Notes to My Loves

     Whisperings. Visions. The yet to be, revealed in dreams of slumber. Inspiration in the most unexpected of places. All of these have bestowed upon me in my life. Sometimes I have brushed them off, for fear of sounding absurd. Other times I have pondered them, tried to analyze them, and discussed them openly with friends and family. I embrace them.  However, sometimes the inspiration seems so dreamlike and distant that we are sure that is all it is. We wait and wait, and NOTHING. We become tired, testy, and let the dream die. A fading memory or wish of what might have been.      This is a story of an inspiration. Of a strong need to complete something that was so foreign to me, yet needed to be done. I had no idea what would become of it, or why I was compelled to do it. But I listened to the whisperings. I was overcome with a need to finish what I started. So I worked diligently. I didn't stop until it was done.       It all started when my mother and I were at a store shoppi

   It is the shadowy, stalking, suffocating foe. The one that bars us from entering, when we know what waits for us on the other side is truly where we belong. It is crippling, crushing, and crucifying. For many, life is often viewed through a metal meshed steel veil that is impossible to lift. Clarity is not an option, and freedom rarely tasted. This is not for lack of trying. It is simply because the foe is so calculating and cunning. So willing to wait until we are the most vulnerable. Fear is an awful co-pilot yet often does all the driving for many of us.     The over thinking, the "what if's" and "what might be" haunt our thoughts. It would be a blessing if it were only at night when the darkness settles in. But for many, the daily steps of getting through a door to a destination are a battle that rivals a mental marathon. Images, thoughts, and sounds overwhelm the senses to a breaking point. A point when things are not just broken, but splintered into a

Dear 962,           There are things I need to tell you. Things that I am afraid if I don't write down, that our lives will just get too busy and chaotic and I won't ever be able to have these conversations with you. I don't know why I feel like this. Maybe it is the week we have had with Open Houses, homework, wanting to play outside and the just plain craziness of the back to school routine. You are growing too fast!             There was a time not so long ago that children sat at the feet of their elders and listened intently to the stories they told. There were no computers, internet, or television. This was how our history was passed down. It was tradition. This was how children learned the lessons that would carry them on when their loved ones weren't there to keep lifting them up. This is how their character was built and the wisdom of guidance transcended time.  Things are not like that now. I wish it were. It seems like such a simpler time. So instead, I wri