The Stars and I

Ever since I was a little girl and watched An American Tail (1986), I always would sit on my window sill at night looking up at the stars.  No, scratch that! No matter where I was, or what I was doing, whenever the days would start to fade away and the stars would awaken the night sky, I always would look up at them.  Now that I think back, I think it was because I may not have known a lot of things with great certainty, but whenever I looked up at the stars, I would dream! Dream of the days gone by, of days that have yet to be, or never were. No matter what I was going through in my life, I could always count on my dreams to save me.

When I came of age and got married, I didn't even realize it, but I stopped looking up at the stars, somehow stopped dreaming.  I mean I still had dreams.  I would dream of finishing school, starting a family,buying my first home, so on and so forth; but those were dreams of necessity or logic. They were not the dreams that you could get lost in for hours or make you have butterflies in your chest.

I reminisce on this childhood experience, because I was out on the town with my husband tonight and as we were driving home, I caught myself looking up at the stars and I started remembering what those stars meant to me.  How they were a million wishes and prayers sent up to heaven to be answered. How they were the tears of pain and sorrow saved in heaven in remembrance. They were the light in my darkness and no matter where I was or how alone I felt, they were always there shining down on me and giving me hope for a better tomorrow. As I sat in the passenger seat of our car driving along on the highway of our life, I started thinking about those stars and wondering why I never looked up at them anymore? Did my life become so busy that I no longer have time to dream anymore? Were the stars just a childish notion that I grew out of as I have gotten older? Did I come to a point of definitive consciousness, where I said, "What's the point?"

I am not sure when or why I stopped, but I think it was around the time I got married.  Reason being that when I married my husband, my whole life changed.  Suddenly all those wishes and prayers that I would send up to the stars, finally came true, all of my tears and sorrow, turned into complete and utter joy and happiness. My husband became my light and I was always surrounded by him and darkness no longer existed. Because of that, I no longer needed to hope for a better tomorrow because every moment I was living was the best moment I thought I could ever experience. Don't get me wrong, by no means is my husband, or our marriage perfect, but the fact still remains, it is perfect for me! Though the stars are a wonderful after thought, I find that I no longer need to dream, because now my life is better than my dreams could ever be and I thank the Lord every day for such a wonderful gift in life he has blessed me with!...Until next time

Don't ever give up on LOVE

Hello my beloveds!  How are you doing today? As I sit here in my office just scanning through my facebook news feed, I came across a post that one of my friends had made.  It is kind of like a small blog, but in comment form and I thought it was interesting enough to blog about. She was commenting on a blog she read from Jim Daly and if you don't know who Jim Daly is, then click here and you can see for yourself JimDalyBlog.com.  Getting back to my topic though, she titled her comment as "Epic Love in Marriage," and talked about the Titanic.

She mentioned how everyone was so enthralled with the main characters love story that it made it seem like love like that could only exist in movies, but gave some enlightening information about a true love story from that fateful day.  She goes on to write:

"Aboard the Titanic when it sank in the Atlantic Ocean’s frigid waters on April 15, 1912 were Isidor and Ida Straus. As the terror of that ill-fated journey unfolded, the couple knew that after forty years of marriage they were about to spend their last moments together. “Women and children first” was conventional protocol at the time, of course, which meant Ida would have to leave behind her beloved husband. But when the moment came, she refused, saying, “As we have lived, so we will die … together.” Numerous accounts of that night indicate the couple then settled into deck chairs and held hands, waiting for the inevitable."

I'm not sure if you remember the movie, but in all the chaos, there was an elderly couple that accepted they were not going to get off the ship and retreated back to their cabin, where they both died holding each other as the waves came crashing in.  These characters were to represent Isidor and Ida Strauss, although, there was a lot more to it then that.

Isidro and Ida were the owners of Macy's Department Store in New York and they had seven children and as their children were grown, would travel a lot together.  They were actually coming back home to America after vacationing all Winter in the South of France. Being that they were of upper class and their age, they were both offered a seat in one of the lifeboats, but Isidro refused to get on while there were still women, children and men that were in line before him, he told them, "I have lived my life."  After his refusal to get in the boat, his wife with one foot already in, stepped back and said her famous words, "I will not be separated from my husband, As we have lived, so we will die … together.”  It is also documented that she then took off her fur coat she was wearing and gave it to her newly hired English maid whom she made get on the boat.  She then told her, "Take this, you will need it more than I will now," At which point she went to her husbands side and there is where she stayed until the cold, bitter end.

This is the kind of love story that doesn't exist in movies.  Whenever you watch a romantic movie, it always goes like this: They meet, fall in love, something traumatic happens and then they either separate or get married and live happily ever after.  Movies never show you what happens afterwards and how two people can be so in love and devoted to each other. I am sure both Isidor and Ida had their ups and downs and hardships in marriage, but the fact that at the end of it all, they can still love each other enough to stand together on a sinking ship...Well....there's no greater love than that.

I have been blessed enough that I have found my own Isidro and Ida story and if you don't know what I am talking about, then I suggest you start reading my blogs from the beginning. I would like to think that if my husband and I would of be put in this kind of situation in our old age, that we would probably do the same thing.  To be honest, we have been put in similar situations, maybe not as dramatic or epic as being on an actual sinking ship, but we have made our sacrifices and proven over the years that my husband and I are stronger together, then we are separate and that nothing in this world can tear us apart.

So what is my point about all this?  LOVE DOES exist and it is out there for anyone to find. If you can't find it, then maybe you are looking for the wrong kind of love.  Isidro and Ida didn't just love each other, they loved God and showed it through their actions. 
(1 John 4:8-16)  Until Next time Beloved.......

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