Sleeping like a baby....

Well hello, what can I say I've been sleeping like a baby! Thanks Chris, if not for you I wouldn't be writing right now. So, what's new? Lets see, we have a new president since my last entry....hmmm I'm not political so lets move forward.
My son is graduating this year and I turned fifty, two milestones by most peoples standards. Most people would say it flew by, where did the years go. I can't believe he's grown....why just yesterday he was a baby. All those thoughts came to mind and then I looked back and he wasn't just a baby yesterday. So many things have happened over these past eighteen years and I have been blessed to be there, just as I had hoped. Wonderful sleepless nights, and days. First words, first steps, awe and wonder, riding a two wheeler, learning to swim, preschool and the first day of kindergarten (we actually had relatives from Alabama there that day), Holidays and sleepovers. His first broken heart and first real girlfriend. Spring formals and proms, learning to drive and driving alone. Vacations and game nights, homework and playing in the snow. A lifetime in eighteen years....my time. I've been preparing for this time since he was a baby. I knew it was coming and I savored every minute and now I'm glad that I did.
Some would say that's not much to live for....I say it's everything. If not for each other and to give to others and meet their needs then what.... to get rich, to see the world, to find pleasure for ourselves. Life last for but a moment and then it is gone, a vapor in time.
I have been very blessed, I am comfortable and lack for nothing. I have family and friends who love me. I enjoy my life and more than that I enjoy other people. I define myself not by what I have, but by what I have done for others. Can I make someone smile who is having a bad day? If so, then it's been a good day. Am I willing to bless someone with some money I might have spent on myself, even if I think they don't deserve it? If so, then it's been a good day.
I understand that some people struggle because of the choices they have made. I know that a hand up, is better than a hand out. I don't have rose colored glasses, nor do I wear blinders but I do trust my own heart and Gods guidance. It hasn't failed me yet, nor will it.
I have lived fifty difficult, lonely, wonderful, amazing, scary, unsure, exhilarating, intimidating, exciting, fulfilling years. I wouldn't care to trade or relive one of them. My life is in my future, not my past. My past is to learn from and my future is to live. So here is to life and the wonderful people who have touched mine!