Some People

This is my all-time favorite poem and I wanted to share it with you.  It's a bit long, but I hope you'll read the entire thing.

SOME PEOPLE

Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same.

Some people come into our lives
and quickly go... Some stay for awhile
and embrace our silent dreams.

They help us become aware
of the delicate winds of hope...
and we discover within every human spirit
there are wings yearning to fly.

They help our hearts to see that
the only stairway to the stars
is woven with dreams...
and we find ourselves
unafraid to reach high.

They celebrate the true essence
of who we are...
and have faith in all
that we may become.

Some people awaken us
to new and deeper realizations...
for we gain insight
from the passing whisper of their wisdom

Throughout our lives we are sent
precious souls...
meant to share our journey
however brief or lasting their stay
they remind us why we are here.

To learn... to teach... to nurture... to love

Some people come into our lives
to cast a steady light
upon our path and guide our every step
their shining belief in us
helps us to believe in ourselves.

Some people come into our
lives to teach us about love...
The love that rests within ourselves.

Let us reach out to others
and feel the bliss of giving
for love is far richer in action
that it ever is in words.

Some people come into our lives
and they move our souls to sing
and make our spirits dance.

They help us to see that everything on earth
is part of the incredibility of life...
and that it is always there
for us to take of its joy.

Some people come into our lives
and leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never ever the same.

-by Flavia Weedn

I love this poem for so many reasons, but particularly because with each verse I think of someone different who has had an impact on my life and has shaped me into the woman that I am.  I believe in fate and I believe in a God who has hand-picked these people for me.  I am so thankful for these people- those who have been in my life for a while, those who I've only just met, and those who have left.  I look forward to new people moving my spirit to dance and leaving footprints on my heart.

I sometimes ask myself "if special people have been placed in my life to help me, whose lives have I been placed in to help them?"  I'll probably never know, but I like to think I've helped at least one person.  The thought of making an impact in someone's life fulfills me, and with that thought, I'll sleep sweetly tonight.

AJ

Picking Up Again

It's safe to say my first attempt at blogging did not go too well since I wrote three posts and then fell off the face of the earth, but I've decided to get back up and try again.

Since my last post my life "got flipped, turned upside down" as Will Smith puts it in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song.  The long distance relationship that I mentioned in my first post came to a very abrupt end.  If you don't know me well, then you will never understand what this has done to me, unless you too have invested 7 years into a relationship only to be blindsided with the truth that you are no longer loved.  If you do know me well, then this is not new news to you.

Over the past 3 months, my mother has been my greatest supporter.  She has felt my pain and emotion with me and without her my coping process would not be going as it is.  She keeps me company when I feel lonely, she listens when I speak, she encourages me when I want to quit.  She has loved me when I felt unlovable, and given me a place to run when I wanted to feel safe.  She has given me courage and strength.  If time heals all wounds, then she is doing her best to make sure time passes as quickly as possible for me.

I thought that my mom was "retired" now that both her children are out of the house.  She did a fantastic job raising us and now gets to spend her days however she wants as opposed to chauffeuring, tutoring, and cleaning up after my brother and I.  I'm learning now that a mother's job does not simply end once her children leave.  If anything, it gets more difficult.  She has to mother us from a distance, and might spend most of her time with her fingers crossed, hoping that we make good decisions.  As we grow up, so do our problems, concerns, and fears, and a mother has to be ready at a moments notice to dispel the latest issue.  Whereas I once fell off my bike and needed help up, I now am broken-hearted and need mending.  It may take more time and effort, but she is certainly still up to the challenge.

I know that one day I'll get to be a mother, and I honestly do hope that I will get to be the mother that my mom has been for me.  I also know, that my mom will be with me, mothering me as I go.

AJ