Family On Air Force Two

Black Friday for me was all about family. 

 

I have a cousin who is a major in the US Air Force and he and his wonderful family are stationed at Andrews Air Force Base which is about a 45-minute drive from my house.  He invited family members to come to Andrews yesterday and he conducted a special tour for us of Air Force Two and a number of other VIP jet planes.

 

We had three generations of family with us and we spent a different kind of day together, hanging out, catching up and learning something new about our cousin's important job flying jets for Vice President Joe Biden and other government officials and also never missing a chance to ham it in front of our cameras and pretend we too were VIPs.

Love, respect and making fun.  Isn't that what family does best?

Me With Family Members Posing By Air Force Two

Me on Air Force Two Pretending to Conduct Business


 

Nothing More -- The Alternate Routes

After a day spent counting our blessings and giving thanks, today we are full of gratitude right?

 

To keep that warm and fuzzy and wonderful feeling of kindness going, here is a song introduced to me by Hannah Donnelly (a Jesuit Volunteer Corps alumni & my son's girlfriend) that I know I will be singing or humming to myself today or whenever I feel my patience starting to wear.  It is a beautiful song, offering hope and I think it fosters the spirit of giving.

 

 

 

The song, "Nothing More" was written specifically for Newtown Kindness (www.newtownkindness.org) and is performed by a band called The Alternate Routes. 

Please listen.......For it's all in the heart:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tXzlVjU1xs#t=83

Giving Thanks!!

Today is a day when I pause to give thanks for all of the incredible gifts God has sent my way and also it's a day when it's okay to eat too much.

 

I am lucky to have wonderful friends and family and to be able to visit some of them today.  I know that during the hustle and bustle of this holiday that I will scan the room and think about the blessings in my life.  I never take what I have for granted for I know how quickly a person's life can change.

I also am thankful for my readers.  It means a lot to me that you stop here and read my posts and I hope that in some small way I am able to help you for your support truly helps me.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

20 Things We Need To Say

Today is about something light and healing because lots of people will be traveling so that they can spend Thanksgiving Day with those they care about.

I love Kid President and his ability to make me and many, many others smile and laugh about the crazy things that happen in the unpredictable world around us.

He's irresistible!  I hope you agree!

 

Kid President

This new video is particularly cute (especially if you like corn dogs) and timely as Kid President reminds us of 20 things we need to remember to say more often to each other because these words repeated on a regular basis could make life go a little smoother for everyone . . . . . especially on Thanksgiving Day.

Here goes:

A Buddhist Rice Bowl

It's Something To Think About. . . .

"In Zen Buddhism, there's a concept called 'zen mind,' or beginner's mind.'  They say that the mind should be like an empty rice bowl.

If it's already full, then the universe can't fill it.

If it's empty, it has room to receive.

This means that when we think we have things figured out, we're not teachable.  Genuine insight can't dawn on a mind that's not open to receive it.

Surrender is a process of emptying the mind."

                                  ~ By Marianne Williamson, "A Return To Love,

Reflections on the Principles of A Course In Miracles

 

Photo Courtesy of Josh Bulriss



Nate Berkus Moves Forward

When I share stories on this blog about my travels with grief over the past several years, I do so in the hopes that it will help others cope with their losses.  Grief can be isolating even though I believe most people want to connect with others and especially those who have been where they are when they experience a loss.

I think everyone wants to feel that someone, anyone gets what's going on with them; especially at this time of the year.

One of the ways I found a connection was through reading.  In the beginning of grieving the loss of my husband, I read everything I could get my hands on about what this whole grieving thing was about.

I was hungry for information about the particulars of grief because no one I knew had lost their husband at a young age and was also trying to raise a child.  I wanted to know how long would it last, would I always feel so full of pain, would I ever stop crying, would I ever laugh again, how was I going to get myself going again.  And these were only a few of the urgent issues swirling around in my head at that time.

I have since learned that every loss is unique, that each of us grieves in our own way and what helps one person doesn't always work for another person.  That is why I am always searching for stories about how other people have handled their loss and what helped them to find meaning in their life once again.  You never know what's going to click.

Nate Berkus

Enter Nate Berkus.  Yes, Nate Berkus the designer.  Nate Berkus, the talented cutie who you've seen on television as he goes into people's homes and beautifies their rooms with new design solutions and a refreshing down-to-earth attitude about design, living spaces and life.

You may not know this but he's also the same Nate Berkus who in 2004 survived the Indian Ocean tsunami.  Tragically, his partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea, Berkus' did not survive.  They were traveling to a small surfing village in Sri Lanka when the tsunami hit.  Nate Berkus shared with oprah.com earlier this year his wisdom about how his loss affected him and how he went about  processing it.  I just discovered this story and felt Nate Berkus' answers still resonate with help for all of us. 

 

Please read Nate Berkus' insights about moving on with your life after a loss in the following link:

 

http://www.oprah.com/spirit/When-Life-Hits-the-Reset-Button-4-Things-Nate-Berkus-Has-Learned-Abo_1?TW=tw_omag_berkus_rebuilding_video

50 Years Ago In Dallas

On November 22, 1963, I was 9 years old and off from school that day because I felt sick.

 

I was under the covers of my parents bed and watching the black and white television they had in their bedroom.  For some reason my Dad was home that day and he come upstairs to see how I was when the television programming stopped and the unbelievable and shocking news was announced that President John F. Kennedy has been shot in Dallas and died.

 

I had never seen my father cry before and I didn't know what to do.  He went over to the window and raised his left arm up against the wall and pressed his head into the crook of his elbow and starting crying.  I silently watched his shoulders shake for a few minutes.  I pulled the sheets up to my face and started to cry too because I knew, even though I was only nine years old, that what was happening was bad, really, really bad.  Bad in a way that I knew was different from anything else I had ever known.  Eventually, my father turned around, wiped his face with his hands and stared at the television as the awful news continued to be announced over the airwaves.

President John F. Kennedy & First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy ride
in the Dallas motorcade moments before shots were fired.
Photo Courtesy of Reuters/STR

 

I don't think anyone turned the television off for days.  Our whole lives revolved around what was being broadcast and no one moved from where there was a television from the moment the news broke of the assassination to the burial at Arlington National Cemetery and even for days after.

The loss was, and still is, profound.  People were in shock and deeply grieving for the young and charismatic president and felt the immediate need to reach out to offer support to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and her two children, Caroline and John.  This was a president who spent a lot of time on television and Americans felt that they were a part of the Kennedy family's life.  At least our family did.

There were no computers in those days so people sat down and expressed their feelings of grief and sympathy the old fashioned way:  they wrote heartfelt handwritten letters. 

The White House said in the weeks following President John F. Kennedy's death that it received more than 800,000 condolence letters, 45,000  of which were received on the Monday following the assassination.

People seemed to instinctively know that one of the most important things you can do for a bereaved person is to acknowledge their loss.  Don't ever be afraid to acknowledge another person's loss.  When in doubt of what to do, it's best to push aside your own anxieties and please keep it simple.

In this tragic instance, it was a loss for the whole nation, as our President was killed right before our eyes.  And while Kennedy was our President, he was also a husband and father and uncle and brother and it is those other human roles that Kennedy filled that also were acknowledged in the days following his death.

And so we take a moment today to remember.

In the words of Monica Lehner-Kahn, "Condolence is the art of giving courage."