Happy Birthday to the Best Husband in the World ...

and my best friend as well!


Today is Terry James' 59th birthday! I count myself very fortunate that he was such a persistent pest and that my kids and best friend ganged up on me. Otherwise I would have kept saying "no". And where would I be now? 


It's been great fun, Honeybear, and I look forward to many more years of us exploring the world. Hang in there. It's all good in the end, you know. Aren't I still here and loving you more now than when we got married? Yes, I love you more today than yesterday!


As for the other birthday boy. A posthumous note to my son, Ben:
It took me a long time to get to the point where I could accept you had the right to step from this wheel of life. I accept it but that doesn't mean I like it or agree with what you did. You have no idea how much I miss you. I think of you every day. I am so sorry you have missed so much of the joy in life! Your sister becoming a school teacher. Your brother growing into a really cool man, who will be getting married sometime soon. Your nephew Isaac growing into a young man. The adventures Terry & I have had. Life could have been good if you'd just not given up! I love you, son. I wish you happiness and serenity.

Change in the Weather ... and a Few Other Things

Sitting out on the steps this morning I noticed that Mother Nature seems to be aware of the fact Labor Day has just passed. The trees are very subtly beginning to change color. You almost don't notice it unless you're looking for it. The morning temps are a little cooler. The squirrels are busy collecting acorns and such, stocking their larders for the months to come.


It's a quiet time. Yet there is this busy under current you can feel, if you take the time to just stop and be quiet.


September is a mixed month for me. I'm happy that we're moving out of the heat of summer. It's a time of beginnings in the sense that it is my husband and eldest son's birth month as well as a new school year starting for my daughter, the first grade teacher. A happy time. A time of anticipation.


At the same time, as with the seasonal change, there's that quiet, disquieting under current of change and a bit of sadness. My son will not be celebrating his 37th birthday. He is among the "forever young", those who left us before their full measure of years was lived out. In our minds anyway. The fact he is gone by his own choice kind of puts the lie to "left us before their full measure of years was lived out". He obviously felt his time with us on this cycle of life was completed.


Then there is tomorrow's anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. How many of us will stop and reflect? On the changes that event brought to us all. On how our lives and America's place in the world has changed as a result. On where we were that day and how we felt. On where we, our country and the world are headed.


Time to stop and remember, to rededicate ourselves to the principals we live by. Time to talk to our young ones. Tell them what we remember. Instill in them the resolve that this sort of thing should never be allowed to happen again.