I woke up today experiencing a different kind of birthday. I woke up in a cabin in Estes Park with the sound of water running over the rocks outside of the window. The air was cold and crisp, and I started the fireplace. A deep sense of quiet is what welcomed me into the beginning of my 51st year.
One of my dearest friends, Janell and I spent the weekend shopping and sightseeing and hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. She took me to one of her favorite places in the world and I can’t wait to take my family. It was a wonderful weekend, laughing like middle school girls and enjoying the beauty around us.
But today is significant for another reason. It is the day my dad passed away. He’s been gone 12 years, but I cherish the fact that the day I was born is also the day he passed away. We were close and had a special relationship. As I browsed one of the quaint stores in Estes Park this morning, I came across a display of shaving soap, razors and leather shaving bags…just like my dad’s. I smiled and felt his presence for in that moment, I know he was with me.
I am on such a different journey than I ever imagined. As I write this, I am settled into my Air BnB as I prepare to spend the week in classes at Iliff and in a year’s time, I will graduate with my Master of Divinity. I know my Dad is with me. Even if he may have never understood my change in faith tradition from Catholicism to Methodism, he always believed in me.
I am one incredibly blessed woman. I have a family that supports my every move and am loved with the crazy, all encompassing love by the Divine.
I just cannot ask for more.
Today I Am Thankful For:
- The elk!
- Aspens
- Great friends
- Oil leaks
- Being loved
