Friday, May 18, 2007

Miracles

Now by miracles I don’t mean an angel appearing from the sky to bring you a message from the creator himself. By miracles I mean everyday occurrences that make the world a nicer place. How often do we experience them and not know it? How often do we create them for another and not know it?

Last night I had to run to the variety store to buy a bag of milk because we were almost out and when you have four kids that’s not a good thing LOL. I purchased the milk and then asked the clerk if I could trade in the handfuls of change in my pockets which had gotten ridiculously heavy for a bill. She needed the change in the till so I started counting what I had. As I counted I heard someone come in to purchase something. I didn’t see what it was nor did I care, but I did hear the clerk say it would cost $3.62. The woman was struggling with the change in her hand and I heard her say “ugg I think I am going to be short” to which I instinctively replied “No your not” and tossed a 1 dollar coin in her hand. Now I didn’t do this because I wanted to be thanked I did it because that’s who I am. I did it without thinking and carried on counting the overflow of change in my hand. The woman paid for her purchase, thanked me and handed me back 50 cents which coincidently was the exact amount I need to make enough change for a $5 bill. Now what struck me about this was not the look on the woman’s face who I game the money too but the look on the clerks face. She had this look on her face that said “I can’t believe you just did that.” I pointed to the counter where I had piled 5 stacks of coins and told her there was 5 dollars there and she handed me a bill. She didn’t even count the piles of change on the counter! LOL

What struck me as interesting was that I was in the right place at the right time to help someone else and you know what… it felt good. Yes it was something very small… but that’s all it needed to be.

How often do we have the opportunity to help another and let the moment pass? Why does it have to be a “this is mine, get your own” society? Personally I think we could all use a little miracle now and then and I would not hesitate to help someone out again. No matter how big or how small, each and every one of us can make a difference for another.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Sarah

I first met Sarah 3 years ago after I returned from maternity leave after having my son. She was 26 when I met her. She was young, vibrant and full of life. I loved working with her. I didn’t get to work with her for very long because I was pregnant again with twins. But for several months I so enjoyed her company. She was a very interesting person, she was a vegan so she consumed no animal products whatsoever, including dairy. She was athletic, a picture of perfect health… or so we all thought. Shortly after I left work to have the twins she was diagnosed with cancer. She left work to have treatment. Nothing seemed to work, and as a last resort she was sent to Boston for a new treatment that was available. Everyone at work was so touched by her courageous battle; we raised $5,500 so her hubby could go with her and not have to worry about the financial stress of staying with her in Boston for two weeks.

Sadly the treatment did not work. She is in the hospital now, yesterday they told her that the cancer had spread to her brain. Her time here with us grows short. Her three year battle is almost over.

I wonder if she has any idea how many lives she has touched though this journey?

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Reincarnation?

My daughter came to me last night while I was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner. I knew something was on her mind because she started to help me! So I started asking her about her day at school. Suddenly she stopped looked at me and asked me “Mom, after we die do we keep coming back to life?” At first I wasn’t sure what she meant because she is only eight. Then I realized what she was asking. I asked her if she meant reincarnation. She said yes that’s the word. This is one of those times a parent has to stop and think about how to answer a question. Especially when you have been raised a Roman Catholic and your child goes to a Roman Catholic school LOL.

I took a deep breath (heard a priest tell me I was going to hell) and then replied that I thought it was very possible that we do come back but only if we want to, because God has given us free will. Then she said but the Bible says we only have one life. (Now I’m going to hell on the express bus!) I told her that just because it’s written in a book doesn’t make it true and that no one really knows what happens in the next life except for God and those that have gone before us. So it’s good to ask questions and not just accept everything we read to be truth.

From here she went off in a different direction asking about religion.

HELL HELL HELL – ROCK RIDE THERE!

I told her that every religion believes it is the true religion and that people actually fight and kill each other over their beliefs. Her eyes got wide and she asked me if I was kidding. I told her I wasn’t. She told me that was the craziest thing she had ever heard. I smiled.

Kudos to my kid! LOL

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

God is...

An imaginary friend for big people!

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Reality Check!

I had to stay home from work the other day because my sitter had an appointment which had to be kept. OMG what a day I had….all four of my children became evil, little possessed entities running around the house causing mayhem! The twins, who are potty training, decided they were having too much fun to actually use the toilet and peed where ever they happened to be playing at the time. I did two complete loads of their laundry alone. My two oldest were fighting like cats and dogs and when they weren’t fighting with each other they were fighting with the twins. Everyone was telling on everyone. If they had been cats there would have been fur flying all over the house. By about 5:30 (just before hubby got home from work) I had had ENOUGH and tossed the twins into the tub and put them into bed. (This was for their safety). The oldest two were next on my hit list when hubby finally got home. He took one look at my face and said “Ut oh bad day huh?” I said “now there’s an understatement!” He told me he would handle the rest and that I should get out and walk the dog. So I’m walking the dog cursing under my breath for almost the entire walk. As I was at the final block of my walk I saw a couple coming towards me, they were pushing a large running stroller with their teenage daughter in it. She had cerebral palsy. They were all smiles and were happy and talking amongst themselves. It was right there and then I realized how lucky I am. Yes my children know exactly what buttons to push to drive me crazy, BUT they are ALL healthy and I am so grateful for that. I guess my point here is that sometimes we are so busy complaining about the little drama’s in our lives that we forget to be grateful. That experience was definitely my reality check.