In loving memory of my Mom

I took some time before we head west to visit my sister in Gainesville and also a dear gf who is about to embark on a journey through breast cancer while I'm away. The visit with my sister was mainly to be with each other as we passed the one year mark of losing our mom. We had sushi and sake in her honor (she loved the stuff) and when we get back home my sis pulls out this old jewelry box that we gave to mom back in 1975. It's one of those boxes that are also musical so my sister winds it up and we sit silently and listen as it plays one of mom's favorite songs "The Impossible Dream". The song was originally recorded by Robert Goulet. The only thing in the box was a yellowed piece of paper that had been clipped from a newspaper. These were the words on the paper...

Slow me down, Lord. Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.

Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.

Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tension of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory.

Help me to know the magical, restoring power of sleep. Teach me the art of taking minute vacations - slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines from a good book.

Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to sink my roots deep into the soil of life's enduring values that I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.

My thoughts and prayers go out to my girlfriend Debby who gets fitted for a port tomorrow and then chemo on Tuesday as I pack and provision for our journey west.