Dear Reader:

While keeping Rutledge and Lachlan Wednesday I had a ” Velveteen Rabbit” moment.

After watching the boys play a few video games I walked back downstairs and decided to go out on the porch and watch the latest thunderstorm roll in… doesn’t the rain smell so fresh and good during these times?

I had only been outside a few minutes when Lachlan joined me with a big sigh. ” Boo Boo… Rutledge still hasn’t given me a turn yet… he keeps promising but it doesn’t happen.”

” Don’t worry… big brothers are like that… we will get him and he will give you a turn… promise… that is what a Boo Boo is for…But for a few more minutes let’s enjoy watching the storm roll in and the beautiful blooms popping open with the rain falling.”

Lachlan nodded and for a full minute we sat quietly watching and listening to the rain crescendo stronger and louder. Suddenly Lachlan said, ” Boo Boo… don’t you have any eyebrows?”

” No… the medicine I take to fight my cancer has taken all my hair away. ” Lachlan stared at me again… and then responded ” … and you don’t have any eyelashes either?”

” That’s right and I really really miss my eyelashes because they protect our eyes from the sun’s rays… it is why my eyes water so much and I have to wear sunglasses everywhere.”

” Oh gotcha “… Lachlan smiled as if he had just solved a great mystery. By the time I had gotten Lachlan restored to the “player” video position… I had experienced some epiphanies of my own.

I am becoming the Velveteen Rabbit. I have lost parts of me that I won’t get back in this lifetime… but it is okay… they don’t matter anyway… not in the important way…. because I am real.

Skin Horse best explains it: ” It does not happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges or who have to be carefully kept. Generally by the time you are Real most of your hair has been loved off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

So until tomorrow… Don’t we all need a Skin Horse in our lives who reminds us what life’s most important priorities are: ” To love and be loved?”

Lachlan will definitely be the one to find new worlds and seek new possibilities-he is my explorer.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

It is also ” Rabbit Rabbit Day” -the first day of the month ( July) Remember to call it out first thing today for another month full of surprises and possibilities.

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻. … And please call out prayers for my friend Harriett Edwards who is in the hospital fighting hard against ” little c” ( cancer) … daily I thank God for unforgettable moments, shared memories, and friendship. We love you Harriett! 💗💗