moments | Tracks In The Dust

Archive for the tag “moments”

26 Feb 2013

1 Comment

Poems, Prayers and Promises [February Edition]

MGert Concert Picture

Since January I have added a new page to http://www.tracksinthedust.com.

I have dredged up some old lyrics and poetry in the page above called The Songs and Poems of Another Time.

For the most part all from the mid-70’s ( for many of you before you were born).

But they were rooted in rock and folk music at the time. Inspiration for stuff that has long sat in spiral-bound notebooks that collected dust over the years. I told my kids I would pull out some of them I was fond of and capture them here. [Yup, that’s me many years ago when rock was younger and so was I).

For those of you who are following, thanks for the indulgence. I kindly recap the February entries here with links.

Posted in Poems, Prayers and Promises and tagged Arts, Memories, moments, Music, Poems of Another Time, Poetry, Song

17 Feb 2013

2 Comments

Go Ahead Take The Leap

What are you waiting for? There has to be those times when you make “the leap”.

A leap of faith perhaps or just a leap from one place to another. Getting out the routine, moving to another place, taking a chance when you haven’t in the past.

There is that inner-voice that can tell you to wait…. something else will come along. But then when do you listen and when don’t you? Can you catch the meaning of it? Sure, it is easy to review all of life’s missed opportunities and regrets. Sigh… There are times that I know I wallow in them.

After all, standing still can feel comfortable. Its familiar. It allows you to maintain control. But really it could mean that you aren’t in control. That comfortable spot you are in could be controlling you. Keeping you from making the leap you need to make…embracing the change. It could be that you remember the failure or the hurt. You find yourself playing-back “old tapes” (as it used to be called before the digital age). Those old things can be like an anchor. You have to learn your lesson, you don’t want to repeat things that are destined to happen again. But you have to recognize your opportunity too.

So those times will come… it is important to recognize then – then it’s time to say “go ahead and take a leap”. Make a move and see where goes next. See what happens.

TAKE THE LEAP!

Posted in Learning Lessons Along the Journey Of Life and tagged Advice, Chances, Change, choices, Faith, mental-health, moments, Moving, Opportunity, Postive Thinking, Reality Check, Regrets, Taking Chances, Trust

03 Feb 2013

1 Comment

Introducing The Cancer Letters

Sharing my story with my kids (and anyone who will read it) I will be writing:

The Cancer Letters

Cancer Letter #1

When I was much younger I remember that feeling of being so invincible. I mean I had my share of childhood illnesses, some afflictions that made its way through grade school years. But overall the thought of succumbing to more treacherous illness or terminal disease was reserved for older people, adults that had “complications” because of their age or the way they lived put them in harm’s way.

Then in middle school I was friends with a girl named “Patty” who our teacher announced one day had Leukemia She was out of school for a while and then actually came back to class. She even went on the class trip to Washington DC. I got to know her and spent hours on the bus ride on our school trip talking with her about many things and about nothing at all. She was a very insightful person. Weeks after we got back from our trip she stopped coming to class. It wasn’t too many weeks later after that she died.

I spent months not clear on what it was that God would do to take someone like her so young and leave the rest of us to feel empty about her not being in our lives anymore. I think I played Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell music for hours on end and created angry artwork (I guess it might have seemed very Bohemian at the time).

So as I grew older and got married, my wife and I had children. And of course as parents we have spent our time worrying about them as they head out the door every day for school. Now as they are out of school and growing into adulthood, we still worry about them. Admittedly we still watch for those things that could indicate more serious issues, we still take a moment when we see them to tell them that we love them.

It was over 20 years ago when my parents passed from this earth to a better place (more about that later). Both of them were in their 70’s and had me when they were much older. But they still would care immensely about my health and safety. In fact when I got older and married, I used to cringe some when I would see them and my mom would dote over me. After all I was a parent myself. I miss that now.

Years went by- living with all of the ups and downs, and then came the day when the Doctor decided that “further tests” were needed. That was the beginning of a life changing event that shook my world, my wife’s world and my family’s world.

To share my story with my kids (and anyone who will read it, I will be writing more of The Cancer Letters.

Posted in The Cancer Letters and tagged Anger, being remembered, Cancer, choices, Grace, Memories, moments, Prostate Cancer, Reality Check, Sprituality

31 Jan 2013

2 Comments

A Most Special Birthday Gift

So not too long ago it was my birthday again. Not complaining at all actually. Pile them on!

I have come to embrace them as I get older and after my cancer diagnosis years ago I made a pact with myself (and my wife) that birthdays should be celebrated. As I have said before that the alternative to not having a birthday is not a good one. Once you are born it’s nice to have a bunch. If you were never born I guess you wouldn’t miss them. I used to be kind of embarrassed by them, I would tell others to just let them pass by without observation.

This birthday is #4 since my surgery and radiation. Disease is a scary thing when it includes the words “cancer” and comes with a ton of statistics that show life expectancy based on one thing or another. It made me and my wife and family permanently different that day. It made me truly understand the power of prayer. I am forever thankful even as we face the most challenging thing that has ever (or likely will ever) happen in my lifetime on this Earth.

So when I reached in the mailbox this birthday anniversary, it took on a whole different meaning again. I had 11 cards arrive in the mail from people I don’t even know. Some had a postmarks from Wisconsin, Oregon, and many from Tennessee They were birthday cards with wishes for a happy life and a long life with the battle ahead. They were like ‘prayers’ from strangers, but not that strange really.

My wife and her friend from Tennessee have been fast-friends corresponding through the Internet for years after her family had been stricken by life threatening cancer that ultimately took lives of family and friends they loved. We even got to meet her a while back when she was in our neck of the woods and had a wonderful time. In her faith and love, she sent a wonderful card and got others to send cards of prayers & wishes for a happy birthday, including a card with a half a dozen signatures from her place of work (TVA).

I am (and will always be) genuinely touched. It was the best birthday present I can remember. It was the statement of God’s grace. It will be a highlight of my life for however long God lets me be here. Making tracksinthedust that will not ever last, but with the chance to touch others once on their journey with grace while time allows- I hope it will move on long after I am gone.

I am truly blessed. Take your time to send a card or a prayer to someone who needs it.

Posted in The Cancer Letters and tagged Birthday, Faith, Grace, Greeting card, life is precious, lifestyle, moments, People, Self-Awareness, Sprituality, Tennessee

27 Jan 2013

2 Comments

A New Page @ Tracksinthedust

So its a few short days from my one year anniversary since I began my blogging journey on WordPress. Admittedly I didn’t have any expectations of how many visits or views I would have. My purpose was to share some of my observations on daily living with my children (at least for more “WWW type” of posterity).

It all started because 4 years ago I was diagnosed with stage 3 prostate cancer. After surgery and radiation therapy and quarterly checks and injections, I started to evaluate my life and what is important.

I realized that my wife and I had shared a lot of wisdom with our kids, but did they remember any of it? For those of you that have older children who have reached the age when others around them (their peer group & classmates) … you realize that they can end up influencing their direction more than a parent can. Because they want to fit in, or they want to stay out of the crowd around them- it all works to shape their choices and their identity. Not that you cannot do your parental part in their lives for as long as you are part of it, but your exclusive influence over their path to adulthood is shared and measured against all of those things that are happening.

So “tracks” in the dust. We all make tracks, we all influence everyone around us – if even for only the brief moment meeting a stranger in a crowd, or the family and friends that make up our daily sphere of life.

I want to thank those who have visited in the past year, and hopefully the site will be worth visiting from time to time.

I am starting a NEW PAGE called the Songs and Poems of Another Time. “A Play on Words”.

My kids are all musically inclined, as when I was much younger I had a lot more inspiration and I used to pump out lyrics and poems and song ideas day after day for years. I dusted off the notebooks from the 70’s and 80’s that are full of them and wanted to share them with my kids. SO once again I wanted preserve a few of them off the fading paper pages after all of these years.

Hope you will stop by when you can.

View from A Summer Porch

Hitchcock’s Revenge

The Change