Life's Loving Memories

  "Fear is the dark room where negatives are developed" Raymond Charles Barker The Power of Decision MY FIRST BIKE It was always a treat to visit my family in Indianapolis, Indiana and when I was about eight years old, we visited my Aunt Elaine, and my cousins.   I had always wanted a bike, and they happened to have an old one that they were not using anymore. Guess what? Yes, it was given to me. Oh, the excitement I felt in learning to ride it for the first time! One of my siblings held on to the back of the bike and told me that there would be a hand on the back of the bike the whole time.   Much to my surprise, after riding the length of the block, I turned to see that there was no one there. I realized that I had ridden the block by myself. What freedom, and absolutely no fear. Remember when you were young, and nothing seemed to get in the way of doing something you wanted to do? It seems that as we get older it's harder to express some of that energetic enthusias

  "May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night,  and the road downhill all the way to your door." An Irish Blessing MY FIRST HOME We have all lived in different houses during our lifetime, but is there a place that stands out vividly in your mind? For me, that house was in Oaklawn, Illinois.   It was a house at the end of a dirt road, right next to a railroad track. It had, to my child’s memory, a huge side yard, a gigantic house, and twenty-one varieties of trees on the other side of the house.   There was a prairie across the street, a creek down the block, and a half-mile stretch down the road to Cicero Avenue, it was a five-year-old’s magical playground. The railroad would rumble down the track at about three o’clock in the afternoon and I would run out into the side yard to wave at the caboose when it passed my house.   There was always a conductor at the back of the train that waved at me and sometimes threw little gifts off the back of th

   I sit here thinking about what to write about in this first New Year's post. My past two books of inspirational essays have had numerous quotes from other people.  I want this new blog to come from my heart.  There will be an occasional quote but mostly, I will speak from my heart.  Many people have influenced my life, from friends and family, to teachers, students, and complete strangers. These weekly entries will share some memories that have touched my heart. I am blessed beyond all measure. "We are always moving toward remembering the truth of who we are, the one perfect extension of eternal love."       --Leenarts and Canton, There is Only You Beholding You EARLIEST MEMORIES My family lived in Illinois when the time neared for my birth. My mother was having complications with her pregnancy, so we went to My Uncle’s house in Indianapolis, Indiana about a month before I was born.  He was going to deliver me, so being close was pretty much a necessity. I was bo