Daddy Long Legs

my favorite book as a young pre-teen girl
hiding underneath the bushes at the side of the house glued to the next page to find out what happens next

We're Traveling our Favorite Highway 101

I can't decide which excites me more...the Redwood forests or the ocean beaches and scenery that leaves me breathless regardless how many times I've seen it. Cephas and I have spent most of this winter driving up and down the California coast Highway 101. It is one of our favorite places and we can't seem to draw away from it this winter. With a trip to Los Angeles starting we want to enjoy every minute of this journey before we leave the magnificent scenery behind.

Last night we drove up to Oregon just across the line to a town called Brookings. We helped out a gospel mission in 2001 for a couple months. That's when we discovered the most majestic beaches and ocean views so we wanted to take some time to soak in the beauty before we go south. A major storm moved through last night so we parked on a little higher ground at a rest area one mile out of the city of Brookings. The ocean was two city blocks down the hill from where we parked. The wind roared all night and all day competing with the thundering ocean waves. We stayed at the rest area all day till about 6 pm waiting for the wind and the rain to calm down before we drove away. It was a very reflective experience. I'm grateful to have escaped some of the storm damage that wreaked havoc around the country and across the state. Thank God for showing us a safe haven.


The Midnight Writer

Helen Keller inspired me to Believe in Miracles

When I was about 11, I first saw the movie about Helen Keller's life. It changed me in so many ways and had such an impact on my heart that I never forgot this inspiring woman or the movie. Later, I read the book and had to read it again. It was riveting, heart wrenching, inspiring and motivated me to seek understanding about people who overcome tumultuous obstacles in their lives. I felt a need to be like Helen Keller. That was a little perplexing to me at first because I was not blind, deaf or dumb like Helen. But I had some emotional and physical handicaps that I thought would limit me in life. It was only later that I learned those obstacles were opportunities that would help mold me into the person I was destined to become.

Thank you Helen Keller for living such an inspired life. Your work with braille and sign language has helped so many people. For those who do not know about Helen Keller's life and accomplishments, I suggest that you research her name on the internet. Find a book at Barnes & Noble or Amazon and read it carefully and with great introspection. Then read it again while you ponder your life and consider how Helen Keller could help you overcome the obstacles in your life and exceed all your expectations in becoming the best person that you can be. If you haven't watched the movie, I especially recommend that you rent it and watch it with a box of tissues. You will need them because Helen will make you laugh, cry and stir some anger and frustration while she struggles to understand life.

Most of all, I hope this woman's life will inspire and encourage you to be more empathetic towards others every day in all your interactions with people. If we follow Helen Keller's admonition, this world would be a better place. Pass this information on to someone that you love so it might inspire them as well.

There is a Helen Keller Institute for the deaf, dumb and blind that has helped thousands born with these limitations. My own cousin Donnie spent several years learning to speak and sign. He had several operations to give him some audible capability and with the assistance of an implant Donnie could hear sounds for the first time at age 15. He learned to speak later as well and became quite a comedian. Thank you Helen Keller for all of us. Your life came close to home.

The Midnight Writer

Grandpap sang with an Angel's Voice

I Long to see my Family Reunited

My dear mother spent her lifetime building relationships and cementing the bonds among our immediate family members. She extended these efforts to bring the family closer to our entire nuclear family unto generations deep and wide. Every major family event was shared by smaller groups or larger family group gatherings. Emotional and physical bonds strengthened the family due to this tribal life style. Reunions were a life style rather than a special event. Weddings, births and deaths were various types of life celebrations that involved the extended nuclear family.

If someone in the family was having a baby, my parents, my siblings and I went out of our way to notify every relative we could remember. We made checklists to make sure we wouldn't miss any one then we took turns making the phone calls or sending the cards and letters. It was an all encompassing family experience that embedded a sharing desire deep within me.

I long for that today because with my parents and grand-parents, it has virtually gone to the spirit world with them. I want to encourage my family to come together again so our children and grand children will have those family ties and strong bonds that molded us into the tribal culture we were in those days.

Our spiritual and social growth as a family gave us the strengths in moral character to become loving people in society as a whole. We cared so we contributed to life around us in our communities. We gave of our time, our love, our energy and our money. We taught our neighbors to care about one another. It was/is a powerful life force that motivated me to have joy, to feel love, to process grief and pain and to heal over insurmountable odds. I am on a quest to return to that place in the heart, for my family and my world.

Once a month, I will post an update on our progress uniting as a family. Meet me here in April when spring is in full swing and see what family ties are strengthened, which family connections are made new and how many family events we have planned. This will be an exciting adventure. I'll call this monthly feature, Suzanne's Desire to Unite Her Family. That is my mother and her dying wish was that our family would get close again and stay together like when she was a young mother. This is for you Mom. I love you.

The Midnight Writer

If you had a Secret, Would you tell Dear Diary?

This is a question that has plaqued journalists who keep a secret diary for millenia. If someone lays eyes upon the words that reveal such a guarded secret then it's not a secret anymore. This is a dilemma that has many diary keepers torn between revealing the rivoting truth of their daily lives to the unforgiving written pages.