Graduation Week

I can't believe it. It's surreal. It's unbelievable. My two youngest daughters, Kendra and Kolby are graduating this week. On the same day, this Thursday. Kolby from 8th grade at 1:00 pm and Kendra from high school at 7:00 pm.

I am so filled with emotion. When I start to think about the days I would sit in front of the television with Kendra, who as an 8 month old, had to watch Barney for 8 hours straight, I get very melancholy. She just LOVED that purple dinosaur. She owned everything Barney. Her sheets, blankets, pillow, pj's, toothbrush, hairbrush, hairbows, you name it, she owned it. Now, she's interested in Ed Hardy clothes, a laptop, moving out as soon as she can and college!

Then there's my Kolby Girl. The youngest of the four. The little girl with four mothers. Our baby. She'll be a freshman next year. A freshman! She continues to convince me everyday that she's as excited about Kendra moving out and going away to college as she is about beginning high school!

As my life continues to change, with daughters getting married, having children of their own, graduating middle school, graduating high school and preparing for college and all the other "changes" I'm experiencing, I'm reminded of one thing.

Time is but a fleeting moment and we need to savor every one.

Trudy

It was twenty four years ago. I was living in Charlotte, married to Teryn and Tawni's father, when I met her. Due to some family issues, my little sister Brenda, who was a teenager at the time was also living with us. I first saw her when I was working for a fitness center. She and her husband were visiting the tanning salon across from my place of work. I don't remember exactly, but I think they came over to check out our memberships and we struck up a conversation. From that day on, each day she came to the salon, we would talk. During one of our conversations, she mentioned she needed a sitter. I told her about Brenda. We came to find out that we lived in apartment complexes next to eachother. We exchanged numbers and before long, I was introducing her to my little sister, who became the regular babysitter to her son, Donnie.

Our friendship was instant. Trudy and I felt like we'd known eachother for years. We could talk about anything. Believe me, we did then and today, we still do. That was the beginning of our lifelong friendship. Trudy has been through all of the challenges's life has brought my way and I've been there for hers. The divorces, kid issues, deaths in the family, personal issues, my destructive habits, etc. etc. I swear this woman knows me better than anyone.

Three years ago, she called to let me know that her doctor needed to perform an emergency hysterectomy. That was how it started. That ugly word came not long after. Cancer. Chemotherapy came next. She handled it all with class. After chemotherapy treatments, she had to have full body scans every few months to make sure the cancer hadn't returned. Each evening before her scan, and the next morning during the ride into the hospital, we'd pray together. Like so many times she'd done for me, it was my turn to encourage and support her. And each time, the scans were clear and we would rejoice together and plan our next yearly weekend Chateau Elan trip. This is something we've done every year for 8 years. Away from husbands, kids, worries and it's our time. Noone's ever been invited on these trips. And we've made a pact that we will never take anyone else there, not even our husbands.

Three weeks ago, the call was quite different. The doctor's found something. There were spots on her lungs that needed to be biopsied. And a few days later, the results were in. The cancer was back and this time had metastized to her lungs. I was shocked. I got angry, I cried and then I got a grip.

This past Tuesday, Trudy started chemotherapy again. This time, it will be much more aggressive. She will have treatments for 9 hours a day, 3 days straight, with a three week break followed by another round. Then the waiting will begin. She will have another full body scan. The goal: to shrink the tumors so they can be removed surgically.

This cancer is called leiomyosarcoma. It's a rare, soft tissue cancer that attacks the soft tissue, i.e. lungs, liver, uterus. Only 10,000 people get it each year.

Trudy and I have long had a dream since we became friends. We've layed on our beds at Chateau Elan during our weekend trips and talked and imagined one day living as roommates when we're 80 to live out the last days of our lives together. (Sorry, George and Terry, but stats show that women outlive men, so this is why we started making these plans years ago!).

Trudy and I still have lots we want to do. When Trudy is well again, Chateau Elan, here we come!

And when we're 80, we'll take a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, please.

Family Beach Trip!

© hotelscombined.com

Amazing Love

I wasn't alive 2000 years ago. I didn't exist. Not on this earth anyway. But, He knew. He knew that I would be born on June 2, 1964. He knew the time. He knew the place. He knew the parents He would choose to conceive me. He knew everything about me and He loved me anyway. He loved me long before I ever knew or loved Him.

He was full aware of the sins I would commit. He knew the mistakes I would make. He even knew about the times I would turn my back on Him or forget Him altogether. He knew all of these things, yet He did it anyway.

He suffered a severe beating. He carried a cross. He allowed nails to be driven into His hands and feet. He wept for me. At the end, He asked His Father to "forgive them, for they know not what they do" and then He drew his last breath. It was finished.

Three days later, gloriously, He rose again. And one day soon, He will come back. And, I will be ready.

Yes, 2000 years ago, He died for me. He died for you. The gospel is simple, yet we are the ones who make it complicated. It's simply His amazing love. And I thank God for it.

Happy Easter.

God Help Us and Wake Up People!

CHILLING LETTER TO OBAMA
Subject: A LETTER FROM A PROCTER AND GAMBLE EXECUTIVE TO THE PRESIDENT
THE LAST SENTENCE IS THE MOST CHILLING

Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management.. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and "class", always blaming others.
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the "blame America"' crowd and deliver this message abroad.
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.
You scare me because you prefer "wind mills" to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaugh's, Hannitys, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.
You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

*This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it. Big surprise. Since it hit the internet, however, it has had over 500,000 hits. Keep it going. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing. It's happening right now.

In 8 years, Lou may be right and I may not be able to even post this. God help us and wake up people!

Granny's Prank Call

Last week when I was hanging out with Kendra's cheer squad, the girl's were placing prank calls to their friends and family. This one particular girl, Taylor, could do a great Chinese impersonation. She was calling people in a strong Chinese accent saying, "Hello, vuuuu like cheeeken? You want me bring you some cheeeeken?" It was hilarious. I listened to a few of her phone calls and then, had an idea. :)

So, I approached this girl and said, "Hey, let's call my Granny." And we did. This is what happened.

The phone rang three times before I heard that familiar, sweet voice, "Allo?" (remember Granny has a strong, spanish accent). Taylor began, "Uuuu vant cheeeken?" My grandmother said, "Who dis?" She said, "Tis da cheeeken laaaady!, Uuuuu vant some cheeeeken?" Granny spoke up, "WHO DIS? DIS BIKKI?" Taylor said, "Noooooo! I told u, I CHEEEEKEN LADY!, Uuuuu vant cheeeeken?" Granny said, "No, I no want cheeeken. I tink jew have wrong number?" I quickly whispered in Taylor's ear and told her my grandmother's name. So, she went on. "Uuuuu name Esperanza? I hear u make gooooood cheeeeken, so, uuuuuu vant cheeeeeken or not?" My grandmother was insistent. "WHO DIS?!"

This girl was good. "I tell u already, I cheeeeeken lady!! I have lots cheeeeken, teriyaki cheeeeken, bar-b-que cheeeeken, all kinds cheeeekken, u want cheeeken?!!?!?!?

What happened next was priceless. My sweet, precious, little Granny lost her patience and in her most stern voice spoke loud and clear as she responded,

"NO, I TELL YOU ALREADY, I NO WANT CHEEEEKEN!!! I GONNA MAKE FISH!"

And with that, she hung up.

*&$% Happens!

What a great, fun day at Disneyland with Kendra, Kolby, lots of friends and Kendra's cheer squad! We had a blast all day. We rode every ride, saw an Elvis Show and laughed our heads off together.

Kolby had a riding buddy and was having the time of her life. This was the first time since she was 6 that she's been to Disney, so it would be the first time she'd remember it all. I was so thrilled to see Kolby having such a great time! She even danced on the streets during the parade, as one of the dancers picked her out of the crowd to be his partner!

But, then tragedy hit. During the last ride of the night on Splash Mountain, Kolby lost $51 bucks of her own money (it must have fallen out of her pocket) and the battery to her brand new Canon digital camera. She was crushed. She tried her best not to cry, but not hard enough. I held her and tried my best to comfort her, but she was not buying it. Here she'd had this great day at Disney, only for it to be ruined in the last hour! She said, "Disney HATES me!!!"

So, I decided to try and use it as a lesson. I said, "Kolby, let's look at it this way. Let's imagine a family spending the day at Disney, who shouldn't have even been there because they couldn't afford it, were praying all day for God to help them somehow. Maybe they didn't even know how they were going to feed their kids dinner. They kept smiling because they didn't want their kids to know how worried they were." I went on. "Just imagine, what if they were praying and asking God to help them find a way to either eat or buy a small souvenir to remember the day, but had NO money to do it. They knew they shouldn't have been at Disney, but they were tired of telling their kids no, we can't afford this or that and decided to just do it. Think about that! What if that were true? Just think about how God used you to bless them. Sometimes we have to sacrifice for others to be blessed. Try to think about your money being in the hands of someone who really needed it, found it and cried knowing God heard their prayer."

She looked at me in tears and said, "OK, Mommy. I can see that, but what about my camera battery? Was someone praying for a specific Canon Digital Camera Battery?! What about that?" I looked at my baby and said, "Don't have a good explanation for that one, baby, but all I can say, Kolb, is *&$% happens."

We both laughed so hard and then all was good.