Sadness and Celebration

Today is April 7th, the day Suz, my best friend ever, was born. One year ago today, she passed from this world. Today I celebrate both her birth and her death. Her birth because it brought her into my life at the most perfect time for both of us, giving birth to a wonderful and lasting friendship and an enduring love for one another; her death because it took her into a perfect environment where I know she is young again, she is with family and friends, she knows no pain, she is filled with joy, and is embraced by her Father and Creator, with a perfect and non-judgemental love and, Who also celebrates her return to her real home where time has no meaning, love has no end and every moment is perfect. My comfort is in knowing, without a doubt, that the friendship and love we share, will continue forever and that she will be there, waiting with my family, to greet me when my time comes; probably with a hot cup of coffee in hand, blue eyes sparkling and a great big grin on her fabulous face. The thought of that happy moment brings tears to my eyes and fills me with joy and anticipation.

There is also sadness in my heart today; sadness for the friendship I miss so much in this life. I think of Suz so often which always causes a lump to well up in my throat and brings an empty ache into my heart. Being sad is not necessarily a bad thing, for I know in my heart, that it draws the attention of those loved ones who have gone before, letting them know that our love for them is alive and well. Sadness is not grief nor is it depression. Sadness is an expression of love and caring.

Suz...today I celebrate your eternal life and am sad because I love you and miss you.
So here's to you my friend and soul sister.........until we meet again.

Love you forever,
Dort

Treasures From My 'Creative Treasure'

1961...I was madly in love. March, 1962...the first of the fruits of that love came into my life, namely my lovely daughter Michelle. Like all Mothers, I fell in love instantly with this little bald headed, blue eyed beauty. It's hard to believe; that beautiful day in March was forty-seven years ago! In the jewelry box of life, I have stuffed all the priceless treasures which mean so much to me. Michelle is certainly a contributor to that box; in honor of her birthday this month, I would like to share a few of the tangible treasures she has added to my life.

The first two pictures were created by a very young Michelle from rocks, glue, paint and and imagination that never stops creating, to this day. The others are a drop in the bucket of what she has given to me and the world.
Hope you enjoy and join me in wishing Michelle a very happy and joy filled 47th year.

My Treasure gallery

49 Questions..More Likely Less

I can't even get Twitter to work so why would anyone think I could somehow get the 49 questions thing copied to my blog. Therefore, I shall make an attempt to see how many I can remember on my own. I've read Sandee's for a month, so you would think I would have the list memorized.......hehehehehehe. Here goes.

1. Are you named after anyone? Yeah, all the people born BEFORE me. Had to wait my turn you know.
2. When was the last time you cried? Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a long term stay on the pity potty, what can I say.
3. Do you like your handwriting? Yes I do. If it weren't legible, Miss Ziebarth, who insisted all her students have "perfect" penmanship, would come back and make me do the "exercises" in my sleep, if necessary.
4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Hands down........meatloaf with mayo and catsup/ketchup (whichever you prefer). Mike....start cooking!
5. Do you have kids? Yes I do, four. And yes, they are the best looking, most intelligent on earth! So there!
6. Would you have yourself for a friend if you were another person? Absolutely! With are my charm, wit and personality, who wouldn't want me for a friend? Don't answer that!
7. Are you sarcastic? Every chance I get
8. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes, I do and the damn things remind me of their existence every once in a while. And it ain't in a fun way!
9. Would you bungee jump? Are you out of your mind! Why would anyone jump off a perfectly good bridge, or whatever, with a big rubber band tied to his/her leg. My mental illness has more sense than that!
10. What is your favorite cereal? Honey Nut Cheerios or mini shredded wheat.
11. Do you untie your shoes whenever you take them off? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. It's part of my mystique. Or........depends on how tight the jeans, which I happen to be wearing at the time, happen to be..
12. What is your favorite ice cream? Plain old vanilla with Hershey's choc syrup and sliced bananas. Oh yeah, chopped walnuts and caramel or butterscotch syrup too, if I happen to have some. Excuse me while I go to the freezer. Boy! Howdy!
13. What is the first thing you notice about people? The eyes have it.
14. Red or pink? Red when I'm feeling dynamic, pink when I'm feeling demure.
15. What do you like least about yourself? I suppose it is my Republican tummy. (Jelly Belly)
16. Who do you miss the most? Living? see no. 5 above. Gone before? My lovely mother, Beth
17. What are the colors of the pants and shoes you are wearing? "Can't untie my shoes" jeans are factory faded blue; the shoes (with ties) are white sneakers.
18. what are you listening to right now? Two TV's, four dogs and two cats.
19. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Lavender Blue, dilly, dilly
20. What is your favorite sport? Avoiding sporting events
21. Hair color? Natural........silver. Right now........thank God it's fading, red.
22. Eye color? more green than blue, but some of both.
23. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings. Scary, huh?
24. What color shirt are you wearing? Pale peach....matches my hair.
25. Summer or winter? Mix the two, add a little color and you've got it........Indian summer in the Fall.
26. Hugs or kisses? Both with a few dog slobbers and cat purrs for good measure.
27. What book are you reading now? I'm not, I'm answering these questions. However, I have Gold Coast and Cathedral, both my Nelson DeMille, waiting in the wings.
28. What did you watch on TV last night? Hauntings. Everything else is a blur.
29. What are your favorite sounds? A brook, babbling something I can't understand, the ocean, roaring in the wind, wind chimes tinkling in a gentle breeze, laughter from a small child, piano music, a church choir singing "How great Thou Art", a philharmonic orchestra playing anything and oh, so much more.
30. Where were you born? Pocatello, ID. It was a beautiful day in March. The birds were beginning their Spring song, flowers struggling just below the surface, in the warming earth, to raise their little heads........oh, sorry. Sometimes I do get carried away.
31. How did you meet your spouse or significant other? The former spouse, I picked up, while Friday night cruising with my friends on the streets of Blackfoot, ID, the significant other.......I picked up at the Sunshine Saloon in Boise, on a girls night out with my BFF, Suz. They chased me until I finally caught them.
32. Is the cup half full or half empty? The majority of the time it's half full. If it's half empty, I didn't like the contents to start with, but swallowed all I possibly could at the time. Man! That was certainly profound.

This is it.......the questions I pulled out of my memory. Obviously the 17 I missed were not memorable or I would have answered them. I do not ask or expect anyone to send this on or any of that stuff. I'm sure this little bit of information is sufficient to confuse the best of minds. Do have a good evening and remember.........Life is indeed, good!

'Taking Chance'

I'm on vacation this week but Mother Nature stepped in, ruining my plans. Driving to Boise to visit with my family was foremost in my thoughts; not to be...the ISP road reports were of hazardous conditions for most of the trip down US95. Ok, so I argued with myself for a few hours and decided to book a flight to leave Saturday 7th at 4:10 PM. The airport is probably 15 minutes from my house; I left home, stopped at the ATM, then headed for Pullman. The wind was blowing a little, the skies cloudy, but otherwise it seemed like there would be no problem with flying that afternoon. Maybe two miles from the airport, it started to rain a little; by the time I reached the parking lot, the rain was a whiteout blizzard. Needless to sat, all flights were canceled for the day. The weather reports for the next couple of days were not encouraging (they were right, for once) so on Sunday I unpacked my bags and have felt sorry for myself ever since. Sunday was my 64th birthday which I wanted to celebrate with my kids, grandkids, and twin sister, Dewe. Instead, I pouted, refused to get dressed, slept a lot, and watched movies until 4:30 AM Monday because I'd slept a lot on Sunday.

I was going to go back to work (cancel my vacation) this morning but obviously, after watching tv all night, was in no condition to be productive, Guess what I've done all day? Watched movies on the tube and snow through the windows. And, my butt aches from sitting/laying on it so much the past few days.

All is not bad, however. While flipping channels as fast as my arthritic hands are able, I happened upon an HBO, fact based movie, titled "Taking Chance', starring Kevin Bacon. I feel it was meant for me to be here to see it. It is about a Marine officer who volunteers to accompany the body of Chance Phelps, a 20 year old soldier, killed in Iraq, home to Montana. If you have not seen it, you must! It made me cry for nearly the entire movie. In addition, it made me realize how much I have to be thankful for and that trivial things, like a canceled trip, which can be done at another time, are so unimportant compared to a life that has been willingly canceled by the bravery of a young man who died to save his comrades, and the freedoms that you and I take for granted every day of our lives.

I will never think about the death of a soldier the same again, for my heart will accompany each that I hear of, on that last journey to home, as well as the soldier who is a steadfast companion on that journey; who assures that his fallen comrade is treated with the utmost care, love, honor and respect. Please watch this poignant film.

What the Heck is That?

I'm speaking of the gobblety gook in the previous post. I use Firefox as my web browser and just for the heck of it, clicked on the Scribefire button to see what it is. Well, it is a word processor that is supposed to allow me to post to my blog, or yours, from my web page. Just so it doesn't drive you nuts, the words were testing, testing, testing. Obviously, I failed the test. Don't have a clue why. However, I shall do my best to try to figure the damn thing out because it has some cool features...I think. Besides, my brain has been stuck, like a broken record, on nothing but work related stuff, for months. I would hope that maybe, just maybe, I might have something to contribute to the world other than the price of a can of beans or which bacon is the best. It may take me a while, and the loss of some of my thinning hair, but I, like Martin Luther King said, shall overcome. Come hell or high water...I swear!!

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