Be Thankful for the Time You Have

I have been working at getting the house and shop ready for the Open House, it is coming fast and there are too few hours to get it all done.. Sometimes I feel like "Rabbit" on Winnie the Pooh. Running around having a fit, making much ado about nothing...
I took an evening off to have dinner with some girlfriends one night this week. I didn't have time with all I had to do, but ...
We were to bring a list of 10 things for which we were thankful. I have a lot that I am thankful for. I seem to focus on what I don't have instead of what I do, especially when I am trying to get things done and feeling pressured. I felt kind of silly with my list, it seemed as if I hadn't given it much thought just went for the obvious, but I considered carefully for what I was thankful so I was going to list it..
I went first but it didn't really matter we all had pretty close to the same list. What it came down to was we were all thankful for friends and family, for those we love, and for those who love us.


Time has a way of marching on. It surprises me constantly how fast it slips by. It never ceases to amaze me when I look at the clock and it is an hour or sometimes two later than I thought. The day is over before I know it. I get up earlier and stay up later to get more time...

The week is gone, a month, a year, a lifetime???

My intention was to post early yesterday morning when everyone was sleeping. I wanted to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving and then get the food in the oven. There would be plenty of time. ..

The alarm was set for 4am and when the phone rang a few minutes before that, I had that feeling it was horrible the way you always do when the phone wakes you. My friend Gail was calling to say her son Alex had a car accident and didn't make it.. Those were her words, and yet... A beautiful 18 year old boy's life slipped by, his time is gone, how can it be?

It is the first time I think I have known a truly mind numbing experience. It is surreal, you are there, making phone calls, seeing the sheriff at the door, listening to the facts of the accident, but your mind won't believe what it is hearing, it is numb. You know your not dreaming, you know it is true, but it can't be real.. It can't be happening to those you love. You know the numbness will wear off that reality will come, their pain will be beyond measure.

The first time I remember meeting Alex he was about 9, when he came to my store with his dad to buy his mom a gift. He was so earnest he wanted the gift his mom would like best. Alex adored his mom, as she does him...

His brother Seth and sister Gabi love him as intense as any sibling has ever loved, and he them. Kisses and hugs, games, movies, precious time spent with each other... They had gone with their dad to bring him home from college that evening, looking forward to some time with the brother they had been missing. Bob and Gail had moved from Pennsylvania when Alex was a preschooler. It was to be just the five of them together for their Thanksgiving dinner.

Gail had stayed home to get the house ready, the groceries were bought, the sheets on his bed changed, his room tidied, looking forward to her family celebrating Thanksgiving together... It is so hard when they grow up and things are different, they leave the nest, but still when they come home it is so special. We want it to be perfect, everyone to be happy...

And time just keeps marching on... Your life is changed in a heartbeat, it is your worst nightmare. Your baby gone and the two you have left broken hearted, their world never to be the same...


Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.


These pictures are a couple of years old.

Here is a picture of Alex with his mom and brother Seth


Here is Alex dancing with Gabi


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