Keep Looking Up
it's the secret of life...
“For every fear that shakes your peace, for every night you feel alone, for every moment you lose a little hope, there is an angel who whispers, " I am here.”
Throughout the last several months I have been on a challenging journey. Going through a “life-changing” event can do that to a person.
But I’ve found that most journeys in life are not solitary - they involve a variety of people, who help you to pick up the pieces when you find yourself pivoting from your planned path.
Some of those people have been a part of your life since the beginning while others may have become a part of your journey later on in your life story.
I believe that there is also a third group of people who guide you… I like to call them guardian angels.
Those who you loved and who loved you back, unconditionally, without judgment…forgiving you of your sins and shortcomings, they help you by surrounding you with protection from harm and fill you with grace…
I feel the presence of my own guardian angels often, especially during difficult times and I turn to them when I need them.
Looking at photos of my guardian angels brings me comfort and a sense of peace.
A few weeks ago my Facebook memories brought up a picture of two people I consider my guardian angels - my grandparents. My uncle commented on the photo, which he fondly remembered taking of them in 1954 in Washington D.C. He also commented that they were two people “who were easy to love…”
If you look to the right of them you will see a line of taxis. My grandfather had hired a taxi for $15 to take the three of them on a tour of the capital during their visit, which lasted around seven days..
Old photos remind me not only of who my guardian angels are but they take me back in time…even if the time they take me back to was before I even existed.
I find that gratifying…knowing that they are watching from above.
There is an unexplainable connection that exists…something that is much bigger than our minds can fathom.
There is an ancient Chinese proverb that compares this bond to an invisible thread that connects those we are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance…The thread may stretch or tangle, but it never breaks…
That is how I envision my connection to my guardian angels.
I believe that we all have them and their presence is with us always, in times of joy as well as challenging times…
I picture them holding us…perhaps walking with us…arm in arm…with smiles on their faces and love for us in their hearts…
What do you think?
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Tranquil Moments…
I asked my niece, Jennifer Malphy, if she could share some of her nature photos with my newsletter audience. Each week I will feature a new photo. Here is this week’s:
Poetry that Inspires
April is National Poetry Month and in celebration I want to share poems that inspire me - Here’s this week’s poem:
The Raincoat By Ada Limón, U.S. Poet Laureate
When the doctor suggested surgery
and a brace for all my youngest years,
my parents scrambled to take me
to massage therapy, deep tissue work,
osteopathy, and soon my crooked spine
unspooled a bit, I could breathe again,
and move more in a body unclouded
by pain. My mom would tell me to sing
songs to her the whole forty-five minute
drive to Middle Two Rock Road and forty-
five minutes back from physical therapy.
She’d say, even my voice sounded unfettered
by my spine afterward. So I sang and sang,
because I thought she liked it. I never
asked her what she gave up to drive me,
or how her day was before this chore. Today,
at her age, I was driving myself home from yet
another spine appointment, singing along
to some maudlin but solid song on the radio,
and I saw a mom take her raincoat off
and give it to her young daughter when
a storm took over the afternoon. My god,
I thought, my whole life I’ve been under her
raincoat thinking it was somehow a marvel
that I never got wet.
This week’s Smile video…
When Ginger Sprouse used to come across homeless people, she would only give them her two cents. But after she decided to change her approach, the new Ginger did something she never expected. Steve Hartman reports.
#believe #smilevideos #spreadkindnessandlove
What I am watching…
While visiting my sister and brother-in-law, we spent a “movie night” watching Places in the Heart starring Sally Field and Danny Glover. It had been such a long time since I had watched this movie that it was almost like seeing it for the first time.
The film follows Edna Spalding, a young woman during the Great Depression in Texas who is forced to take charge of her farm after the death of her husband and is helped by a motley bunch of characters.
The movie’s unique ending caught me a little by surprise…this movie won two Oscars for best screenplay and best leading actress. It was a very enjoyable and thought-provoking movie.
Mind/Body Connections…
This meditation from Headspace encourages us to pause and reset between tasks, helping you feel more present and better able to enjoy whatever comes next.
What I am reading…
This week I started reading Squirrel is Alive: A Teenager in the Belgian Resistance & French Underground by Mary Rostad - The Amazon review is as follows: “A sure to be classic in Holocaust literature from an underrepresented voice.
Squirrel is Alive: A Teenager in the Belgian Resistance and French Underground is the incredible story of Mary Rostad’s early life. Rostad was 16 years old when the Nazis conquered her home city of Brussels in 1940. She joined the resistance movement, serving in Belgium and later France, primarily as a courier of underground documents. At the end of World War II, Rostad met U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Allen Rostad.
This young adult book is a page-turner that I am really enjoying. If you love biographies or history books about the World World II era, I would suggest you try this one. It is well worth the read!
Comedy Lift…
I love to share funny cartoons or memes with friends and family. Who doesn’t need to smile? Here’s this week’s Comedy Lift…
Music Moments
Music inspires me in many ways. Here’s one of my favorites (in a barbershop quartet format), “My Wild Irish Rose” ...Enjoy!
Quote of the week
Until next week. Please remember…Begin and end each day with a grateful heart…and always, always be kind….
Please know today YOU are just what I needed 🙏