came north to support her husband and start a new life.  Kristina started a new business here in the healthcare field and is thriving!  These people are made of something rare!

One of Jim's lifelong dreams was to be master of his own 'castle'.  He realized that dream when he and Kristina purchased a three story historical home in our town, sorely in need of a complete restoration.  Jim is restoring the mansion to its original grandeur, one plank of wood and a handful of nails at a time. 

This past February, a local judge announced his retirement, which left an open seat for judge.  When Jim came to us, his family, and excitedly told us about his plans to run, we were all gung ho.

For the past three and a half months, we all have been at his side, doing whatever we could to help him.

I don't feel the results of the elections as a loss because of all the good that I witnessed.

Old family friends emerged and went that extra mile to lend Jim not one hand, but two.

Our family worked together as a team, making phone calls, contacting people, praying, strategizing, and supporting.

I can't begin to tell you all the details, it would take much too long.

 I'll just say this: I'm grateful to have witnessed our coming together for a common goal, a group of dedicated and caring people.  Some of them are friends, some of them are family, some of them are BOTH!

I was able to behold the goodness of the human heart.  There was no 'monkey business', we came to this day with the clear conscience of they who can stand before God and proclaim, "I've done this all with honesty, perseverance, integrity, and love."  There is nothing else we should say, because we know where we stand in the light of God, and that's a good place to be!  We have no shame because we have fought the good fight.  Jim truly is a winner this morning. 

Thank you, Lord, for giving us this task of supporting and encouraging Jim.  It has made me a better person, and I feel enriched because of it.

When another opportunity such as this arises, I will come full of knowledge that I did not have back in February--I guess you really can teach an old dog new tricks.  I never knew any of these things that I have learned about running a campaign.  Now, I am a seasoned pro.

Thank you to my husband, Jim's most unwavering cheerleader!  You worked yourself to the bone for Jim, and it was worth it. 

Thank you to my dear Mom and Dad, who threw themselves into this race with a youthful zeal.  Jim couldn't have better people to call Mom and Dad. I love you two more than words can say.

 Shaun, our older brother in Florida, who campaigned through prayers and long distance support (and his family), thank you! 

My children, who were able to learn the ins and outs of running for public office,  you gained so much, and gave even more.  Thank you, especially to Ian, Jacob, and Tony, who spent most of their day yesterday standing in the hot sun, campaigning at the polls with no complaints. 

 JohnPaul, thank you, too, for your support, and-yay--you got to earn volunteer hours for your school! 

And, Therese, you went with me to finish out the poll work after school.  You behavior and patience were very mature!  Thank you...hope you enjoyed your Yumberries afterwards!

Maria interceded spiritually, and Danny was praying on bended knee from Africa for their Uncle Jim.  Thank you both for your love and concern.

Jim Ryan, you've just taken a step towards a splendid horizon.  I wait with bated breath to see what God has planned for you.

HUGSxxx Annie

Can't Take The Sadness...

We'd never tolerate it if we knew that someone would deliberately cut this kitty's throat, or crush her head, or snip her spine with scissors, would we? 

Then, tell me, please, why are we not horrified that this is happening to precious little children?!  

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/05/15/another-gosnell-report-shows-texas-abortion-doc-kills-babies-born-alive/



I have had it with all the arguments about 'women's rights'.  I'm SICK of it--literally.  I can't take another moment of knowing that these innocent babies have *no* rights at all.  My frustration leaks out from my eyes--I can't stop weeping for them.  What can we do?

I pray every day for a change of heart for the women who are contemplating abortion.  I pray that abortion 'providers' will see the horror of their deeds and turn away from this scourge on humanity. 

I've been blessed over and over with my family--each child that I've been honored to raise and love.  I would gladly take these unwanted ones into my home and give them the love they deserve!  My brothers, each of whom is married--one who is child-less--the other who has only one child, wouldn't hesitate for an instant to do the same. 

Give these babies life!  Give them to me!  I would cherish them! 

I'm so sad today.  I can't make heads or tails of our world, how sick it is.  We need a dose of medicine to heal us and help us stop this cruel practice.  What and where is the medicine?  Who can heal us?

  Jesus, I Trust In You!

I cannot stop the tears.  The Human Race is so deeply fractured, we need Divine Healing.

Hugs.  Annie