The Ever Constant Sea

A Dear Friend who lost her husband to Pulmonary Fibrosis sent this to me.  It was something her husband had given to her on a Valentine's Day, years ago.  I thought I would pass this on to you...

THE EVER CONSTANT SEA by Rod McKuen

Once upon a time loving set me free, free as any bird who ever heard the wind blow in the trees.
After love had gone I had merely me and my only friend the ever constant sea.
We've been through it all, my old friend and me, summertime and fall have shown us

all the world there is to see.
So if I love again, if love is good to me, I'll share it with my friend...
the ever constant sea.

Excerpt from "The Sea, The Earth, The Sky"

photo via

You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.

James Matthew Barrie

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.

Henry Ford

What If?

Written By:  Donna White

What if you were told you have a terminal illness today?

What if you were told you only had 3-5 years to live?

What if you lived a very active life and woke up one morning
... unable to get out of bed and every breath you took was a cough?

What if you spent six days in the hospital and left having to wear
oxygen 24/7 -for the rest of your life?

What if you knew your lungs were basically turning into concrete
spreading like a cancer does from the lower lung lobes, up?

What if you had Grandchildren that you would not get to
see grow up?

What if-  you saw the tears falling from the eyes of your children,
husband, wife, friend, Mother, Father; as they watched you become
weaker and knowing how helpless they felt watching someone they loved,
and treasured, fighting for every breath they took?

What if you knew what it was like for someone not to be able to
take their own shower alone anymore?

What if you knew what it was like to not be able to walk from one
end of your home to other without feeling you could not get enough air
to breathe?

What if you became close to a group of people struggling to breathe
and watched as member after member died from a devastating disease?

What if you knew IPF affects approximately 200,000 Americans and an
estimated 40,000 Americans pass away from IPF each year?
Would you want to help spread awareness about a devastating disease
that is taking lives in order to find a cure?

You can help save a life!

http://www.facebook.com/PulmonaryFibrosisFoundation

and click "like".  Clicking "share" on different links posted on FaceBook to bring awareness :)

** PFF -IPF Awareness Week -September 18 - 24**

Donate to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation at:

http://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org/

photo via

The most perfect communion of soul with soul, the most exquisite fellowship of mind with mind, are possible only where undoubted trust and undying love are possible, nowhere else. Nothing so ennobles and purifies a spirit as the exercise of faith in somebody.

REUEN THOMAS

Happiness

When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things - not the great occasions - that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness.

Bob Hope

Inner Beauty

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself; the other for helping others.

-A wonderful poem Audrey Hepburn wrote when asked to share her 'beauty tips.'

photo via

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
Melody Beattie

"You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you."
Brian Tracy

"Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others."
-Plato

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow them."
Louisa May Alcott

"Love life, engage in it, give it all you've got. Love it with a passion, because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it."
Maya Angelou

Hearts

"No words are necessary between two loving hearts"

Anonymous

"There is no answer to any of these questions. It's a matter of time and timing, of seas and seasons, of breathing in and breathing out."

-Peter McWilliams

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everthing is a miracle."

-Albert Einstein

A Poem

A beautiful poem that was written by a niece to her uncle who has Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Rested upon my lips, words meant to be spoken,
Slumbering inside my heart, pieces left broken,
Kneeling on bended knees, prayers sent through the unseen air,

Pen within my hand, be the voice to spread the word I need to share..

I forever remember the day, when fate brought me the news,
The world stood still, left with thoughts I had to infuse,
Where was my faith? Had I not done something right?
So many questions the doctor brought to light,
It felt like the Angels song had already been sung,Breathless I had become, in need of a new lung.

I worried my days into heartache and fear,
First there was denial, then the anger did appear,
Tears began to shed over my dimming, gray sorrow,
Finally revealing, I can still fight for tomorrow.

I felt it in the rain, when my lover and I kissed,
I knew I was more than a fading name on a list,
A new purpose I had been given, a gift to bring love,
To give my family strength, to show them how we can rise above.

My sickness will not become me, I battle with no strife,
For I already breathe the breath of a new life..
I am true to my word, and I strike with all my might!
I am not to be taken down, for I hold the will to Fight!

Author:  Connie Tucker

" The more you care, the stronger you can be."

-Jim Rohn