Savoring Life

There can never be too many cardinals in the world. 

Seven decades have come and gone in my life.  Worry about the future plagued my approaching 7th 0 birthday, nearly blotting out the abundance of life and joy surrounding me.  Consequently, I looked inward reflecting on decades past. Wondering, questioning, seeking answers for the unknown...

Reflecting felt like seeing life in a kaleidoscope. 

     

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry.

Earning my driver's license on a slippery cold winter day in 1963 felt crowded by a fear that Russia might

Under the cement slab in our backyard we buried a bomb shelter to save our lives!

drop a bomb on us, and that my family might have to use the bomb shelter we installed in 1962. Do things really change? 

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely.
Sunshine almost always makes me high.

Giving birth to a healthy baby girl will always shine as the brightest moment.

If I had a day that I could give you
I'd give to you the day like today.

Then like the dramatic changes of the kaleidoscope life moved too quickly. I couldn't focus on one thing or keep up with the changes without tears and fortitude.   

The sudden death of my parents in my early 40's shook my soul to the very depths of sorrow and anger, but their deaths somehow created the greatest miracle in our lives--it brought our family together. 

If I had a song that I could sing for you
I'd sing a song to make you feel this way.

I found myself fast-forwarding through the next few decades. The pronoun "I" became we. No matter the changes that our lives encountered, we moved forward with focus and a feeling of gratitude for every day we lived while savoring the friendships  developed; the maturing of our children; the opportunities to travel; and those precious times with family.

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine on my eyes can make me cry.

Yes. We've all traveled perilous paths over the mountains and trudged through valleys of sorrow,  together and alone. 

Many of our friends are no longer here to look out the window of life and savor the beauty in nature and God's love that surrounds us. 

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high.

Time spent reflecting erased my worries of  the "what if's" that sometimes haunt me, but dang it, it didn't erase those lines and bags around my eyes!  

If I had a tale that I could tell you
I'd tell a tale sure to make you smile
If I...

Sunshine on my Shoulders by John Denver

RIP: Betty Roberts Labigang and Juli Carson

*The irony to writing thoughtfully is that for the previous few days gray has been the color of the skies, and I couldn't seem to write clearly. Today, when the sun came out, words flowed into and out of my head like watching the birds soar in the sunshine and blue skies.