Dear Reader:

How many of you remember seeing this home video when it exploded on every news station and talk show in America? One could almost hear aloud the collective sigh of ” AH” coming from viewers and audiences alike. I believe I remember it won the ” Feel Good” video that year. Two toddlers expressing the joy of friendship!

Again it reiterates …that out of the simplest human expressions and interactions come the greatest joys in our lives. In my mind the only other scene that comes close to this feel-good sighting is watching the opening and closing scenes to the movie-Love Actually-when the camera zooms in on ordinary people squealing and hugging loved ones as they arrive at Heathrow airport-I get choked up every time I watch it. ( which is every Christmas.)

This past Christmas ( 2021) the famous airport recreated scenes ( 18 years after the blockbuster movie was released) since many passengers disembarking had not seen loved ones in over a year-due to Covid restrictions.

Hugh Grant’s lines ring more true than ever… ” If you look for it, whatever life throws at us, you’ll find that love ,actually, is all around.”

For centuries, African Bushmen have greeted each other in this way. When one becomes aware of his brother or sister coming out of the brush, he exclaims, “I See You!” and then the one approaching rejoices, ” I Am Here!”

For with this simple and honest affirmation, it is possible to claim our presence, to say, ” I Am Here.” Now take a moment and think of the people in your lives who have validated your” personhood” by really seeing you and creating the foundation of your self-worth and individual uniqueness, using God’s talent’s bestowed upon you.

It is important to understand that being seen enables us to claim our lives. And with that purposeful purchase-we can now pass this validation, this gift, on to others.

As far back as human life has existed… we have rejoiced in being on earth together. In spite of today’s cultural proper etiquette restrictions …like the toddlers, we must keep being joyful in being alive and together … passing it down generationally.

So until tomorrow… as Mark Nepo so eloquently expresses ” For as stars need open space to be seen, as waves need shore to crest, as dew needs grass to soak into, our vitality and fulfillment depend on how we exclaim and rejoice- ” I See You!” I Am Here!”

Yesterday I had a delightful surprise on a cold cloudy wintry day! After Jeff left I was walking around the yard and in a very isolated stretch behind the garage.. some color caught my eye!

At first. I thought it was camellia blooms blown behind the garage but upon further inspection realized that the two beauties were planted and blooming from the ground up… Doodle immediately identified both beauties as hyacinth-they come up from bulbs-but I have never planted hyacinth bulbs and certainly not in a spot where no one would ever see it. Another garden mystery… but a heart-warming discovery on a cold gray winter day.