Brave Heart, Brave Soul. She who is brave is free.

  Son,  I'm not sure what's happened. But I think it started a long time ago. Maybe it was the TBI, maybe we weren't listening like we should have, or maybe it was just the road you were meant to take. Whatever got us here, had a purpose. I'm still trying to figure that one out, but what I know is you've become your own man. A man we're proud of. You're making your dreams a reality and that is pretty amazing.   I can say I'm sorry. I can ask forgiveness. But I can't go back and undo the past. All I can do is tell you I love you; we love you and we miss you. I'm your mom, I won't stop trying, just as I know you won't stop pushing us away. Maybe one day we'll meet up somewhere and start fresh. Maybe you'll fill us in on how you're doing and what's happening in your life. Maybe one day I'll get to see you smile and hear your laughter again, maybe one day you'll hug me again. Maybe...one day. But you know what? I'...

“It’s better to look back on life and say: ’I can’t believe I did that. Than to look back and say: I wish I did that” ~ Unknown Have I ever told y'all I love to cook? Probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise really. I’m all about creative energy and I love getting creative in the kitchen. Next to writing, cooking soothes my soul. I’ve always been a creative soul. Can’t argue this. Cooking just became part of the process I suppose. I loved hearing the sound of pots and pans clinking in the kitchen. As a little girl I’d drop whatever I was doing at the time and come running. My daddy was probably a bit more adventurous than my mama. He’d let me take over, concocting whatever creation my heart desired. And he’d eat it too. Brave soul, really. Pretty daring back in the day, honestly. I mean I was known as the destroyer of cakes not to mention I added heat, as in the spicy kind, to oatmeal and ketchup to my, tacos. Well, nothing’s really changed there. I still eat ke...

“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.” ~ Winston S. Churchill Life is full of ‘wait a minute vines’ as my daddy has always said. All you have to do is walk outside to learn this lesson. Just take a stroll down the street or around the corner and something or someone is bound to snag, grab or trip you up one way or another. Just making the choice to open your front door every morning is a chance. If my daddy has taught me anything in my near 45 years it’s this: inhale courage and exhale fear. My daddy was a lifetime soldier. He jumped out of planes with the 82nd Airborne. As a child I thought he had no fear. I watched him wear his uniform with pride. I was in aww of his wings. I loved when he walked out the door with his Green Beret on. In my eyes he's always been a man's man. My boys would tell you their Paw Paw is a bad ----. And though those aren't the words I'd chose, they are right..He really is. But he's also funny, kind, humble, loving and gracio...