Sunflowers

Our most difficult task as a friend is to offer understanding when we don't understand.

  ~Robert Brault

As I come upon the anniversary of losing my friend Tricia, I am yet again reminded that I don't always understand why things happen the way that they do.  It's rather annoying, actually, that I still don't see the purpose or vision in this plan that God has for us.  And as much as I hear, "we may never truly understand..." I still don't have to like it.

Early on in high school I became surrounded by a circle of friends that were tried and true.  We had a saying, "I have the best friends in the whole world," and it is still true today.  Tricia was part of our circle of friends, and I can't tell you how many times we said this saying to one another!  I know I am blessed--blessed to have been so lucky to have these people in my life for so long; blessed to have known certain friends who are no longer with us today; blessed to have had the opportunities I've had because of my circle of friends.  And yet, in the darkness of grief, it is difficult to feel blessed.  

My most favorite flower is the sunflower.  It oozes with happiness and you can't help but smile when you see one.  It grows tall and strong, and always looks to the sun!  When I take the time to visit my many friends and family who have gone before me, I bring them sunflowers.  While I take the time to visit, the sunflowers make me smile when I am feeling the tears of loss.  They brighten my day when needed and remind me to always look to the sunshine.

I really do have the best friends in the whole world!

  

Hmmm...

So you're not a stalker...you're reading this, aren't you?
Enough...I am done engaging...

Sad to Learn the Truth about You...

People pay for what they do, and still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it simply: by the lives they lead. ~Edith Wharton

When you begin a public blog, you are an open book and you put yourself and your life out there for others to see.  What you don't expect is to have others use information they read to somehow mock or harm you and/or your family.  Sadly, I have a young stalker who has done exactly that.  Interestingly, this little stalker has even created her own blog that pokes fun directly at me and mine...I suppose I should be flattered that she finds something in my blog or life interesting enough to continue to stalk, but I'm not.

This is someone who spends most of her time pointing out the inadequacies of others, which only identifies the true inadequacies of herself.  As an adult, it is easy to see.  Friendship is not a right, it is a privilege.  And this privilege can be easily taken away...in many ways.  Today is the day it begins and ends.

Words of Wisdom

My aunt has always known just the right thing to say at any given moment.  Recently she sent me these words of wisdom...and I felt it was worth sharing! 

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together. They were covered and protected, but the quills of each wounded the closest companion.

After a while, they decided to distance themselves, and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together.

They learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by their close relationships because the most important part was the heat that came from the others. They were able to survive.

The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the one that forms when individuals learn to live with the imperfections and admire the good qualities of others.

The Moral of the story:

LEARN TO LOVE THE PRICKS IN YOUR LIFE.

Trustworthy Chaperones? Better be sure...

View from top row of Metra Rock Island 255pm train on 7/5/11,
New Lenox Park District Adventurers Club teen chaperones,
fast asleep as about 15 young kids run around train car.

Today I took the 2:55pm Rock Island District train home from work...and shared a train car with approximately 15 children from the New Lenox Park District Adventurers Club. These kids looked to be between 5-9 years old (not actually sure what the ages were) and it appeared they had enjoyed a day in downtown Chicago.

Might be a nice idea of the teenage chaperones were really doing their job and watching over the kids.  Above is a rather blurry but accurate photo I took with my phone of these two teens sleeping the entire ride home.  I did not see another chaperone for these kids.  Is it possible there was one? Yes, but this person must have been sitting very low in a seat that made it impossible for any other adult to see. 

In fact, I was the only adult that lasted in this train car.  Every other adult that came in this train car left almost immediately--the noise level was high.  The energy level was high.  These kids consistently moved from the top rows to the bottom seats, throughout the entire train ride home.  They were, however, polite, as they had to say, "excuse me" each time they walked past me--25+ times! (I sit on top single row seats).  They were excited and they did not really bother me at all--I was more worried about watching over them for most of the ride.

Unfortunately, any one of these kids could have been enticed to leave the train with another adult who may have walked through our train on their way out.  These kids could have fallen down the stairs on their many trips up and down.  These kids should have watched their language at times...

I hope I do not know anyone who trusts their children with this park district group.  Given the relaxed atmosphere the chaperones had, I can only imagine how it was for these kids running around the city of Chicago...and the thought of that scares me even more.