65

     I found a cool inlaid wooden box with twelve compartments at a thrift store and as my husband is soon to have a significant birthday, his 65th, I bought it. I thought with his eight siblings and three children and I, we will fill those little compartments with poems and pictures quite easily, and he will have a lovely box. Of course the pages and pages I received, once asked for, were more than the box could contain, neatly anyway. I tried various ways of getting these pieces of paper to fit in the box but short of shredding them, it just wouldn't work.
     It was difficult for me to give up on the idea of the box; it was pristine. My heart was set on it. What to do, what to do?  Do something else of course. A memory box must become a memory book instead. However I don't like it when things don't turn out the way I want them to, but isn't that the way life is? Does everything turn out the way you want it to? Stuff happens. Big or small, some things we roll with better than others. It's how we handle these upsets and diversions that keeps things interesting; going with the flow makes life easier and probably longer too. I will endeavour to let things go. Really.
     Anyway the old guy will get a gift one way or the another. He will be happy either way. And isn't that what matters after all? Happy birthday Paul!

Walk

     Our older daughter participated again this year in the 20th Annual Special Olympics Walk-a-thon, their yearly fundraiser, in support of all B.C. Special O sports. It was a beautiful day weather-wise and an upbeat and wonderful day otherwise. Our daughter had spoken at her father's Rotary Club and as always the club was supportive and several of the members came out to walk with us. Our daughter had also garnered some very generous support from her aunties, a couple of whom also came and walked with her. So she had a friendly posse to accompany her through the park and we all benefited from the experience; walking and talking with nice folks in the sunshine is a great thing and when it supports a worthy cause like Special Olympics, we all win.
    As we strolled along the paths I could not help but look around at the diverse array of human beings around us. With every step I was slowly overwhelmed with a sensation that my body was overfull: full of pride for our daughter's accomplishment, full of love for everyone who came to support our daughter and full of gratitude for the opportunity to meet all these amazing people, people whom we would have never met, if not for our daughter and her disability.
     Again this year our daughter was recognized as being one of the top fund-raisers for this year's Walk-a-thon. As I watched her though, surrounded by old and new friends, and friends yet to be, I realized that it was not the money raised that was important, it was the richness of friendship, the comfort of community, a feeling of safety and welcome in a world that sometimes forgets who we are....