As I sit here looking out at the picturesque scene from our kitchen.  Where the heavens awe seemlily touches the tree tops.  The blue sky with the warm sun playing peekaboo behind the puffy white marshmallow clouds.  As the clouds slowing move toward the north with the gentle wind that blows.

Our lone white pine stands guard in our front yard, giving shelter to the red cardinals, chickadees, the odd blue jay.  Our home is a sanctuary to peace.  Whom ever comes to our little peace of heaven is treated with the beauty that has been bestowed upon us when my step-father sold us his home.  In the distance when day becomes dusk the moose grace this area, their heavy walk lets you know there presence is near.  The bears sauntered near looking for food.

To some this nature is not beauty. We fear not the animals that share our land.  We gladly embrace the trueness of nature.

Majority of people take for granted their connection to mother earth.  As life gets filled with children, work, paying bills.  We forget the simple things in life.  We owe our existence to life not the other way around.  When people start thinking negative their lives begin a down hill spiral that is not easily changed around.

You hear the elderly  saying life use to be so simple.  As a baby boomer we have made our own lives more difficult.  We live in a throw away world, when new technologies come available we must have it.  Our children must have the newest games, computers, the name brand clothes, running shoes.  

We have come from a family that works together, prays together, plays together, learn together. To a society where television, games, internet becomes a integral part of our lives.  Children do not learn the fundamental meaning of work, budgets, responsibilities, and school.  Parents have to work two or sometimes three jobs just to maintain their lifestyle.  

My wife and I talk about the hardships we have gone through, then we sit and laugh.  We realize that we wanted a better life for our children, in the end all we manage to do was make them selfish.  Figuring we always had money and when they wanted something they got it.  Now living on a limited budget our youngest  gets angry because the money is no longer there.

Now we instill in our young one, that life does not owe us a living we owe life.  If you want something in this world you need to work for it.  We even had to readjust our thinking to getting the needs, not the wants.

We simplified our life back to the way we were raised.  We take each day and embrace it.  Our home is filled with love, and laughter.  Don’t get me wrong there is still times when negativity enters the tiny cracks in our life, we look at it and say begone, there is no room for negativity in our life.  We make each other laugh once a day and if we forget we do double the next day.

With suffering a stroke three weeks after we moved to our new home, it leads to new learning for my wife and I.  So now we have to learn how to handle the little quirks of the remnants of the stroke.  

We sit and look out our little bit of heaven.  Relish the peacefulness of our home, where negativity does not live.  When trails come our way they are cast out as quick as they enter.

Our world is what we give to it.  If we give it negativity then we shall reap it, if we give it a positive out look we shall reap it.  If  people look at their lives and think of what they need in life to be happy, they will see that life can be simple and happy again.  We don’t need expensive toys to impress anyone.  They are not even needed to live a happy life.  The world gets weighed down in revenge, violence ,and keeping up with the Jones.  It is not until you face a life altering crisis do you start thinking: “Hey I want to be around for a long time to come.”  Through life I have had many friends and lovers.  At this time I realize that there were three friends I cherished most in my life.  They accepted me for who I am.  They are Paulette, Cheryl and Wendy. Now I have a special person in my life, yes I do own my life to them.  They were the ones that got me to the hospital quick enough to receive the drug that brought me back to my family. Audrey and Bradley are the pinnacle of my life, they endure the fear of my stroke, they also cherished the fact that with some disability of the stroke they were gonna have me back in there life.  

If only everyone could see that material gain does not form a happy life, but view their wealth by the pleasures of a sunset, or the rise of the sun in the morning.  The singing of the birds in the morning.  The smile that comes on your family faces when you come home from work. Yes we still need to make money to pay our bills.  Although we can simplify our life.  Make every minute count, throw out negativity, make each other smile, cherish your loved ones. Then when we are in our golden years we can sit and say: “Dear our life was made it.”