There is a happy place I go when I am with the women in my family. They are the roses and daisies of my life’s garden. They bring me love and sunny thoughts. So today’s blog post pays tribute to these wonderful women who fill my heart with such happiness!
Sometimes life provides special opportunities to stop and realize how special the women in my family are to me. Yesterday, my mother had surgery. Although the event was sobering, my sister and I relished the drive to Santa Barbara where mom was in a surgery center. One would think we hadn’t spoken in years the way we talked.
We shared and laughed the entire way and did not mind that the usual two and a half hour drive stretched out into a three and a half hour event due to heavy traffic. Just being together made the time fly by.
From the moment mom awoke from surgery, her eyes twinkled with delight and humor danced upon her tongue. I watched the nurse giggle at my mother’s usual banter. As we helped mom ready for the drive home, I felt a since of awe over having the privilege to enjoy such wonderful companions.
When the women in my life gather, happiness reigns. We savor every moment together whether or not work is involved. Just being with one another is our gift!
- Susan, Mom, Me, Gina, Rebekah, Xinia
Birthdays provide an excuse to have a “ladies’ day out.”
Together we support one another and celebrate life!
Often the readers of the family spontaneously share their favorites during our times together. Christmas celebrations include the Christmas story as well as snippets of poetry and prose.
I wrote this poem after one such time together as I watched family members sitting on couches savoring books and sharing the contents:
The Gathering
Poem and prose delight the soul,
As mirth dances on tips of angels wings,
A solemn hush descends on high.
Norman Rockwell faces form,
Around the circle of sharing,
Can we but freeze this moment?
Perhaps we need not,
For in these cocoons of longing,
Hearts beat as one.
And souls are formed,
Enraptured with the deep embrace,
Of a kindred spirit’s delight,
Drink deeply from the chalice of life,
Savor what others have poured before you,
As swirling utterances awaken the senses.
Is there any joy as great as this?
Any moment as rich to share
Perhaps only to be found when angels gather
I am grateful for the women in my family because they make me smile.
My daughter Elya’s exuberance never ceases. She stopped at the market to buy something to bring to my fiftieth birthday party and could not resist the puppy a little girl was giving away.
Elya reminds me to enjoy the spontaneity of life.
Elya
Elya with the dancing eyes,
and shining hair like sunlit skies.
You sail like ribbons on the wind,
So far away, then back again
Elya with your skin so brown,
When you were born God’s love stepped down,
And fashioned you from chestnut clay,
How perfect was His work that day.
Elya with your heart so kind,
A world of wonder yet to find
Calls to your swirling, twirling soul,
May it grow up, but not grow old.
So sing your songs and take your bows,
Celebrate the here and now.
And share the light that brightly shines,
Through those lovely, lively, dancing eyes.
-Love Mom
My other daughter, Andy, reminds me to explore my imagination. She loves the theatre, dance, and silk acrobatics. I am never bored when Andy is with me.
I made this birthday card for Andy to celebrate the amazingly creative and adventurous woman she is.
A Star is Born
If I could have my one desire
I’d don myself in silk attire
And dangle from a ribbon fair
To swirl and tumble in mid air
So look out world for here I go
My ballet shoes are much to slow
I’ll trade them in for feet so free
This birthday year is just for me!
Yes, today I realize once again that I am rich beyond any treasures this world can give. My wealth is of the heart found in the love exchanged between the women in my family. With them, my heart is safe, loved, and alive. Together we explore what it means to live!
My blogging identity quest leads me to post from a life full of wonderful women who inspire, nurture, and love me. I want to find more bloggers out there who also share such richness of relationships.
JoDee Luna Art 
You have once again revealed a layer of my life. Your mom is my cherished longtime friend. We have shared laughter and tears, sucess and failure, highs and lows, and a lot more laughter.
The other incredibly valuable things Dee has shared with me are the very things you share here ~ the women in your family! I have always felt included as one of these women! Something I had never experienced in my own family God provided through yours. Isn’t He amazing? So are you!
Thanks for another ray of sunshine.
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