To all those affected by the raging fires in California and elsewhere, the hurricanes and flooding in the Carolinas, and Florida, the tornados in the Midwest and the snow in places where folks do not own boots or anyone faced with an overwhelming loss and life challenges, I keep this quote by Elizabeth Edwards, Author of “The New Afterwards” on my desk.
“She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her away – she adjusted her sails.”
It is January. It is a new year. Cold keeps me bundled up when outside or snuggled under the warmth of my favorite quilt with a good book and quiet music in the background, instead of endless rhetoric, anger and accusations, loudly shouted by the news media. The puppies shiver and return to the door within minutes – no longer interested in rambling in the yard, eager for a treat.
The wrappings and trappings of the holiday are all put away til’ next year, and I am getting lazy. Looking forward to another birthday in a couple of weeks always trying to convince myself that age is just a number. Hard to do when almost daily, word arrives to remind me of another health challenge of a family member or treasured friend. Today, I am remembering a beautiful visit with a childhood friend as we walked and talked of our youthful adventures. Then, facing the new diagnosis of dementia, she was needing to hold on desperately to those memories. Today we celebrate her life.
It would be easy to feel sorry for myself. My children are almost of retirement age, my grandchildren are embarking on their own independent lives, my friends and I plan our social calendars around the weather and our changing driving skills at night! Who will have cataract surgery, who has hearing aids? Why are our arthritic hands making it so hard to open those darn plastic bottles? What meals to cook for one! Sounds really gloomy doesn’t?
And then I am reminded of my cousins in California who are living through unimaginable times. The beautiful neighborhoods where they grew up are in ashes. My friends in Florida have homes that have blown away and the southern community where we almost purchased a vacation home, is covered in mud from the floods. My heart aches for a friend who lost her young granddaughter to brain cancer not long ago. Life is full of challenges. I am struck by the resilience and optimism of so many who are facing overwhelming challenges. People supporting one another. People determined to maintain and improve the human connection despite whatever has happened.
For the thousands who are now facing what seems today, to be insurmountable loss - out of difficulties come miracles. Being brave is not the absence of fear but rather the strength to move forward despite the fear. Ordinary individuals are the heroes who find the strength to endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
While we cannot predict lives without obstacles, we can control our reaction to adversity, for it is a reminder that oaks grow strong in punishing winds and diamonds are forged under pressure. They have stood in the storm, have not blown away and are adjusting their sails!
Today the perennials are covered in ice and snow. The leaves on the deciduous shrubs have contracted and darkened in color in the cold. The grass has lost its vibrant green. The squirrels are busy, trying to remember where they hid their cache of acorns as they ready for new families to feed. The birds fluff their feathers to keep warm and flock to the tress with berries. But, if I look carefully, the leafless branches of the forsythia have the beginnings of tiny buds which will soon begin to swell. The rhododendron buds tucked onto the branches are ready to be energized by the sun. Everything is quietly gathering strength to put on their fireworks displays as the garden wakes in the spring and blooms in the summer sunshine.
A quick trip to the nursery for some green plants and colorful flowers will liven up my interior spaces. The sun is still bright, the days are rapidly getting longer, and the winter stars glisten in the night sky. There is hope. There is beauty. I am blessed to be healthy at least for today. I will not blow away but will adjust my sails to weather any storm that should arise. For now, with garden catalogs, a cup of hot tea with local honey, settled under my quilt listening to my favorite music it is smooth sailing.
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