John Denver, The 12 Apostles, and a Light House

What do all of those topics have in common? I will tell you:

Wednesday

Here's a run-down on my wonderful Great Ocean Road day.....woke, watched Downton and slept some more, got ready, bought a salad roll at the local bakery ( and a raspberry/white chocolate muffin and lemon lime sparkling mineral water ), took off for Port Campbell - 2 hours west from Apollo Bay- sang John Denver the whole way, arrived at the 12 Apostles- spectacular!!!!!!, met nice people who took my photo for me and I took theirs, walked around the 12 Apostles, ate my salad roll, drove one hour east to Cape Otway Light House, walked around and up to the top of the light house (trying to be brave instead of having a complete freak out as I felt like doing whilst walking up the very steep narrow steps with flip flops that felt like coming off), met some gay American democrats - who were very nice and who were talking to the light house guy about how only democrats from America travel abroad- they found me to be an oddity, I shopped for more souvenirs, drove back to Apollo Bay, rested, went to watch the ocean for a lovely long time.

Photos Highlights:

Phil Collins (the sequel), Shakespeare, Andre Agassi and The Army

Against All Odds

Driven to succeed or just stupid,
That is the question?
Whether tis nobler in the mind to fight, wounded, to the death
Or by opposing injury, end then

Yeah – I know the real thing works better, but here is MY question:

I have a friend who ran a marathon with a broken foot. I was, and am, impressed by her stamina and determination….but, wow – what if she had never walked again? Were those 26.2 miles worth it?

Another impressive friend got me thinking about this topic the other day as he spoke about amazing moments in tennis when, against all odds, injured greats, battled on and won. (The most important of those involving the best ever, Andre Agassi…., but there are many other amazing tales of triumph.)

What is an “acceptable business risk” and what is the decision process these athletes went through when they decided to gamble their millions-of-dollars-worth bodies and play on.

I said to my friend, “There’s a point where it becomes insanity. But, right before that point it is inspiring.”

Part of why Agassi was so successful, and inspiring, is that he was willing to risk it all (and he is talented). I don’t really have to conduct a similar risk assessment – losing a Nike or Wheaties contract or being damaged for life…, but I do wonder what is at stake when I don’t choose to fight a good fight, or incorporate the counsel Polonius gave Laertes…

This above all: to thine own self, be true.

There is much this statement could imply, but for me it is more than just what not to do (like not carousing with lascivious friends or like not giving up in the face of a challenge). It also infers what TO do (like “be all you can be” or live life well….follow your dreams….etc..).

So – I ask: Is my "acceptable risk" inspiring. Can I run a broken-foot marathon?

Barry Manilow and Dr. Seuss

Julie - “This one’s for you, wherever you are”

THING 1: While I was in college, I called my Dad to tell him about a situation that felt like a disaster. He counseled me to reframe the situation as a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block. I could see that it was wise counsel, but my immediate response was not to find the stepping stones ….my immediate response was to feel like I had tripped and stubbed my toe and therefore my foot was going to fall off.

I don’t typically write the songs that make stepping stones sing. (I know, I'm a dork.)

THING 2: I was involved in a project where EVERYTHING went wrong. There was so much else going on at the time, I was very frustrated, and thought to bow out of the doomed project and move on….which would have had very unsatisfactory consequences, but… I was just done with the thing.

My friend, Julie, was also involved in the project, and called to give me a status report one day. After telling me the list of things that had, again, gone wrong, she said, “My opportunity is to find a way to make “x” part of this “y” step in the project work so we get “z” on time.

Seeing opportunities is not always my fashion ….at the Copa, Copacabana…

I just don’t think like that…., but I want to. I’ve been thinking how much happier I would be…and all of us for that matter, if we looked for the stepping stones in a challenge…..and what a world this would be if we all saw things for their possibilities, rather than for their problems

I’m going to try it right now: My opportunity is to learn people and project influencing skills at a level I’ve never been at before, without punching someone….

Well, looks like I almost made it.

Oh! The places I'll go ....when trying to share my random thoughts. :)

I had a farm in Africa

I didn't really, but if I had, I would have liked to have penned something like Karen Blixen did...

If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me? Will the air over the plain quiver with a color that I have had on, or the children invent a game in which my name is or the full moon throw a shadow over the gravel of the drive that was like me or will the eagles of the Ngong Hills look out for me?

A few days ago, I downloaded a Phil Collins song from my college days and listened to colors and shadows of a time long past.....and "he was waiting for me there." I wondered - does this song remind him of me?

Do you ever wonder if any eagles from your past look out for you? Did you make a mark that lingers on someone's heart?.....like Australia has for me....or my grandparents....or Mozart's Clarinet Concerto.....

Is there a plain somewhere I once walked that quivers with my color? Just a passing thought.

6 - Montana Mile Marker #5

Several writers and movie makers have tried to capture the essence of an Ideal – a perfect place of love, joy and peace.…

-Sir Thomas More in Utopia;
-The Arthurian legend of a place called Camelot (the Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave film is a classic);
-Or James Hilton’s description of Shangri La in Lost Horizon (was also made into a great movie).

I knew a man who succeeded in creating a real Utopia/Camelot/Shangri La. We called him Hans. And, his cabin on Hebgen Lake WAS the Ideal.

Apart from the days my brothers got married or had children, the best and happiest memories of my life are of Hebgen. Check out that sweet life-preserver. I could swim quite well by this time, but it was important to Mom and Dad and Hans that we all stay safe, so we wore them faithfully - and didn't really mind, because who could be bothered by anything at Hebgen?!

Hans was one of those rare individuals who saw the opportunity to make and share something special and actually did it. He was constantly improving things and doing things for us while we were there - like building a fire each morning so that when we woke up it was warm in the cabin...or teaching us how to make ice cream in the garage...or taking us on wood safari's...hunting for huckleberries...spinning tales about slingshots and moose (which I believed into adulthood)...showing us silent movies from his amazing collection in a living room theater decked out with big screen, reel to reel, light dimmer and surround sound...or giving up his bedroom in the big cabin so we could feel like the cabin was our's.

I can still remember the smell of the woods and lake and the feeling of waking up in that bed under the 4 inch thick brown quilt; and, the site of my Dad chasing a baby bear outside the dining windows to get a photo; my brothers hunting for frogs; swinging on the swing; playing chinese checkers and the marble game; listening to "cabin music"; the wind in my hair as I skiied across a glass lake; cleaning my first fish; sliding down the plastic cushions at the Walton-style table; and saying goodbye for the last time.

In a few days, when I blow out the candle sitting atop the first chocolate birthday cake I’ve had in a very long time, my birthday wish will be for everyone to have a Hans and the opportunity to experience the Ideal that was Hebgen.

#6 on my list of Favorite Things is HANS' CABIN and HEBGEN LAKE, MONTANA.

8 - Apples Anyone?

When I was in high school we had English lab rotations where we got to work on MacIntosh computers for 30 minutes. At the time, this was revolutionary because the computer lab only had Dos. Now, they have kindergarteners doing PowerPoint presentations. Talk about progress. (No comments on how long it's been since I've been in kindgergarten, please.)

Time has moved on a bit and while I'm not a school teacher, I still love the Apple. I think one of the best inventions since butter and airplanes is the iPod. What a cool device!! I started with a very cute pink mini, moved on to middle school and the nano and then skipped several grades to the Mac university with an iPod touch. This thing is absolutely amazing. Like my cell phone, I do not know how I lived without my iPod. And they just keep getting better and better. Those Mac people sure know what they are doing.

#8 on my list of Favorite Things is my iPOD!!!!

12 - I Know a Place

There is a song I used to love to sing when I was at girls camp:

I know a place where no one ever goes
There's peace and quiet, beauty and repose
It's hidden in a valley, beside a mountain stream
And lying there beside the stream
I find that I can dream
Oh what a place of beauty to the eye
Snow peaked mountains towering towards the sky
Now I know that God has made this world for me

I still like to sing this song, but in a different place of beauty to the eye, and with slightly different lyrics:

I know a place where Becky loves to go
There's peace and quiet, beauty eventhough
It's hidden down a Walmart aisle, beside an organizing bin
And standing there beside the bin
I find that I can grin
Oh what a place of beauty to the eye
Organizing bins and baskets towering towards the sky
Now I know that God has made this store for me

I absolutely LOVE organizing bins. I have them in my entry way, my bedroom, my bathrooms, my closets, my kitchen, my TV room, my living room, my car...everywhere. And I wish I had more. And, I am constantly in search of the best organized purses, bags, luggage, etc. This doesn't mean I am super organized...I just love the dream of being super organized. I am always thinking about what I could do in this corner or that one to be better organized. I love it.

#12 on my list of Favorite Things is ORGANIZING BINS.

13 - The Song of The Heart

When I was very little - 7 or something - my Dad told me he would buy me my own hymn book if I would learn to play the hymn, Come, Come Ye Saints. I told my piano teacher about it and she said I was not good enough to play it yet. My Dad bought a simplified hymn book to try and help, but it was too late.

The gauntlet had been thrown down when she uttered the "can't" word. Interesting (or not) side note - I don't mind when I realize I can't do something, but when someone else tells me that....sometimes (rarely) I agree. This wasn't one of those times.

I worked at that hymn until my whole family was probably sick to death of it. But, guess what?! I learned it so well that I still can play it by memory to this day. AND - I got my very own hymn book. Thanks, Dad for believing in me! Maybe Zora did too...just had a different method for inciting me. :)

Anywho - learning Come, Come Ye Saints started me down a path of loving to play hymns. I was the pianist or organist for everything growing up - family conferences and Christmas events, primary, young womens, sacrament meeting, firesides (where I was jinxed for a while and made a mistake in the intro every time for months - even in front of Jon Schmidt and President Hinckley), big regional basketball tournament kick-off meetings (thanks to Uncle Blaine), stake events (where I had to play with Richard Elliot and Elizabeth Ballantyne sitting right behind me - one of my worst performances EVER!), sitting around the piano with my family on a Sunday night, on vacation in Island Park as evidently the only visitor in a group of hundreds who could play the hymns (or was willing to), on my mission (where I had another jinx and simply could not play Called to Serve without messing up - one time my mission president's wife even looked over at me with incredulity wondering how anyone could mess up so much), for work seminars (had the great privelege to play the piano and the organ for apostles and prophets), and at grandparents funerals...when I finished playing How Great Thou Art at my Grandma's funeral, Grandpa got up out of the audience and walked over to the piano to hug me...one of my most cherished memories.

Who would have thought it? Well, my Mom and Dad did. Dad knew what he was doing with that challenge and Mom had envisioned her musical children long ago. Ok, ok - I forgive you for ripping me out of ballet. It was definitely worth it.

#13 on my list of Favorite Things is PLAYING HYMNS.

17 - People Without Faces

As we were traveling home from work one blizzardy day - just after I had gotten my driver's license - my Dad counseled his strong-willed teenage daughter, "I'm an experienced driver, and I wouldn't go out in this snow tonight. I think you should stay home from the high school basketball game."

I didn't stay home, and he was right. Two good friends and I were in an accident - no injuries, thankfully - and, the other driver was cited for failure to yield. To this day, I regret not listening to that advice for two reasons. The first - despite having gained some experience and snow driving skill, I am terrified of driving in the snow. Still.

The second reason - I lost my brilliant collection of key chains that night. I'd been collecting key chains on vacations for several years and somehow, my keys were lost during the mayhem after the accident. Tragic.

I love my collections...stuffed lions, movie soundtracks, trip sweatshirts, Authors card games, earrings, and Willow Trees.
My nephew calls them the people without faces. Somehow, these little people without faces speak to me (in the figure-ative sense - get it, Dad?) and I love them. Above is most of the collection minus my Willow Tree Nativity set and a couple of figures I have at work.

I love giving Willow Trees as gifts and getting them as gifts too...like my other collections, many of the pieces have been given to me by people who know me well.... and to each of you, I say THANK YOU!

#17 on my list of Favorite Things is my WILLOW TREES.

18 - Press Forward!!

Have you ever had times in your life where you've felt like the best you could do was to just keep breathing? Where the trials, or pressure, or stress, or burden, or sadness was so big and weighing down so heavily upon you that just taking those breaths was a big effort?

Well, I have. And I know many others who have had those times as well. A few years back, there was a song by Anna Nalick that I played over and over in my car....But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable, And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table. No one can find the rewind button now; Sing it if you understand...and breathe, just breathe....

That song was a temporary help then. But, my universal and much more effective cure-all is found in some words from the prophet Nephi, in The Book of Mormon:

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. (2 Nephi 31:20)

I love this! I think Nephi, who surely endured much, understood well the feeling of being weighed down and knew what to do. Now I replace the "just breathe" with "just keep pressing forward!!!"

#18 on my list of Favorite Things is 2 NEPHI 31:20.

20 - 80’s Night at the Oscars

One summer, my brother and I spent many nights eating Cheetos and Ranch dip (very delicious) and watching an 80’s classic film: North Shore. Now, some might say we were losers with nothing to do, but I think it is more to do with the fact that we enjoy good food, good movies, and having a good laugh.

North Shore is a “B” movie, if that, but it is very fun to watch and quote (“Nobody listens to turtle…”). There are several other 80’s movies I would throw into the “B” category – all movies I loved (and still love) to watch over and over; they might not merit an Academy nod for Best Picture, but I would give them other awards like….

Some Kind of Wonderful – Most Awkward Kissing Scene to Watch While on a Not Great Blind Date Award (in addition - a bug flew onto my lip while we were eating and I ate it)

16 Candles – Sweetest Red Porsche/Just Like the Boy Next Door Award

Top Gun – Top Volley-Ball Game I Like to Watch (what girl doesn't?) Award

Pretty in Pink – Greatest Soundtrack to Listen to While Lying Out Award

Always – Best Last Movie Seen with College Sweetheart Award

Footloose – Classic Movie My Grandma Didn’t Want Me to Watch on the Airplane Ride to Hawaii but Had Already Seen with My Young Women’s Leader Award

Fletch – Most Quoted Chevy Chase Line Award (also my favorite comedy film ever)

Karate Kid – Most Reminiscent of Neighborhood Boys Award

Superman II – Craziest Movie I Wish I Hadn’t Watched with My Mom and My Friend’s Mom Award

Princess Bride – Most Quoted Movie by Missionaries in Australia Award

The Outsiders – Best Book My 6th Grade Teacher Read to Us Award

Now – this is all just a silly walk down memory lane, to be sure, but in fairness to the brilliance of the 80’s, there were also some absolute classics produced– certainly worthy of a real Best Picture Oscar, like:

Somewhere in Time, Out of Africa, Dead Poets Society, On Golden Pond, Driving Miss Daisy, The Mission, Gandhi, Chariots of Fire and Rain Man.

#20 on my list of Favorite Things is 80’s MOVIES.

Bonus Prize: Which of these were either nominated or DID get the Best Picture?

21 - And even Mister Moon is left without a tune…

I love movies with 80's music references...like Wedding Singer (the Boy George wannabe is classic) or Music & Lyrics (what a great Wham! spoof).

I think it is safe to say, the 80’s produced some of the best music EVER. I started trying to compile a list of Top 5 Favorites – from the stuff I listened to a lot during the 80’s – and I simply couldn't narrow it to five.

Here is my list - these are just the MOST favorite. There were so many other classics from the 80’s:

aHA, Air Supply, Bananarama, The Bangles, Barry Manilow, Berlin, Bon Jovi, The Cars, Chicago, Corey Hart, Culture Club, Cyndi Lauper, Dan Fogelberg, Def Leppard, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Eurythmics, The Go-Go’s, Guns-N’-, Roses, Hall & Oates, Huey Lewis & The News, Kenny Loggins, Madonna, Michael Jackson, The Police/Sting, ‘Til Tuesday, R.E.M., Sheena Easton, Siouxie and the Banshees, Stevie Nicks, Tears for Fears, U2, Wham!, Whitney Houston, Yaz

Who did I miss? Do you have a favorite 80’s band/performer?

#21 on my list of Favorite Things is 80’s MUSIC.

Comment Prizes to be Awarded:
First Place – Cite who introduced me to ‘Til Tuesday & my favorite of their songs
Second Place – Cite the Siouxie and the Banshees song I used to blast from my Toyota Tercel stereo
Third Place – Cite the best Tears for Fears song phrase
Honorable Mention – 1st to finish the post’s title phrase and cite the artist & song title (TRY not to google it)

24 - Once there was a snowman...tall, Tall, TALL

A couple years ago, I had the calling of all callings at church. Primary teacher. Listen – this is just the best calling a person could have.

-You get to study the fundamental gospel principles and think of creative ways to teach them.
-You get to laugh and color and dance and go on treasure hunts and sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, and Once There was a Snowman instead of sitting solemnly in classes for two hours.
-You get to be taught by some of God’s precious children about faith and goodness and love.

Example: One day, the lesson was on prayer. I had my class each take turns saying something they would thank Heavenly Father for and then something they would ask Him for. They all said many sweet things. When it came to my Jonah, he said he would ask for the little boy who had been in the wheelchair during singing time to be ok.

Doesn’t get any better than that.

#24 on my list of Favorite Things is BEING A PRIMARY TEACHER.

25 - Send the Sun in Time for Dawn

The summer before my senior year in high school, our Madrigals conductor, Mrs. Hewlett, gathered the group for weekly practices so that as soon as the year began, we could hit the ground singing.

The first song we sang together as a group was the King's Singers arrangement of You Are The New Day:

I will love you more than me
and more than yesterday
If you can but prove to me
you are the new day

Send the sun in time for dawn
Let the birds all hail the morning
Love of life will urge me say
you are the new day

When I lay me down at night
knowing we must pay
Thoughts occur that this night might
stay yesterday

Thoughts that we as humans small
could slow worlds and end it all
lie around me where they fall
before the new day

One more day when time is running out
for everyone
Like a breath I knew would come I reach for
the new day

Hope is my philosophy
Just needs days in which to be
Love of life means hope for me
borne on a new day

You are the new day

Aren't those fantastic lyrics?!! I LOVE this song!! And, I LOVE listening to the King's Singers. We sang several of their madrigal arrangements and Mrs. Hewlett got us tickets to go hear them perform with the Utah Symphony. Every time I've known they were coming to Utah since then, I've tried to go hear them.

The first time I heard the King's Singers sing You Are The New Day live, it was so beautiful, I wept. If you've never heard them sing, stop what you are doing and go now to listen to them.

#25 on my list of Favorite Things are The KING'S SINGERS and a NEW DAY.

26 - Today's favorites are brought to you by the letter

MONET
Other than my brothers, my favorite artist is Monet. I love his ability to represent light and nature with paint, canvas and a brush. Remarkably gifted! Here are some favorites: MEXICAN FOOD
I could eat Mexican food every meal every day for a long time and be very happy. My favorite is a chicken chimichanga with guacamole from Cancun Café. I could drink salsa...I think guacamole should be one of the food groups....and, don’t even get me started on cheese, glorious cheese. Simply three of the best inventions ever. MONTANA
I have been going to Montana nearly every year of my life since the year I was born. It is my place of peace and rejuvenation. I love being up in big sky country. Hebgen Lake, Montana is the best place on earth as anyone who has swung in the swing or sunned on the floating dock or skiied or fished or boated or hunted frogs there can attest to. MOZART

Mozart’s music is one of the great blessings in my life. He is my favorite composer. I love “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”…. It is simply sublime. One of my favorite musical memories was accompanying a clarinetist as he played Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. Years later I had a front row view of a master clarinetist playing the concerto in Symphony Hall. Beautiful music!



#26 on my list of Favorite Things is: MONET, MEXICAN FOOD, MONTANA & MOZART.

31 - As Handy as a Pocket on a Shirt

About ten years ago, there was a week at work where the computers were down - for the whole week. I organized my hard copy files and dusted my desk about 300 times and I had to use a typewriter. (Joe doesn't even know what a typewriter is - too busy not being born, cuz using a typewriter was back before dirt.)

It was a grim week, and that was before I had an iPod and a cell phone. I am so dependent on technology now, I can't imagine how I could run my life without it. I use my laptop and the internet to do 90%+ of my work all day long. The other 10% is actually talking to people face to face. hahaha

There are two sites I simply couldn't function without. Google and iMDB. If I want to know pretty much anything, I google it. And, since I can't really speak without quoting a movie, I spend a lot of time on iMDB looking up various movie trivia. They are both so handy and so much a part of my constant learning process that I feel very disadvantaged if I am somewhere without my phone or laptop.

#31 on my list of Favorite Things is TECHNOLOGY.

41 - King of Kings

The best part of my high school experience was choir. We sang all over the place - in rest homes, malls, the capitol rotunda, Epcott Center, high school auditoriums, churches and cathedrals, and in what was then Symphony Hall (now Abravanel Hall). We had some amazing experiences. It is a joy to sing - and especially with the great singers and gifted choir director we were blessed to have. Our madrigals group was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself, and we won awards. Being in choir was a life-changing experience for me (and many others).

The most memorable experience we had as a choir was singing the Hallelujah Chorus with the symphony in Symphony Hall. I will never forget how I felt when the entire hall stood as we began that glorious tribute to our Savior. It brought and still brings tears to my eyes.

I love the gift music is and especially singing. There is something of heaven in it...perhaps reminiscent of the angels who heralded the Savior's birth.

A group of choir members in Philadelphia gave a gift of singing to their neighbors in a mall. Check this out:



Pretty great!

#41 on my list of Favorite Things is SINGING.

42 - Ms. Piano Girl

One of life’s great and universal regrets is: “I should have continued taking piano lessons.” I’ve never heard anyone say, looking back, that they were glad they stopped.

I’m one of those who regrets quitting. I took lessons from about age 6 or 7 into the early teenage years and then was tired of practicing and tired of my “meanie teacher,” who was, actually quite brilliant. I took more lessons in college and more again after the mission. So, thankfully, I did eventually see the light, but it would have been much wiser to stick with it earlier on.

While I didn’t want to play the piano when I was little (I wanted to stay in my ballet class – and, even told my teacher when I had to quit to take piano, that I was going to earn my own money and come back); it is, now, one of the great blessings in my life. Thanks, Mom & Dad! I suppose this almost makes up for the Lake Tahoe tragedy.

One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon is sit at my piano, with the sun streaming through the windows, and play my piano. It is therapeutic, inspiring, and uplifting. I love having music in my home and I especially love piano music. And – I love the piano itself. It is beautiful. I planned my whole living room around my piano. I carpeted and painted to blend with the piano. I bought artwork, rugs, chairs, vases, candles and even my couch to compliment this beautiful instrument. My Christmas decorations – down to the type of material in the tree skirt match it. My tile, countertops and decorations above the cabinets in the nearby kitchen echo the piano color. I’d like to say my home is all about me…and it is, in part…but really – it’s all about the piano. And I love it. #42 on my list of Favorite Things is MY PIANO.

52 - The Mission

Have you seen the film, The Mission, with Robert DeNiro and Jeremy Irons? It is the story of 18th century Spanish Jesuits trying to protect a remote South American Indian tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal. But it is about so much more.

One of the themes in the film is the power of music, and the score, written by Ennio Morricone, to accompany this message is stunning. I love this music. Give yourself a gift and go listen to it sometime - specifically, Gabriel's Oboe. So beautiful.

#52 on my list of Favorite Things is the SOUNDTRACK from The Mission.

5 Friday Favorites: There’s no place like family…

The chorus to one of my favorite John Denver songs goes something like this:

Some days are diamonds some days are stones
Sometimes the hard times won't leave me alone
Sometimes a cold wind blows a chill in my bones
Some days are diamonds some days are stones.

Well, there certainly are a lot of stones, but amidst all the stones the last while, here are some of my favorite diamonds:

1 - Going to St. Louis to visit my brother and sister-in-law and my darling nieces and soon to be born nephew.

2 - Visiting another brother and sister-in-law and my sweet nephew in Phoenix (and A-Rod and Jeter).
3 - Getting picked up at the airport by my dad who came prepared with ice cold DDP and Cheetos.
4 - Arriving at another brother and sister-in-law’s house for dinner to be greeted by two precious nephews running up to give me hugs.

5 - And, last but not least: having lunch with my last living grandparent and hearing her sing, I Know Bill (or something like that) and reminisce about the good old days. What a gem she is. (Get it, Dad - "gem" & "diamond" - pretty good for me, right? hahaha)

Some days, I do feel like the hard times won’t leave me alone, but then I realize two things: 1 – it actually could be a lot worse; and 2 – there’s not much that matters more than my loving family (and I haven’t even written about my Mom and the other three wonderful brothers and their families, and my uncles and my aunties and my cousins – I could go on and on…but I won't).