A Part of Us

My Cousin recently sent a poem to me that she wrote as her twins were getting ready to graduate from
High School.  Sweet the words of Motherhood.  First, I would like to congratulate her on the fact that it will be published in a local journal where she resides.  Tami is a teacher, and she radiates beauty.  She inspires 5th grade students daily and all whom she meets as well.
I remember when we were children, the anticipation of meeting again and the precious moments we spent together at our Grandparents Lake Cottage, at holidays and occasional visits during the summertime.  We learned to water ski on Lake Milton and spent endless hours on the tractor inner tubes both in and out of the water.  We always had the bruises and scratches long after the days spent together passed, all to remind us of our very real connection.  As we evolved and became parents, we continued to share space occasionally on the snowy mountains of Pennsylvania or on the white sand beaches in Florida.  We are blessed with a beautiful and diverse family.  As I read her words about the priviledge of growing a child within and then making a home and providing guidance for them, I became urgently aware that our children are rapidly approaching the time in their lives when they too will bring into this world another generation of unique and precious cousins.  It is our ability to take the moments that we take for granted each day to really see and appreciate this opportunity to be a part of the bigger picture.  Tami's words transcend her experience as a mother, and bring to light the fact that we each have our part.  It is a wonderous feeling to know the miracle of life is 'A Part of Me' (the title of her poem) yet becomes a part of us .   All that we touch affects more than the eye can see, but not more than the heart can embrace.
Enjoy Reading Tami's Poem...

A Part of Me

Tami Gower

Pasadena Fundamental

5^th grade teacher

From the moment you were

Part of me,

I knew…

My life would change

Forever

And I waited eagerly

to see your beautiful face

and hold you in my arms

What a miracle-privilege

to keep you safe

and warm inside

While you prepared

to meet the world

What a privilege

to plan your healthy meals

and make your cozy bed

To paint your colorful room

and pick out your cute

little clothes and shoes

What a privilege

to see you grow and

develop, make friendships

Make decisions

not always the best

But they were yours

Yours to keep

or throw away

All through the years

you should know

I was watching

paying attention

So closely

trying patiently

to let you learn and grow

Grow and learn

Patiently, lovingly

Hopefully

       Today you walk in front of me

A free spirit

A part of me

A wonderful young adult

You have become

 A treasure

A part of me

A Fine Tune

After raising 4 children I have to admit I enjoy quiet places.  One of those places is my car.  For years, when I found myself driving alone, I would drive in silence.  My brain could function, I went places, and I went more places than my car took me.  Recently car time finds my mind wanting something to focus on rather than all that is going on in my mind.  So books on CD have given me an renewed appreciation for my quite time.  Be careful some readers can put you to sleep, not a great state to find yourself while driving.  So like most individuals who find themselves in a vehicle for amounts of time that could equate to an alarmingly substantial percentage of ones life, and who needs to stay awake - music becomes the driver.  How?  Well, Music... the voice of the past, just try to make it through Neil Young singing 'Harvest Moon' without a peak into your yesterdays, (provided you are not in your twenties and were not fortunate enough to have parents who love Neil).  The vivid memories that can be traced and related to a song are enough echo to get a person from A to B without so much of a trace of time. There are thousands of songs that can put me back when, bring out the emotion and cause me to sing it like I own it.  The chords of life and living it can be strummed to a tune for any given time, place and event.   And then music can be a window of the self?  How?  Possibly that uplifting feeling, the high, that song can do for each of us.  The tune you have heard before, but the words somehow have changed, you just noticed that that is your life they are singing about.  Every word relates to you and now can understand that you are not alone nor are your circumstances unique.   Plato expressed music as a moral law.  It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and everything!  Brilliant.  Music can drive me anywhere, anyday...
Even when it is perfectly quiet, the beat of the heart can keep time with your soul song.  That is a fine tune.

Inspired

Inspiration is something that can happen once in a lifetime, occasionally, or for the fortunate, often.
It has been defined as a process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, a sudden, brilliant, creative or timely idea.
When one becomes inspired then what?  A flurry of activity?  Introspection, careful consideration,
planning or overwhelming responsibility?  Is it spontaneous, contagious, does it turn ones thoughts from
other driving forces in life?  Certainly inspiration is never quite the same, nor would creative efforts ever have the same result.  This is what makes us individual and unique!  It is a beautiful thing, that one thought could inspire two or more individuals in entirely different ways.
I believe that if we embrace a thought and then set it free to be, it will return educated, nourished and divinely aware, but the creative process to act upon a thought is unwritten.
If we set our hearts and minds to be open, inspiration happens.