63 and flying

I turn 63 this Wednesday. Just like everyone else, I don't know how, can't believe I am this old already. I feel 35 everyday. Don't look 35, just feel it. I love my life, every aspect of it. But one of the things I love the most is looking back at all the things I have learned, all the things I have been able to do that a young person can only dream about. I have taken a midnight ride in a canoe on the Nile River with Arab men who were total strangers to me and my 2 very blonde girlfriends.

I have stood in front of the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza.

I have hiked through the jungle near the equator to the cremation of a Balinese Prince and delighted in the piles of fruit that were perched upon the heads of the mourners who walked along side the float that delivered the dead prince to his burial pile.

I have traveled down a red dirt road lined with gum tree forests to peer inside a cave at Aboriginal Hand Paintings.

I have sat across the table from patients who were crying because they didn't know how they would possibly handle a life with diabetes in it and then seen them leave my office with a smile on their face because now they knew where to start and how to make it happen.

I've laid next to a river in the Sierra in the pouring rain fearfully wondering exactly how Dave and I were going to die when the river purged its banks…would it be quick or slow?

I've played golf with a caddie at a fancy country club and with kids at Las Po and found I like playing with kids far better.

So, I was thinking this morning of some of the wisdom that has crept into my life because I have had the privilege of living 22,995 days, some tough days, some miraculous days, but all days that have been designed just for me to grow up.

My 22, 995 days have taught me to...


Laugh every day…a belly roar with a nose snort is best but even a baby chuckle makes me glad to be alive.

Give a lot…stuff, money, time, sweat--- until you know the difference between giving because you have to and giving because you want to.

It's safe to ask God to give you someone to love. He never says "No."

If you ask God to give you a friend, be patient…you'll be blown away by the answer. I was.

The sweet smell of a cat's fur nestled under your nose is a gift from heaven.

Golf is not a game for old people, it's a game that keeps everyone young and full of crazy hope.

Stop wearing a watch or jumping on a scale to see where I am.

Christmas Perspectives…thinking of Amy Grant

Every Christmas I listen to Amy Grant's song about Mary, wondering why she had been chosen to carry the son of God and wondering if it is a mistake on God's part, but then she gives into the breath of heaven and asks for this breath to lighten her darkness. Who doesn't need that? Light in a dark place.

Now I see she has a new kind of Christmas song…Better than a Hallelujah…it might not be a Christmas song to everyone but it is to me…to me it says sitting in a church and raising hands doesn't say who we really are, and God cares who we really are.

"Honest cries of a breaking heart
Are better than a hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are…"

You can listen to the whole song here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD_pCr_Xrnc

sorry about the ad, but you can skip it in 4 seconds...

Homes For Heroes

Today Dave and I made a donation to the Gary Sinise Foundation to help with the construction of "Smart Homes" for our multiple amputee veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Although Gary has many different avenues of helping, I decided to support their "RISE' program because it is aimed to help the most severely injured gain a sense of independence.

On the website you can read about the heroes, select a specific veteran to sponsor and see a video of one of these incredible homes. I selected USMC Cpl. Mark Litynski who was wounded on November 19th, 2010. My birthday. He is living a new life with the help of 2 prosthetic legs.

USMC Cpl. Mark Litynski playing golf!

Here is the link to learn more and donate.

http://www.garysinisefoundation.org/programs/restoring-independence-supporting-empowerment

What are we doing here?

What are we doing here?
Ever wonder why we're here
On this planet, breathing this air?
Just taking up space?
Taking it in or passing it up?
The precious, the momentous, the invisible.
Are we missing it?
What am I doing?
Am I supposed to be doing something different, better, bigger?
If I am, I can't.
Not on my own.
All I can ever do is what God lays before me so clearly
that I cannot walk a different path.
That's what I'm doing here. 
For now, I'm making flowers 
and giving them away.

Free Forever Flowers For You!

Last Sunday, I set up a table outside of Studio 7 in downtown Pleasanton with my goal to give away as many of my paper flowers as I could…

I sat back and watched people pick out the flowers they wanted…it was so much fun! I love the birdcage my neighbor gave me as a way to display the flowers. Very eye catching if I do say so myself.

All I can say is…I wish you could have been there to see the smiles on people's faces as they walked away.. A real treat for me.