WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

This is a very special day in more ways then one. My daughter's birthday many times falls on Thanksgiving day. My son, Christopher's birthday is December 25. We have much to be thankful for.

I had mixed feelings last Thanksgiving. I knew that I had much to be thankful for and yet the pain that I was feeling from George's unnecessary death in the hospital was so deep.

Last year, as this year, I started the day with Thanksgiving Day Mass. I sat next to the same person who I sat next to last year. I DID NOT KNOW this gentleman last year but have come to know him since then as a faithful member of our St. Edwards community.

Last year, Father Butler asked everyone to turn to the person next to them and say what they were thankful for.

The gentleman next to me said that he was thankful that his wife, who was not well was feeling better. Intense emotion arose in me and I blurted out, fighting back the tears that I was grateful that my husband was no longer in pain and was in Heaven.

I was in deep emotional pain as I left Church. I have so much to be grateful for but I broke down and cried all the way home. It was my daughter's birthday and also Thanksgiving and so I drove around the area until I was able to put on a happy face. After all, I am the rock of the family, people rarely, if ever see me cry. I made it through the day with my happy face, but broken heart.

The next day, I started to pack my suitcase for a three month journey. One that I had promised my husband that I would take. One that would put me back into the world of the living. One where I would count my blessings everyday. One where God sent me in a very tangible way, a message that I was on the right track. One where lives were touched. What a gift from both God and George.

George was a very wise man. He knows that my word is my bond and that I would follow through on a promise. He asked me to do something for him. He wanted me to take a trip by myself, to places that we had never been. To face something different and to do one new thing a week. THE FIRST STEP WAS THE HARDEST..........

Do one new thing a week?????? I thought that it would be hard but I found myself doing one new thing every day for the first seven days. At this rate, I did not have to do anything new but boy!!!!! the challenge was there. It was an easy challenge, made even easier because of the wonderful people that I met. My journey was an inspiration to them as they were an inspiration to me. We fed off of one another. I thanked people.....they thanked me.....we hugged, we laughed......ALL ALONG THE WAY, I FELT THE LOVE OF GOD AND GEORGE......They wanted me to be O.K. and I was going to be O.K.

I could write a book about those three months but more important is the direction that my life has taken since I returned. Writing Grace Moments is something that I never in a million years would have ever expected to do. I was never very good in English and hated to write anything.

The picture of the rainbow at the top of this page was taken from the balcony of the condo that I had been staying in during the first leg of my journey. The day after I took that picture, I walked the beautiful beach of S. Hutchinson Island and was so mesmerized by the birds, wildlife and people that I met that I walked over 13 miles before I realized it. TALK ABOUT A FIRST.......I seriously doubt if I ever walked more than 4 miles prior to that day.

I was totally inspired by everything that I did that day and everything that I saw. I thanked God for the beautiful rainbow and HIS help in healing my heart. I looked at that rainbow and thought that it was beautiful but did not know the significance of the rainbow at that time. Something happened when I returned home, that made me look at rainbows in a more profound manner. A truly inspirational manner. I learned that a rainbow is God's Covenant to Man. At a later date, I will write about that.

And now fast forward to this wonderful day....I have so much to be thankful for. I did not leave the Church in tears. When I turned to the gentleman, who I now know, during my favorite part of the Mass when we say, PEACE BE WITH YOU, I hugged him and later asked about his wife. I remembered what he had said last year. He said that she is still frail and so I said a prayer for her as I left Church.

The common union of our Church as Father Pat so often speaks of inspires me and makes me happy. For this I am grateful. The Spirit and love that I feel as a result of this common union is something to be grateful for. I try to give back in some small way all that has been given to me in love and friendship. If I can make a difference in the life of someone..........this I am grateful for. My family and friends and also all of those strangers who approach me and compliment the Cross that I wear......and exchange words of FAITH ........this I am grateful for. For the blessing and gift of a loving heart.........this I am grateful for.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND MAY THE PEACE OF THE LORD BE WITH YOU