An Offering to Change a Life

I often talk about giving – giving of one’s heart, one’s time, one’s energies…but what about giving a part of oneself?

2 months ago, our 5-year-old saw some children who didn’t have any hair, and naturally she was full of questions. We gently explained how others can help by showing her pictures and answering all her questions.

The outcome: “I want to donate my hair to the children who lost their hair.”

We let 2 months pass to make absolutely sure, but she was adamant. So last week, our family took her to Mommy’s hairdresser for her 1st real salon experience.

The salon made a real fuss over her – from chocolates and orange juice to special organic products gifted from the family owners presented in a lovely embroidered bag.

  

Everyone in the salon was simply thrilled a little 5 year old knew exactly what she wanted to do and why.

It was a wonderful experience we will never forget!!

The Bright Spot™  – Our daughter says she’s looking forward to doing it again. We are very proud!

For more information, visit Angel Hair for Kids, Pantene Beautiful Lengths, Wigs for Kids, or Locks of Love to make a donation.

Please take a minute to read the next 2 short stories ~ Grandma didn’t pass away from old age – she had cancer – as did her youngest daughter whom she lost years earlier. The above was an important story for us, thank you for sharing.

Is This The End?

We received the dreaded call on New Year’s Eve. The children’s Grandmother had a few days to live and the hospital now moved her to the nearby hospice.

Happily married for 60 years this year, Granddad looked at his daughter with deep, sad eyes and asked, “Is this the end?” when she drove him there that afternoon instead of the hospital.

Every day he sat next to her, held her hand, read her the newspaper,

or stood over her…everyday he must have thought will this be the last day I gaze on my bride.

Blind for the last 2 years, Grandma looked forward to hearing Granddad read to her.

We are proud of our son’s great strength and love of his grandparents.

Our daughter could stand for hours and just lovingly adore her grandmother.

 (This photo was taken 2 years ago)

We’ve explained to our 5-year-old that Grandma is growing her angel wings for her flight to Heaven.

She understands that when Grandma’s an angel, she would get her sight back and then she can fly into her playroom or room and watch over her as she has fun or sleeps. She would be the children’s special Guardian Angel. She could see us but we couldn’t see her. That gave our little one great comfort.

As these days grew longer with sorrow and Grandma’s breaths grew shorter with life, our little one would ask, “Is Grandma an angel today?”

With a very, very, very heavy heart and cheeks stained with burning tears, I write this late hour with the hopes of healing my aching heart…….Grandma took flight early today.

The Bright Spot  – Good God, unbelievably, I have a Bright Spot even in this darkest hour…I was able to tell her again, just 45 precious minutes before her passing, what an extraordinary, wonderful, incredible mother, mother-in-law and grandmother she was and how much I loved her, adored her, looked up to her, and how blessed I was to have her in my life, to model my marriage after hers, and to raise my children with the love she showed us. I was able to say good-bye.

(**Please see the next 2 stories, as a favor to me tonight, about love and time.** They are important to this story and, hopefully, important to you in your life.)

Oh, my heart grieves for Granddad. They shared every moment together for 60 years; Grandma’s cozy chair beside his in the den is now empty.

Why I Love You

When my beloved father died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack, my sister’s and my life completely changed. He was the most special Daddy and we adored him.

Thanksgiving was the 1st big holiday without him and the empty dining room chair at the head of the table was a cutting reminder he wasn’t coming back.

One of the million things I learned from my father was to tell people why they are so special.

So when I learned earlier this year a close friend of 40 years was very ill from lung cancer, I not only rushed to her that day to tell her why I loved her so much, but I also wrote her a long letter of each and every little thing that made her special to me.

She loved my children like her own grandchildren and they even called her Nana.

It gutted me when she died, but I had no regrets. She knew how much I loved her.

We’ve just returned from Europe.

We took the children out of school and spent the Thanksgiving holiday in England. Of course, England doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving but it was a time to give thanks and tell a very special and significant woman in my life why she means the world to me.

Yes, it was that time again – Thanks…giving – a reminder to give deep thanks for why the people around me are so special and wonderful because there may not be another time – we had received a phone call that Grandma was in the hospital. So off we went!

We spent every day with her. She loved to have her arms stroked, and her grip was strong and purposeful as she hugged. She listened intently as our 5 year old sang her dozens of songs.

Grandma is blind. She lost her sight 2 years ago. She said to hear her grandchild’s voice in song was simply precious.

Every day her room was filled with grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws. Our visits were happy and loving, joyous and tender.

I spent my time with her telling her all the reasons I loved her. There are so many, it took all the days we were there to tell her.

The point is I learned the lesson my father taught me – tell those special to you how much you love them – you see, I didn’t wait until now to tell this incredible woman how much she means to me, I’ve been telling her throughout the years. But this week, I went over everything again just to reiterate how important she has been in my life, in my marriage and as a parent.

Next year will be 60 years with her husband, a beautiful role model of the most loving marriage.

The Bright Spot  – You have time right now to call that special someone in your life and tell them why you love them so much. Don’t wait. Because life can change in a flash and you don’t want to have any regrets.

 

Harmony and Magic

Do you remember the love the young boy and the 7,000 pound Orca in “Free Willy” had for one another. I love to see such a connection between people and animals.

I have witnessed the most remarkable relationship between our 5-year-old daughter and a young Beluga whale ~ the two just make my heart swell.

 

Sometimes there’s a crowd, sometimes we’re just there on our own,

but the two of them take no notice of anyone but each other.

He will look directly and intently at her, swim to her and play

with only her no matter how many people are around.

He brings her his toys – balls and floaties,

and she will stay and play for ages, cooing and singing and encouraging the activities…

even in the rain!

They have a unique and beautiful friendship.

The young beluga will swim up to her and sing his whale song…

and await her return.

And we will make the long journey back and forth because this connection, this love, this tie to nature is an incredible gift.

Our little one has begged to swim with her beloved Beluga. The rule is that children must be 6 years of age. Guess where we’re going in a few months! 🙂

The Bright Spot  – may we all be so blessed to be that in tune with the world around us.

Encourage and They Will Excel

I don’t push my children. I encourage them.

My husband and I give them opportunities to learn, create and excel and they, in turn, do just that in their own time. Nothing irks me more than ballpark parents screaming at their children from the sidelines.

Our son wanted to become a volunteer member of the firefighter team and Parkour free-runner and our daughter loves ballet, theatre, music and tennis. Those are their choices and we support them and are proud of them.

 Check out that swing at 3-years-old!

Our daughter’s principal just read the Kindergarten parents a children’s book at the Parents’ Orientation called Ruby in Her Own Time by Jonathan Emmett. It’s about a little duckling whose egg hatched later than her siblings’, she swam when she wanted to, quacked when she wanted to, left home when she wanted to and came back on her own time (the college reference, says the principal).

The principal wanted to point out to the parents that some Kindergartners are learning their alphabet while others already read but all the children will eventually read. In their own time.

Some kids walk earlier, some later. The point is – they walk.

I believe in that philosophy. With great love and encouragement, I hug and kiss my kids and tell them how proud I am. Ultimately, in the end, they will find what they love to do and I will be there to help them pursue it.

This leads me to this fantastic video (link below) I saw earlier this evening on YouTube with my husband, Phillip. If more parents looked at who their children are rather than what they want them to be, the world might be a happier, more content place.

This video is so beautiful and so inspirational, I hope you take the few minutes to enjoy it and then share it with your friends. It’s about a “bird-chasing” dog who was trained to do one thing since birth but ended up doing something else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=BGODurRfVv4 

The Bright Spot   – if your “dream-chasing” child wants to pursue something, encourage them, help them, give them the opportunities to reach those dreams. And tell those screaming ballpark parents to get a grip; childhood is so short, let your children revel in it. Chase the birds…and your dreams, too!

 

“We Have Found Your Mother”

                           

                                 Mother – Ceil in 1983                          Daughter – Linda in 2010

“We have found your mother.”

Those were the words Linda heard after searching months for her birth mother.

Ceil had never held her baby, had never even seen her baby – EVER!

As she walked the halls of the maternity ward and saw the window to the nursery, she knew if she looked through the glass, she would not be able to go through with it – but in the 60s, it was difficult for a woman with a child to find a job, she said women didn’t have credit cards and they could not take out a loan on their own. Ceil wanted her baby to have a mom, a dad and a home.

She turned around in the hallway and went back to her room and sobbed her heart out.

Ceil never had any other children.

44 years later, her daughter found her!

Phillip and I documented the reunion that happened just 6 days ago – you’re invited to share this beautiful moment in the short video below in the next post, just scroll down – but to acutally hear their story, click on the Radio Show flower tab above in the navigation bar above to listen to their heart-wrenching story.

The Bright Spot  is clearly family – old and new -  love, hope and celebration!

Thessalonians

I read a Precious Moments book to Little Petal two or three times and then came to the page that said, “…but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.” Then I turned the page because it was late and I was moving right along.

Little Petal turned the page back and quietly said as she pointed, “Mommy, you missed that part – Thessalonians Chapter 2:Verse 7.”

I was stunned! I didn’t even know she could read or pronounce the word Thessalonian, let alone fill in the words “chapter” and “verse,” both of which weren’t there as it was printed 2:7.

She had just turned 5.

 

The Bright Spot  is our joy as parents watching our children learn and blossom and grow from our teachings. It is certainly an example of how much these little ones absorb whether we realize it or not. They look to us as role models and pick up things we least expect…

Enjoy whatever your faith is and celebrate your beliefs; your children will thrive with a strong foundation. If you read Mission: Bright Spot  above, you’ll know I come from a large multicultural, multi-religious family – my beliefs have gotten me through many heartaches and challenges.

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