I Hope You Dance. . . .

This was written by an 83-year-old woman to her friend.

*The last line says it all. *

Dear Bertha,

I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting in the yard and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time working.

Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experiences to savor, not to endure. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them.

I'm not "saving" anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special event such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, or the first Amaryllis blossom.

I wear my good blazer to the market. My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries. I'm not saving my good perfume for special parties, but wearing it for clerks in the hardware store and tellers at the bank.

"Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now.

I'm not sure what others would've done had they known they wouldn't be here for the tomorrow that we all take for granted. I think they would have called family members and a few close friends. They might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to think they would have gone out for a Chinese dinner or for whatever their favorite food was.

I'm guessing; I'll never know.

It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew my hours were limited. Angry because I hadn't written certain letters that I intended to write one of these days. Angry and sorry that I didn't tell my husband and parents often enough how much I truly love them. I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, tell myself that it is special.

Every day, every minute, every breath truly is a gift from God.

Take a few minutes to tell the people you care about,that you're thinking of them.

"People say true friends must always hold hands, but true friends don't need to hold hands because they know the other hand will always be there."
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance.

I wrote your name on a piece of paper, but by accident I threw it away.

I wrote your name on my hand, but it washed away.

I wrote your name in the sand, but the waves whispered it away.

I wrote your name in my heart, and forever it will stay.


I believe in angels,
The kind that heaven sends.
I'm surrounded by angels,
But I call them my friends.

I just found out that that little town was destroyed and I person dead. I knew they said it was a big tornado. I guess so. It was a half a mile wide. To see the damage and also the story of the boy scout camp that got hit at the Neb.-Iowa line, go to this website: WIBW.com

Last night was another scary night as the tornado sirens once again went off. We were in a tornado warning so we waited for almost an hour for the all clear. We had our scanner on to listen to all the reports.First we were in the tornado warning until 10:00 PM and then were in a tornado watch until 3:00 this morning. I stayed up until 3:30. Our town didn't get damage like the last tornado but a small town near us got hit and had injuries and I heard the high school was damaged. They called for help from our police to go over to help so a few were sent there. Then we heard where the big college town(Manhattan) where K-State is, took a direct hit. They had quite a lot of damage there. Little Apple Toyota was completely destroyed. Windows blown out,cars blown around and some turned over. There were cars on the streets with their flasher lights on, some were overturned. I'm just hoping those people made it to safety. Some buildings at K-State were damaged and windows blown out. Midas Car Shop was destroyed and the True Value Store next door was flattened.There was debri all over and power lines down. A new home addition had many homes damaged and some were destroyed. This storm was much worse than the other one a week ago. They said this tornado was on the ground for 80 miles. It also was pretty big in size. I tell ya, I am just on edge all the time. My nerves are about shot. The weather is weird all the way around. I heard they have lots of snow and cold weather in Montana and Trixie who lives in Washington State, said they had snow where she lives. Then there is all this flooding going on. Iowa has a lot of flooding. My brother-in-laws parents live near Cedar Rapids in a small town. I don't know if they have had to be evacuated or not. They live way out in the boonies on a farm. A sad story last night was where a tornado hit a boy scout camp on the Nebraska-Iowa line and there were 4 deaths and several injuries. You can just imagine how the poor parents felt wondering if their child was ok. My heart goes out to all these people everywhere who are being affected by this awful weather. Then there is the heat which I heard today has killed 17 or so....fires in California.....just crazy. I told Ray last night I wish we could just hibernate like bears and wake up when things are back to normal. We have been in some kind of watch or warning practically everyday and have had to take cover twice now cuz the tornado sirens have gone off. I hope things settle down soon for everyone. This weather is crazy. Every year it gets more intense and scary. I am praying that all my friends here on blogstream are safe and sound. I'm not looking forward to later on today as they said we will have another round of storms and possibly more tornadoes tonight. Well as I said I hope you are all safe and sound.