Tag Archive | Love

The Healing Heart <3

My heart seems to be healing.

Not because I have given up, let go, or gone through however many steps books about grief claim you’re supposed to go through before the healing process begins.

I am so full of sorrow all these years later, it feels no less suffocating.

I’ve fallen asleep talking to God, swallowed up by this heartache that there are no words for.

Everyone I love, suffering around me, their hearts as broken as mine. The thoughts spin around in my mind and keeping myself in bed at night is often a task. I feel so much anxiety that I have to resist the urge to jump up, throw on my All-Star Chucks, grab my keys, and be out. Saving our lives in the middle of the night; it’s a job that I couldn’t wear my heels for.

I want my niece home.

I want to be the one to teach her and protect her.

If I focus on what I’ve missed, it is too heavy. All I can do is look toward the future, and that dream is something I both cling to and cherish.

There are no words to describe what it feels like to be kept from someone who you not only love, but are ‘ in-love ‘ with. It’s like living without your heart. You think about her every day …. her laughter, her tears …. it is agonizing.

When your heart has been broken and it begins to heal, it’s like a little magic happens.

You find yourself blushing again, being silly again, sleeping the whole night through and waking up rested. It is a small miracle to even feel again. You have given something to God and you can rest, at least through the night.

I find that I am a stronger person than I ever realized …. more loved than I imagined, more adored than I ever believed, more cared about than I ever even knew. I get middle of the night messages, middle of the night French fries and milkshakes …. looked after and held dear.

Being ‘ loved through ‘ a painful situation, by friends, lovers and the like, has been a blessing. When your heart hurts, you don’t need anything else hurting it. You need extra gentle hugs, extra passionate kisses, extra tenderness. You need understanding that goes beyond reason.

Crazy love, happy like, secret surprises, little notes from my students, stars are in my eyes and butterflies flutter in all my senses …. I have started painting again, writing poetry again, sitting on the beach with good books, writing over the city lights …. my heart is healing, and even though I know it will feel broken again tomorrow, I know that tomorrow it will also heal.

I feel peaceful, I feel calm, I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and being in the home stretch of this thing brings a relief that is much-needed.

It only confirms that what I have said all along …. Love is the strongest force and through it and with it, anything is possible ….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing Projects

Before this happened to us, I used to write all kinds of things. It is very rare that a day goes by that I don’t write. I in fact get teased that ‘ a writer writes, always . ‘

As a writer, I write what I know. I hardly ever write something that is fiction because I have too much non-fiction to tell. After this happened to us, I stopped writing poetry, memoirs of love, and anything else colorful.

I really miss writing about something other than my broken heart so a few moths ago, I started working on some pieces of writing that make my spirit feel light and luminous. I wanted to share this intimate side of me with my niece and give her an idea of the creative soul that I am at heart.

Below are the writing projects I have decided to work on over the next year. These five subjects should keep me very busy and I’m excited to see them when they are all complete!

Follow me along the journey ‘ In The Mind Of A Writer ‘ ….

 

” Behind Closed Doors ” – Because of the turmoil in our lives, certain things were happening in our home.

We behaved in certain ways, the everyday noise became different, the mood began to darken.

You never know what is going on in people’s lives because you don’t get to see inside their homes to see

what is going on.

You never know what people are going through or what they are trying to survive.

I want to travel around, choosing the front door of a home that calls out to me, take a photo, and

proceed to knock on the door and find out the story of what is going on inside.

You never know who has a story to tell. Maybe they have had something happen that they are trying to escape

or forget or rejoice, celebrate, etcetera, and never had a voice to tell it.

I have a way with people and this is a project I will take on with serious heart because I have been mentally

working on it for years and would love to see it come to life ….

 

” What Happens When The Lights Go Down” – When the day turns to night, everything seems to change.

In the night, in the dark.

I have been privileged the access to a world that most have not.

In the streets of  the biggest cities; places like San Francisco, Oakland, and Las Vegas, there is a whole different

operating world at night. Homelessness, drugs, fights, robberies, people living and surviving under bridges and

underpasses; some of the world wakes up when the rest of the world goes to sleep ….

I’ve been given a key to that nighttime world through my bloodline and my street bond and it makes for

great pieces of writing and reading ….

 

” Around the World ” – I have been all over. A missionary, vacations, family reunions, 40 hour road trips to

Mexico, by ship, by plane, I have always gone somewhere. I have seen nighttime cliff divers, life in mud huts

near the Amazon Rain Forest, The Inca Ruins, underground Raves in the Biggest Little City in the World,

went horseback riding in the water in the Bahamas ….

I’ve had the best meals and experienced once-in-a-lifetime memories both near and far.

The people I meet are as unique as the places I meet them in and that excitement is what has made me

a giddy world traveler.

I would love to write about where to go, what to do, and how to go about doing it. I put together

great itineraries on a budget and know how to get around with barely a map.

 

” What Parts Of Your Innocence Do You Wish You Had Back ” – There is a part of oneself that

exists before all the ‘ugly’ happens to us in life. What part of your innocence or childhood do you miss?

Do you miss cuddling in bed with your mom for your bedtime stories?

Do you wish you still believed in fairies that live in a magical garden?

Do you wish you didn’t live in a world of constant fear and social media overload?

What part of yourself  do you wish you could get back?

 

” Love and Liaisons ” –  Some love is meant to endure a lifetime; behind the white picket

fence, everything cliché is happening beyond those gates.

The husband, the wife, the kids, the dog (or cat), 9-5 jobs and filled with football

practices and laundry baskets.

Some relationships are just the opposite.

Secretly meeting in hotel rooms, fulfilling fantasies, no attachments; you crave the carefree, the mystery.

Whether it is a lifetime, or over one night, they are both very profound in the experience ….

 

 

Shattered Vs. Broken

Shattered and broken.

Stop and think about that for a second. What do those words actually mean?

In terms of the dictionary shattered is defined as :     to weaken, destroy, or refute (ideas, opinions, etc.) – to impair or destroy (health, nerves, etc.) – to damage, as by breaking or crushing – to break (something) into pieces, as by a blow – to be broken into fragments or become weak or insubstantial.

Broken by definition is :     reduced to fragments; fragmented, ruptured; torn; fractured, not functioning properly; out of working order – changing direction abruptly – fragmentary or incomplete – infringed or violated – to smash, split, or divide into parts violently – reduce to pieces or fragments – to destroy or interrupt the regularity, uniformity, continuity, or arrangement of – to become suddenly discontinuous or interrupted – to become detached, separated, or disassociated – to begin suddenly or violently or change abruptly into something else – to express or start to express an emotion or mood.

If all that were a checklist about this clandestine adoption, I would mark ‘ yes ‘ across the board, without a second thought.

All the technical terms aside, is the only difference between the two the amount of pieces you end up with when you finally look up and survey the damage?

Everything shattered.  

Can’t form a thought, can’t make a memory.

Crying actually hurts, it’s not just tears running down your face. 

It makes your body ache.

It makes your senses numb.

It makes your survival instinct go into overdrive.

Shattered makes you scream out loud, broken makes you not want to speak.

I have felt my heart beat so fast it felt like it was going to explode in my chest.

I have felt my heart beat so slowly that it felt like it just wanted to stop beating.

My heart has beat so hard that I heard it thumping in my ears.

Shattered …. broken  …. they’re more than just words …. both require much understanding of the person behind the story. What are the circumstance behind their tender heart?

I’m a lover, and when you’re a lover, whose heart gets broken, (shrug shoulders here) it’s like you die. There’s no nice way to say that. This pain grabs hold of you and you have to wiggle your way out of its powerful grip.

My family and I are recovering the best we can and trying to cope with a shattered, broken mess.

I’ve had to relearn everything because everything I thought I knew was all wrong and upside down. I no longer felt the same about any thing or any one. I no longer felt safe. My warm heart; gone. Happy, wild & crazy fun, bouncing Bay-Life Beach Boricua became an empty, sad, guarded, suspicious, hot mess of spinning-fast emotions. Eleven years later, and it feels like yesterday. It takes effort each passing day to stay hopeful and positive, strong, and patient.

Since my life split into two equal parts, before and after my niece, I’ve questioned to myself, and asked many others over the years, if they thought you could actually die from a broken heart. I’ve written about it several times because ‘ death by broken heart ‘ is something that is extremely relevant to me. I feel the answer is a definite YES and you only know that to be true if you have experienced it. I’m talking about true pain, true disappointment, true hurt. Not the kind of ‘ they don’t have these chunky platforms in my size ‘ kind of disappointment. It’s a roller coaster of up, down, rolls around, stop, go, quick and unexpected turns that make your stomach drop ….

Shattered; broken …. it’s not who I am, it’s not what defines me, it is something that HAPPENED to me. It is something that happened to us. When you’re in a million pieces and every person you love most in the world is in a million pieces, you find yourself not only stopping to smell the roses, but appreciating every petal. And that’s the way I look at it …. you can be shattered or broken like pieces of glass or you can be shattered and broken like scattered rose petals ….

I choose the roses ….

 

 

 

 

Memory Boxes ….

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve kept a ‘ Memory Box. ‘

I don’t know where I got the idea or why I started doing it.

Ever since I was really little, I have put away small mementos in pretty boxes. I don’t let anyone go through them and I believe I’ve only shown them to those close to me a handful of times through the years.

Every piece in the collection represents a beautiful memory stamped in time …. movie ticket stubs, concert tickets, wristbands for resorts and private parties, greeting cards and love notes, poems I was given, coins and money from around the world that I’ve collected through my travels. Even the box itself was a present, my favorite fragrance Juicy Couture. Photos are in frames and albums, these boxes literally hold the memories of my heart.

Since I get wheeled into surgery yet again Monday morning, I spent the day drifting on memories. After the last three surgeries I’ve had, I stopped breathing as I was coming out of anesthesia. Though briefly, it is no less terrifying. The thought of the operating room is cringe worthy in itself and I know I’ll be on edge until late next week. You never know what will happen, so I thought no time like the present to share this special and personal side of me that is usually kept in a guarded place, with my niece. This is a rare glimpse into my memories, my dreams. At the end of the day, I’m a mere mortal, led by love and survived through passion, and tough as I may be, there is a softer side to me.

I’m not much into material things. The way to my heart isn’t through ‘ things ‘ and price tags are irrelevant. The way to my heart is the ‘ feel ‘ of a moment I will never forget. Simply described; it’s a moment you can see when you close your eyes …. it’s like you’re in that beautiful moment all over again.

The contents of these boxes are those moments.

I pray that one day, I will have a whole separate ‘ auntie ‘ memory box. God willing, all this will work out and the hurt will be replaced with euphoric joy.

( Sigh here …. )

Oh, the things that one dreams of ….

 

 

 

Back In Touch …. Remembering What I Love ….

I love hearing the rain as it falls in the hours before the sun comes up …. never a bed more plush ….

I love being picked up completely off the ground and embraced …. protected, so safe, wrapped in what magic makes ….

I love when I feel that gaze; pulled by passion plus love, times chemistry …. a rush in all its mystery ….

I love the city lights, the moon so bright …. stars close enough to touch ….

I love miles traveled around the world, smelling the flowers in bloom …. a stack of books, a lover’s dance ….

I love feeling the energy of kindred spirits, soul to soul through Divine touch …. up all night, the “baddest” bunch ….

I love rediscovering everything that made me once feel so free;   …. I will wait not in sorrow, but in hope and belief ….

 

but she will .

My baby (my niece) doesn’t know  her mommy.

She doesn’t know I’m her auntie.

She doesn’t know how private I like my life to be, now so vulnerable and suspicious of intention.

She doesn’t know how this has changed us.

She doesn’t know how very few people are intimately in my life, selected by decades of proven loyalty, and only her space remains.

She doesn’t know that I ache for her, weep for her, breathe for her.

She doesn’t know how tirelessly we have all tried, helplessly waiting, literally counting the days, the years, the months, the madness.

She doesn’t know that she is the missing jewel in our family crown.

She doesn’t know that she is looking into the faces of strangers, her life a mere  illusion those strangers created.

She doesn’t know how one day, everything in her life is going to change in an instant.

She doesn’t know we will catch her when she falls.

She doesn’t know that we would each give our lives to save hers.

She doesn’t know she is the keeper of so many hopes and dreams.

But she will.

And isn’t the very thought so heavenly …….

 

When It’s Love ….

When it’s love, it never goes away.

When it’s love, the impossible happens.

When it’s love, loyalty is everything.

When it’s love, you don’t let go.

When it’s love, you face hurts and heartache head-on.

When it’s love, you pull each other up hand-over-hand.

When it’s love, you wait if it takes forever.

When it’s love, you find strength you didn’t know you had.

When it’s love, it just makes sense. (Even if only you see it.)

When it’s love, you stand firm in faith.

When it’s love, in your heart, you know …. (And everyone else can see it.)

Babygirl, Meet Your Pappy ….

dadnbaby

A couple of days ago, I was cleaning out some old boxes. I came across a CD case I used to have in the days before Rhapsody.

A lover of road trips and always the DJ, the music is my favorite part. I had already decided to dump all the CD’s because I didn’t want to go back to any of those places that those particular pieces of music led me to or through.  I just wanted to thumb through it once just to look for my friend’s album ( which, thankfully, I found. My dear friend is the lead singer/guitarist/drummer of 3D: Thrice Denied. The same friend literally sang me through the most horrible moments of this heartache. She has also seen firsthand what this has done to me in particular, and can definitely vouch for me that this dreadful situation changed / took me).

I got to the last page and gasped.

I found this picture.

It is one of only a few pictures of my dad and our Babygirl.

The same eyes and the same hair color …. two hearts with the same beat ….

We lovingly call him Pappy, Pap for short.

The love this man has for this child in his arms is immeasurable.

This is grandfather and granddaughter, and simply, it is beautiful ….

A Candle and a Prayer ….

Candle

Last night, right after midnight, I began to make a card for my niece. Something more I will add to her Hope Chest, heartfelt wishes on specialty stationery written in calligraphy style writing. I stayed in prayer all day, trying to get through another day, as if this one were any less painful than all the others.

I’m a candle collector, having gotten candles from around the world and close to home as well. I feel a great peace when I am surrounded by them, so nearly on a daily basis I have one or more burning.

Tonight, just before midnight, I said one more prayer to wrap up the day that brings us one day closer to having our baby back in our lives. This candle was the perfect added touch to my everlasting prayer of being reunited with the little girl who has all of our hearts.

A beautiful little cake with a raspberry on top, the flame so bright and meaningful, I felt the tears running down my face and the ache of her absence deep in my soul. I so anxiously await her return, and I’m thankful that we’re that one day closer. One day may not seem like much to some people, but one day for us is like a lifetime.

I miss her. I love her. I wish there were more words to convey the depth of the emotion behind those few simple words.

Happy Birthday to my sweet love …. your family is waiting in hope, and in love ….

A Love That Knows No Time or Distance ….

Happy Birthday, Babygirl ….

I wish I could give you a big hug and spend your special day with you.

My morning class was cancelled today, and I’m grateful for that. I just feel like spending the day with a pot of tea and a good book.

I miss you so much and barely a moment goes by that I’m not thinking of you.

Today, forever, and always …. I love you ….

Love,

Auntie