I thank you God, for most this amazing day…

In my frenzied attempts to heat my igloo of a house last night, it seems I set the heat to “Sauna/Liquid Hot Magma,” which explains my being awake at 4 a.m.  No matter.  This is the first quiet moment I’ve had to write in a while, and I am happy to put it to good use.  I’ve missed this very much and hope to find more quiet moments soon.  Random side note: Did you hear Dr. Evil in your head when you read “magma”?  You should’ve, because I did.

***

The holiday was everything I could have wanted.  These past three mornings, I’ve stumbled directly out of bed to my car and driven the near-quarter-mile to my parents’ house to lounge at the kitchen table in my pajamas, drinking a cup of coffee with them (and sneaking a piece of chocolate pie) before starting the day.  How lucky am I?  It’s ridiculous.  I dearly love living close enough to do this.  I love having days off where I’m able to do this.  (It might have to become a weekend tradition, so keep the coffee coming, Ma).

(Speaking of tradition, I’ve watched a whole lotta movies this past three days: Walk the Line, Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, and Pride and Prejudice were all excellent, and enjoyed in excellent company.  Harry Potter and Happy Hour were fun, Kevo).

Topping things off, my dad and I put up Christmas lights on my house yesterday.  He did most of the hard work, but of course, in a typical stubborn effort to prove how tough I am, I insisted on putting the lights up myself at the highest point of the roof.  This toughness was proved wrong when the ladder began sliding down with me on it… sorry for the curse words, Dad.  I’m quite certain you were more amused than anything.

Unless you’re an absolute fool like me, you can’t possibly understand what boundless joy is derived from such a simple thing, having a little place where you can put up some lights.  Mom gets it.  While I was at the movies, she snuck into my place and turned the lights on so they’d be shining when I arrived home in the dark.  Inside, a note: Ho! Ho! Ho!  Love you!  Mom’s so good at beautifully simple thoughtful things.  I love her for many reasons, but one of them has to be the fact that because she knows me better than anyone, she’s capable of understanding the things that mean the most to me.  And then she does them.

To have such a family… to fight Kevin’s efforts at wiping suds all over my face while doing the dishes and not be scolded at all because most of the time these days, we’re not there anymore to cause a messy ruckus in the kitchen… to witness, with jaw on the ground, Mom throwing the football back and forth with Kevo in the living room where her new lamps were sitting… Dad unabashedly sitting down to dine on a third of a pumpkin pie for breakfast (still in the tin, just to add to the classy)… putting ice down Mom’s back while she was wetting her hair in the sink and hearing a shrill “Kevin James!  I’m going to get you for that!”  (Heh heh.  If that doesn’t give a revealing glimpse into our childhood, I don’t know what does). 

I was already thankful.  It’s been a good year, full of answered prayers and dreams come to fruition, and a contented peace with those prayers which have not yet been answered.  If you’d have told me this time last year that I’d now be working in a job I’m passionate about, living in the world’s cutest 525 square feet, that I’d be single and actually really enjoying it, I’m not sure I’d have believed you.  Which only adds to the gratitude.  Only God could have brought all these things about, and I’m well aware of it.

I was already thankful… and then I get these beautiful moments with my family.  Laughing out loud, mostly at each other, as usual.  Enjoying each others’ company in a way that I’m not sure we were always this good at.  Taking the time spent together less for granted; savoring the moments as they are given. 

The older I get, the more I see loss around me, the more I experience it personally, the more near-misses I am made aware of (the latest: Mom and I missed being in the Tacoma Mall during last weekend’s shooting rampage by a mere 45 minutes and were quite shaken by it), the more I am absolutely convinced that it is a complete waste not to live life moment by moment, appreciating all that has been given in that moment. 

I think it’s natural to long for what used to be, for what has passed, for what has been lost.  But a person who consistently takes notice of all that is being given, who has the presence of heart and mind to say thank you, not only to God, but to the people around him, knows a different kind of longing than the person who takes it all for granted, who thinks of life’s gifts as permanent, who is never really conscious of what he holds right in his hands until it vanishes.  A person who is present to their world and to the people around them has the peace of knowing that, were they to live it all over again, they’d probably do it much the same.  There’s no if only I would’ve… only an “I’m so glad I did…”

None of it is owed us.  All is a gift.  And what a gift it is.

***

I’ll be out for a bit.  Can we say business trip?  I’ve been given a new client at work (Orlando Union Rescue Mission) and will be flying to Orlando for meetings this Tuesday-Thursday!  I’ll get to meet the team I’ll be working with, and touring their facilities, etc., but the trip will also afford me time and occasion for one of my favorite activities… Airport People Watching.  Plus, I have a layover in Chicago, and if my memory serves me correctly, that’s the airport with the automatic toilet seat covers.  Amazing.  Stay tuned for tales from the trip.        

Happy Thanksgiving!

Truly there is much to be thankful for.

I wish you, your family and friends a memorable time of laughter and love today.

For all the many ways you guys have touched my life, big ways and small, thank you.

Be well and blessed today.

stace

The Friday Top Ten

Because I demanded of my co-worker Brian a list of his most impacting books, he demanded, in return, a list of my top ten movies.  I couldn’t fit them all into ten, so I divided my list up into top ten non-comedies and top ten comedies.  Here’s the first list, in no particular order:

1.  In America

2.  Braveheart

3.  The Pianist

4.  Castaway (#1 by far)

5.  Spanglish (at least this year it’s in the top ten)

6.  The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

7.  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

8.  Hotel Rwanda

9.  Shawshank Redemption

10. Gone with the Wind

Feel free to share your own lists… I’m big on getting people’s top tens.

11.10: Happy Birthday, Myles!

Today, dear friend, we celebrate the moment that God decided to grace us with your presence.

For your honest friendship,

for your listening ear,

for your ability to artfully spin thoughts into words,

for your deep appreciation of all things beautiful,

for pushing me to read Harry Potter

(for all sorts of good book recommendations, for that matter),

for your bitter diatribe when Bush won,

for your coffee-addict tendencies,

for your heart for Jesus and the world around you…

I’m thankful. 

What a randomly-formed friendship, but I’m so thankful.

Be well and blessed on today, your day.  Hope it’s full of friends and happy moments (and, perhaps, picking up pennies).

-S

Melissa update

It’s been kind of a rollercoaster ride lately as far as things with Melissa are concerned.  A month ago, Mom and I visited her, back in the hospital for the third or fourth time.  Depressed and severely nauseated, she slept 90% of the time we were there.  I came home scared that she had given up completely.

I called four days after she arrived back home.  “Hello?!” a perky voice answered.  I wasn’t even sure it was her.  “Yeah, it’s me, your friend who was rude and slept the entire time you came to visit me… sorry (embarrassed laughter)!”  The following Saturday, I met her at the soccer fields to watch 2 of her kids play soccer.  She was back to her loud and slightly obnoxious self – the loudest soccer mom you’ve ever heard — and I was never more glad to see it.  We hung out at her apartment for a while during her daily nurse’s visit (she is still on an IV four times a day), then went to Wal-mart to find some good knitting yarn.  She drove the motorized cart, and had the both of us in hysterics due to her bad driving as she ran into several aisle-ends. 

It was so beautiful to see her not merely breathing in and out, but living.

I received an email today from her mom.  Despite her feeling better, she is still losing weight, despite a high-calorie diet.  This is concerning to her doctors, and they are not optimistic about her body-scan on December 13th.  (This will be the first scan since the amputation surgery).

I am back to sheer heartbreak.  This is one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through, and definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever witnessed in the life of a loved one.

Please continue to pray.  Pray for the miracle of healing for Melissa… and for faith and acceptance of whatever way God chooses to do the healing.  Pray for Dashiel, her husband, as he begins his new job in the midst of such a crazy time.  Pray for their three children.

There is something in the works, something special for the family that we are working on.  I can’t elaborate here because we don’t want Melissa to know.  I don’t think she visits this blog but would hate to be the one to spoil the secret… so if you know Melissa personally, keep your trap shut!  I am raising funds here at work, and thought it would be a good idea to give the people familiar with her story from this blog a chance to contribute as well.

If this has moved your heart and you would like to contribute to the Melissa Santos fund ($368 so far!) please make your check out to her mom, Gloria Kono, and mail it to the following address:

Stacey Rich

c/o Masterworks

19265 Powder Hill Place NE

Poulsbo, WA 98370

If you need more details about it before you give, I’m happy to share with anyone who won’t spoil the secret.  staceyrich@gmail.com.

Any amount (any amount at all, no matter how small) would be appreciated.  Please give generously… and most importantly, pray hard.  This is hard to understand, but we need God’s grace and presence now more than ever.

thanks, stacey

Google is a many-splendored thing

STACEY NEEDS:

1. Stacey needs to get rid of the mullet.
2. Top 10 Reasons Stacey Needs to Graduate
3. Stacey needs help getting her name out there.  She has started her new solo career…
4. Now, 364 pounds lighter, Stacey needs many surgeries to get rid of the excess skin.
5. Stacey needs understanding, not rejection.
6. Stacey needs a break.
7. Thirteen-year-old Stacey needs the support of the Babysitters Club…
8. Stacey needs an eyebrow hoop.
9. Stacey needs to find happiness.
10. Stacey needs to take a long walk off a short pier.