Thursday, April 19, 2007

Lookie What I Got !

Fluorite from New Mexico

Green Fluorite from New Mexico

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Monday, April 16, 2007

Picture Perfect

I am thinking of playing around and storing/sharing pictures on line. I've briefly looked at Flickr, Photobucket, Shutterfly, Yahoo, Picasa and Aol. Be fore I make a decision, does anyone have any input?

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

More Than The Lamp Glow

You may have read my "Lamp Story" nearly a year ago. It told about how my Uncle had passed away last year during Easter week and that my Aunt needed to move into a place that had assisted living. My Aunt has now also just passed away also during Easter week. Nothing that I could say would be adequate about how much love I felt for her, and how much love she gave to others. Her doors were always open, welcoming everyone with a genuine warmth that made you know you were important to her.

---Now to share the whimsical before I go on with events: I knew that My Aunt's health was wanning over the past week. She passed away Saturday morning. Friday morning I felt like I had this dream (I say felt like because everything felt vivid. I felt as if I were awake): I woke up early in the morning and glanced at my alarm clock as I commonly do. I said 4:02 in the morning. I here my Aunt's voice calling me. She says not to let it scare me, that she has passed away. She says that when peoples heart's are pure enough they can go directly to heaven...something about power there(?)....weird, huh? Of course this was Friday morning and she did not pass away until Saturday morning.---


When I first arrived at the wake, we each had a moment to see her body laid to rest. Timing was either perfect or the others were nice enough to wander away and give me a moment alone there. I bawled. After regaining some composure, I saw that the other relatives had gathered in the other room to view a dvd remembrance. I joined them. People started arriving about that time. My feelings may be unjustified, but it seemed like there were just too few people at her wake. I would have thought that considering her warmth and the size of the family, that people would have been there in droves. The reality of it all is that families are no longer clinging tightly to their nucleus, and my aunts generation is aged and a good part of it has already passed on.

Most of the people there were related to my Aunt. Two of the people who came touched my heart in a special way. They came not because of My Aunt, but to be there for my emotional support. God bless them both. The first to arrive is one of my best and oldest friends. We have shared many amazing moments together that seem more like a tall tale than everyday life. We hardly see each other now as he's moved farther away and has remarried, but our closeness prevails. He drove 90 minutes just to stay with me for ten and make sure I was well. The second I haven't known as long, but are developing a close relationship. He came like the first, to support me. We ran out a got some pizza for a break. He would of stayed all night by my side, if I needed the support, but I was all right. How can you measure the value of that?

Don't know if something has changed for me, or if its just some reaction to the recent trauma, but something at least right now feels different. There is a tension that is gone. It's almost like I have a better acceptance of things that are in life, that they simply are, rather than being in an uproar to try and fruitlessly change it. Of course, I'm still happy to act on things that I can and should, but am just more accepting of what is around me. For all I know this feeling could be gone tomorrow, but I'll accept it for as long as its here and consider it a gift.