Sunday, April 13, 2008
Never Daddy's Little Girl
| I often wonder what it would be like to have that special relationship that you often hear daughters have with their fathers. To have them look at you with pride and admiration, knowing that under any circumstance daddy will protect them, be there for them and guide them through all their joy, heartache and tears. I sometimes sit and watch the little girls at the park with their dads, beaming from ear to ear as they are pushed back and forth on the swing. Knowing that as they lunge forward high into the sky….daddy will be there waiting on their way back down. Laughter echoes across the park as both father and daughter delight in their time together. I walk down to the beach and see a dad walking his dog with his teenage daughter. The outward appearance to a casual onlooker would show a daughter embarrassed to be seen with her dad, however I see a very different picture. The father is teasing and joking with his daughter, tousling her hair as she wrinkles her face, trying to disguise her obvious delight in her father's playfulness. The façade she shows the world as she spends quality time with her dad has now been exposed, as her giggle becomes a boisterous cackle. High school arrives…dating, driving, prom….I watch as the girls stand around dressed in their beautiful dresses, hair piled in flowing ringlets on top of their head. Make up, nails and heels…flashes of light as the pictures are being snapped one right after another. Each father holding on tightly to his now grown daughter not wanting to let her go off with a boy he hardly knows. Looking into their eyes you can almost hear their thoughts, "Who will protect her if anything goes wrong". The daughters glow with a radiance of peace, comfort, and affection, as they enter the limo and look back adoringly at their devoted fathers. These are the pictures that are a daily reminder of the relationship, love and affection that somehow passed me by. I never had those special moments….that special relationship that every little girl dreams of. Daddy's little girl is something that somehow jumped past my childhood, teenage years and adult life, just as a raging forest fire burns hotly through a town with every house being saved except that one individual home. Everyone rushes back to see the wonder and amazement of their life and belongings. As I rush back to stare at the charred, broken and crumbled remains. I quickly turn to look around in awe at the view around me. Daddy's little girl is something that will never be for me….but my life has taught me to take joy in the moments that seem ordinary to others. A life that will be used to encourage, inspire and lift up those girls who will never be "daddy's little girl". |
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Hidden Danger of Endometriosis
I suffered for years from endometriosis and it almost cost me my life! Endometriosis is a silent, often undetectable problem for many women. I had been suffering from severe lower abdominal pain for a year. It became so bad that I started getting a fever and having trouble going to the bathroom. I went to the doctor who passed it off as some type of flu. He prescribed pain medication and told me it would pass. My stomach started to become severely bloated. When I went back to the doctor, he made me feel as though it was all in my head.
Finally, after eating a large meal one evening, I found myself hunched over on the bathroom floor, with a stomach the size of a five month pregnant women. The pain was excruciating and unbearable. My husband drove me to the emergency room. I was immediately rushed in and they stuck a large tube through my nose, down to my stomach to drain the contents. After endless tests, CT scan, MRI, Ultrasound and blood tests, they said they “thought” I had an intestinal blockage.
They took me up for surgery. After opening me up, they found that endometriosis had gotten outside of my uterus and wrapped itself around my intestines, thus creating a blockage. Two surgeons worked on me, one cutting away the endometriosis in hopes of saving that area of my intestines, the other performing a complete hysterectomy at the age of 34. The worst part was that if I had not made it to the emergency room that night, I would have died due to the toxins that were backed up in my body for a month.
I cannot stress the importance of listening to your body. If the doctors are unable to find anything, then ask them to look for endometriosis. I had little knowledge of the damage that endometriosis could cause to my health. I trusted my doctors to “see the signs”. I hope that my experience will help bring attention to the life threatening dangers of this hidden problem.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Play Vocabulary Game- Help The Hungry!
What if you found a way to play a fun vocabulary game with your children and with each correct answer you were able to feed a hungry person? I know many of you will wonder, "What is the catch and how much will it cost me?" My answer to you is, "ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, it's FREE and it's REAL?!"
I always write about trying to make a difference in the world. Each day we should make an effort to help someone, offer a kind word, help an elderly person in the grocery store, smile at someone who is having a bad day or give a small bag of food to a homeless person. Well today at work one of my bosses came back from lunch and told all of us to go onto this great website http://www.freerice.com/ he said it is amazing and he just found out about it from his 12 year old son. I couldn't believe that something this fun, educational and easy even existed. To think that while my family is learning and increasing their vocabulary knowledge, we will also be making a difference in the world by feeding a hungry person.
Here's how it works:
They post a word at the top, you click on a word below (4 choices) that best defines the word. If you get the word correct you get 20 grains of rice in your bowl (which is conveniently placed on the right side of the screen), if you miss the word, you will then be given an easier word. You will later be given the word you missed so you now can pick the correct answer and improve your memory. There are 55 levels but most people rarely make it to level 48. You get to watch your grains of rice rapidly increase with each click of the mouse. As the grains of rice in your bowl fill up, so does your knowledge. A high level of vocabulary has great benefits, you will read faster with greater comprehension, get better grades, write better papers and/or letters, score higher on tests (SAT, GMAT, LSAT, ACT) and improve your job performance.
The rice is then donated for the United Nation World Food Program to distribute, which is the world's largest food aid agency. They work with over 1,000 other agencies in 75 different countries. The United Nations estimates that to end world hunger and diseases it will cost approximately $195 billion a year. There are 22 countries who have joined by contributing 0.7%, less than 1% of the national income. You can play the game and check to see how your country is doing compared to others.
You may be wondering who is paying for this rice? The advertisers at the bottom of the vocabulary screen pay a fee to advertise and http://www.freerice.com/ uses ALL of the money to purchase the rice...they run the site at NO PROFIT.
THERE IS A WARNING: THIS WEBSITE IS ADDICTING AND WILL INCREASE YOUR INTELLIGENCE...PLAY WITH CARE. http://www.freerice.com/
Don't forget to share this with your friends and family (with your new larger vocabulary you will want those around you to be able to understand you!)
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Memories of Elijah (13 Years Old TODAY!!)
I can't believe my baby is 13!! Where have the years gone...just yesterday he was my chubby little guy riding on the back of my bike with his big blue helmet on. We would ride down to the beach everyday pack a picnic lunch, get Juice It Up and feed the birds. It is on these memorable bike trips that my son became deathly afraid of birds. He LOVED his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...we were sitting having lunch, watching the waves crashing into the sand. The sound was like thunder on a rainy day...drowning out all the other noise around us. My son would squeal with delight as each monstrous blue, green and white wave pounded towards us, forcing us to run to higher ground. The sun was shooting rays of sunlight through the clouds like laser beams burning through the sand. The day was perfect...the moment was perfect, my son at just two years of age was enjoying the beauty of the lively world around him, while I just watched my beautiful child, amazed at the joy he brought to my life.All of a sudden a cloud of darkness covered the sky, I looked up to see which billowy white cloud of cotton had covered our beams of light, when to my surprise I saw a whole sky full of seagulls circling overhead. My main concern was one of these birds having an accident right on the top of our heads, but my son giggled, pointed with his peanut butter and jelly sandwich and shouted, "boody mommy, see lots u em!" At that precise moment a seagull shot like a bullet from high in the sky, swooped with amazing precision and snatched my sons sandwich right out of his chubby little hand. He screamed, jumped up and started stomping on the sand and flailing his arms in hysterics. His chubby cheeks were fluorescent red. As another seagull flew dangerously close he ran straight into my arms and cried, "NO, NO, NO!" The scene was too much for me to take...I was laughing and trying to comfort my little guy at the same time. We immediately headed for the bike that was chained to a light pole a few feet away from us. Stumbling through the sand with my little man sobbing, while I laughed to the point of tears. What a site we must have been!
My son never got over his fear of birds and our little bike rides were never quite as fun after that fateful day. The memories are etched in my mind as if it were yesterday. The years have flown by but in my eyes I still see my sweet, chubby, innocent little baby jumping and screaming at the birds overhead. What a blessing from God our children are! Cherish every little memory and tuck them safely away in your minds treasure chest...where all of your most precious and valuable moments are saved. The years travel fast but the special moments live on forever.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIJAH! I LOVE YOU!
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