mosses monday XLIV...

john and i sat in deconess hospital's, emergency room waiting area while the doctors and nurses worked to stabilize my dad in a room just down the hall from us. we sat there with my dad's family. after only a few minutes, an admissions receptionist called for me to come sign some paperwork. after doing so, i returned to my seat; as i was sitting i noticed an orderly wheeling a frail, elderly lady into the e.r. a time-worn gentleman followed along behind them with the aid of his walker.

my heart danced!

i grabbed john's hand and (with a smile that extended from my right ear to my left) nodded toward the man. john glanced the way of the fellow... he looked. after a moment he too smiled acknowledging he knew exactly what i was thinking.

"he looks just like mosses," i whispered.

"a lot!" john agreed.

i noticed the fella wearing a suit that was no longer tailored to his shrunken body, his shiny.thinning.white.hair, his metal rimmed glasses, and that his body was crooked...

brought on by time and arthritis.

just.like.my.mosses.

<@>

a few moments later, the receptionist summoned the fellow. i was actually familiar with his rather uncommon surname.

i recalled a farm in my hometown,

owned by a man with the same last name as the one she called.

when he completed his wife's paperwork, he arose and made his way over to the vending machines. as he passed me i noticed that he even had a bowed-out leg like mosses (more than likely stemming from a 1980's knee replacement)... uncanny!

so uncanny, in fact, that i took out my cell phone and snapped a photo of him.

when i did so, i noticed even his hair grew in the same direction as mosses did...

noticing he needed help, one of my aunts offered to help him purchase chips and a soda. he thanked her and proceeded back to his seat. as he passed me, i said his name, "mr. m...?" he stopped and looked at me. "is your name mr. m...?" i asked.

"well, yes it is," he replied.

"are you from henderson?," i inquired.

(we were at a hospital in a neighboring city.)

"yes, i am," he answered with a twinkle in his eye.

"i am too. my name is dani berrong," i introduced myself.

i reached out and placed my hand atop his hand.

it felt sweetly familiar...

"did you ever know george moss?" i asked.

"well, as a matter of fact i do know george. back in the day, we played many a poker game," he said and grinned.

what a small world!

"mr. moss was my dearest friend:) i just stopped you because you remind me so much of him."

he chuckled, "do you think so? how is george getting along?"

"oh, mr. m..., mr. moss died several years ago," i replied with regret.

my heart sank a little.

"he did? i'm so sorry. i don't think i knew that. george was a good friend... " he stood for a moment thinking, "when you get old, you just lose touch, i guess," he lowered his chin.

i smiled and patted his hand, "thank you for taking the time to stop and talk to me. it was so nice to meet you!"

we then exchanged good wishes for each other's respective loved ones.

<@>

i am so thankful that i had this chance meeting.
i am thankful for all things that remind me of mosses...

love and God's blessings,
dani xxx

ps you will find earlier entries in ascending order on my side bar entitled, "our love story":)

time to bring back mosses mondays...

over the weekend i received a facebook message asking for a link to my mosses mondays stories. the person explained that she had lost the link and was wanting to catch up on what she had missed. i sent her the link but explained that there was nothing new there.

i couldn't believe it when i realized my last entry was dated march of last year!

there is so much more to share, and it is time to share it:) so, i hope to have a new entry soon. i also hope my mosses followers will return to the lane for the rest of the story...

love and God's blessings,
dani xxx

by one...

wedding cake yogurt
victoria secret sales
pink hydrangeas
cheap airfare
america's top 40
fresh garden tomatoes
shade trees
vera bradley patterns
air conditioning
sea salt
holding hands
cotton anything
summer rain

to be continued...

love and God's blessings,
dani xxx

counting the little things...

one-by-one:




pink floats
mikeritas
96sto
flip-flops
cut-offs
my pink and green front porch
ralph lauren sheets, beach towels, and tees
polished toenails
oscillating fans
ac
summer breeze
cocoa butter
snackwells
the charcoal grill
day lilies
the ground hog currently living in my backyard
brightly colored noodles
melon
the light smell of chlorine
lightning bugs
my old transistor radio
cool showers
cotton pajamas


(to be continued...)

love and God's blessings,
dani xxx

hope...

as a believer, i always have hope.
God is the grounds for hope...
for believing good can happen.
God is also the grounds for knowing...
He will make good of that we give over to Him.
believing gives us hope.
belief prepares us for and supports us through the worst
with the knowledge that God is good always!

i have passed these beliefs on to katherine.

~@~



months ago when it was time for katherine to order graduation invitations, she chose to forgo doing so. she said she didn't want to send them because she didn't want people to think she was asking for something (other than their presence at her commencement) in return. after a little brainstorming, i went back to her and explained that if she didn't send out invitations there would be those who would think they were overlooked. i made a proposal to her. i told her that she could put an insert in each of her pre-printed invitations, and on it she could make her intentions known. she was happy with the idea.

hence, she decided to request only the gift of the recipients' presence at her ceremony and to give those who insisted on gifting an option.

~@~

before katherine was even 10 years old, she lost 2 people to whom she was very close to cancer. a third was diagnosed and given only a 2% chance of surviving more than 5 years. so, the summer before her tenth birthday, she started actively participating in our local relay for life. that year she walked in memory of her uncle gary and dear friend, ernie, and in honor of her uncle stevie who was in the battle of his life...
for his life.

respectively, cancer robbed her of the man who she spent countless hours with out on his pontoon on his beloved lake misty. cancer robbed her of the man with whom she visited, shared candy corn, and whom she thought was her granddad. further, cancer was attempting to rob her of her uncle stevie with whom she went on most every vacation and celebrated every holiday.

she loved these men with all her heart...

~@~

over the next five years, cancer took katherine's great-uncle bill
and jack, her neighbor... her best buddy.
however, uncle stevie, beat the odds; he was in the 2% that survived!

~@~

even through loss, katherine continued to hope.
she continued to walk for a cure.

~@~

the option upon which she decided was a great one in her opinion.

on her invitation inserts, she wrote:

only the gift of your presence is requested.
however, you may make a contribution to alcan/rio tinto's
relay for life in memory of my uncles:
gary berrong
bill manion
or
steve hurd.
love, katherine

you may have noticed that steve hurd was listed as in memory of instead of in honor of...
katherine's uncle stevie died a week to the day before she received her graduation announcements in the mail...

he won the cancer battle but lost the war of life.

~@~

friends and family were very generous, so generous in fact, katherine was able to donate enough money to purchase more than 60 luminaries! she donated her own money for luminaries in memory of ernie and jack.

kat was thrilled she was able to pay her gifts forward to a great cause...
the search for a cure for cancer!


love and God's blessings,
dani xxx

a friend in need...

last friday i was visiting with friends when one asked if i knew charla tompkins. i smiled and said yes that i'd known her most of my life; then i inquired why she was asking. my friend went on to tell me that charla had had an incident that required emergency care and that she'd been diagnosed with cancer.

my heart sank...

charla was my first, elementary school librarian. she and her husband, glenn, built a home across the street from my aunt and uncle and were neighbors with them for years. charla moved on to be my middle school librarian, for whom i was a student-aid. she was a member of the church i joined when i was in high school. and then, when i took katherine for high school orientation, i caught up with charla there to discover that she was going to be katherine's librarian at henderson county high school. charla explained to katherine our connection and told her if she ever needed anything to come see her.

she meant it;
that is just the kind of person charla is!
she is precious:)

i am posting today for two reasons:

first and foremost, i am requesting prayers on behalf of my friend... i know i have wonderful blogging friends all around the world who have joined with me in prayer before and have made such a difference!

secondly, today is charla's birthday. i would so much appreciate it, if you are a facebooker, if you would go and leave her a message of support and encouragement (you don't have to be a "friend" of charla's to leave her a message). i would be so grateful:)

just click on her photo below:




love and God's blessings,
dani xxx

winning...

i knew that as president of her class katherine was going to give a speech at her class' graduation. however, i was surprised to watch her make her way to and be seated on stage with her principals, school board, and superintendent. my little girl was the master of ceremonies at her commencement!

(katherine is seated at the far right.)

after introducing henderson county high school's choir and band, she began her speech...

Reflections.




On behalf of the graduating class of 2011, I would like to welcome all of you who are here for tonight’s commencement. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank each of you, respectively, for the part you have played in making us the winning graduates we are today.
It has been my pleasure to serve you, the Henderson County Senior High Class of 2011. As I look out among your faces, I recognize many with whom I started this journey 13 years ago. Honestly, in hindsight, it has been a short journey; but, there were days, weeks, and even months that seemed to go on forever...

In the past 13 years we have witnessed a lot of history in the making and learned many valuable lessons:
• In kindergarten, we saw Pokemon debut; we learned “our courage will pull us through.”
• We saw Y2K come and go: we learned K equals one comma zero zero zero.
• We saw the introduction of the iPhone and iPod: we learned that said gadgets can cost us a lot.
• We saw Kelly Clarkson become America’s first “Idol”; we learned that through hard work anyone can win a title.
• We saw Tom Cruise jump on Oprah’s sofa; we learned that bad manners can cause one’s career to be over.
• We saw Vice President Cheney accidentally shoot a hunting bud; we learned that hunting with Dick Cheney’s like hunting with Elmer Fudd!
• We saw Jersey Shore hit the little screen on Thursdays; we learned Thursdays are no longer Thursdays, they now are called Jersdays.
• Recently, we saw ol' osama go out like a flash; we learned it only takes two shots and a splash!

~@~

which brings us to this evening…


Tonight, my classmates, is only the beginning; for, you have worked hard for your diplomas and are as Charlie Sheen says,
“duh, winning!”

class of 2011, you are special,
you are accomplished,
you are winners!!!



her speech was followed by speeches from the valedictorian and salutatorian of her class. after which, katherine joined her classmates in receiving their diplomas and being pronounced 2011 graduates!



my little master of ceremonies was right, she and her classmates...
are special...
are accomplished...
are very much winners!!!

love and God's blessings,
dani xxx

time...

when i was a little girl living on the lane,
time went by so slowly...
from summer to summer
from Christmas to Christmas.

~@~

now that i am a wife and mother living on the lane,
time goes by so quickly...
by the time we get our pool closed, it is almost time to reopen it;
by the time we get our Christmas decorations taken down and put away, it is time to pull them out and decorate again.

~@~

since the last time i blogged,
much has happened.
it all happened so quickly;
it almost seems like it was a dream.

~~~

katherine was accepted into the university of evansville and was granted a very generous academic scholarship.



we spent spring break in cancun, mexico.



john and i flew to canada where he received a project award from rio tinto/alcan.



john and i went on a wine tasting tour in indiana.



my family said, "good-bye," to my uncle steve.



katherine went with jacob to their senior prom.



john and i marked 21 years of marriage.



john and i attended katherine's student ambassador recognition dinner.



and just last night...

john and i attended katherine's senior honors night at the high school where she received one of only 12 commonwealth diplomas (in a class of over 400 students) and her student ambassador chords...



which she will wear tomorrow night to her graduation ceremony.

~@~

love and God's blessings,
dani xxx

ps. i hope to elaborate on the aforementioned soon:)

seeing purple...

on friday, katherine and i visited
the university of evansville's campus...



~@~@~@~

our experience was great!

kat's admissions counselor greeted us
and went over our agenda for the day,
we then took a tour of the
campus (which was very
informative), had lunch with one
of ue's academic advisers,
met with financial aid, and ended
the day back with her admissions
counselor to debrief.

(katherine awaiting the debriefing)

if all goes as planned,
my kitty kat will be a purple ace
come fall:)



love and God's blessings,
dani xx

adding color to an otherwise gray day...

last weekend was a long weekend off for katherine due to the martin luther king, jr. holiday on monday. so, kat and i made a date to go prom dress shopping. prom isn't until may; but, we knew the earlier, the better selection.

honestly, however, we have been windows shopping ever since the 2011 dresses came off the runway. as a matter of fact, the very first day we were able to view them online, we looked at each and every dress available (over 5,000 dresses) out of which katherine only really liked three.





the first was just a short, fun pick, the second (minus the bolero) was my favorite, and the third was katherine's favorite. i thought they were great choices but told her we should at least go and look at what was in the stores and that it would be a good idea for her to try on some different styles; she agreed.

~@~

therefore, on monday, that is exactly what we did. unfortunately, none of the three dresses katherine had chosen were in the store. but, she did try all of these:









the first was too big,
the second was a maybe,
the third was not lined,
the fourth was a definite maybe,
the fifth was too heavy,
the sixth was only the style she wanted,
and the 7th was just too much dress...

whew!

~@~

in the end, we ordered...



her favorite from the word, "go":)

love and God's blessings,
dani xx