It's all you

What makes some peoples lives so much better?

The answer is simple. Thier choices. Everyday we make choices in life. We chose how something is going to turn out before we even start.

Did you ever notice that when you thought something was going to be difficult, it was. When you thought something was going to be easy, it was. When you thought it was going to be boring or fun, it turned out that it was.

We each create our own lives. This week was all you. If your week was one of the greatest ever, that was all you. And if this week totally sucked, that was all you too. You have an amazing control over everything. The good news is, that this week is not over. If you've had a rough week, theres still time to turn it around. And if it's been amazing, then theres a lot more where that came from. Enjoy!

Cryogenics

Now, I know that a cryogenisist is a person who studies the effects of things under extreme cold temperatures. That being said, it was entertaining to listen to the minister go on about cryogenics.

His point was near lost about how the deceased person was in a better place. Because he was going on about how there are some people that just don't want to leave this body or earth for that matter. He's describing to the family and friends of this departed person that there are rich people that lay on thier death beds with a button next to them. When they feel that they are about to die, they push this button and "doctors" rush in to freeze them solid. So they might be unfrozen at a later point when a cure has been found for whatever it is that they are about to die from. He even went on to say that there are some that go as far as to be decapitated and thier head or brain is stored in a glass jar until a suitable body donor can be found. At this point we're all thinking about the show Futurama with all these talking heads in jars.

His point again was that the deceased was in a better place. And of course he followed it up with a round of "If you are not saved yet, please see me after the service". Since you have a captive audience, may as well try to convert a few.

One has to wonder if this was a rehursed speach or if he was making it up as he went along. Where do they come up with it?

Then out at the cemetary, we were graveside under a tent when a gust of wind blew. The tent billowed and the tent pole popped right apart and almost decapitated the minister. Thought we were going to have to put his head in a jar.

Friends and Family

Yesterday we burried a man in his 80's. I love it when I ask people as they arrive "Are you family or friend?" and they answer "Good friend". To me, they should go at the front of the procession. Family is arranged for you. Friends stand by your side because they want to. And if you are really lucky in life, the two are the same.

This gentleman was one of those. He was the kind of person that anyone could go to with thier problems and he would always have some possitive advice for them. This is something that I try to live myself. To hear his twenty-something grandson stand up and talk about how his grand father was his best friend and that he will miss him dearly just brings tears to your eyes.
There had to be 20 cars in the procession that were friends. Usually when someone reaches thier 80's, there are not a lot of friends left. This man had many. All ages and races.

I wish there were more like what they were describing of this man. According to his best-friend-grandson, he truley loved life and people.

I think it is safe to say that this man's memory will live for a long time. I hope that his legacy will as well.

Behind every face there is a story. And the real decision is whether or not you want to hear that story.

The Trip of a lifetime

This first post is not about death at all. It is about living life. That, is what a brighter side of the grave is. Life. And how we live.

I just returned home from an amazing adventure. Many people have gone on Carribbean cruises before. I wonder how many were like ours.

My husband and I decided to take our aging parents on a cruise of a lifetime. My mother has been sickly for some 30 years and is now 76 years old. My father is 86 and my father-in-law is 91! None of them have ever been on such an excursion. Both our fathers were in WWII. My father in the Navy and his an MP. Thier image of a ship would be a WWII aircraft carrier.

We flew to Miami where we boarded the Navigator of the Sea's from Royal Carribbean. The look on thier faces when they saw this "boat" for the first time was priceless. I'm glad that we chose such a large boat. However, it may have been a little too much for them to take in on a 4 day cruise.

It was difficult to have to help them with everything, all the time. These are the people that raised me and taught me right from wrong and now they can't even read a menu or decide what to get from the buffet. The Navigator crew was very helpful in making sure that we all ate well.

They were like lost little puppies. They didn't know what to do or how to get there. On a 14 story boat that's over a thousand feet long, it's difficult to tell even what floor you are on or if you want to go up or down in the elevator. So, we planned everything the best we could and took them to the shows and tried to get them to enjoy a little early sunshine. Back home in Michigan, we are just now starting to see 50 and 60 degree temps. So 80's felt pretty good to me. But the old ones thought it to be a little too warm. We went to Cozumel, Mexico and my Native American mother didn't even get a tan. My poor father wore a jacket to keep warm from all the air conditioning on board.

Old 91, as I call him, decided he was tired during the day and took a "knapp". Thus was up all night bumbling around with the light on all night. The man is leagally blind but insist on trying to see. So there he is at 3am looking out the window of the room, with the light on behind him, through his binocculars. Wondering what that light is out there on the ocean. I'll say it again, with the light on behind him. I have to wonder if it was the light of the room reflecting in the window or was he seeing something like a refuge boat from Cuba.

My parents were the lucky old saps that had a leaky water pipe in thier room. They got moved from the port-hole window room to a suite 5 floors up with a nice balcony. It was funny to watch them close the drape so no one could see them change.

I can't even come to close to describing everything that we went though. I can however recommend for anyone traveling, to use a walker or wheel chair. We're talking front of the line for check-in. Front of the line for security. Front of the line for boarding and disembarking. People move out of your way and even hold doors. It's amazing.