"One thing at a time"

I have a dear friend, who lost her fiance in an accident in early years,,,,she met a wonderful man later  and married this man rather late in her life... in today's standard.. she was past 50 but she was a princess,,,and I adored her and enjoyed seeing how happy she was. Her happiness was interrupted suddenly a few years after her marriage by her illness that none of us really fully understood. But it was cancer and it took energy out of her and out of him. He was so dedicated to stick by her side and to support her in anyway he could, although this was his second marriage and his first wife also left him due to cancer. This man is a special man in my book,,,, he is a saint. I had a special and dear friendship with this friend, Beverly. I remember the first time she shared with me that she thinks she met the man of her dreams.....I remember the first time she and her hubby went out on their date. She was precious and he was, too. He took things very seriously and he was s...

If it were not for the cancer experience that came to visit me when I was 36, I would have never known the blessing of living passed 40,,, or reaching 49 (not quite yet but it is coming on July 23rd). If it were not for the disease that knocked on my door when wrinkles or aging were not anywhere near the focus of my life, I would have never known the joy of getting a bit saggy in many areas of my life, both physically and mentally speaking,,, if you know what I mean. If it were not for the diagnosis that was presented almost at the same time as my masters diploma from Vanderbilt was awarded, I would have never known the significance of GRADUATION of any kind,,,. I remember fondly, how I walked across the stage and shook the hand of then the Dean Conway-Welch,,,,,,,knowing very well that I was about to be diagnosed..., and jumping in to the Chemo Bath. If it were not for "the pathology results" that surprised us when my son was about to begin his kinde...

Where did the time go? Erik is graduating shortly , less than a week away to graduation and he just completed his last AP exam as of 4:20 pm 5/12. May 9th would be remembered as a day that gave us all the excitement and more. The applause from all the friends who attended the recital almost gave us chills. We have most frequently heard him perform his best for competitions in the last several years, and not for a public performance. None of us are accustomed to having an audience for him. Competitions are experiences of discipline,, and you are always playing for a group of judges and not an audience. This day was different. It was a day to honor Erik and his teacher of 5 years, Dr. Francis Yang for the tremendous work they did together. The preparation for the event was exciting and the day could not have gone better. We packed chairs in our house and we enjoyed welcoming more than 50 guests! (By the way, if you click each photo it should enlarge for better viewing) ...

It has been absolutely TOO busy lately and I have neglected my blog. My family enjoyed a bit of holiday season in spite of the fact I worked throughout the Christmas Holiday. New Year brought much cold weather that I have enjoyed even in Louisiana. Typically, by the end of January, I have seen some daffodils appear but this year may be a bit different. Many frozen mornings have allowed us to visualize each breath that comes out of us reminding us we are alive. One morning this thought struck me as I watched our breaths while we hurried out to the car. In the cold city of Sochi, exciting competitions are about to begin. I imagine that many of the olympians probably wish they could freeze the moment and take it home in their pockets of the Designer Jackets. Those distinct jackets and coats proudly represents who they are and where they are from. I hope they embrace this extraordinary moment that is representative of their amazing achievements. As the fresh cold air sweeps across their ...

It is not everyday that a young boy finds a friend in an elderly who is house bound. My son, Erik was blessed to find a friend, who clicked with him in a special way and they became special friends. She passed away at age 80 this week, on Nov, 20th, 2013. Erik met her through his mom's friend, the daughter of the lady 7 and half yrs ago. Erik's feet did not reach the piano pedals quite well at that time. He was a little boy. He enjoyed the attention from this Louisiana Grandmother who appreciated Erik's piano playing deeply and made sure that Erik felt very special whenever he visited her to play for her. I do not know how many times we had the pleasure of visiting her home, but Erik probably played for her,  almost every piece of music that he learned to play…. She did some special things  with him……like,,,,,,She took him to ice-cream place in her cool Mercedes when his mom left him with her for a n hour or two while she had her doctors appt. It was very hard t...

Blessed Parents enjoyed seeing the photo of Erik appearing on the front page this week.  It is true, this small town definitely has very little to report on Tuesdays. but I was still very happy for Erik to receive something special like this. He looks sharp at the piano.  I decided upload the photo of the paper as well as the link to the rest that appears on the page 5.   I asked Erik if anyone commented about the article in the paper. He quietly said, yeh, several people did. (silence). He is not chatty. But he managed to tell me the names of the teachers who commented and expressed excitement.  After this event was over with at last week, he put that piece of music aside. He is back at working on several pieces that he is working toward. It would be a while before he has accomplished piece like the recording on the previous blogpost . The video toward the lower section show a slide show with the background music of Erik's performance from the eve...

I have been terrible at keeping up with our blog entries. One big excuse is that I have been in school while continuing to work. Another big excuse is that Erik keeps us busy with his school events such as  quiz bowl tournament or other events that takes us out of town on the weekend. The school and my paper drove me like a slave driver this spring. Each week, I felt as though something or someone chased me. You can add the deadlines of April 15th for the federal tax filing, re-registering your high schooler for the next fall by march whatever (if we were late the registration fee jumps from 50 to $250)  and other routine things that every family encounters. I must admit, some weeks were stressful and all I could do was to look up and  take a deep breath and then sit back down. So here I am sitting down at the beginning of my summer semester.... . We had a wonderful break this past week. I actually did not have anything due last week. But Erik had a heavy research...