Sometimes you just have to sigh and breathe...

Right now I'm supposed to be at a funeral for a long time friend...I woke up ready to get going, stepped out on the deck and wow, the humidity hit me in the face and my heart sank.  I would not be going anywhere today.  With COPD I have to be so careful not to put myself in compromising situations and this would definitely be one.  So...instead I've been sitting here quietly talking with Grandma Bev and I just know she hears my every word.

I found out in a terrible way...Saturday mid-day I happened to get online to read our local paper and right their on the front page was her name in the obit section...I went down on my knees and sobbed.
I had just talked with her not too long ago.  I loved that woman, like an older Sister, she was family.  She was a Great Auntie to my children on their father's side of the family and when I was younger, her Daughter, myself and Bev would do the coffee clatch thingy in the mornings and try to figure out the world while taking care of young children, or working on something in whoever's house we were in at the time.   As I grew older, we always kept in touch...many times she'd come in to my place of work with a friend and I'd wait on them, or I'd run into her in the grocery store and we'd always plan on getting together and just never did and now it is too late.  We'd talk on the phone of course but because we both had health problems we never did get around to being in each others company.  I can't cry over that, but I have cried my tears for her.  Bev was a force to be reckoned with...she was kind, compassionate, always ready to give a helping hand and yet if she saw an injustice or somebody screwing up you were the first to hear it.  She didn't mince words.  You always knew where she was coming from.  She was always a fierce lover of family and friends and for that I will be forever grateful.  I wanted to share a picture of her here but for some reason Blogger won't let me post a pic on this blog...I can on HeartSongs but not here...for some reason I can't even see the little photo icon at the top of the toolbar we use to post our posts.  It was like that yesterday too.  So...anywho...I'll miss you somethin' fierce Miss Bev!  You were loved and adored by me and so many, many others.  I'm sure today will be filled with many fond remembrances of you and rightly so...I also bet the pews are full and overflowing at the funeral, as you touched people wherever you were.  On towards the Light Sweet One...enjoy the beauty there and celebrate the life you lived so well.  You are now one of the Grandmother's of all times, The Ancient Ones, and I shall see you in my Dreams...and one day I will meet you on the Other Side.
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On a different note...we've been experiencing some pretty wicked winds and storms the past two days...
Sunday night a front moved through and we had 52 mile an hour winds...I had the deck doors open at first but when the winds hit, it had been lightening and thundering and the rains began so I closed the doors and hunkered down...the next day I see the lilac bushes out back were compromised...one part of it was totally on the ground...a big branch.  There was lots of stuff down all around the city and communities near us were really hit hard, some without power and old growth trees torn up from the roots.  This is the same weather pattern that has been coming up the United States that hit Oklahoma as we got some of those winds around 10:30 or so last night...nothing near the night before though, thankfully.  Today we are to get more of the same.
I was lucky in that nothing on my deck was disturbed in any way.  As I watched the wind blow the rain, it was being blown sideways, and being so high up the sound was scary.  I've already figured out a plan should a tornado decide to spawn.  I had called my Grandson on Sunday afternoon as the weather warnings were already being displayed across the televison screen and told him to be aware...he was busy with his new go-cart his Grandpa had bought so he was a bit short with me, but that night he really was scared by the storm...so much so that he was up till about 3 a.m. when the warnings went off.  He kept everyone up and had everything ready should the weather turn ugly.  I think I will not call him from now on and depend on his Mom or other adults around him to determine what to do.  He can't stay up all night and have a productive day at school and the worrying isn't going to change a thing.  Poor guy...he reminds me of my Grandma...she was always scared of storms as she'd been in an electrical storm once as a child and it forever changed her.  I am respectful of Mother Nature but I'm not usually afraid.  Of course I can say that now as I've not been directly affected but I'm sure I'd be too if something ever happened to me or my loved ones.

Which brings me around to this...let's send up good prayers and energies for the people in Oklahoma...my gosh what devastation!!!  The loss of lives from this two-mile wide storm is unbelieveable and the count isn't all the way in yet....they just said 73 so far.  There is a prayer vigil today from wherever you are.  The times are 9 p.m. EDT, 6 p.m. PDT, and 1 a.m. GMT.  You can learn more at Response of Light.com   As Julie Redstone so aptly shares...

Beloved Ones,


Through Response of Light, we have an opportunity to ease the shock caused by a sudden and powerful event that irrevocably alters the lives of many, some directly through personal injury and loss, and some less directly through their livelihoods, friendships, and communities being affected.

Helping to transmit light at a time of shock and fear is what Response of Light has come into being to do, and we ask you to take part in this effort to the extent that you are able to. Please join us for tomorrow night's prayer/meditation time.

All blessings to you and gratitude for your having chosen to be here now. Julie

I received this in my email inbox and thought I'd better share here.

I thank you in advance for your hearts and prayers going out for these precious lives...we are our brothers and sisters keepers.

May your day be blessed and full of peace...
In Cascading Love,
Akasa