Greetings to All on Mother's Day (and My 60th Birthday!) I'm going like 60 now!

A 'Big fish/Little fish mural in NYC) popped up on my FB memory so I shared that and this post with my friends... and brings lots to mind for me..how about for you? It's my 60th Birthday today, May 14th, 2023--and for fun especially on this Mother's Day let me share my birthday with you and remember the gift of life we've each been given...and hope our mother's (and fathers and caregivers) are at peace with how that came about and the effort given by many to help raise (or rear) each and everyone of us.

A couple of stories about my beginning days as part of a large family are some of the first on this blog Livfully.org... It's  been nice chatting with a friend( and encouraging more of the parents and families to plan for summer and ways to help youth share their concerns about making friends, trying new things and then learning to move forward even if not sure about how to get things done or follow up...but with support and coaching such as Tim Ferriss offers in his 4-Hour Chef book, lots more is possible if we don't stay in our own way but face challenges with more tips and team energy.

We can also all learn from CtSeniorLaw.com about how to have a Legal Caregiver Agreement and advocate for people in nursing homes (many who do not need to be there but may need a sponsor to live in the community with someone and then they may still qualify for help from the state to have care needs met as they are tracked and reported for wages. This is a message to encourage others not give direct advice from me.

Every state and community could have 'ad hoc or volunteer' groups at least trying to validate the need for Anyone Going Into a Care or Nursing Home facility if they have assets or even if not to see if there are other options they would like to explore. In many states, 'the money follows the person so the door is not slammer shut once a decision is made.'

Everyone should have a POA, Power of Attorney, after age 18 and be clear with a healthcare representative even after age 16 about whether they'd want to be on life support if their prognosis were not good for an active or even a conscious life or with severe medical or other support needed.

Again this is a reminder to help more people 'make plans for emergencies or 'in case' situations and get clear with one's doctor and local hospital what one's wishes are. MIDEO, My Informed Decision on Video, is a helpful process to learn about and there are ways to put one's health requests (the doctor has the ultimate say) in a national database. There may be an annual fee or not for some programs, but important to consider the benefits and have discussions with the people one wants to speak on one's behalf.

..As for me today, I'm hoping to get to trinitylimerock.org and FV Cong, Church to see folks even for refreshment hour (and see the service online as I can.)

There's a Celtic Concert in Canaan at the Methodist Church at 2pm I will get to. Last night I enjoyed The Joint Chiefs and Tailgate bands in Millerton NY with a little picnic beforehand and time at the FV Hunt Library, even playing frisbee with kids. The wind carried the ring disc a hundred feet so watch those puppies (and kids) when enjoying the outdoors! Wishing all A Happy Mother's Day and I share lots more you can circle back to later if time's tight...

"Many thanks" (as our Mom of many liked to say and still feels I imagine from on high...with the idea to have a 'cuppa --tea/ water with lemon or Roma (non-caffeine but coffee like drink) and something to eat' with a friend or new one you meet --as is safe and appropriate for these times-- and deep gratitude for all everyone is doing and for taking time to walk a mile in each other's moccasins. I see the last few letters "sins" and let's hope we don't create paths of those for ourselves or others, separating us from loved ones and the truth of what makes life work with fairness and care.

Happy Mothers Day (past, present and in the future and among all species...that's what keeps life going for many, and yet we need to advocate for all who are being forced early or however into roles of caregiving, parenting, bearing children, being legally or culturally/ religiously locked into living and intimate relationships that are not working for them, especially if not safe or hurting them physically or forcing one to bear or abort a child.)

That's a tall order on such a special day that we like to mainly celebrate and highlight for the positive...Mother's Day and for me, my 60th birthday...I am generally looking at the bright side of life in terms of possibilities and appreciating what generations have done before us as well as what so many are managing to do and who they are choosing to be today to create a healthier, kinder future for all and the earth herself....Mother Earth.

Let's keep that in mind as we move forward, swim in waters and fly in the air (whether in planes or trapeze or just spend time connecting to nature...the trees, the winged ones, the swimming ones, the four-leggeds and creepy crawlies and more...

Okay here's to the children of the earth dwelling together in peace, as a folk verse of a Quaker poem goes..."Oh What a Goodly Thing, It the Children of the Earth, Could Dwell Together In Peace" (that's on a Folk-Legacy 'Twas on a A Night Like This CD and is a nice round we sang at Grandpa (to my kids and many as he was a friend of Pete Seegers, another American Grandpa for our age) Sandy Paton's memorial service.

Many gathered for Caroline's Memorial in Sharon at Silver Lake during a rainy mother's day in 2019 for more singing, including Ed Trickett and his son who flew up from Florida. Ed and many other folkies are in the heavenly band, and I like to think of 'the other side' with our family, including my parents, Kaelan our late teen son, and my brother Dale and many more as having a riverside camp out with all manner of music, fun and even good food and wagon rides.

Okay so asking for healing prayers for all in need, whether receptive at this time or not to giving and accepting forgiveness, hope, faith, trust and more (even if not interacting with those who have been challenging or troubling to deal with...but rather recalibrate the heart to allow for deeper healing and another chapter of life experience to emerge, with team support and guidance even for conversations or interactions so things don't derail and more can understand the secure kind of bridge needed to 'proceed with caution' and care for one and all.

These days can be a 'mixed bag of tricks, laws, and needs to plan ahead about 5-10 years since it can take a few years or more to even learn What Could Be Done to 'face the music' of life and learning especially to protect one's assets if a change (or merger etc) is explored or pursued by one or more parties (people in a relationship, family, business, community...you name it.

Nothing is 'off the table' anymore, and it's anyone's guess who will 'hit the buzzer first' such as was done with implementing the abortion protective laws to revert back to the states and leave many women in peril, even those wanting to have a child but running into medical needs to terminate. In Texas for instance, 'the life of the mother' may need to be on the line or a serious condition in her health aside from the inevitable decline and death of the body or the baby or fetus she is carrying.

Another important point of discussion which I explore on my blog over the years is the idea of incarnation in terms of 'when a human life or spirit enters or evolves in the body of a growing being, whether human or otherwise.'

Some say it's at conception and others say it's somewhere after that while still in utero after a few months or six months and others say it's closer to the time of delivery or at the first breath...and some say even a few days or more after that.

Some say 'spirits change their minds' about being born and that may be one 'cause' of a pregnancy ending, and that can also be the cause of a human being born no longer living whether dying of SIDS or some other 'chance accident' or thereabouts.

There are in depth belief systems about reincarnation, living many lives (some say a few hundred and others say thousands to evolve into human beings....with key parts of what one 'discusses with one's guides' about 'who one wants on one's team or in one's life even to do some difficult things to help one learn and grow spiritually and understand the human condition or possibly to 'pay off karma' not due to punishment but more like a big math/energy equation.

I feel most of that fits into the kind of societies that uphold dignity and respect of people and allow for people not to be perfect yet full of possibilities and creativity, care and hope. We may hunger for a connection to the spiritual, uplifting energy and connection with spirit, other caring and capable people to help us not feel alone or confused and to handle bigger challenges 'that come our way' (or which we allowed or asked for 'on some level' to help ourselves and humanity.

We may be in a big 'sports type event' and it's not just might makes right (or let's hope not...) but rather 'growing up enough to see where we are at this time in human history and even consider what we don't know' but have had a lot of clues about for thousands of years and which we can put together as though a big jigsaw puzzle, 3 D and energy based as we and the earth essentially is when we 'look under a microscope' and see matter is mainly space, electrons, protons and neutrons.

With AI and who knows what these kinds of ideas would be a bit more common and possibly mapped out with references and ideas of 'what to do next'...We all need to consider the next 5 years as key to our collective communities and world even... Let's hone our caring and mothering skills and not let people get swept up into places of 'being far away' from hope and help, no matter the concern.

Thanks for all who have been there for me in my life journey... the first 20 years were mainly simple and carefree with a lot of skill building and discovery or great places, people and ways to spend my time (lots of schooling and dance after grade school and one year of high school sports and being in a musical and making friends from the six towns of the NW CT area...) then onto New Haven and Fairfield high schools before 4-5 years at Vassar (I took two semesters off without penalties but got to spend a lot of time on campus but also travelled around the US for a few months with a friend and saw a couple dozen other friends, family (including my brother Jeff who was in SC and showed us along with cousin Mike how to catch brook trout and we swam out to a small island that had a rope swing with items on our heads) and the scenic parks along the way.

That is a great way to have a work-play-network vacation and I may do that again before too long, even to help some families with young kids or older folks too in my circles or as things emerge. Okay thanks for letting me share all of this which I'll now put on my blog Livfully.org

Again thanks for prayers and support for all in your circles and mine and that includes my brother Jeff whose been in the hospital for over a week after months of decline in strength.

He should be able to get help in a timely fashion to pull through this and recover well...but it took a half dozen of us to egg him on to get to a specialist. Somehow many country doctor consults missed important signs and he did travel thinking and thought he was extra worn down from that effort or Lyme's or a thyroid issue.

Again asking google what symptoms might mean and advice of who to see would be better than toughing it out. Having a few folks who know and check on one another daily or often is key to overall monitoring of how life is playing out.

Please Keep a journal of symptoms to help one keep track of patterns and go in for bloodwork and such yearly if not more as directed (to monitor insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, high blood pressure and all of that. The caffeine, sugar and more in energy drinks or coffee etc needs to be understood as something to monitor if not avoid altogether.

That's not easy with people working hard or long hours, but eating well and getting sleep is important (especially for new parents and there may be more help for everyone if people are open and ask and network to get a team of support.)

Thanks again and on with the day. I'll post a gofundme for our brother Jeff Palmer and appreciate people sharing that and donating as they feel they can (even asking a friend or two to pitch to help do that. ) We also have a cousin Dawn Coury Lopez facing a cancer diagnosis and her gofundme has helped her quite a bit on many levels. Let's go for more win-wins and have a blessed day!