Thankfulness and calmness

Today, like everyday is a day to remember to be grateful and thankful for all you have. As some of you know, I live on Long Island and our small little seaside community was hit hard from Hurricane Sandy. I was one of the “luckier” ones, having no major damage or devastation to any of my family members. Others, were not so lucky and I meet and chat with them throughout this Thanksgiving weekend. I am always amazed and in awe of a humans ability to deal with stress and tragedy. I listen and read and watch what people have lost in the storm. Many are now without homes, destroyed, condemned or washed into the ocean. As I sit and have an abundant and delicious Thanksgiving meal with my family, I  pray and say grace with my husband and children and remember our loved ones past, and we pray for peace and I ask God to help those less fortunate. I am always humbled, and my soul reaches out to God and thanks him for my beautiful and healthy family. I pray my children continue to grow and become kind and strive for their dreams. I realize at that very moment that I am blessed. I have every single thing I “need”, and emotionally I swim in it. I have learned to live in the moment of peace, to embrace it and thank my parents and my family for nuturing and cherishing me. I have lost both my parents, and I still feel that loss each day. I have been on a personal journey of sorts. My first priority was accepting the loss of my mother, 3 years ago. I disconnected and floated in grief and sadness for awhile, allowing myself to mourn and heal slowly. I believe you can smile again, laugh again and heal your heart piece by piece. I truly believe that if you have faith, and believe in a beautiful everlasting peace, heaven is our final journey.This has comforted and healed me throughout the years and I continue to heal. The Christmas holidays were always a special time for my parents. I try and honor them and keep some of the old traditions going. I have so many heirlooms and keepsakes of Christmas, my mother was quite the Christmas nut and crafter. Having all the things she made and designed around me brings me a comfort and warmth now…I cherish each ornament and arrangement and handmade dolls more than I ever had. Tradition is part bringing in new traditions and always celebrating the old traditions with it. I want my children to have that foundation. I hope one day they will pass them down to their children. I pray this year, I find the joy my mother had every year. It truly is about the “moments”…perhaps that is what inspired me to start to write again and blog about it.  Below is the beginning of Kent Falls. Mike and I snuck away right before the storm and had a weekend of adventure and beautiful nature. I posted a pic or two, it was really an awesome weekend. Enjoy your Sunday ~ leeleeImage

Kent Falls, Conn.

Kent Falls, Conn.

A magnificient natural waterfall, this is the bottom half of this majestic wonder!

Sandy’s Aftermath

Hello Blog world. This feels odd, like twilight zoneish, privileged to be able to communicate with the world once again. It’s been a long 2 weeks, 8 of those days without any power or heat. I can’t tell you how it felt because now I am sitting in a warm kitchen with a hot cup of coffee blogging about it. I can tell you what I feel today, now, at this very moment. Humbled, grateful and eager to reach out to the less fortunate. I consider myself a spiritual person. I have a deep faith in God and Jesus. I humbly admit through my darkest times, my faith has been my healer. I also readily admit, like most humans, I turn to God when I am hurting or scared the most. I had blogged about the hurricane the morning of the storm, but I don’t think any of us islanders were prepared for the devastation and aftermath. Before I forget…. I still have my home, my family and extended family are safe. Therefore, I am lucky, I am blessed and I know this is all that truly matters. I have been through some major storms, black outs, 9/11, deaths, heartaches, you name it. The ole saying is true…What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger. During tragedy, devastations, you have lots of time for self reflection. Also, you have no choice. When the “lights” go out, the internet, social media world, news, noise, warmth, hot water goes with it. Humbling…uhhhh Hell YES. When your body is chilled and numb you appreciate heat. When you are in the dark, you realize that sunlight and electricity is a luxury. When you are forced to throw out all your perishables, you appreciate a hot home cooked meal.  When you hold a steaming cup of tea or coffee or hot chocolate, you feel like royalty! In reality, I lost nothing in Hurricane Sandy. Sure we endured 9 days and 8 nights of now power, but then I ventured outside to inhale the reality of losing more than “power”. I live in a heavily wooded development. I love trees. I become attached to them. I watch them change each season and revel in their beauty.  My town has 100 year old big Oaks, maples, walnut. Sturdy and majestic with lots of everygreens and pines surrounding them. Within moments as I made my way down our street, I saw them ripped from the ground, the sidewalks, some of them bigger than a house. Alot of them landed on a house, on a vehicle or just fell on the street blocking the roads completely. This area on Long Island has above ground electrical power. 90% of Long Island lost power. You can’t imagine within a mile radius of my home what I saw. Every street, every block had major devastation. It truly looked like a war zone. We drove in silence, we cried for our neighbors. I think my brain processed the reality of the storm that morning. I prayed and deep inside I knew we would not return to “normal” for a long period of time. I immediately switched into survival mode. We are fortunate to have gas cooking, so I had a stove top. We have a wood burning fireplace, we could stay warm. I can heat water, make food, again, I am humbled. Within days, we were able to get provisions, milk and eggs and bread. I followed the sunlight, using every minute of it to function. I read many books, I became attached to my book light! I made sure I knew where it was at all times! It became my own personal guiding light. We went to bed very early, slept with 3 blankets, dressed in several layers. We survived. I became a pro at sponge baths (smirks), when a friend offered me a hot shower, I felt like I hit the lottery. You adapt, and you pray and you thank God your family is safe. Now it is time to give back. To help the families that have lost their homes. To offer a hug to someone who lost a family member during the storm. It’s time to gather what I have in abundance, clothing, blankets, coats, canned foods and give them to someone who is cold and hungry or homeless. It is the least I can do today. As a mother, I often sat in the dark thinking about the temperatures dropping daily, the infants, babies, toddlers and how that mom must feel right now. She just wants her baby to be warm and fed.  I just want to pay it all forward, my heart tells me so. I know the red cross is asking for a $10 donation. I am not wealthy, but I can spare $10 to help another human. Please do so If you can. Pray for the families that lost much more than “power” during this storm. Most food banks, shelters are in need of diapers and formula, water and blankets. If you can help or know of anyone who can donate these items please do! You can log onto    http://www.redcross.org/hurricane-sandy  and make any donation you can afford. Love & peace to all ~ leelee