Great Friends & Family

     
     Today is exciting, one of my sister's is coming from Cape Breton. My Hunny will take me to the airport to pick her up. We have privileged parking (handicap) now so, that will be good, nice and close to the door. It s always a catch 22 for me when I have not seen someone in a while and the MSA is progressing.  They notice the change but I don’t want them to be upset. This is the case because I have to use my walker more now and look like I am walking on stilts, it is not smooth at all... So, I want to be strong and not focus on this but, I do not want to dismiss what the other person might be feeling or experiencing.

      We are having a potluck with all the family here in Ottawa. Great family get togethers, this is what it is all about. This is probably the last event where I have everybody over. It is just a lot of work and I will not be able to contribute. What we have to remember,decorating or cleaning what ever the project is, it might not be the same as you would do the project. So, things might not be decorated the same way, or as clean or the project might not be the same, but sometimes good enough is good enough. This of course is okay, we are have different ideas but, you have to realize you will have to let this all go, the control, and remember you are making memories.

     

     We had a couple of great family get togethers, which were a lot of eating, laughing and stories. During one event, I gave everyone a MSA Awareness bracelet and we all put our hands in the center and took a picture.

     My friends from Barrie came for the night. My friend phoned me and asked if they could come, I asked, “when” and she said, “now”. I love this about them they are so spontaneous. Which is a good thing, not to give me too much time to think and over analyze. I would ask myself questions like, “can they hear me or can they understand me, will they be embarrassed of me walking with my walker?” I have to remind myself they don’t see me the same way as I see myself. Thankfully, they see their sister or friend or loved one, who has been inflicted with this awful disease.

   While my friends  and sister were here my Hunny treated us all like royalty. We went for a walk and we put our feet up and watched the sunset. He made us dinner, red wine and served it.  I have to remember I am the same person on the inside just broken on the outside.

 

     My sister went visiting my other sister's and came back with an MSA bracelet and a dragonfly to decorate my walker.  This made me think of words a dear friend wrote to me recently. She had saw a dragonfly and thought of me, so she researched the dragonfly and again was reminded of me. 

Power and Poise  

     
The dragonfly’s agile flight and its ability to move in all six directions exude a sense of power and poise - something that comes only with age and maturity. 
The dragonfly can move at an amazing 45 miles an hour, hover like a helicopter fly backwards like a hummingbird, fly straight up, down and on either side. What is mind blowing is the fact that it can do this while flapping its wings a mere 30 times a minute while mosquitoes and houseflies need to flap their wings 600 and 1000 times a minute respectively. 
The awe inspiring aspect is how the dragonfly accomplishes its objectives with utmost simplicity, effectiveness and well, if you look at proportions, with 20 times as much power in each of its wing strokes when compared to the other insects.  The best part is that the dragonfly does it with elegance and grace that can be compared to a veteran ballet dancer. If this is not a brazen, lazy, overkill in terms of display of raw power, what is? You may not feel as graceful as you once did, but everyone’s eyes you are still elegant and graceful like the dragonfly because we still love you and admire you for who you really are. I’ve never met anyone who would set a goal and effectively pursue it with such passion. You are an amazing woman!

Focus on living ‘IN’ the moment


     The dragonfly normally lives most of its life as a nymph or an immature. It flies only for a fraction of its life and usually not more than a few months. This adult dragonfly does it all in these few months and leaves nothing to be desired. This style of life symbolizes and exemplifies the virtue of living IN the moment and living life to the fullest. By living in the moment you are aware of who you are, where you are, what you are doing, what you want, what you don’t and make informed choices on a moment-to-moment basis. This ability lets you live life without regets like the dragonfly. I have a feeling you can identify with this and have been taking full advantage of living “IN” the moment and to the fullest! You are such a deep and thoughtful person in all that you do; I can’t imagine you having any regrets only wonderful accomplishments- two accomplishments of which are your son and daughter.

     

     It is quite an honour to know you had such a profound impact on someone, thank you for this.These are very important messages that we have to remind ourselves of. It is nice to know when people see dragonflies I will always be remembered!