Celebration of Life

Hello wonderful readers,

Happy Monday!

I hope you all are staying warm and are back on track with your goals after reading last week's post!

I have received an amazing amount of feedback on this blog, both in person and in personal messages. Being told "you are an inspiration" and that I have touched someone positively by something I have composed makes my soul smile. It means so much to me to hear that this blog is being appreciated and shared with so many with you.

From the depth of my being to yours, thank you.

Starting this blog was a very scary process for me, as I was not sure if my message would be received positively and respected by those who read them. When I began writing and sharing my story and the experiences I have gone through in my life thus far, the words flowed effortlessly out of me. As I sit in my home and compose these weekly posts, I am sharing a piece of me with all of you - and sometimes that's petrifying for me. You all have been such a light for me and accepted me on this blog for who I am.

You have accepted me for me, and I cannot thank you enough for that. 

I am able to write and be as open as I am with all of you because you have helped me create this space. You play a larger role in this blog than you realize. Without you, I would just be some silly twenty-four year old with a computer and some thoughts. You have allowed me share ideas and sensations that have lived within me for some time now, and for that, I thank you.
Yesterday afternoon we celebrated my grandmothers eighty-fifth birthday. Eighty-five trips around the sun. Eighty-five beautiful years my grandmother has lived on Earth and we were fortunate to dedicate a few hours to cherish and celebrate her.

My grandmother is a very strong, hardworking, determined woman who has seen a great deal of change and adversity in her life. She experienced the great depression first hand, raised three wonderful women with her husband who happened to be her first ever boyfriend, grows the most beautiful flowers and vegetables in her own garden, and is still running her own business as a ceramics teacher.

My grandmother is wonder woman in the flesh.

Our family is fortunate enough to be able to still create memories with my grandmother.

As we gathered in celebration of my grandmother's life, I looked around the room saw nearly forty individuals who were also touched by her in some way. Seeing my grandmother reminisce what her life was once like and what her life is now with her only living brother was truly incredible. There was a student that has been taking my grandmother's ceramic classes for over ten years that said she wouldn't miss her birthday party for the world. There were other family members and friends who came to show their love and admiration for my grandmother.

Among the family members that attended the celebration were my first cousins, their significant others, my uncles, and extended family. These are people I hold many fond childhood memories with and we have (and will continue to have) many laughs together. My brother and his wonderful wife were also in attendance with my grandmothers first ever great grandchild.

How amazing is it that my grandmother is not only able to be a grandmother to many of us, but she has been promoted to a great grandmother - That is quite an honor.

I continued to scan the room, I saw my two aunts and my mother gathered around their mother, my grandmother. These three women have many beautiful traits that my grandmother has instilled within them. Each of these woman have a drive and a passion to serve others that is unwavering. They will do anything in their power to help someone in need. These woman hold hold a strength that only a tenacious woman can exemplify - the inability to give up on anything they hold near to their purpose.

This lineage of strong women are the ones who raised me and made me who I am today.
They have all ingrained within me what it means to be a woman, a woman who can struggle and still rise up stronger.

As I stepped back to take a photo of everyone in attendance at the party, a simple thought crossed my mind - "None of us would be gathered here today if it wasn't for my grandmother. Some of us wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for this woman."

I would ask you to take a step back sometime this week, or even in the near future, to appreciate the individuals in your life that have helped shape you into who you are today.

Thank you all so much for reading this week's blog post.

Subscribe, comment, share. Together we rise, one breath at a time.
Make a difference, light the way, share your story toady.
Namasté