Surviving the Worst and Celebrating the Best

As 2012 comes to a close I sit and remember all the things I truly thought would destroy me and remember the wonderful people who helped me get through it.  I also remember the amazing things I have accomplished and all the incredible people who helped me make it a reality.

This year I did a garden, a real garden. Not just a few plants but enough to feed our family. I didn't do this alone. I did this with a lot of help and advise from friends and family members.  I did this because it was something I not only felt I needed to accomplish but something that I felt would bring me great happiness and joy.  As I planted the seeds on the first of February and watched and tended those tiny growing things I found my confidence growing right along with them.  As the days warmed and temperatures began to take the chill from the evening air I set my plants out.  I also received plants and containers some from some of the most surprising sources.

I got seedlings from a neighbor who had heard I was doing a garden for some of the most amazing heirloom tomatoes you have every put in your mouth.  I got starer buckets from my Son in Law and Middle daughter who heard I was gardening this year and who provided me with so many buckets I didn't have enough plants to put in all of them.

When the weather turned Hot and my plants began to wilt my husband helped me carry water and purchased me a drip hose to water my plants.  When picking season came my youngest and my middle daughter came to help with this.  When it came time to store the food my Mother in Law helped me learn to can and make food that could be canned for enjoying our summer produce long into the winter months.  To all these people I am thankful. For all the advise from neighbors and friends and new friends I made along the way I am thankful.  Sometimes just deciding you are going to follow your bliss is enough to bring them out of the woodwork and help you find the assistance you need.

I lost my Dad in October of 2011.  I lost my Native American Grandmother in 2012. Two events I was pretty sure would destroy me.  I learned about herbs and animals from my Grandmother, her wisdom provided me with so much as well as her stable hand and caring heart will be sorely be missed and for the last year I have been dealing with my Dad's death and settling his estate. Something that I am truly surprised I survived and had it not been for many friends who listened to me while I ranted and carried me in times that I could not walk alone I would have lain down and died.

From the neighbors who cared enough to bring my family food on those days that I could not force myself to rise from bed, who held my hand and often times made me tea or just sat with me while I cried. Who didn't run screaming when I broke down in the grocery store and cried over something as stupid as cornbread, or turn their back on me when my mind turned to mush and I couldn't think or act on my own.  From the family members who were in as much pain as I was who held my hand helped me make the hard decisions regarding final resting arrangements and who listened to me while I babbled about how this was going on or that was going on and how I often felt as though I was losing what mind I had left.

For the friends who made time in their their very busy schedules to go with me to deal with the destruction of my family's home during the less lucid final days of my Father's life and turned the day around simply with their presence and strength.  For all those people I am thankful.  Sometimes it takes an entire village to help you survive bad times.

This year we helped a several dogs who all others had lost all faith in.  One an abuse case who came to our home with such issues that many felt she should be euthanized but now shares her life with a family of own and is adored and treated like the gem she is.  To the German Shepard left to die in boarding by its owner, a senior with health issues and no hope of ever finding someone who could love him and give him the home he deserved in his golden years.  These animals and the people who worked with us remind me daily that good does exist in this world.  That people want to help but often have no clue how to do that unless you ask them to.

Take strength from your survival of bad times, and learn something from them even if it only who your true friends are.  Take joy from your good times and celebrate the little successes. They make doing everything else so much easier.  By allowing others to help you make your way in the world you are that much closer to making your dreams a reality. You don't have to go it alone. We all have those in our lives who will step up and help us through the darkest days and be there to lend a helping hand when a goal is in place. Look around you today, thank those who have carried you during the dark days and those who have been there to celebrate the good times. Always remember you are not what you have survived but who you have become for having gone through them.

I hope my blog today finds all well and blessed.  I hope that you have taken something from me sharing some of my own personal experiences and that they helped you see your own lives in a clearer light.  I wish all a happy and productive day, until tomorrow I am outta here.