Sitting on the bench in the old train station, they prepare to say their goodbyes.
There is an unspoken understanding between them.
Once he descends the stairs to the boarding platform, their relationship and roles they will play in each other's lives will change forever.
Saying goodbye is always the hardest part........
Neither of them speaks of the truth that hangs over their heads and in many ways neither wants to acknowledge the change. How do you say goodbye to something you have treasured and fought for during the past nine years?
Saying goodbye is always the hardest part.........
It is as if they are the only two who exist in the station.
Even though the station is bustling with activity, she can only hear his voice.
She looks into his eyes and sees not only the pain he is feeling knowing he has to let part of his heart go, but she can also see the happiness he feels for the journey his is about to begin.
Saying goodbye is always the hardest part........
She does her best to make things okay for him (as she has often done throughout the past nine years).
She struggles with holding it together, with not letting on to how much pain she is feeling.
Afterall, she loves him......unconditionally.
Suddenly they both realize the station attendant has announced his train is ready to board.
She walks him to the stairwell, they embrace and tell each other how much they love each other.
As he turns to walk through the doors that will lead him to the train, they both have tears in their eyes.
Saying goodbye is always the hardest part..........
Knowing she will fall apart if she watches him walk through the doors towards the rest of his life, she resists the urge to look over her shoulder just one more time.
Even though her heart is breaking, she forces herself to walk with her head high, looking straight ahead.
When she arrives at her car, she gets in, puts on her seatbelt, puts the key in the ignition and begins to sob.
Afterall.......saying goodbye was always the hardest part..........
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.”
Throughout my life, there have been times I have allowed the people around me to change me. The change was not always a positive one. There always comes a time during those moments that I stop and look at who I have become and I don't like the person looking back at me. It is at that moment that I began to re-evaluate and attempt to realign my actions with my beliefs and the person I want to be.
I like to think I am a generous, caring and giving individual. Unfortunately, I do not always act on those qualities. I can also be very selfish and sometimes I try to disguise my selfishness as something else. I am also VERY stubborn (yes Mr. Mr....I said stubborn and not will full.) I am the daughter of two very stubborn people who taught me to stand my ground on things that are important to me. Unfortunately, I don't always know when to ease up on my hold!
I am lucky to have a handful of people in my life that call me on my crap. I have learned that criticism is not comfortable, but when it comes from people you love and trust, it is easier to take. It is those people that I keep close to me and work really hard to maintain our friendship. I think it is important to have people in your life that you can talk to about anything!
Being able to go weeks, months, even years without seeing or talking with someone, but feeling right at home with them when you do reconnect is rare and I treasure the relationships I have with those friends. I often stop and think about the connection I have with them and how I came to create that connection.
Some of my closest and longest friendships began at Camp Runels in Pelham NH. I started as a camper at the age of 10 and spent my last summer at Camp Runels when I was 22. Wow...12 summers of my life were spent living in the woods with a crazy bunch of women. I didn't know it at the time, but both the women who were my counselors and the women I worked with side by side helped to shape the person I became. It is amazing how intense a friendship can become in just a few short weeks. When I was a camper, each summer there was a counselor that was my favorite. Each summer, I would come home with a new "cause". One summer I decided to boycott Cocoa Cola because of the apartheid in South Africa and another summer I wanted my parents to make sure they were not purchasing coffee from Colombia. My dad would just shake his had at me and my mom would try her best to support my belief (I am sure that she was shaking her head when I wasn't looking!).
Although, I am not proud of everything I have said or done, I am proud of the person I choose to be. I am generous, kind hearted, compassionate, loyal, loving and many other things. I know I am flawed and I try to face those flaws and attempt to improve. I have fought hard to work through some things nobody should have to live through. I am a survivor! I owe my friends and family a HUGE thank you for sharing their strength with me, lending me their ears and shoulders to cry on and most of all for loving me when I haven't always loved myself.
It is because of all of you that I am who I am today. Each of you have shared yourselves with me and taught me something along the way! THANK YOU for helping me to "make sure my life is worth watching".
I like to think I am a generous, caring and giving individual. Unfortunately, I do not always act on those qualities. I can also be very selfish and sometimes I try to disguise my selfishness as something else. I am also VERY stubborn (yes Mr. Mr....I said stubborn and not will full.) I am the daughter of two very stubborn people who taught me to stand my ground on things that are important to me. Unfortunately, I don't always know when to ease up on my hold!
I am lucky to have a handful of people in my life that call me on my crap. I have learned that criticism is not comfortable, but when it comes from people you love and trust, it is easier to take. It is those people that I keep close to me and work really hard to maintain our friendship. I think it is important to have people in your life that you can talk to about anything!
Being able to go weeks, months, even years without seeing or talking with someone, but feeling right at home with them when you do reconnect is rare and I treasure the relationships I have with those friends. I often stop and think about the connection I have with them and how I came to create that connection.
Some of my closest and longest friendships began at Camp Runels in Pelham NH. I started as a camper at the age of 10 and spent my last summer at Camp Runels when I was 22. Wow...12 summers of my life were spent living in the woods with a crazy bunch of women. I didn't know it at the time, but both the women who were my counselors and the women I worked with side by side helped to shape the person I became. It is amazing how intense a friendship can become in just a few short weeks. When I was a camper, each summer there was a counselor that was my favorite. Each summer, I would come home with a new "cause". One summer I decided to boycott Cocoa Cola because of the apartheid in South Africa and another summer I wanted my parents to make sure they were not purchasing coffee from Colombia. My dad would just shake his had at me and my mom would try her best to support my belief (I am sure that she was shaking her head when I wasn't looking!).
Although, I am not proud of everything I have said or done, I am proud of the person I choose to be. I am generous, kind hearted, compassionate, loyal, loving and many other things. I know I am flawed and I try to face those flaws and attempt to improve. I have fought hard to work through some things nobody should have to live through. I am a survivor! I owe my friends and family a HUGE thank you for sharing their strength with me, lending me their ears and shoulders to cry on and most of all for loving me when I haven't always loved myself.
It is because of all of you that I am who I am today. Each of you have shared yourselves with me and taught me something along the way! THANK YOU for helping me to "make sure my life is worth watching".
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Bucket List Item: Enter A Photo Contest
I have always loved taking pictures. I have boxes and boxes of pictures I have taken. My first camera was the Fischer Price camera. It was blue and black and took the old school rolls of film.
I recently went from a Canon 35 mm Rebel SLR to a Canon Rebel T1 Digital SLR. I struggled with making the transition because I loved my good ole film camera. There is definitely a difference in the quality of print that comes from digital versus film. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am now taking a photography class so I can better familiarize myself with "Darlene" (yes I named my new camera). My goal is to no longer use the auto feature on the camera and shoot strictly with the manual function.
When I was visiting my pal BJ in Cleveland, we went to the zoo. I LOVE zoos! After he saw some of my pictures, he encouraged me to enter them into the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo annual photo contest. Now, I don't live in Ohio or any place within driving distance to the zoo, so the prizes are not beneficial to me at all......but I am not entering the contest to win the prizes. I love shooting pics of animals and trying to capture their personality (I know.....hard to do with a "caged" animal.). I hope that I will be able to master taking pics of animals that are in a confined area so when I finally make it to Africa, I will be able to shoot pics, of animals roaming freely, with ease.
I recently went from a Canon 35 mm Rebel SLR to a Canon Rebel T1 Digital SLR. I struggled with making the transition because I loved my good ole film camera. There is definitely a difference in the quality of print that comes from digital versus film. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am now taking a photography class so I can better familiarize myself with "Darlene" (yes I named my new camera). My goal is to no longer use the auto feature on the camera and shoot strictly with the manual function. 
When I was visiting my pal BJ in Cleveland, we went to the zoo. I LOVE zoos! After he saw some of my pictures, he encouraged me to enter them into the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo annual photo contest. Now, I don't live in Ohio or any place within driving distance to the zoo, so the prizes are not beneficial to me at all......but I am not entering the contest to win the prizes. I love shooting pics of animals and trying to capture their personality (I know.....hard to do with a "caged" animal.). I hope that I will be able to master taking pics of animals that are in a confined area so when I finally make it to Africa, I will be able to shoot pics, of animals roaming freely, with ease.
The pics in the blog are the ones I entered into the contest.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
BucketList: Visit 1 MLB Ballpark Every Year
Some may find it ironic that this is one of my bucket list items because 12 years ago, I was not a huge baseball fan. I have to give credit to an old friend in TX for my passion for baseball. He challenged my RedSox knowledge daily (I have to admit.....I would read up on the team only because I had a crush on him and I wanted to impress him). So a big thank you to Andy for getting me hooked on baseball!
Baseball quickly became something I looked forward and relied on for stress relief. When I moved to California and met my best friend Adam, baseball was always the one thing that would bring us back together if there was a strain between us. Going to a ballgame always seemed to make things better.
My goal is to visit all 30 MLB parks. I have visited 18 ballparks, but 4 of them have since closed so I still have 16 to go...... I guess 47% isn't so bad! I had planned to get to Minneapolis last year for the final year at the Metrodome, but just couldn't squeeze it in. Next year I have to get to Miami for the final season at Sun Life Stadium. Marlins Ballpark is scheduled to open in 2012.
Ballparks Visited
Baseball quickly became something I looked forward and relied on for stress relief. When I moved to California and met my best friend Adam, baseball was always the one thing that would bring us back together if there was a strain between us. Going to a ballgame always seemed to make things better.
My goal is to visit all 30 MLB parks. I have visited 18 ballparks, but 4 of them have since closed so I still have 16 to go...... I guess 47% isn't so bad! I had planned to get to Minneapolis last year for the final year at the Metrodome, but just couldn't squeeze it in. Next year I have to get to Miami for the final season at Sun Life Stadium. Marlins Ballpark is scheduled to open in 2012.
Ballparks Visited
- Boston Red Sox: Fenway Park
- Texas Rangers: Ballpark in Arlington
- Oakland Athletics: Coliseum
- San Francisco Giants: AT&T Park
- Los Angeles Dodgers: Dodger Stadium
- Los Angeles Angels: Angels Stadium
- St. Louis Cardinals: Busch Stadium (did not attend a game)
- Baltimore Orioles: Camden Yard
- Milwaukee Brewers: Miller Park
- Tampa Bay Rays: Tropicana Field
- Seattle Mariners: Safeco Field
- Atlanta Braves: Turner Field
- New York Mets: Shea Stadium
- New York Yankees: Yankee Stadium (old)
- Washington Nationals: RFK
- Philadelphia Phillies: Citizens Bank Park
- Washington Nationals: Nationals Park
- Cleveland Indians: Progressive Field
- Arizona Diamond Backs: Chase Field
- Chicago White Sox: U.S. Cellular Field
- Chicago Cubs: Wrigley Field
- Cincinnati Reds: Great American Ball Park
- Detroit Tigers: Comerica Park
- Colorado Rockies: Coors Field
- Kansas City Royals: Kauffman Stadium
- Florida Marlins: Sun Life Stadium
- Houston Astros: Minute Maid Park
- Minnesota Twins: Target Field
- New York Yankees: Yankee Stadium (new)
- New York Mets: Citi Field
- Pittsburgh Pirates: PNC Park
- San Diego Padres: PETCO Park
- Toronto Blue Jays: Rogers Centre
- St. Louis Cardinals: Busch Stadium
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Bucket List: Open an Etsy shop
One a friend of mine told me about Etsy, I was thrilled to see so many crafty people selling their projects!
I have always loved to make things. Whether it is baking, scrapbooking, making jewlery or candles, I love watching a pile of random materials turn into something completely different. I have a bad habit of attempting many projects at a time and sometimes that means one or more of the projects never gets completed.
I find if I tell other people about my plans and projects, I have a stronger drive to finish them. Well......I after helping my mom set up her Etsy shop.....I decided I definitely needed one of my own. It has taken me a while to get things going. I have so many interests, that it was difficult to decide what to sell. I decided I would sell beaded items. It started with rosaries and then I saw items that inspired me to make other types of jewelry. I posted two of my rosaries on my blog and Facebook and before I had a chance to post them for sale, I had an interest in them. It was reaffirming to see that people liked what I was making.
Soo......if you know of anyone who is in need of a unique piece of jewelry or someone about to make their First Communion or Confirmation stop by my shop and see if there is something you like. I only have three items posted right now, but will be posting more throughout the week. If you see something you like, but want a different color scheme or gemstone, just let me know.
Hope you enjoy!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/trstinghrt
I have always loved to make things. Whether it is baking, scrapbooking, making jewlery or candles, I love watching a pile of random materials turn into something completely different. I have a bad habit of attempting many projects at a time and sometimes that means one or more of the projects never gets completed.
I find if I tell other people about my plans and projects, I have a stronger drive to finish them. Well......I after helping my mom set up her Etsy shop.....I decided I definitely needed one of my own. It has taken me a while to get things going. I have so many interests, that it was difficult to decide what to sell. I decided I would sell beaded items. It started with rosaries and then I saw items that inspired me to make other types of jewelry. I posted two of my rosaries on my blog and Facebook and before I had a chance to post them for sale, I had an interest in them. It was reaffirming to see that people liked what I was making.
Soo......if you know of anyone who is in need of a unique piece of jewelry or someone about to make their First Communion or Confirmation stop by my shop and see if there is something you like. I only have three items posted right now, but will be posting more throughout the week. If you see something you like, but want a different color scheme or gemstone, just let me know.
Hope you enjoy!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/trstinghrt
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Baking Goodness......
When I lived in California, I never lacked people to try out my cooking on......I lived next door to a group of guys that had big appetites and I knew I could always get them to eat! My best friend would also occasionally host his D&D sessions at my place so there was another group of guys to cook for. I miss hosting dinner parties, murder mystery dinners and various holiday dinners. I love to cook and bake, but HATE doing it for just one person. I am not a big fan of left overs, but have forced myself start cooking again and eat left overs.
I still don't know how to cook for just one, but I have stopped letting that stop me from cooking. I grew up learning to cook from a mother who cooks like a true Italian and makes food enough for armies of people!
Recently my Assistant Manager shared with me a blog that one of her friends is doing about baking and blogging. She shared it with me because she knows I like to bake and share food with people. I am a messy cook so I didn't want to take pictures of the process (Not to mention the lighting in my basement apartment is terrible!). I looked at the list of cupcakes and although there were several I wanted to try, I decided to start on two flavors and see where that led me.
I decided to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes and Vanilla Almond Maple Cupcakes. Here is the link where I found the recipes: http://mingmakescupcakes.yolasite.com/. I think next weekend I am going to do the Chocolate Cupcakes with Chambord Frosting.
Because my waistline can not afford to keep all these cupcakes in the house, they will be going to work with me tomorrow. Hope my staff likes them!
I still don't know how to cook for just one, but I have stopped letting that stop me from cooking. I grew up learning to cook from a mother who cooks like a true Italian and makes food enough for armies of people!
Recently my Assistant Manager shared with me a blog that one of her friends is doing about baking and blogging. She shared it with me because she knows I like to bake and share food with people. I am a messy cook so I didn't want to take pictures of the process (Not to mention the lighting in my basement apartment is terrible!). I looked at the list of cupcakes and although there were several I wanted to try, I decided to start on two flavors and see where that led me.
I decided to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes and Vanilla Almond Maple Cupcakes. Here is the link where I found the recipes: http://mingmakescupcakes.yolasite.com/. I think next weekend I am going to do the Chocolate Cupcakes with Chambord Frosting.
Because my waistline can not afford to keep all these cupcakes in the house, they will be going to work with me tomorrow. Hope my staff likes them!
 |
Vanilla Almond Maple Cupcake |
 |
| Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcake |
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
New Hair Product
So....I LOVE watching HSN and QVC! I know....sort of dorky and I think it has prepared me for when I am an old lady living in a trailer park in Florida. I also have a fascination with trying new hair products. Before I moved to California 10 years ago, they only chemical treatment my hair had was a perm and that hadn't happened in 5 years. I started having my hair highlighted on a semi-regular basis and for those of you who do so, you know it can dry out your hair. I have been on a mission to find a product to bring the shine back to my hair.
I kept seeing these infomercials and Chaz Dean on HSN for Wen hair products. I am always got sucked into the infomercials, but never bought the product. Well.....I finally caved and bought the product. I have only used it once, but I will post pics of my hair in a 30 days after I have tried the product for a month. So far, so good. I do miss the suds that "normal" shampoo produces, there is just something about all of those bubbles in my hair as I am washing it. I love the smell and the feel of the Wen hair conditioner and before I went outside into the humidity yesterday, it brought the natural curls out of my hair, without making it frizzy......
I guess time will tell!
I kept seeing these infomercials and Chaz Dean on HSN for Wen hair products. I am always got sucked into the infomercials, but never bought the product. Well.....I finally caved and bought the product. I have only used it once, but I will post pics of my hair in a 30 days after I have tried the product for a month. So far, so good. I do miss the suds that "normal" shampoo produces, there is just something about all of those bubbles in my hair as I am washing it. I love the smell and the feel of the Wen hair conditioner and before I went outside into the humidity yesterday, it brought the natural curls out of my hair, without making it frizzy......
I guess time will tell!
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