Dear Reader:

When I opened a kitchen drawer yesterday there was this piece of poster board with an “Anne original drawing of trees” from the Louise Penny’s detective novels and this quote found in the book. There was a hole at the top where Anne had punch-holed an opening to tie this Christmas card to a gift she gave me.

As soon as I read the verse it took me back to a conversation we had started yesterday. Anne’s sister Lucy and her husband, have just been down for a visit and Lucy (breast cancer survivor) was explaining that she had gotten through the chemo treatments overall okay and doing well… with the exception of a loss of feeling in her feet that made her walk flat-footed. But then she laughed and said if that was the only thing she had to complain about…she was one lucky woman. They caught the cancer early…everything is looking very positive!

I told Anne to tell Lucy she can now officially join the “Frankenstein” walk group…because neuropathy is always a possibility when dealing with tough drugs and in my case I don’t know if my different gait is due to treatments, the cancer, any one of the many medications I take, the foot surgery…pick a number…any number. I would just rather be thankful that I can walk (than take time to figure out what drug is the culprit)…gracefully or not…and still do what I want to do in life on both my feet. I, too, am blessed.

Aging is a privilege not every one gets….so “annoyances” and “inconveniences” are just that…nothing more. As the second line in the quote reads…”Forget the perfect offering.”

None of us are perfect…we are all just doing the best we can with what we have been given. That’s life. I have so much more to be thankful for than sad about…I still wake up each morning ready to hit the garden and be enthralled by any new “births” that happened overnight and excited about what the day might bring and the “light let in.”

My moon flowers are really growing fast! The daisies are always adorable and make me smile!

The Garden Butterfly has got its solar lights going now…and it just stays so bright and light throughout the day and evening….a joy to watch in front of Jakie’s Japanese Maple!

I got lucky…two fun events took place Thursday!

I met Stephanie Rankin, my wonderful Horace Mann agent, for lunch  just to catch up and be overjoyed at the news that her husband is going to join her this year with the Horace Mann company and the children will be going to school here. What an amazing young woman, wife, and mother she is! (Besides being the best insurance agent around…one who makes house calls even! Could not have gotten through the car theft and foot treatments without her!)

Than Gin-g stopped by and she hadn’t eaten lunch yet….so we drove to Chick Filet...she got a late lunch or early supper and I got a milkshake…(dessert for either one!)

We had to laugh…we both had our “shades” on- We looked like the “Blues Sisters”!….Gin-g is in the middle of getting cataract lenses and my eyes are very sensitive to the sun these days…they water constantly since I don’t have eyelashes to protect the oil in my eyes. Once again…an annoyance…but hey, I can see and that is all that matters!

*We tried to take a picture of ourselves but our arms weren’t long enough…some kind woman… watching us struggle in this comedy act came over and put us out of our misery by asking if she could take the photo….random acts of kindness!

…”There’s a crack in everything…it’s how the light gets in” 

The way I look at it….people talk about fighting for life as long as there is a still a “quality of life” left…. I agree …but for me that definition works as long as we let love in…that is my light. If I know there is still love around for me to give and receive…life is always worth fighting for …as long as we can.

So until tomorrow….”Let Love in.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Tommy and Kaitlyn’s “Dingle Days” are numbered…I believe today is their last full day in Dingle…then one night in Dublin and home again Sunday. I am sure it went too fast…it always does…they went to the Chart House last night…their favorite “haunt” to say good-bye. But what adventures they had !