Hi Wordcharmer,
I too have been reading this thread from the beginning (I try to read every thread throughout the day) and was touched by your remark about not getting responses. I'm one of those people here who reads just about every posting, and care more deeply than you could ever imagine about every person here; and I take much of what gets said here and learn from it; I incorporate other people's experiences and wisdom into my own evolvement, and I take every request to prayer, and carry many of my sisters here in my heart throughout my daily activities (always hoping that the spirit deep inside of me is praying without ceasing even though I'm busy with mundane household tasks).

Your posts do matter, as do all postings and all posters here at BWS. I often wish I had something meaningful enough to say in response, but can't always fish it out of the brainfog that seems to be a constant companion of mine these days. Chronic fatigue renders me emotionally depleted, and some days I just can't find anything worthwhile in me to share.

But I'm still listening, still caring, still praying. And the one thing I've learned since coming here is that this is one enormous treasure trove of caring women. The healing spirit here is much like the "ebb and flow" of the ocean. Some days it's my turn to "flow" with wisdom and insight and eloquence. Some days it's my turn (as dictated by my fatigue and brainfog) to "ebb" and let others carry the flow. It's a wondrously healing tide of caring here, and I think that we can safely trust that when there's a lull in the conversation, it's not out of disinterest, but because people are thinking, praying, pondering how to respond, and often feeling inadequate or unable to respond with something profound enough to meet the poster's needs. I think we often hold back, hoping someone else with more expertise and wisdom on that area of woundedness might respond and then we can join in with our little tidbits of additional thoughts.

Maybe we should just respond with "I'm listening and I care", but I've learned in the past few months here that we can trust that the silence is FULL of listening and caring. And you can be sure that I'm one of those who is listening and caring and praying from within that silence...

Eagle, that was a beautiful response and I think you summed it up for all of us. Wordcharmer, I hope this helps!

JJ

Eagle, AMEN sister. Eloquent!

Yes jj, it sure does. I am overwhelmed by the compassion I see and feel here.

Dotsie, thank you for letting me know about chatty. I am using tough love. And it is tough on me too. He is the one who has chosen this. Not me. But if that's what he wants, I am not going to keep trying to coax him back into our lives. One day, he will see that we love him. I am praying that anyway.

Lynn, Lionspaw, Eagle Heart, thank you all for caring and the prayers.

I will be busy the rest of the week, as we are having our annual family picnic on Saturday. I invited my son and his wife, but I know they won't show up. There will be about 70 people, so I have to get busy. Lots of work to get ready. We have 5 acres, so there's plenty of room for the grandkids to play. I just pray it does not rain!

Oh, and we just had grandchild number 19 today! Sidney Elizabeth was born at 2:30 PM, weighing 8# 7 ozs, and 20 inches long! So I have many blessings to be thankful for!

Thanks again for all your caring and compassion. I will talk to you all on Monday.

Blessings

CONGRATULATIONS !!! I love her name - Sidney Elizabeth -- you must be thrilled !!

and yes, you truly do have many blessings to be thankful for

hope your family get together is a HUGE success - blowing blue skies and sunny days your way

Thanks lionspaw. Yes we are thrilled! We will go see her tonight when my husband Sid gets home.

Thanks for the good wishes too.

A family picnic makes me nostalgic. My family is either dead or scattered all over the country. We used to have them all the time in NM when I was growing up but gosh, that's been years ago. I hope you have a wonderful time.

Dianne, why don't you have your own picnic! Invite your neighbors or co-workers. Just a thought.

We will have a wonderful time, even if it does rain or is so hot that the food may become toxic! Lol! Guess I might have to keep the food in the house if it is in the 90's! Lol!

See you next week. Hugs!

Dianne, why don't you go to a retired citizens home and take some ladies on a picnic, kinda like Chatty does. I bet it will be so rewarding. I need to do something like that too.

Word, just don't eat the furry green stuff.

chick

Lol chick! Do you mean the green stuff called Fluff with pistachios in it? Or do you mean the green fur that evolves after food sits in the sun too long?

Our picnic was a success! 50 people out of 70 showed up. No rain! Just 93 and miserably humid! We kept the food inside with the air conditioner on high.

My nephew is a DJ who does karaoke, so we had a blast singing! Then my daughter Jamie's boy friend got up and sang "their" song and came out with the microphone and asked her to come up to the stage. He then proceeded to get down on one knee and he proposed to her! They kissed and she said yes, then he put the ring on her! It was a special surprise for all of us. We were all blubbering! Lol!

The picnic ended at midnight with a few fireworks, and lots of left overs, as I think the heat stopped people from eating too much! Oh well, we are having left overs this week! Lol!

We will do it all again next year. We don't go on many vacations, so the money we save, we spend on this. Anyway, we had a grand time!