Andrea - thank you for your illuminating honesty about the bad as well as the good parts.

I'm not going to say anything because I feel inadequate in saying anything.

I wish for you a resilent spirit.

Now I'm going to try and find an address for you as I'm in Sydney!

I have no words that could ever comfort the loss that you have endured. Just know that you are truly in my thoughts.

Wendy

I just wanted you to know that 'the contessa' will be joining me for a two month journey across Europe.

A little long, but story of "unfolding" and "journey"..

A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher for some advice.

The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it wihout tearing off any petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry.

Because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact. It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do.

Noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older preacher began to recite the following poem.

It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers
Isn't known to such as I;
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,
While in my hands it would die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?
So I'll trust in Him for leading me
Every moment of my day.
I will look to Him for His guidance
Each step along the way.
For the path that lies before me,
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I'll trust Him to unfold each moment,
Just as He unfolds the rose.

Author Unknown

i am so sorry for your deep loss. i think this will be a remarkable journey for you and your husband and i like to believe for you that you will be stronger for it.

my best to you.

thank you for reminding me of this quote.

i have been feeling a little folded myself lately.

xoxo

meesh

What a beautiful photo and how perfect the subject be "journey"
I've always loved that Rilke quote.

how true to choose Journey as the theme today . . . thank you for sharing your journey with us . . . living would be unbearable without one another . . . your journal is a spot of goodness and warmth on the web . . . :)

Isn't the power of the web an amazing thing? Some of my friends can never understand the idea of having an online journal (especially one that's quite uncompromising in its truth and openness), but when you a great outreach comes your way...when you've touched many people and they've touched you...it's an amazing thing.

I always tell people that my journal feeds on itself. When I write about something, and people respond to it, it changes what I think (or at least helps me think about it differently at times), and, much like close friends, it can change our paths and we change the journey of those who read it.

Take care of yourself.

I am, G-Man

I had wanted to share this earlier, but couldn't locate the exact test...here it is:

Birdsong
He doesn't knovr the world at all
Who stays in his nest and doesn't go out.
He doesn't know what birds krtow best
Nor what I want to sing about,
That the world is full of loveliness.

When dewdrops sparkle in the grass
And earth's afloc with morning light,
A blackbird sings upon a bush
To greet the dawning after night.
Then I know how fine it is to live.

Hey, try to open up your heart
To beauty; go to the woods someday
And weave a wreath of memory there.
Than if the tears obscure your way
You'll know how wonderful it is To be alive.

(Anonymous...found amongst the clutter of personal belongings at Theresienstadt concentration camp)

Shabbat Shalom