Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons! ************ "Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are." **************
"A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world." --Paul Dudley White
************ "Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired." - George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this… When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome To Holland”. “Holland?!?” you say, “What do you mean “Holland”??? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy” But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place. So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It’s just a different place. It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills…Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy…and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say “Yes that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned”. And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away…because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But…if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things…about Holland.
24 comments:
I love the purse... one of my favorites just broke as well! But, I hear they have a great little town nearby for wonderful purses at great prices!
Have a great day! Buenos Dia!
9/11 has become a day to remember even in India.
Let's hope we'll have a terrorism-free world in a few years from now. A vain hope I guess.
powerful shots--a great WW.
So awesome that you are remembering 9/11. Happy WW!
It's really sad to think of the number of lives that were shattered on this day.
A powerful tribute to a terrible day. One that reached around the world.
This is wonderful. I remember oh too well living so close.
wow, this is so powerful. awesome.
Beautiful pictures!
Very powerful photos.
Great tribute! Nice shot 'dear'...lol.
Happy WW!!
i like your goal :)
Great pics!! God bless America:) Happy WW.
I love all you have here. The light through the flag makes me feel hopeful! And the deer--well, they're a favorite of mine. They seem to embody peace.
It's great how were able to get those images of the flag so clearly and so detailed.
Thanks for stopping by for WW. We also remembered 9/11 on Tuesday.
It's nice to see the flag in action. I was thinking of everyone on Tuesday.
Beautiful shots of the flag!! Love the deer..... Thanks for stopping by! Happy WW! Grams
Beautiful flag shots!
Gorgeous shots...and the deer look peaceful yet ready to defend. Powerful.
great tribute.
happy ww!
amy
Great images... very suitable and well done.
I got goosebumps seeing your photos! I'm sure that sounds silly, but I thought they were very majestic and fitting.
Thanks for stopping by my WW!
What a great WW! Amazing shots of the flag!
Great photos of the flag that you got! A lot of texture and color. Congrats on the deer. I know that excitement when you are able to catch them!
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