The heart is strong

Hello All,

My apologies for not writing last week! This year has just run away on me. I am behind in everything – and Christmas is next week! Stars above! Even Bob is behind schedule, which is exceptionally rare. He is way timelier than I am! He makes lists and develops timetables – I write a list, lose it, make a new list, and then do things I pray are on the list. (He usually lets people know that he tells me to be ready 30 minutes earlier than the real goal, so I hit at least a time that won’t make us late. Okay – I do own that!)

I have also been a bit melancholy this year. You know Christmas is my “jam”, as my cool nieces say – though it hadn’t quite felt that way this year. I found myself a bit disconnected and wondered what to write about. So I was doing my usual nighttime escape – reading – this time the latest Fiona Quinn novel – Danger Close. I heard about her several years ago at a Mystery Authors Festival that was held at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts. The meeting celebrates a lot of Virginia authors. Ms. Quinn was born in Canada and lives in Virginia. She writes action-adventure romance novels. Who knew that in the middle of a novel about fighting terrorists, I would find the quote that provided comfort? An older gentleman is talking to the male hero and says this:

“The heart is strong. It is the muscle that works when all of the other muscles are sleeping. Trust in the strength of your heart.”

Trust in the strength of your heart. I needed that. I have been sad. My nephew and his wife lost their baby in utero. It is near the anniversary of my little dad’s death, which for some reason has been harder this year. George, my furry confidant, is frolicking in the clouds. (And Geoffrey has taken over – waking me up at 5:30 a.m. and purring so loud the bed vibrates!) There are family and friends I know I won’t be able to see in person again this year. I think I had forgotten to trust in the strength of my heart. That love never dies. That each person you meet leaves a part of themselves with you, and you always carry them tucked in your heart. And that my part is to celebrate all of that love, all of the pieces of them they entrusted me with and carry on. And, as the older man continues to tell the hero, to “Be sincere. Be trustworthy. Be strong enough to dare.”

I think I have recovered my mojo. I am still far behind. I expect Christmas cards will arrive in time for New Year’s. (My excuse is I am extending the celebratory timeframe!) Thank goodness for gift cards…..and for Prime delivery…..and for nieces and nephews who prefer money as gifts! (I understand that fully – I do have a propensity to give unusual gifts.)

Don’t forget how strong your heart is!

Phyl