Keep on Believing

it always amazes me how when I'm feeling very low I can log onto blogger and there's always someone who posts the exact thing I need to read.  Yesterday, that blogger was Kandee.  

I was having a rough day.  I attended the funeral of my Godfather's mother.  My dad's best friend's mom.  The entire time I kept thinking about how much I wish my father could have been there with me.  and then I though about my "uncle" Ray and how he lost his best friend {my dad} and then 6 months later his mother.  I tried so hard, and did a decent job at keeping it together, though on the inside I was a mess.  Which is why when I came home I felt hopeless, like this sadness inside of me is never going to go away.  Then I read these words by Kandee:

My heart feels sad...and no one will ever know my hurts...or your hurts...except for God...but he's there to lift those burdens from your heart and fill the holes of hurt...with his perfect love. He know the plans he has for you...plans to give you hope and a prosperous future...
hold on...you have no idea what's around the corner in your future....
KEEP HOPE ALIVE....HOPE is what pulls us through....you need the seed of hope to grow that dream to become real!

BELIEVE it...that's the first step.

HOPE for it...and don't stop...second step.

KEEP ON BELIEVING....and never stop...the moment you stop believing...you end the oxygen to your dreams!

Thank you for your words of wisdom Kandee!   I will not stop believing. 

 

The Story of the Cardinal

Since my father's passing I've been wanting to write a blog post in honor of him, but I could never find the right words to describe just how wonderful of a father and person he was.  I don't think such words even exist.  but in honor of the holiday season, I did want to share the story of the Cardinal.

First, a little back story...

Anyone who knew my father knew that he was a huge Cardinal Mooney Football fan, actually, just a huge Cardinal Mooney fan.  The school was his alma mater and he loved everything about the school.  So much so that we're having the school's crest engraved on his monument stone.  And the school's mascot is...a cardinal.

On the day my father passed my mother, sister and I were with him.  We chose to stay the night at the Hospice House, and at 5:30 in the morning the nurse came in to give my father a breathing treatment.  The machine he turned on was loud, but it didn't bother me too much considering my father's snoring had kept me up most of the night anyway.  About 15 minutes later the nurse was back in turning the machine off, and I immediately knew something was wrong.  It was too quiet.  As I lifted my head off the cot, I watched the nurse walk over to my mom and tell her "my condolences".  I turned to look at my sister who asked if our father had passed, and all I could do was shake my head yes as the tears began to fall down my face.  As we were saying our last goodbyes, my mom mentioned something about hearing the birds outside, but I didn't think much of it at the moment.

A few hours later when we were back at our house, I laid down on the couch to rest a little before people started coming over.  At that moment my mom called for my sister and me to come over.  She was looking out the front window, and there on our front porch was the most beautiful red cardinal.  I knew it was my father's way of checking on us and letting us know he was OK. 

A close family friend, who's husband was good friends with my father and passed away a few years ago, told us "If you listen with your eyes, ears and heart open, Charlie will come to you".  

 and he does.

Inspiring Stories

I was watching an old episode of The Bonnie Hunt show today when I heard this beautiful story.  Anyone who has lost someone close to them will be touched.  If you have a few free moments, take some time to watch this inspiring story. 

**Update: YouTube deleted the video, but you can still watch it here