My Pain...

I can remember when it started... I was 12 or 13 - but I do remember clearly the day... it was a Saturday... it was a beautiful day, the sun was out, the trees were green... and the sky was blue...

It started out like a headache...  a little discomfort... nothing crazy... and then little by little it just got worse.

My first migraine experience.

I still remember the little Bayer bottle... it was clear with its yellow label and its cotton ball inside.  My mom gave me two aspirins and told me to go and lie down and it did nothing.  How I wish I could have taken the whole bottle to kill the pain.

Years later I sit here...  feeling the throbbing pain on the left side of my head.  I don't know which direction the piecing pain is coming from.  It feels like a long needle being inserted either into my eyeball and exiting the lower back of my next or maybe its coming in the other way around...  either way I've always wondered if I were to pull my eyeball out, would that stop the pain.

This "episode" isn't too bad.  I have been able to function these past couple of days.

Its funny how one can sometimes feel "it" coming on....
my breathing will change...
the sensation in my arms and fingers change...
my mouth gets dry...
and little by little
sound bothers me
light bothers me
smells bother me
and when it gets bad... each strand of my hair begins to hurt and my own breathing bothers me

They say going into a quiet room with the lights off helps... and this is true sometimes...
but then you are left alone with this pain.
I try to control my breathing
I try to relax each and every single muscle of my body
I pray
I try and get comfortable
I rub my head, my neck...
and maybe the peace of sleep comes and takes me away for a little while

But what hurts me the worse... is that when I am hurting...  I feel that I hurt my children by not being there.  I send them away to play...  or to be ultra quiet...  I end up getting upset at the slightest things... but how does one explain this excruciating pain to a child without frightening them.  They try so hard to help... especially my oldest, who will do anything to make me feel better...  my precious one.

And then I pray that if it means having to endure this pain tenfold in order to protect my kids from it - let it be.   When I hear one of them say they have a headache - it sends shockwaves through my body...

I thank God for my husband... who sometimes doesn't quiet understand what is going on... but he tries and he tries so hard... to help more with the kids, to give me the space that I need, does anything to make me comfortable, he loves me so.

I don't know if this will ever go away.  I've been to so many doctors and had so many tests done.  I've tried so many different medications... and the pain is still there.  Anything can set it off, hormones, stress, the temperature, the day, life...

Maybe just another day or two or three and the pain will be no more... at least for a while... until it comes to visit me again.

Que Pasa with these girls???

Today while driving to work I spotted two young girls - maybe 16 years old walking to school dressed provocatively and smoking.

I had to looked several times to make sure that I saw what I saw... now it was not just the way they were dressed but the fact that they were smoking!!

Did these parents know that their young daughters are smoking!!???!!!  Don't these girls have any fear of being caught??!!??  Don't they know the health risks???  How did they get it?   People wonder what is happening with the youth.  They want to blame it on the schools, teachers, friends, society, etc... but no parent wants to take the blame for anything that happens to their kids. Children no long fear their parents but parents are scared of their children!!

Gosh I really think that with each year that passes by I'm starting to sound like my mom lol!!!  When I was young she let me be sort of fashionable... but it was stuff that she approved.  From tops, to jeans, to sneakers to shoes.  Even when it came to makeup she was tough on that... I remember when I was in the 8th grade and I "stole" one of her eyebrow pencils... LOL - the memory still cracks me up... I almost took out an eye trying to apply that stuff...  it didn't go on smoothly at all LOL... and then to try and remove it before I got home so she wouldn't notice - I realized it was way to much work for a little bit of eyeliner... Oh the consequences!!!  But everything was in stages... there was a time for everything... heels, makeup, hair, etc...  I don't think I was ever "deprived".  

My dad was a smoker and a drinker... but he made it very clear that it was not for us...  Yeah maybe a little hypocritical... but it was made clear that we were not to pick up a cigarette or a drink. 

My daughter is 10 and she is growing up quickly, its scary...  she knows that smoking is not even a consideration, nor is drinking. We talk about it with every opportunity I see present itself.  Even though she wants to be very very fashionable - I hold those reigns tight...  And constantly remind her that even though it might appear cute and she would love to do it, we both have to remember that she is only - yes only 10, not 12, or 14...   All this didn't just happen yesterday, but many many years ago...  I have been teaching her that her body is a temple of the Holy Spirit... she is a princess - God's princess... therefore she has to act, dress and behave a certain way and these are non negotiable and she knows it.  Sometimes its hard for her to understand and she gets upset but I keep explaining it over and over to her again... If I give in now at 10... in a year from now how can I pull back?  I know this might all change and each year will bring its challenges... but at least she is aware that actions will have consequences - in love of course...

Today's Hug

22 years ago I gave birth to this is tiny little boy... in May he'll turn 23... He was this skinny little baby.  My mom swore he was the ugliest baby she had ever seen.  

Today while I was helping out in the kitchen at church - he came over to show me something... I couldn't step away but I'm glad I didn't...  because at that moment I hugged him and he wrapped his arms around me and I was enveloped in him.  It was when I realized that my baby - was taller than I was and had arms that went all around me (and mind you I'm not a skinny person)...

He is not shy of hugging his mom and has done so often...  but tonight I sit here and think back on that hug.  He is probably sleeping now or watching some basketball game... but he doesn't know how much that hug meant to me. With all our ups and downs, all those nutty moments, the tough ones, funny ones, painful ones... my son hugged me today and today my heart melted, it was priceless and how I longed to have bottled it up... 

I am reminded of my favorite book that I would read to time ever since I was pregnant with him... "Love You Forever".  I still have the book... its starting to fall apart... but there is one song that she sings to her baby boy:
I’ll love you forever,
I’ll like you for always,
As long as I’m living
My baby you’ll be

Its funny how a hug melts right through us and reaches our heart...

Coloring

This weekend as we rushed through K-Mart we decided to pick up coloring books for the kids... Elizabeth and Priscilla chose Barbie themed and Caleb of course went for the superheros...

We got home and I didn't know how enjoyable it would be seeing them color so intensely... the effort and the concentration that went into it. It bought back so many memories of my sister Elizabeth...  Elizabeth is my stepsister... my dad's daughter...  I have always looked up to her.  She was tall and skinny and beautiful.  She had this great big smile and had beautiful dark hair and wore those Farrah Fawcett type heels.  She didn't live with us but would come and visit from time to time.

One of my fondest memories with her was coloring. Her secret was pressing down hard on the lines and then with the same color of crayon, color softly on the inside...  I would oooh and ahhhh as she would color... and then try and imitate her.  And then to finish her masterpiece, she would put her signature on her page - and she had the prettiest script...

Yesterday Priscilla invited me to color one of the pages in her book... she of course chose the colors because she is an expert in Barbie Princesses... and as I colored and followed the instructions given to me - I thought back to my sister... something as simple as coloring can leave the most beautiful memories that bring a smile to our face and that we cherish forever...

My sister taught me many things that I hold dear to my heart... to appreciate coloring was one of them...

I Believe...

I believe in manicures.
I believe in overdressing.
I believe in primping at leisure
and wearing lipstick.
I believe in pink.
I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.
I believe in kissing; kissing a lot.
I believe in BEING STRONG
when everything seems to be going wrong.
I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls.
I believe that tomorrow is another day, and
I Believe in Miracles.

Audrey Hepburn

Painful Lessons

Still thinking of my dear friend...  and how quickly life changes... how true it is... life is but a vapor.

No answers can give the heart peace... a constant searching and wondering why Lord why...



Yes I do believe my that Lord and Savior had a reason and a purpose.  
Yes I do believe that He is now rejoicing with the Lord
Yes I do believe that one day I will see him again

But the heart still aches... the flesh mourns...

In a few days an unfortunate situation will bring me together with so many brothers and sisters in Christ - whom I have missed so so much... that for whatever reason I have lost that "touch" with... 

Painful lessons are sometimes the most important in life. Don't let circumstances of whatever kind bring distance between the heart... 

Never lose touch
Always say I love you to those near and dear to your heart
Hug often
Share a word of encouragement and support
Laugh
Forgive
Share
Love 
Love 
and love some more...

In all that we do - let us leave behind a legacy of love, of Jesus... that when others mention our name - they remember how much we loved our Lord... how we served Him... how we shared His love... how much we loved others in His name.


Rest in Peace Arturo Mota

Trying to put my feelings into words...  
But they don't come to me...
My heart aches...
The tears fall... 
So very sad...