To My Joy, Shauna Michelle...Happy Birthday....Happy Year of YOU

My baby girl's birthday was yesterday


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And yes, we all know she's not a baby. She's a grown woman, but if you're a parent, you'll understand that when I look at her, it's like this huge time slide.  First I see the baby lying in her little bed in the hospital, then the slides start going, like someone is taking a film strip and fast forwarding over thirty years of a lifetime.






Then wallah! There she is, standing in front of me with all her beautiful glory, and yes, wisdom beyond her
years.










She is an amazing person, always has been.  Sweet, sensitive, and a heart of gold.  She wants to please, sometimes to a fault. I keep telling her to think of herself.  The older she gets, the more she sees how right I am about that. Our mother - daughter relationship is very special.  I am fortunate that although my child, my adult child, she is my friend.  I would give her the world, the sun, the moon, the stars if I could, she stole my heart at first glance.


So, I have been busy the last few days planning her surprise birthday party.  This is a significant time in her life as she is going back to the career she was meant to do, that she is gifted for.This is the career she has been practicing since she was a little girl of 8 playing school with her brother, teaching him, and yes, telling him what to do, what to write and how to behave. Because she has been so busy, I have been trying to make the transition easier for her.  I wanted her to be able to feel loved, relaxed and refreshed this weekend.  In her previous position, she was a personal trainer so I invited all of her former clients, and what a great group of people!    They came, they surprised, they truly made her feel loved. And her ole' mom?...(me) She came, she cleaned, she cleaned, she cleaned and she helped out with the grand kids as much as possible.  She also made sure there would be a great party at her clean, beautiful new home.  Did I mention that I cleaned?

Anyway, I wanted to write something about my girl; a happy birthday tribute, something to celebrate her life, her presence on this earth.  What a gift!  Happy birthday beautiful Shauna...go out and continue to change the world with your love!


These lyrics say exactly what my heart wants for you my girl...Love you always and forever!  I'll ALWAYS be there for you!!xoxoxo
I Hope You Dance"

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
GOD forbid love ever leave you empty handed,
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin' might mean takin' chances but they're worth takin',
Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth makin',
Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to sellin' out reconsider,
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.


Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance, 
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance. 

Another Anniversary, Another Reason to Celebrate! Here's to Us!

Today I have been married for 38 years. That's a long, long time.  I remember when we were young, and yes, it seems like yesterday, that we used to talk about the Beatle's song  "When I'm Sixty Four".  We used to smile and say that would be us. Wellllll....here we are. Long ago, in that far away land of youth and adventure, our young minds couldn't really fathom that minutes would turn into hours, hours to days, and days to years.  Until ....until...well...until now.  Here we are, sitting together, watching tv, kids grown, grand kids yes, on our knee.  It's that time.


Thirty eight years ago I had only been in England, my husband's home country, for about three days.  I was starry eyed and all I knew was that he loved me.  The two guys before him that I was serious about told me they loved me, and one asked me to marry him; I didn't believe him.  I even told him that he just thought he loved me. But my husband....I was sure he loved me.  I still am.

Listen, don't ever get married and think that you will both stay the "same person".  That's just impossible.  I mean, you will still have the basics, but so much will change. Things will happen that you don't plan, things will throw you for a huge loop and you'll find yourself wondering if you made a mistake.  In my opinion, the only way anyone can make a mistake is to marry for the wrong reasons.  It will be just quicker for me to tell you the right reason: love.

When I met my Phil, he was a wild young Englishman who had this presence and confidence. We were both living on a kibbutz in the Galilee region of Israel.  We were living there, working a half day while taking Hebrew the other half.  We didn't hit it off to a great start, but we became the best of friends and just hung out.  He helped me with my Hebrew homework, hung around me on hikes through the Israeli desert and made me laugh.  We were in my room one night doing homework and I got really frustrated, threw the pencil across the room, scowled and spit out, "I can't do this".  He picked up the pencil, threw it back at me and said, "Yes you can!" That's all it took, he had me.

 One afternoon he came back to his room after working in the refet (barn-  milking the cows) and I told him we "had to talk."  He asked me if it could wait until after his shower,  and of course I said it couldn't.  I let him know I felt more for him than "just a friend" and he smiled with a relieved look on his face and told me he felt the same.  But he added that we should take it "nice and slow".  Of course I agreed.  Funny thing, it might have been a few days later that he asked me to marry him; on top of Masada, where all the Jews killed themselves.  (Hmmmmmm prophetic???)



That was eons ago, at least it seems that.  Marriage is more work and possibly more difficult than raising children.  At least when you have two totally different, extremely stubborn, ridiculously passionate and opinionated people such as ourselves.  But neither of us wanted to settle into a relationship where we just tolerated one another.  We actually wanted to keep the "spark", the passion, the friendship.  We had to fight, we had to fight hard, both of us....but so far, so good.  Yes, there was a time we almost didn't make it, but in the end, we both realized we didn't want to live without each other; without growing old together.

He has been my only husband, and I am his only wife.  I love that. I'm proud of that.  We both deserve the benefits.  We have the scars to prove it, and the love to bind us.  It's not about staying together for the kids, (although that is important), it's not about being too lazy to do anything, because we weren't, it's about grace, prayer, love and miracles.

Here's to us Phil....."celebrate we will, cause life is short be sweet for certain. We climb on two by two to be sure these days continue!"