Monday, May 30, 2005

Calling All Angels !

I am in need of an army of angels!

A dear friend has just been diagnosed with breast cancer, had surgery last week, and is looking at chemo and radiation as soon as she has healed from the surgery. Here's the rub... she has little to no support network and is in a bad way. To make matters worse, I have just recently moved out of state, so I'm not as local as I would need to be.

I have another legion of angels praying for her, and you can do that as well if you like, but I am calling on you to send her cards and little acts of kindness in the mail.

Her name is Helen, and we go way back to grade school. She doesnt have email, so postal mail would be a real treat and would help lift her spirits and keep her focused on getting well.

Here's her name and address:
Helen Camper
588 Valleywood Rd
Millersville, MD 21108

She doesnt know I am asking, but I am sure she would appreciate any little act of kindness or consideration you might extend to her. I know I would be very grateful if you would keep her on your radar screen as she goes along this scary, lonely journey.

PEACE.

HeartSleeve

Friday, May 27, 2005

This is the Day that the LORD has made!

A new chapter is beginning for me, as I acclimate to recent seismic changes in my life: retirement from my spin-doctor job in Washington DC in April, leaving my family and my home of the last 20 years and moving to the ocean in May. My head is still spinning but I am anxious to open wide the door marked "Possibility."

My last days in Bowie were spent boxing up those items that no longer fit into the more simple life I hope to begin. In the end, I free-cycled most of it to family, friends and neighbors who could find some use or enjoyment from what I was leaving behind.

And to make this last week in Bowie just as complicated as I possibly could, I bought a new car -- a brand-spanking new '06 HONDA Ridgeline, the first p/up truck I've ever owned. It's a beaut, steel blue with a hint of teal... and rugged in a girlie kinda way, same as its new owner.

And although I've been retired now for nearly a month, I don't feel retired (whatever that may come to mean) because my life and days have been jam-packed finalizing my move, and in helping a dear friend deal with the news she has breast cancer. Everything I am experiencing right now, either in my own life or vicariously through the lives of close friends and family, reminds me that we do not own this life, and we are largely powerless to fend off CHANGE when it arrives, oftentimes unannounced at our door.

I have come to realize, however, that when we surrender control of the steering wheel, we usually end up in a far better place than we might have under our own white-knuckled control.

I am ready for that journey to begin.