There once was a man who loved to collect unusual things. Something about stuff no one else wanted or found beautiful caused him great excitement. He marveled at all the cool throwaways that so many of his friends recognized as junk. One day he came upon a most intriguing find. He was so overjoyed that he even had to sit for a while and think about his extraordinary luck. After all it had to be luck that brought him to this special piece. So many thoughts were racing through his mind. What is it worth? How would he pay for it? Who was the first to own it? Where did it come from? How would he get it home? Where would he put it once he got it there? He just sat there thinking, so overwhelmed by the artifact that seemed to beckon him, call his name. It seemed so incredible that he just kept sitting and thinking. Time passed and people passed and before he knew it, night had turned to day, day turned to night and the days turned into weeks. He was so taken by this one object and so undecided on what to do that he just sat. Sat and sat. Then one day he too passed away leaving his find for another collector to marvel at. Yet no one cared to love this treasure as he did. No one else stopped to wonder. No one else understood. And the amazing thing about it is no one else even knew it existed.

Bryce was walking around on a broken fibula for about 3 months. I am truly not surprised, we all wander through life for months on end waiting to find out what causes the pain. Sometimes we heal and never quite find out where the scar came from. Sometimes the wounds fester and ooze but we have found really good ways of putting on band aids. How often have you visited with friends showing off your scars, comparing stories? And even when you hear their stories, you really can only feel your own pain, that's what we relate to. We can sympathize, love and support our friends but when it comes down to the pain, its only our own we feel. I think now this is why we all suffer pain and sorrow, because that's the only way to know how it feels, but it is also the only way to know how healing feels. And though, at times, I'd rather skip some of the sorrow, the healing is so miraculous, so amazing and so incredibly perfect that I want to show off my scars and rejoice in the power of it.

Wow! Where does time go? How often has that question been asked? Does time really fly on wings of lightning? If you could go back in time, would you? Does Father Time have a wife? If he does can she get things done more efficiently than her husband? If they have children, do they waste time? Is a moment in time sufficient to know someone? How about love them? In the time it takes to thoroughly clean your kitchen does another room in your house get messy? If you spend every waking moment with someone is that too much? Does it depend on the person? How much time, do you suppose, it took that woodchuck to chuck the wood? If there is no end to time and no beginning to time, why do we even keep time? Does your watch keep good time? Do you wear a watch or just use your cell phone? If you wear a watch do you still look at the cell phone for the time? How much tome do you think this took me to write? Do you really want to know? Didn't think so. Have a great day.

We had a dog named Vince. We had picked his name because he had a distinct "V" on his head. Vince was a quiet dog. He never barked. Once in a while he would whine or make weird underwater like sounds during his sleep. Even when people came to the door he would just sniff them. Most of us hate it when dogs sniff but I'm told that they can't talk so sniffing is the way they identify you since saying "Hi, Florence." would be next to impossible. Speaking of impossible, you would think that jumping a six foot fence is impossible but Vinny, as we later started calling him, could do this. He jumped all the time, right in front of us. He just liked the neighborhood. He would go to school and play with the kids, recess was always the best part of school right? Once he even went grocery shopping. We always got him back. One time he jumped while I was on the phone with my Visiting Teacher. I was still in my robe. I ran quickly outside and started pursuing him. No shoes, just my robe and the Visiting Teacher on the phone. Vince thought I was funny. He laughed and stopped running, but of course when I reached him he took off again. "I do not like to run and I do like this game!" I shouted into the phone. My Visiting Teacher hung up, although she did check on me later and we laughed. Vince did a lot of funny things and his nature was so sweet that all we could do was love him. I miss him, and its weird because I'm not a "Dog Person" or any "Pet Person" for that matter but he was like our toddler, giving us a little unexpected life here and there. Maybe I can share more stories another time, like when he climbed out the second story window and was waiting on the ledge, or when he broke through the window screen and was sitting on my leather sofa still attached to his leash. Then there was the time he walked on the fence like a cat, or the time he was hiding behind Bruce's white Sunday shirts in the closet because it was too loud on New Years Eve. Or the time he was.........

Freaked out

We had gone here to take Bryce's Senior Pictures and ended up with 300 shots of the kids and me. I guess it was picture day with mom. My niece took them and she got some great ones. When I look at these I think of all the changes we have seen, and the changes ahead. Bryce will be leaving soon and I can hardly believe its here. As a mother I am FREAKED OUT! As someone who once left home, I am excited for him. As a daughter I now understand what my parents felt. As a friend I know everyone has the smartest, cutest, bravest, most amazing child around. As a spouse I support the feelings of Bruce. As a teacher I hope that all was taught, or at least some of it sank in. And as his greatest fan I say Go Bryce, I love you so very much!

we were walking....