Happy May Day!

Well, I signed up to do the A to Z *APRIL* Blog Challenge...but other obligations kept me from having time to blog. SO...I'm unofficially doing my own A to Z *MAY* Blog Challenge - writing one post a day representing each letter of the alphabet.

For today, May 1st, my choice for letter "A" is a sad one, in memory of a precious little one who lost her battle to a debilitating disease yesterday (4/30), 11 days before she turned 5 months old. Today, it's A is for Avery!

Avery was diagnosed with a rare disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). This is the description of SMA from the Families of SMA.org site: “Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a motor neuron disease. The motor neurons affect the voluntary muscles that are used for activities such as crawling, walking, head and neck control, and swallowing. It is a relatively common ‘rare disorder’: approximately 1 in 6000 babies born are affected, and about 1 in 40 people are genetic carriers. 

SMA affects muscles throughout the body, although the proximal muscles (those closest to the trunk of one’s body – i.e. shoulders, hips, and back) are often most severely affected. Weakness in the legs is generally greater than in the arms. Sometimes feeding and swallowing can be affected. Involvement of respiratory muscles (muscles involved in breathing and coughing) can lead to an increased tendency for pneumonia and other lung problems. Sensation and the ability to feel are not affected. Intellectual activity is normal and it is often observed that patients with SMA are unusually bright and sociable.”

I have such a heavy heart for these parents of little Avery Lynn Canahuati. The doctors suggested she might live to be 18 months old - sadly, her little lung collapsed yesterday, which sent her into cardiac arrest. I just blogged about her on Sunday, 4/29, and about her father's valiant effort to blog about Avery's Bucket List from Avery's perspective.

In addition to sending prayers and thoughts for comfort and strength to Avery's parents and other family and friends, please visit Avery's Bucket List blog to find out how you may send donations toward ongoing research in Avery's name to find a cure for SMA.

"SMA never took Avery's smile away!"

Yes, it's November again - the month of the annual Thanksgiving holiday.

What about giving thanks other months of the year? How about daily giving of thanks, or as I've often seen suggested, exercising an "attitude of gratitude" on a consistent basis?

I recently saw the question posed: "What if you only had in your life today, what you thanked God for yesterday?"

Thought-provoking ... would our lives be full of blessings or would our lives be rather sparse? Would people, places, and things be absent from our lives?

For that matter, would we even have our lives? As in, would we still be living and breathing on this earth?

Food for thought, in this month when most of us traditionally stuff ourselves with food on "turkey day."

Life has a way of handing you surprises - sometimes good, and sometimes bad.

I'm not sure who is the real originator of this quote - I've heard it credited to John Lennon, as well as Erma Bombeck. At any rate, how true it is!

"Life is what happens while you're making other plans."

My youngest daughter got married in June. That was a joyous, planned event that worked out well and beautifully.

At the end of June/beginning of July, my Mom received a diagnosis of lung cancer. She had already been in failing health for some time, but that diagnosis just seemed to take away all of her will to live - that, and she missed Dad, who also succumbed to cancer nine years ago on 9-2-2002.

She passed away on July 7th. That most certainly was NOT a planned event, but a sudden, heart-breaking event - the other side of life that we all must face some day.

Grieving is a process. I'm still going through it, as are other members of the family. In the middle of the grief, however, is love. Knowing Mom and Dad are together again in heaven is a soothing thought. Having precious memories to share of their lives while they were on earth provides comfort.

Love helps me continue. I have four amazing adult kids - they have overcome many obstacles and are finding their way in the world, achieving various goals and pursuing their own dreams. I love them and I'm so proud of them.

I have a wonderful, loving husband. He has provided enormous sources of compassion and strength during the difficult past months. We really are soul mates and seem to have an intriguing connection.

This morning, hubby was off in the den playing his computer game (WoW) and I was in the livingroom at the other end of the house on my laptop. I had just posted a morning "love you" message on his Facebook wall. Within only a second or two after I posted it to his wall, he called to me and asked if I had said something, because he thought he heard my voice! ♥ This kind of thing happens to us a lot - very in tune with each other - love it and love him, so very much! ♥

[I apologize ahead of time to those of you who read more than one of my blogs, as I am posting this in each one as an update!]

Hello - yes, it's really me!


After getting off to such a good start with blogging in 2011 - I have had three unusual months in a row and am NOW trying to get back into it, in this new month of August.


Brief summary with the major events of each month:


*May: I had a GREAT private writing client who paid me $100+ per article, PLUS bonuses! He kept me busy most of the month; one week, I had my first ever $1000 week - and ended up making over $2400 for the month.

*June: Good news and bad news!


The Good News:


My youngest daughter got married and I acquired a wonderful son-in-law!


My middle daughter also got engaged, and my oldest daughter was already engaged - so two more weddings coming up in the next two years.


Also, I got rehired to work as an online writing tutor for the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Smarthinking.


The Bad News:


My Mom, who had been in failing health, fell a couple times at home, and while in the hospital for x-rays, tests revealed a mass in her lung.


*July: My Mom passed away.


It has taken awhile to get back to even feeling like writing or doing any other kind of freelance work.  Mom had been sick for quite awhile, and we thought she had beat breast cancer a couple years ago...


She was under  hospice care and surrounded by family members during her final hours at home. Her final words and fervent prayer were that God would take her quickly, so she could finally see her Lord and her Ben (my Dad) again.


We're glad she's no longer suffering and we're rejoicing that she has rejoined Dad in heaven - we lost him nearly nine years ago, to lymphoma.

***********
NOW... it's a new day, new week, new month - representing new opportunities to succeed!!

**Quotes from   **

SO ... I had the best month ever in my freelance career last month (May 2011), clearing over $2400! Of course, that required most of my time - that, and a little thing like my youngest daughter's wedding, which took place on June 4th. 

So I sorta fell off the "blog wagon" - but now I'm back, and trying to get caught up with lots of things. I did set up a blog schedule, and Sunday is one of my days to write in this blog and one other.

Since this is Father's Day, I did want to extend Father's Day greeting to all you dads out there - and to encourage all of you folks who still have dads alive on this earth (if you have good and healthy relationships with them) to cherish the time you have with them.

My beloved Dad has been gone for nine Father's Days now - I really miss him!