Amazing Moments

Someone once told me a long time ago that it is impossible to be grateful and unhappy at the same time.  I have found this is so true.  No matter how bad a day I had, I could always find something to be grateful for, even if it was as simple as an earth to live on and air to breathe.  Every time I was grateful, I felt so much better. It naturally raised my spirits.    As a family, I started a tradition of sharing what we are grateful for at the dinner table when the kids were very young.  This tradition still stands today. Each person gets a turn to share what he/she is grateful for as we begin the meal. The only rules are that we need to listen when people share and  there are no repeats. The kids look forward to sharing and even start sharing without being prompted.  Tonight, it went like this.  “I want to start,” said my son.   “I am grateful that I get to play basketball,” he said.  And then we went around the table.  “I’m grateful for this amazing meal that mom co

I live off of a very busy highway that once was very rural, but in the last few years has transformed into a community complete with subdivisions, grocery stores, gas stations, and even a high school.  As the community continues to grow, so does the traffic.  It is now a major corridor connecting several suburbs.  This highway now has the most fatalities in the state.  The high speed, congestion, young drivers, distracted drivers, turning drivers, hills, and blind frontage roads, all contribute to this hot mess.  I was on my way to the high school football game with my son last week.  We were stopped at the lights.  The lights turned green and my white van stayed put. “Go, Mom,” he said.  I didn’t answer, I was counting to two.  Sure enough, a car zipped through the intersection racing along even though the light was dark red.   Had I turned when he said go, this speeding car would have hit the passenger side of my car where the most precious cargo, my son, was sitting. Two se

I had the craziest thing happen as I was driving my youngest son to a birthday party at a good friend's house in a neighborhood near our home.  On the main road out of the neighborhood, I couldn't help but notice the car in front of me.  It was a white car decorated with shoe polish on the windows.  It drew my attention, probably everyone's attention,  because of the words on the back windshield, "honk if you are h- - - - -".  Wow...why would you put THAT on your car unless you needed attention?  Certainly drew the eye right to the rear window of that car. The car seemed to be going where I was because it left our subdivision and was heading toward the adjacent neighborhood.  As I turned to go up the steep hill into the neighborhood, the white car pulled off to the side of the road. As I went around him, I verified it was indeed a teen aged boy.  As I continued up the hill,  he pulled back onto the street behind me. My mom radar was instantly activated.  Since

It was the eve of my business trip to Florida, October 1997.  My colleagues, my boss, I and were attending a conference and  my husband was coming along with the kids to enjoy Sea World and the Magic Kingdom.   Our daughter was just nine months old and our son was four, so needless to say we were much more efficient at packing when they were snoozing. My husband and I got the kids down early and were busy packing into the wee hours of the night.  Finally, we loaded up the white van, came inside, dove into bed, and looked at the clock.  2:00 am. Our plane was scheduled to depart at 6:35 am.  Sleep or no sleep, that was the question.  We were both beat, so we decided a little nap would be a good idea.  We set the alarm for 4:30 am. The next thing I saw was my four year old son standing next to the bed and the red numbers on the clock boldly glowing 5:50 am.  I leapt out of bed, woke my husband, and quickly jumped into my clothes.  He was right behind me. "Get the kids," I o

It was a beautiful day, one that you just want to hold on to forever. As I drove up to my house after a late meeting at work, I was greeted by the happiest looking driveway I had ever seen and a bunch of people I love; my parents and three of my four kids! The entire driveway was full of colorful, interesting chalk illustrations, each as different as the kids that drew them.  In some squares there were stick drawings, in others a game of hopscotch, and in another light sabers. In one square, there were lots and lots of words written in cursive. My third grader stood next to his masterpiece just smiling his sweet smile waiting for me to open the car door! I jumped out and gave him a hug!  "Guess what I learned at school today?" he asked. "I can write in cursive," he gushed on quickly.  I told him I was so proud of his hard work and that his handwriting was superb. He just beamed! Then, I looked at the next set of squares and it was full of beautiful p