We take for granted

We take for granted so many things in our lives, food, clothing, shelter, and simple cognitive function.
Today is my Gramma Brown's birthday. She is turning 68 and has such severe dementia that i doubt if she even realizes that this is her special day.
Back in the day there would have been a party of family and friends. She wouldve gotten her hair done, probably bought a new top or pair of shoes. She would have been all dolled up and there would have been a celebration. Maybe nothing more then a family get together at soemones house, or the girls wouldve taken her out for dinner. But she would have known it was her birthday and she would have probably played with her hair saying "oh now you didn t have to do that" or soemthing along those lines when a gift was given to her. Today, although i could write about many things, i am choosing to leave this one all for her. She will never see this but it has to be said: Happy Birthday Gramma I love you!!!!

They say...

They say that scent is strongly tied to memory, i believe this to be SOOOOO true!!! Today as i was gathering up my parcels, and about to leave the grocerystore, i smelled soemthing. I cant exactly put my finger on it but i belieive it was the cold air( yes it has a smell) and car fumes. It sent me back many many years. TO CHristmas time. Back to the parkinglot of the Regent Mall. We would have been there for way longer than i wanted to have been. Didnt Sarah and mom realize tonight we were getting our tree??? Mom digs in her purse at the car, as we stand freezing she looks up with a panicked sound in her voice "my keys?!?!" "MOOOOM!!!" we say lightheartedly. She of course sees them and unlocks the door. We drive through the "traffic" and pick up my dad from the office, or the Police Station where he had gotten called at the last minute. He gets in he car and we head to the tree lot, but not in silence, we are all singing our favorite christmas carols. We are by no means a grand choir but the sound of our voices brings me more pleasure than the sound of any famouse symphony. We arrive at the lot and the hunt for that perfect tree begins. I run to all the little trees and say in a linus voice " i never thought it was a bad little tree." Mom knows exactly which one will look best in the house, and always has a way of finding it. We all look at it and know its OUR tree. We load it into the car and take right home where it will "settle" in the toy room. Tommorrow night we will decorate it. I lookforward to that night jsut as much as the night b4. We put some CDs in the big brown stereo, and there is Eggnog, hot chocooate, cookies, and cashews, and of course a sense of excitment. Mom puts the lights on, taking a step back and squinting every so often. I am getting impatient and dont understand how it can take that long to put on lights. After what seems like ages she is finally finished. We then are able to put on the decorations. We all have our signature orniments. Sarah and i have our angles, and dad has the musical instruments. The trimming of the tree signifies the comencement of a great season. A season of love, happines, family and YES the annual Board party. In a few weeks we all sit around that tree and read the christmas storey and have an awesome day. One where dad doesnt have to go to work, and he stays in is pjs all morning. A day where we laugh and love, and cherish one of the greatest gifts we had that year...eachother.

Just a thought

So i was watching TV today as i ate my lunch and i saw and add about poverty. It said that every 3 seconds a child dies from poverty. It was sad yes but didnt hit me until just now as i opened up my blog. I am very quick to complain. i complain about what clothes i do or do not have, i complain that my apartment is small and isnt as nice as i would have liked. We all do it. But do we ever stop to think about those who are way less fortunate than us? At least i have a place to live, at least i have more than one outfit, and i have clothes that are weather appropriate. It is really sad how much we as a socitey takes for granted. Im not saying that we should all give up everything that we have, and live with as little as we can. Only keeping 2 outfits per season, or selling our cars houses and electronics. But maybe we should just stop and appreciate all that we do have.

Life is short

I sat today at a local pizza joint discussing with a friend how fast time flies. We commented on how we found it hard to believe that we're in 3rd year university and yet it only seems like yesterday that we were in high school. This discussion really got me thinking. I looked back over the 2 1/2 years and realized that there was so much that I wanted to do but never did. It also made me think of the things I want to do in life, and how life isn't gonna wait for me. If I don't jump on board it WILL go on with out me! I think its important sometimes for us to realize this and to take action. Maybe you can't fly to Paris and buy real French bagette just because you've always wanted to. But perhaps you could email a friend you haven't heard from in a while and tell them you've missed them. Give that cute guy/girl from your College and Career group your#. Or maybe its a matter of calling a family member and telling them u love them, even if some times you don't show it. Sometimes we fear stepping out of our comfort zone. Doing anythign that could ruffle the feathers, what if it all goes bad? Well like a game, you can't win if you dont play. Who knows what might become of your venture. Just remeber life is too short to hesitate, its your life, no one else can live it for u!

All in the Family

I spin around then drop to the floor shouting "guys! guys! Who am I??" we all begin to laugh. Our laughter renders us paralyzed. Im laughing soo hard I cant move. As we calm ourselves down I am able to rise only to have us remember something else sending us into another fit of laughs. This is what I will rember most about holidays with my family . We love to tell stories and reminisce. We Love to laugh and recall the funny things one of us has done. The outsider would sit there and look at us as though we were nuts as we laugh hysterically, yet in part that's what's so great about it all. I sat on my bed at the end of the day sunday and smiled as I thought about how much I love my family.