January 4th. 2011 Reflection

Good Afternoon,

I've been wanting to write a big glassfloat post to welcome in the New Year, and to say, "Good Bye," to the old. Instead, I want to share myself with you in another way. The glassfloat posts will come. Hopefully, you will appreciate today's writing.

Yesterday, as I downloaded photos from our visit to our little "Texas Family," some photos on our Kodak program, which Nancy had put on a CD as a Christmas present to our daughter Chloe, appeared. They caught me by surprise. There are many others, but these captured a time in my life.

We were living in San Francisco, and decided to leave to explore the country, Baja and Canada to find a home. Our son Morgan had not been born yet.

Morgan Gareth is a Welsh name meaning, "Gentle By The Sea." He was born in the living room of our cabin in Copalis Beach, Wa. The room overlooked the Copalis River as it flowed into the sea. We had a home birth on purpose. He was born in 1982.

Our beautiful daughter Chloe was our first love child. She was born in San Francisco, and lived her first 6 months with us in the nicest little apartment one can imagine. We had a wonderful backyard filled with flowers and vegetables. The ocean was only a block away, and Golden Gate Park was also a block away in a different direction.

We needed to build our lives with a home, but could not afford one in San Francisco after a job I wanted did not materialize. So we left mid-March of 1977. First stop, a month in Baja, Mexico. 23,000 miles later our last stop in the fall of that year, Copalis Beach, Wa. There we started our lives as a family with a home, which came to us a year after arriving there.

I am filled with nostalgia-a bit of saddness because this is my 65th. year on the earth, and I'm feeling the reality of getting old now. As I look back at those photos, I realize the beauty of youth that our little family had. I want to scream out to all of the young,

"Be vital now!

"Embrace your awakening life, your strength and youthfulness."

"Learn to use the door that is black except for the ray of light just on the other side. Beyond that faint light, all is darkness. From the shadows of your imagination, things will appear out of the darkness, enter that ray of light, and walk through your door."

Let your heart fill with joy and love, and be good to yourself."

I am older now. I am a lucky man, and realize the goodness that has been and is in my life. A bit sad, but also relaxed and happy in my spirit.

I'm glad that you are all in my life,
Tom