Okay! I broke the cardinal rule of blogging.  I haven’t blogged for over 8 weeks.  I didn’t really disappear from the face of the earth, I disappeared from cyberspace. I  owe you an explanation because you have been so faithful following my blog, So let me bring you up to date.

The morning of 9/12 was marked by a deep sorrow.  So many innocent lives had been lost on 9/11, the day before.  But for many that day also marked another tragedy.  It was a day millions of people became paralyzed………. by fear.

The most outward demonstration of this fear was the silence in the skies.  All flights in the United States had been suspended.  Although I appreciated the attempts of our government to keep us safe, I was dismayed at the irrational fear of flying, or shopping, or being in a public place.  The enemy’s greatest victory that day was the resulting plague of fear that spread across the country in response to their horrible actions.

Many years ago, in a galaxy far far away, there was a television commercial promoting beer.  The commercial featured several young people precariously perched on a catamaran sailing through the water.  As spray hit the lens of the camera, a dramatic voice announced, “You only go around once! Reach for all the gusto you can get.”  Then the ad encouraged the viewer to drink their beer.

The ad was brilliant and deceptive.

Not long ago I found myself living in a physical, spiritual, emotional and social coma.  I should have had a big Z for Zombie branded into my forehead.

A series of events starting with an eye opening look at what I had allowed to happen to my body and culminating with the horror of losing my beloved 4 year old granddaughter in the mountains of Colorado, started my recovery from living in the depressive staleness of just “making a living,” to breathing the fresh air of living “Fully Alive.”

The other day a friend asked if I could recall my very first memory. I thought it was losing my teeth, but Diane reminded me that happened just last year.

The search became quite an interesting quest.  When you open doors to the past, you often find yourself in rooms with other doors slightly ajar.  Those doors lead to other rooms and older memories. Many wondrous and some magical moments are uncovered until finally you are at the last door.

When that door creaked open for me, I was standing beside a large radio.  I’m talking large! This thing was a piece of furniture, the size of a desk that also contained an LP record player.