All in a day......

Well, it was a busy few days. Thursday hubby decided that he needed more stone to finish a job he had been working on. This is no simple task. What this meant was that we would have to go to the mainland pick up a slab of stone and bring it back. Simple right? Well not if you are not proficient at driving a 1 ton pick up with manual transmission. Yes, I had to drive the truck to the mainland as hubby still doesn't have use of his right arm. It actually wasn't so bad getting over there, it's mostly highway driving on my side of the water, it was when we got to the big city that scared the living day lights out of me..but then it wasn't day light when we arrived anyhow, it was dark...and I hate driving in the dark at the best of times. Anyhow, the next day we go to pick up the slab of stone, which needless to say adds considerable weight to the truck, again driving in the city, with the stone on the back, cars cutting in front of you, stopping on hills...oh I am getting all sweaty just thinking about it again. I only stalled it twice with a quick recovery. My eldest and youngest daughter decided they were going to come for a visit this weekend as well, so this meant I had to pick them up in the truck...maneuver this big truck through the townhouse complex to where my daughter lives and then through some small city alley to pick my eldest daughter up from work. By the time we started to head out of the city it was getting on for rush hour, and you don't want to be in Vancouver in a big truck with stone on the back during rush hour. We make it to the ferry only to be told we had to wait until the next ferry....Urgh! Actually that was ok....it gave my nerves time to settle down.

After a couple of stops on the other side of the pond we made it home safely. Actually, by the end of it all I was feeling pretty darn good about my accomplishments....my daughters just couldn't believe this was their mom driving the truck....never say never I tell them...you never know what lays ahead.

On another note.....you know the saying "once a parent always a parent", and how you always wish to keep your children free from harm both physical and emotional? Well, I know I have always tried too, but at the same time realizing that in order for children to grow into well balanced individuals, there will be times in their lives when they will have to journey alone. With that being said, my eldest daughter is in need of some motherly love and comfort.

She just recently broke off her relationship of 5 years with her boyfriend. She is an emotional wreck right now. It is something that I think has been coming for awhile but she just didn't know how to do it. Somehow she mustered up enough strength the other day to tell him that it just wasn't working for her anymore and that she needed to move on. My daughter is only 22 years old and has a life ahead of her. She doesn't see that right now. She fears that maybe she has made a mistake. There are things that I wanted to say to her but I have always tried not to give suggestions as to how to solve her her problems but rather suggest she looks within. This is her journey and only she knows in her heart what is right for her. We talked for hours....Saturday was a day to just chill, as hubby was working the girls and I decided that we would make a special dinner. We all were responsible for one portion of the meal. Eldest daughter did the vegetables, snap peas and carrots in a fresh lime and ginger sauce, then potatoes,sweet potatoes and turnip baked in a sugary glaze...yummy...youngest made desert, chocolate cake with homemade fudge sauce...again very scrumptious....I made the stuff chicken breasts with a white wine sauce....it was all very tasty. Needless to say the next day we went for a run together and then we went down to the beach to take in all the wonders that nature had to offer. I think it was good for eldest daughter, it helped her reflect. She asked me if I thought she had not made herself clear to her now ex boyfriend, I asked her what she meant. She explained, we discussed things further, she said to me..."mom, you say things so perfectly, I feel what you say in my heart, but those words don't come out" I told her, those are my words, she must express herself in a way that is natural to her....she told me she had left her boyfriend a letter and that once he had received it he told her that was the clearest she had ever been with him, so she asked me if she should write another....again....I said go with your heart....she wrote another letter....she asked me to read it....after reading it....I said to her....are you sure this is what you want to say....and if it is....then sleep on it....and if in the morning you still feel this is what you want to say....then do with it as you see fit......she sent the letter the next day.....

I know we have all been there, had our hearts broken, felt like it would never heal. But out of the darkness one day comes light and clarity and we find the strength to move on.....I know there will be many more tears...and phone calls and visits to her mom(for which I will be happy for)....but she is a strong woman...and I know she will find her way.

I have this book called "The Language of Courage and Inner Strength" and I found an excerpt from it that I read to her....

"There are times in every life when we feel hurt or alone...But I believe that these times when we feel lost and all around us seems to be falling apart are really bridges of growth. We struggle and try to recapture the security of what was, but almost in spite of ourselves....we emerge on the other side with a new understanding, a new awareness, a new strength. It is almost as though we must go through the pain and the struggle in order to grow and reach new heights."

~Sue Mitchell~