Angels Among Us

"Our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh." (President Joseph F. Smith [1838-1918], Gospel Doctrine 5th ed. (1939), 436.

Angels Among Us (Alabama)

http://youtu.be/zCYFPMjCgKA

It was Thanksgiving evening, November 27, 2014. The events of the day, the dinner, the cleanup, the conversation, were winding down and we were settling in for the night. My husband was watching a ball game in the den. My daughter was sleeping in preparation for having to work from midnight to 6 a.m. on Black Friday. My married children were spending the holiday with their in-laws.  I was alone and restless, beginning to feel that longing for home, family and friends that I have known so often on past Thanksgiving days. We were alone and lacking in company this year, so I decided that I needed to do something, anything, that would help take away some of the lonely, longing, homesick feeling that I could feel creeping into my soul. 

I had some yarn and knitting needles that I had put aside to knit another dishcloth, like my mother used to make, so I decided to bring it out and see if I could get one done before the evening was over. I sat down in my chair and began knitting. I turned the television on and decided to see what was worth watching that might bring me some comfort. I noticed on INSP that they were playing a series of The Waltons for the day, specifically Thanksgiving related shows, one of which was titled "The Waltons: A Thanksgiving Reunion". It was set in 1963, the Thanksgiving following when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The entire clan was returning to the family home for Thanksgiving dinner. I had enjoyed watching this television series when I was younger, with my father sitting in his chair across the room, so I decided to watch is while I knit (something my mother usually did at home in the evenings). 

As I began to knit and watch the show I began to feel a warmth and comfort come over me. I have had this feeling before and was pretty familiar with what it meant - my father was nearby, checking in on me. He passed away near Thanksgiving 9 years ago. We we very close and I have occasionally felt his presence at times when I have needed him over the past 9 years. I think had he been visible on this side of the veil he would have been sitting in the chair next to me, he felt that close to me. l felt his presence there throughout the remainder of the show. I said nothing to my daughter, who later joined me, but I felt certain that daddy was there. It would have been so like him to come and check in when I was feeling so exceptionally down on this Thanksgiving because of the loss of a dear friend and brother just a few weeks prior. 

We usually spent our Thanksgivings with this dear family, but due to the current circumstances felt it better to allow them their privacy allowing them to grieve their great loss of a beloved husband and father. Thanksgiving was Bob's holiday, and we have spent countless Thanksgiving dinners seated at their table and enjoying the feast and company, so this year felt exceptionally lonely and sad. Each year Bob would lead the sharing for those of us seated around his table to tell the one thing for which we were most grateful this year. It was different without them this year, without the sharing, the laughter and the games of "Ticket to Ride" seated around their dining room table with a football game playing on the television in the background and a fire in the fireplace. Good food, good company and good times. I think that had I sat around that table this year the one thing I would have shared that I was most thankful for would have been for having had Bob and his family as such a wonderful and big part of my life and the life of my family over the past 15 years, and most especially over this past year. They have been such a wonderful and much needed support to our family through the difficulties we have experienced over the past year or so. They have truly been angels as they have offered love, support and service to our family, and I will miss the close association we have had with Bob. 

Now, as another chapter has closed on that life that once was. I am sad. I, too, must take some time to grieve this great loss in our life. I hope to share more special and fun times with his family, but it will somehow not be quite the same without Bob there. I will miss his sense of humor, his smiling face, and his hugs. He truly was someone that I would consider an "angel among us", and I hope that he, like my father, will decide to check in on us once in a while and share his love with us once again. 

Angels We Have Heard On High
http://youtu.be/sb0Jg96bWMo

"Gone Like the Sand and the Foam"

"Gone are the pathways the child followed home,

gone like the sand and the foam."

The Sand and the Foam (Dan Fogelberg)

http://youtu.be/adlvN-7jniY

    Today is Independence Day (July 4th) in the USA. A family holiday, and my family are all living far away from me right now. In trying to salvage the holiday, make an effort to do something fun and make new memories, my husband and I decided to go on a picnic at one of the local parks. So, we stopped by the local grocery store and picked up a bucket of chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, fruit and pop - the all-American picnic lunch. We took it and the picnic basket full of plates, utensils, tablecloth, etc. and headed over to the park. As we pulled in the drive we saw that it was less crowded than we expected. There is a lake that is attached to this park and you could see people playing in the water in various forms. Some canoeing, some swimming, and some fishing. There were several groups of people gathered under the pavilion eating their picnic lunches as well. We looked around for an empty picnic table and decided on one that was set off in a more secluded, tree-lined area and set up our lunch. 

    I grew up in the Intermountain West and so, as I kid, when we would do a family picnic we would often go to the picnic area that was in the canyon that was at the top of the street on which we lived - Mueller Park Canyon. I spent quite a bit of time with family and friends in that area, and it is one of my favorite spots on earth. (I spent a few hours the morning of my mother's funeral in that area, reminiscing). The area that we picked to eat in at the park today reminded me a lot of that area of "home". The trees and the picnic benches, even having the water so close by brought back some sweet memories of Independence Days past -  here and "home".  We ate our lunch and just as we were finishing up a family decided to set up their picnic on a table adjacent to us. There was a mother, 4 children, and her father (her husband was working). We exchanged some pleasantries and finished up our meal. We then packed up and headed toward the car to reload and go home. 

     A strange thing happened on the way home. We drove past some of the familiar sites along the road and memories of family times past came into my mind. There was the baseball field where our son had played little league baseball. The Middle School that each of my 3 children attended. They would often return to it on off hours so that they could catch frogs in the creek that runs through the wooded natural area there behind the school. We passed the street where my son's best friend used to live. All of a sudden I was overcome with emotion and I started to cry. I realized how many memories we have made while raising our family here. We have built and spent most of our life together here.  Here is home to my children, just as I consider the town where I was raised to be "home" to me.  Their childhood experiences and memories are of here, just like so many of mine are there. I felt a deep appreciation for the good times we have had here. I also had a greater understanding of the importance of where we live to our children, especially as unsettled as some of them are in their lives right now. To them, coming here is "going home". 

     I long to see them, and they will return home soon for a visit. We will welcome them with open arms and allow them the freedom to explore their old stomping ground, just as I did when I would return "home". We will cherish the time we have together and make new memories here that we will also cherish in the future. We are so blessed to call such a beautiful place home, and to have been able to raise our children here. I guess I got a greater understanding of what they will feel when they come home to visit, and perhaps a greater appreciation of what it will feel like when I can finally "go home" again. I miss it so. 

Goin' Home

Seminary Music: Doctrine and Covenants

Goin’ Home

Kindly fires burning there warm my soul

Yearning for the ones I call my own.

I’m going home.

Right at home steady shoulders gather there to share the load.

I’m learning how to give what’s needed most right at home.

This longing to be there is calling me there.

It’s stronger than words can tell. 

And once in homes sweetness I taste the love of Heav’n

Heavenly home

Holy faces wait for me and cheer me on.

I will do all that it takes to reach their arms

Where I belong

Goin’ home

Text:  Kenneth Cope

Music:  Kenneth Cope

Arranged By:  Jason Johnson

Artist:  Kenneth Cope

"Graduation Day"

The Circle of Life (from: The Lion King - of course ;-))

http://youtu.be/XhDdw8rATic

     It's that time of year again. It comes around every Spring. Graduations! Announcements arrive in the mail. Pictures get posted on Facebook or in photo albums.. Parties and open houses are scheduled on the calendar. I do not think it is coincidental that Graduation Day usually occurs around the Memorial Day holiday, because both of these events celebrate a type of moving on to the next phase of life. A "graduation" of sorts; the end of one stage of life and the beginning of another. The ceremonies and rituals we observe at these times are in celebration of moving into another phase of our existence - one earthly, one Heavenly. Each event gives us a time to pause and reflect on our life and what where we are going with it. One stage of life ends and another begins. There is fear of the unknown, but also excited anticipation of the adventures yet to come.

    It is fun to see the pictures of the children of some of my friends who are graduating this year. It was about a year ago that my youngest child graduated from High School. Little did we know then what would be ahead of us over the next year!  There has been the pain of parting, homesickness, roommate challenges, expenses (always more expenses!), moves, highs and lows.  "There's more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done. There's far too much to take in here, more to find than can ever be found". 

    The challenge of change is not unfamiliar to me; the time of transition.Yesterday my sister and her family spent some time in the cemetery at the grave site of my parents. My brother-in-law sent me a series of picture texts with photographs of them arriving at the cemetery, cleaning around the headstone and placing flowers in the two vases located on either side of the stone. As I viewed the pictures a lump formed in my throat and tears came to my eyes.  I live a great distance away from where my parents are buried, and so I rarely get to go "home" and visit the site. It can make Memorial Day a difficult holiday for me because I would like to be able to visit there and take a few minutes out of my life to remember and pay tribute to them for being such wonderful parents. I miss them and "home" very much, and it was an unexpected gift to me when I got to "visit" it vicariously through the picture texts sent from a sweet brother-in-law and sister. 

     Death, too, is a type of graduation, a type of moving on. It, too, is a time of transition when one stage of life ends and another begins. There is often fear of the unknown, but also excited anticipation of the adventures yet to come. I remember the day that we buried my mother. There was a beautiful sunset that we could see from the back yard of my childhood home. My brother-in-law (yes, the same one who sent me the picture texts) suggested that we stop for a few minutes and watch the sun go down on that day. It was truly one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen in my life. The symbolic meaning was not lost on me. The sun had figuratively set in the life of my mother, and life as I knew it. But there would also be a sunrise. The sunrise of another day for those of us who were left to carry on in this world, and a sunrise, or a new beginning, for my mother who was transitioning to another world. "But the sun rolling high in the sapphire sky, keeps great and small on the endless round,... 

"It's the circle of life, 

And it moves us all

Through despair and hope,

Through faith and love, 

Till we find our place,

On a path unwinding, 

In the circle, 

The circle of life."

    When my first child was four months old we moved across the country, about 2000 miles away from my "home". There were days and nights of homesickness, and sometimes it would get really hard. At those times I used to think of this song and sing it to sooth me. It seemed to help then and it still does now. So, "graduates" and loved ones of " graduates", I can guarantee there will be times of loneliness, longing and homesickness.But I hope that this bit of wisdom might bring some small measure of comfort to you from one who's been there....

"And even though I know 

How very far apart we are.

It helps to think we might be wishing 

On the same bright star.

And when the night wind starts 

To sing a lonesome lullaby.

It helps to think we're sleeping

Underneath the same big sky.

Somewhere out there,

if love can see us through. 

Then we'll be together.

Somewhere out there 

Out where dreams come true."

Somewhere Out There (from: An American Tail)

http://youtu.be/EgHh3WaCOpw

And for all of those who will be "graduating" this year....

Lead, Kindly Light



"Sometimes God calms the storm.

Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child."

When You Come Back to Me Again (Originally by Garth Brooks, this version is a cover, but the video presentation is great)
http://youtu.be/781uZVEPFUo

        "A lighthouse is an ensign on a hill, shining its light across the raging seas, beaconing the wayward sailor to safe waters and warning of the rocky dangers that threaten to dash their ships to pieces and relinquish them to the murky depths of the ocean.  They represent what I wanted to be, a lighthouse standing like an island in the midst of raging storms, beaming hope to those who may be lost.
            Lighthouses are unique.  No two have the same stripes, and lenses are specifically cut for that lighthouse.  A lens from a lighthouse in California would not fit one from Oregon or Virginia.  They are each different with their own character and history.  The number of cuts on the lens determines the ability for their light to pierce through the misty darkness, reaching ships farther from the shore.  In like manner, the cuts we sustain through our trials, if accepted without complaint, allow us that ability to shine more brilliantly and reach the hearts of those around us who may be struggling." (Excerpt from A True Story, Mother Had a Secret, Learning to Love My Mother & Her Multiple Personalities by Tiffany Fletcher)

      I received the above quote from a dear friend this past week. She is very much aware of the trials and struggles I have experienced over the past few years, and has been a listening ear and a great support to me through them. She mentioned that as she read this passage in the book she couldn't help but think of me and wanted to pass it along to me. I am grateful for her thoughtfulness. I cannot, however, say that I have accepted every trial without complaint. But, I do have lots of "cuts" that I hope will make my inner light "shine more brilliantly and reach the hearts of those around [me] who may be struggling."

     I happen to live in a small tourist town on the shores of Lake Michigan, and we have a lighthouse in the harbor not too far from our home. There have been many times when I have felt lonely and in need of comfort as I have walked along the pier or along the beach and looked out past the lighthouse to the water. As I watch the waves come in and go out, their rhythm seems to sooth my weary soul and I am comforted.

    There have been times over the last few years of my life when I have felt like I was in the midst of a storm at sea and the waves keep coming - wave after wave after wave - and I have barely had enough time to come up for air! It has been a time of confusion and fear, frustration and isolation. I have felt at times like no one understands what I am experiencing, let alone knows what to do to help me!

    But I have found that there is One who does understand what I have been going through, and that is my loving Heavenly Father. He has been my "lighthouse" through my stormy seas. I have held on tightly to my faith in Him and his son, Jesus Christ - the "rock". They have been the "life preservers" that have kept me afloat through the midst of these storms. I honestly do not think that I would have survived without their constant loving support and guidance. Prayer and scripture reading are the materials that make up the "life preserver" to which I have clung. Admittedly, I have at times prayed more out of habit than sincere desire, but at other times I have poured out my heart and soul to God through my prayers. Seeking guidance, peace and healing through my communications with Him. I know in whom I can trust and to whom I can look to receive much needed guidance and solace.

    I attended a large university for my freshmen year of college. I often felt homesick, alone and invisible as I would walk amid the masses of people across the campus. Often I would look up at the huge mountains in the distance and wonder, "What am I doing here"? One day as I was walking across the campus I saw an old friend, a Seminary teacher from my high school days. He inquired as to how I was adjusting to college life and I shared with him my feelings of homesickness and loneliness. Through the course of our conversation he suggested that I go home and read the words to the hymn, "Lead, Kindly Light", and it would bring me some comfort. I took his advice and I did that. This experience brought me peace and understanding of the love that my Heavenly Father had for me at a time when I needed it the most. That hymn has had a special place in my heart ever since that day, so much so that I decided to use it as the opening hymn at my father's funeral. It continues to bring me peace and comfort.

Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene—one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor pray’d that thou
Shouldst lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path; but now,
Lead thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years.

So long thy pow’r hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone.
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

Text: John Henry Newman, 1801–1890

Music: John B. Dykes, 1823–1876

     As I continue along this life journey facing yet another trial in the near future, I know to whom I can look to help guide me through this "storm of life". The same being to whom I have always turned when I needed a helping hand to lift me up out of the "storms of life", my loving Father in Heaven. "If God has led you to it, He will lead you through it". So, lead, kindly light.

“Light – more light!”

 – Last words of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Like a Lighthouse (performed by Drew Reese, written by Michael Webb)

http://youtu.be/p4EqYZKbWSE

(Dedicated to my dear friends, Maren and Kim B. Thank you, and may God lead you through the storms of life, as He has led me. I love you!)

I'll Be There, In My Daughter's Eyes

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end

may also be the beginning. - Ivy Baker Priest

In My Daughter's Eyes (Martina McBride)

http://youtu.be/eLS0Y40WwlA

"In my daugther's eyes I can see the future

A reflection of who I am and what will be.

I know she'll grow and someday leave,

Maybe raise a family.

When I'm gone I hope you'll see

how happy she made me,

For I'll be there

In my daughter's eyes."

This is a very bittersweet time in my life. My youngest daughter just graduated from high school and plans to attend college this Fall in a town 2000 miles away from me - and home. I'm not sure I'm ready to go through all of this again. I have been through it two previous times with my two older children leaving home and going off to college. They have since married and are living in places that are far away from home. Somehow though, this one feels different. I'm not sure if it is because she is "my baby" or if it is because she is last child living at home. We have have spent a lot of time together over the last three years and it has brought us closer. I will miss our times together and sharing similar experiences and opportunities. We have become good friends and I feel like I am losing her to something over which I have no control. But I have been here before....

A good friend introduced me to the above quote by Ivy Baker Priest when my father died in 2005. She gave me an ornament of an angel holding the world in her hands, the quote is engraved on her wing. The minute I read it I knew that it was something that my father would have said to me, had he still been here. This has come back to mind over the past week or so, because to some extent I feel like I am approaching the "end" of my world as I know it. I have been a stay-at-home mother for almost 25 years and suddenly I'm unemployed, laid off from the best job in the world - that I love. My son reminds me that I will always be their mother - which is true - but everything changes when your children leave the safety net of your home. I will no longer be close by to kiss away the tears, bandage the "boo boos" and give a hug and tell them that everything is going to be o.k. (even when I wonder that myself). The choices have larger and more impactful consequences, for better or for worse. I wonder if I have given them a foundation sufficient to get them through the hard times. I worry if they will be able to handle and manage the challenges that life can sometimes throw at them. Have I taught them, either by precept or by example, how to face the challenges and "storms" of life? How will I navigate the empty, quiet house and the longing to have her near?

I wonder if my own mother had the same thoughts when I left home. I remember my father telling me that she had a difficult time with the transition of having me, her youngest daughter, leave the nest for college - and I was only an hour away! Oh, how I wish she was still here so that I could talk to her and find out how she managed to get through this experience and carry on. Yesterday, I was finally sitting down and taking a break after all of the excitement and work of the past week, and a memory of my bedroom in my childhood home came to the forefront. The words to the song "Home" by Michaela Buble' came to mind. I think I was homesick. I wanted to go back home, back to "the innocent age" before all of the changes of life took over my life. I wanted to go "home" and have my mother kiss my tears away, bandage the boo boos and give me a hug and tell me that everything is going to be o.k. But there is no "home" to go to there anymore. Ironically, both of my daughters have chosen to attend college in the town in which I attended college, just over an hour from my "home". So, in a way I do get to go "home" when I go to visit them and/or take them to college. In a sense, my world has turned out to be "round" after all, "and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning." Time will tell.

Home - by Michael Buble - for those who are not familiar with it

http://youtu.be/RPJRAlfLlp8

The Innocent Age (Dan Fogelberg)

http://youtu.be/uunU0Aoup_I

I'll Be Home for Christmas

"All hearts come home for Christmas"



I'll Be Home for Christmas (Bing Crosby)
http://youtu.be/EYOvd2PZoPU

Today is Christmas Day, and throughout this past Christmas season I have experienced some very tender moments and memories that have been shared by family and friends. I haven't lived in my childhood home for many years. In fact, I haven't been "home for Christmas" for most of my married life, as we have always lived away from our family and "home". Although this has been the case, "home" has always been in my heart at Christmas, and my heart has always been "home" during that time of the year.

This Christmas season one of my uncles passed away. Through the process of this I was in contact with three of my cousins that I shared my childhood with. One of my cousins commented about how much my aunt, the spouse of my uncle who passed way, missed my mother who died in 2001. Another cousin commented on how much she enjoyed my mother's infamous braided bread that she would make to share with friends and family over the Christmas holiday. The sharing of these moments brought a flood of memories to my mind of hand dipped chocolates, a multitude of Christmas cookies and, of course, the braided bread - all of which my mother so generously shared with loved ones. Sweet, tender memories. In reminiscing I could almost smell the scent of the bread baking, or taste the creamy and crunch peanut clusters (my favorite) and raisin clusters. Mother baked cookies by the dozens to share with guests and friends. Many of them ended up stored in containers that sat on our kitchen counter until at least the end of January! These are sweet memories that fill my thoughts of Christmases past.

This morning I awoke early and crept downstairs to sit in peace and quiet before the festivities of the day began. I was feeling homesick and lonesome for my parents, my childhood home and my own children who are far way on this day that is so much about home and family. I turned on the Christmas tree lights. I lit a few candles. I put in the fireplace DVD (since I don't have a real one, I have to improvise). I then sat in the chair in the living room, closed my eyes and reminisced.

I remembered the living room in my parent's home. Gold sculpted carpet, gold furniture (it was the 60's after all), a large picture window facing south. A large stone fireplace with a hearth and mantel that graced the east wall of the living room was always accented with a picture, a figurine or, at Christmas, a candle. On Christmas day a fire was always burning there so we could burn most of the gift wrapping. A large mirror usually hung above the mantel. Sometimes it held lighted Christmas bells, and sometimes it just reflected the warm glow of the lighted Christmas tree, which was usually located in front of the large picture window. Two gold chairs flanked the tree, one a rocker and the other a circular upholstered, cushioned chair. Across the room from the tree would sit a large round wooden table that had been hand crafted by my grandfather, a carpenter by trade. On the top of the table with it's hand tatted table cloth would sit my mother's antiqued gold nativity set. I can remember as a child helping my mother finish the set. I remember sitting and gazing at the set for hours as Christmas music, or just the noise that a family makes, played in the background. This nativity set now graces my own curio cabinet at Christmas. It is a precious family heirloom to me. Memories of days gone by, never to be experienced again. On one of the other walls of the living room, across from the fireplace, sat the piano. It was made of dark wood, a walnut finish. This instrument now also graces the wall of my living room, along with two end tables that once sat in the living room of my childhood home. As I closed my eyes I could picture each room in my childhood home. I could "see" the wall coverings, the carpets and floor coverings, the color of the walls and tile in the bathroom. I could hear the voices, smell the scents and feel the joy and love that was there, especially at this time of year. I remembered aunts and uncles stopping by to visit, and trips to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins on Christmas day. Sadly, my own children have had too few of these experiences in their own life. A sigh, a tear or two, and then I open my eyes and the images fade.

Perhaps it is because I am getting older, but certain experiences and memories have become more precious to me over time. I can never go "home" again for Christmas, but I can bring "home" back into my Christmas each year as I take the time to remember, to cherish and to share my precious childhood memories of Christmases past. This year the Christmas carol, "I'll be Home for Christmas" holds a special place in my heart. I received a gift from my daughter of a book and DVD by David McCullough that tells the story behind this song. I found out that it was originally recorded in 1943 by Bing Crosby, during the height of World War II. It was meant to bring comfort and reassurance to the troops who were serving overseas and away from home. My mother would have been twenty years old when it was popular. I can only imagine how much that song meant to the men and women who lived through those frightening and trying times. What comfort it would have brought to them then. No wonder it was a special carol to my mother, and now it is to me as well. What comfort it has brought to me this year, though it has brought a tear or two as well.

Sometimes I think about my heavenly home. I think that the aching and longing that I feel  at times for the companionship of loved ones long since passed is a type of homesickness. I believe that I once lived in a heavenly home with my heavenly parents and family before I came into mortality. At times I can't help but wonder why it has to be so hard here. Sometimes the challenges and difficulties of this mortal world just seem to be too much for me to take any more and I long to just "go home". I think that this home would be a place where I can experience unconditional love and acceptance. A place of peace, joy and harmony and no more fear, sorrow or pain. At times I think Heavenly Father allows us glimpses of what life in our Heavenly home must be like.  These glimpses come in tender moments in- and sometimes tender memories of  - our earthly homes. I think that in heaven it will be that way all the time, not just occasionally.  I look forward to returning to that home again someday.

At Christmas when I reminisce of loved one long gone, I try to remember that they are "home" for Christmas and what a joy that is for them. Even as I miss them, I like to think that maybe they are missing me a little bit too.  My heart will always be "home for Christmas, if only in my dreams."

Heirlooms (Amy Grant)
http://youtu.be/4E7bc149Xe0

Welcome Home

"Where we love is home.

Home were our feet may leave,

but never our hearts."  - Author Unknown

Welcome Home (by Jim Brickman, Victoria Shaw)
(From his album: Home)

You're a sight for these poor eyes.
You're the deepest breath I've taken
in a long time.
And I saved you a place right next to me,
like always.
Did you know I watched the stars at night
Wondering if you could see them too,
And if everything was all right?
Not a day went by
when you weren't in this heart of mine
All the time, all the time.

Welcome home, welcome home.
I've been praying for this day
since you've been gone.
Welcome back to these arms.
And I've waited for you for so long,
Welcome home.

I've saved all the cards and your letters too.
Oh, they helped be through each day
when I was missing you.
Do you know how good your laugh sounds to me?
It makes everything feel just the way it's supposed to be.
I'm gonna hold this moment
like a picture that I freeze in my memory.
The sweetest memory.

Welcome home, welcome home.
I've been praying for this day
since you've been gone.
Welcome back to these arms.
And I've waited for you for so long.
Welcome home.

Welcome home, welcome home.
I've been praying for this day
since you've been gone.
Welcome back to these arms
that have been waiting for you for so long.
Welcome home, welcome home.

     Today my son and his wife are coming home for Thanksgiving break. They recently moved to Arlington, Virginia for a job and further schooling. We are so looking forward to seeing them, and having them home for a few days. Unfortunately, my daughter and her new husband won't be able to be home with us this year. We both have been struggling with her living so far away and being unable to visit as often as we would like to. She did have an opportunity to come home a few weeks ago for a short visit and we were able to enjoy our brief time together. Through all of this, I began to think about various times in my life when I have struggled with homesickness.

       I can remember when my husband and I had been married about 22 months. He had finished getting his Bachelor's Degree that Spring and was about to start his first "real" job. We had had to relocate to a place that was far away from much of anything that was familiar - home, family or friends. When I awoke on the morning of my first Thanksgiving away from home I remember praying, "God, just help me just get through this day".  As I stood looking out of the window of our new home into all of the unfamiliar surroundings, longing for home, I felt a comforting peace come over me. The only way I can describe it is as if a warm blanket has been placed around my heart. I knew I wasn't alone. I knew that there were those who loved me, who were missing me as much as I was missing them. I knew that my Heavenly Father knew how lonely I was, and how much I needed to feel His love for me in my heart that day. I needed to know that He knew what I was going through, and that He would be there to help me whenever I needed Him.

     Fast forward eighteen years, to Thanksgiving 2005. My father had just died a few days prior to Thanksgiving day, and I had flown home alone to attend to things there. Once again, I was far from home and feeling lonely and missing my family and friends. The funeral had been the day before, and I was spending this Thanksgiving day with my sister and her family. A friend of hers had invited us over to share their Thanksgiving meal. As I awoke that day my mind flashed back to that Thanksgiving day eighteen years earlier, when I had felt those feelings of peace and comfort in my heart as I looked out the kitchen window. Oh, how I needed those same feelings that Thanksgiving day - and they came. They came through the sharing and caring of this dear woman and her family; and, as my sister and I were able to reminisce about memories of Thanksgivings past.

     Now I stand at another Thanksgiving crossroad. I am thrilled to have my son coming home, but I am missing my daughter and she is missing home. Oh how I wish I could give to her what I felt in my heart on those two occasions. The peace and love of a caring family, who is missing her just as much as she is missing them. And, the love and comfort of a loving Heavenly Father who knows her circumstances, her feelings and her need to feel his loving arms around her. As much as we wish we could all be together for this Thanksgiving I know, and I hope she knows, that she is never truly alone and that "home" is only a prayer and a heartbeat away.

A note about the song below:

     I first came in contact with this Barry Manilow song the Christmas after my mother died. I waited to share it with my father due to the tender feelings we both had that first Christmas without mom. Three years later I recorded it and sent it to him to listen too, along with a card for what would have been their 50th wedding anniversary. I found this tape in his home, near his favorite chair, as we were cleaning out my childhood home. I like to think that he listened to it frequently and that it brought him some comfort in the lonely hours at home. I also believe that:

that someday when my time
is drawing near
I'm gonna hear

welcome home
welcome home
where there wil always be
somebody waiting
there for me
when I go home
home sweet home
everyone smilin' just for me
when I go home

Welcome Home (Barry Manilow, Mindy Sterling)
(from the album: Here at the Mayflower)

in my life
I have seen
far away places
wild and serene
but nothing I saw
prepared me for
the mat on the floor
saying "welcome home"

time flies
see the moon rise
as I'm makin' my way
through another long day
but I'll go
to a place I know
in my heart I know
there's just no place like home

welcome home
welcome home
to that place
that's safe and warm
always a shelter
from the storm
I'm going  home
welcome home
roll out the wlecome mat
for me?
I'm goin' home

sometimes
I remember
all the days I never knew
if I would ever make it through
but just when
I'd give up again
I'd remember when the days
were stormy
home was always
waitin 'for me
sayin

welcome home
welcome home
where there will always be
a welcoming light on
just for me
when I go home
welcome home
no place
that I would rather be
than goin' home

in my heart I know
that someday when my time
is drawing near
I'm gonna hear

welcome home
welcome home
where there will always be
somebody waiting
there for me
when I go home
home sweet home
everyone smilin' just for me
when I go home
in my heart I see
somebody waiting
there for me

welcome home
welcome home
it looks like a
starlight symphony
I'm goin' home