won't give up

i have been very taken with the new jason mraz single "i won't give up" pretty powerful lyrics and message

and it got me to thinking about life and where i am and who i am

i am a woman who will fight for what i believe in

i will speak out loud for a cause

i am not seeking fame or fortune or popularity

i will fight for my family - against cancer, against insurance companies, against injustice

i support my children when they think for themselves and make their own decisions even if i don't agree

our differences shouldn't tear us apart it should bring us closer together

and my family is more than the people i am related to

i'm your friend till the bitter end

i won't give up

be the change you wish to see

about a week ago i wrote about change and how it happens and how hard it is. i was referring to internal change- a behavior or an attitude or outlook.

today it's about change again.



Susan is in the stripes on the right and
 I am in the back on the left without glasses

 my life is about to change as i know it. May 1st my oldest sister-Susan- is moving into my household.
she brings with her a suitcase full of medications
a cane
a walker
an oxygen machine
and her little dog Chloe

Susan is only 54 but has a lot of health problems- mental and physical health problems and she can't live alone anymore. we had a trial run this past week. you see she wanted to get her affairs in order while she was feeling pretty good. so she stopped at my brother's office and got him working on her will and power of medical attorney. then she picked out the funeral home she wanted and made an appointment to discuss her funeral arrangements and get things paid for....

and so many people tell me what a saint i am for doing this what a good person and how kind and....
and i am not- i am her sister and she has no place else to go.  we're family. mom used to say whenever we had to do something we really didn't want to do or made us uncomfortable that someday we'd get our reward in heaven....
i'm not looking for a reward in heaven. i'm not looking for sainthood. i'm just doing what's right. no one should have to die alone.
i was born and raised a catholic. i don't go to church anymore and practice catholicism anymore. but i do have faith. strong faith in something bigger and better than me.


this situation with my sister made me think about current events in the world
 
disasters strike, people loose their homes, their loved ones even their own lives. kids are left orphaned and people are left hopeless, helpless and depressed.
this is just my own personal opinion but i feel that many people find it easier to help a perfect stranger than someone in their own family. how many times have you said let me know if i can do anything while secretly hoping that person never will.
text a $10 donation to the red cross and never have to interact with another human.
if the sermon  moves you enough throw a couple of bucks into the extra collection for the poor....and so on and so forth
when it comes right down to it how many people are actually willing to DO something?

i texted my $10 dollar donation to the red cross for Japan.
i threw a couple of dollars into the collection plate and left.
i can't take the next flight to Hati and help rebuild and i can't do anything more for Japan but i can do somehting right here in my own house. taking my sister in won't put an end to hunger nor will it be the impetus for world peace. what it will do is make a difference in the life of one woman- my sister- and in doing that maybe it will make a difference in the lives of her two daughters and maybe in turn it will make a difference in the lives of their four sons....and so on and so forth...and maybe i can be the change i wish to see in the world...

it's a love/hate relationship

that describes my relationship with technology in general and my cell phone in particular
i like having the accessibility but hate the technology
i have a 5 person family plan- one phone for me and then one each for the kids and my phone as the primary account is eligible for an upgrade
this is where the love/hate comes in
I LOVE the idea of getting a NEW phone
I HATE the idea of getting a new phone

too many choices and features and bells and whistles and such when my BIGGEST question is WHY does reception suck in the art room in the studio? and why can't they fix that? my daughter in Cincinnati has to stand by her window in the living room to talk to me when she is at home in her apartment...my daughter in Sioux City has so many dead spots that her calls get dropped to me all the time...the one in Omaha is 90% text and has few issues and my son- well I would say he's pretty hard on a phone- OK that's putting it politely

so here i am in cell phone hell
why does it say my phone is eligible for free upgrade but not theirs?
where can i figure out this out?
does this mean i can only upgrade my phone? i do not want to go through this painful process more than once every two years

what will the bottom line be? is free really free or are there hidden charges?

GAH!

they want you to use the stupid website but then make it so confusing it's ridiculous! and i consider myself to be fairly intelligent

and as long as I am on the subject- why can't "they" design a printer for my computer that thinks like an artist?
sometimes I only need to print a 4 x 6 - and yes I change my printer settings for photo paper- but my printer can tell when it's not photo paper and is something else

i told you- love/ hate all the way

one thing leads to another

i'm working on an art exchange with a valentine theme and as i was looking for words of inspiration i came across this quote by author  Neil Gaiman

... it made me sit and think for awhile....

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”

...interesting

i'm not dead yet...have i ever told you that my mother had radar?

forget basic mother's intuition. the woman had radar. she KNEW the moment you stepped over the line and broke her rules. she also knew when you were trouble- emotionally, spiritually,mentally. one more thing i miss about her.

i grew up in a house full of women. i know i've mentioned it before and i am pretty sure i've talked about how they can DRIVE. ME. CRAZY...but i still love them. after all- they are family.

my younger sister-Jackie- called me first thing monday morning. no hello just- "OHMYGODI DREAMED YOUDIEDOFA HEARTATTACKLASTNIGHTTHANKGODYOUANSWEREDTHE PHONE!!!" (uh so am i?) she then proceeded to tell me about her dream and had all sorts of psychic interpretations for me because after all- Jackie knows way more about everything than i do. this was followed by a lecture about my health and habits and eating right and such and i'd better get to the DR asap! (it was nice talking to you too sister dear...gotta go someone just walked in) normally i would have argued with her and told her to butt out which would have created hurt feelings and a lot of snarky-ness...talking to this sister requires a lot of energy.

an hour later i get a text from my sister C...."i had stress dreams about you last night. everything ok?"

now this was weird. really weird. this has happened to me and C before.
now,before i go any further let me explain- i have two entirely different relationships with these two sisters- as if you couldn't tell huh?


when C speaks i listen. i texted her back to call me. you see i had a strange dream the night before too-only i don't get real stressed about my dreams -i think about the ones i can remember and then that's the end of it. we talked and compared our dreams. in C's dream we were shopping somewhere and became separated. she looked everywhere for me and couldn't find me. she called. sent texts. nothing. she was upset because she was afraid she'd lost me.  i responded quite calmly that maybe it was my time to go. she said- well yes, someday, but not now. in my dream i was walking around - i had passed on into a new life. i was me but not me. i knew who i was but no one else did. i wasn't scared or sad. just checking things out.

all of this got me to thinking. what did it mean? all three dreams? was there a connection? i don't believe in coincidences. i believe everything happens for a reason.  i think mom was trying to get my attention through these two sisters. you see if it had just been Jackie i would have blown it off. she also sent Cecelia with a message and i will generally listen to her with an open mind.

so what does it all mean? here's my take with a little help from a very dear friend:

i have been struggling a lot the past few months with who i am. letting go of some of the baggage i've been lugging around with me like Marley's chains. the time has come to say goodbye to that person. she's gone and that is why C couldn't find me. she was looking for the old me. i too had left the old me behind and was getting familiar with the new me. some people are going to accept me(Cecelia) and some people will never see the changes in me(Jackie). it's up to me how i engage with them. so i let Jackie have her moment and i had a good talk with Cecelia. hey mom? next time can you leave Jackie out of it please? i promise i'll listen.