A Day for Giving Thanks

Today marks a bit of a milestone for us, but especially for Roger.

Just one year ago he was awaiting hip replacement surgery. One of his biggest concerns was would he be able to ride his Harley again. If you know Roger, or if you ride, you will fully understand.

The months leading up to the surgery he was in tremendous pain, unable to ride, and unable to enjoy life.  In the final weeks he was walking with a cane, finally acquiescing to the fact that that was the only way he would able to safely get around. And of course, with me telling him I needed to run into CVS and purchased the cane without his permission!

During this time, his job was getting increasingly more difficult with an immense amount of stress.

Now, one year later, he has a new hip and a new(ish) job (don't ever burn bridges!) which is much closer to home.  He is able to ride the Harley, though "we" are still under going discussion about this.

We don't know what the year ahead will bring, as it appears that I will be embarking on a forced career shift.  However, I am excited and so very nervous about what may lie ahead, but I know that God will provide the path in due time.

Regardless of what the future holds, I know for certain that each and every holiday Roger and I have together is just one more blessing in our life.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy Birthday, Roger!

Tomorrow my partner in fun turns 60-years-old!  I am so proud that I am his wife, as he continually makes me a better person, not only with his insight into life, but also just by watching him as he navigates through his own life.

For a while I've pondered the meaning of "grace", when it finally occurred to me that the definition of grace has been right in front of my eyes for the past 24 years.  Roger has been through more than his share of heart-breaking moments, and through them all he's shown an incredible capaciousness for forgiveness  that I've yet to see in anyone else.  He's also had more than his share of physical trials, but he keeps on going, refusing to let any one thing stop him from living the fullest life possible.

He doesn't dwell on what could have been and what might be, instead he lives in the here and now, which in turn helps me stay in the present instead of giving into my constant urge to focus on the future, and where we should or could be, and how we are going to get to where ever that might be.  He always pulls me back.

But more than anything, he makes me laugh!  The quickness of his wit always catches me off guard.  Seeing Roger with his dad and his brother before they passed away, you easily see that it ran deep in the gene pool.The Davis men could rarely be outdone with their hilarous tales and antics in life.

So, Happy Birthday, Roger, from your wife who is so very grateful for the constant love and laughter that you give to me and to others.  I love you so very much!!!

And Then Comes the Break of Dawn

Sunrise.  Just the word evokes an image of beauty.  The light changing from blackness to a dark blue ink and gradually more and more colors creeping in as the sun makes its ascent announcing the beginning of a new day, a day filled with promise.

But what if the day before this incredible sunrise you suffered a terrible tragedy or heard shocking news?  This came to mind yesterday when after hearing my dog continuing to bark outside I went to check on him.  Huge billows of smoke were coming from across the way.  A family home on fire which turned into a 2-alarm fire.  This, while 150 firefighters were battling a 9-alarm blaze in downtown Boston.  The huge winds playing a role in both events.

Fortunately for my neighbors home, the wind saved the majority of the house.  However, in Boston, the wind fueled the fire that took the lives of 2 firemen trapped in the basement of a 4-story brownstone.

Thinking of the families involved in these two events brought to mind when my parents told us kids that they were divorcing.  They sat us down, shared the news, and then out went my dad to some unknown apartment on the other side of town.  Now, I can only imagine his own heartbreak, but as I was on the verge of turning 13 it was devastating.  One day, all was mostly okay with the world, then suddenly all was tossed around without any understanding of why.

So off to bed you go, cry yourself to sleep and somehow, almost magically you dream away what remains of the night.  You start to awaken, moved by the filter of light, a sound, a cat, and all seems well. But as your senses gather it strikes with a force that all is not right.  You struggle to gain perspective as to what happened the day before, then as the weight of it all comes into full realization, you wonder how you'll make it through the day that lies ahead.

Somehow you carry on, traveling a familiar road but suddenly unfamiliar with its path.  The dawn has broken and so has your heart.

Prayers going out to the families in Massachusetts who's lives are forever changed.

"The Warmth of Other Suns" - Isabel Wilkerson

"I was leaving the South

To fling myself into the unknown...

I was taking a part of the South

To transplant in alien soil,

To see if it could grow differently,

If it could drink of new and cool rains,

Bend in strange winds,

Respond to the warmth of other suns

And, perhaps, to bloom."

     - Richard Wright

Currently I'm reading "The Warmth of Other Suns", by Isabel Wilkerson, which painstakingly, yet so effortlessly, details the decades long migration of the African American population from the South to the nether regions of the United States, thereby forever changing society's landscape of the United States.

I'm early into this book which has completely captivated me, but before even reaching the Table of Contents I came across the above quote by Richard Wright, born and raised in Natchez, Mississippi in the early 1900's, who later migrated to Chicago.

The Blacks were escaping what was so much more than simple racism and prejudice, rather they were moving towards a life that could and should be lived without fear, and instead with a tangible hope for their future.

As a native Southerner it disheartens me to know that my ancestors most likely played a role in this as well, and on some level, continues today, mostly in the form of opinions that are best left unsaid.  Certainly there were no plantation owners in my lineage but I would like to think that my ancestors jumped to the rescue of maligned Blacks, but more than likely that did not occur.  Perhaps on occasion, but day-to-day, it's hard to fathom that they would have been any different than the rest of the Anglo population as they made their own migration as farmers from Virginia to Texas, and some on to Colorado.

How hopeful is Mr. Wright's perspective? "Respond to the warmth of other suns, And, perhaps, to bloom."

My own hope is to learn and grow from this book, and see how in my own little way I can resist the oh-so-easy temptation to lump individuals into one large category due to their racial makeup or income or otherwise.

I challenge everyone to find Ms. Wilkerson's book and to discover your own way to bloom in this world.