the time...has

slipped by... life has happened in so many ways since my last blog entry... i can't believe it's been so long... suppose i haven't had much to say!!!

recently...the notion...idea... belief..whatever one wants to call it... that life has "no meaning" has been an almost daily topic of conversation in my life... it is most perplexing that one chooses to live this way... however with this thought...belief... there is no accountability... no love... nothing... just existence... everything is disposable... because...nothing has any meaning...

personally i find this a most selfish belief... it is disturbing on so many levels...and no matter how defiant...and bent this believer is...on life having no meaning... he will never convince me... that this is true...

so...my thoughts on life... for what it's worth...

in a way...i can understand mikeC's belief... if i chose to live my life the way mikeC has...

but...i have not...and my life means something to me... to my sons...my family...my friends... with the exception of mikeC... of course...however i don't know if he could consider anyone a friend... because with friendship is love...and meaning...yes? i'm so confused...

i have listened to mikeC's argument over and over again and it just doesn't have any relevance...nor does it have anything but scientific facts... mostly about the beginning explosion and the end explosion...so one day the earth explodes...no more humans...so nothing matters... simple right...however it's not that simple.... not for me anyway...

i have had a completely different life... i have had a life filled with love...compassion...passion... empathy and sympathy...laughter... family and friends...i have been a teacher... and the student... i have had two sons whose very lives...depended on me for many years... i just can't find "NO MEANING" in all of this...

10 years ago... my father became ill... he suffered from an aortic aneurysm... cancer.. among several other serious life threatening diseases... during the 11 months....beginning in june of 1999 until may 17th of 2000... i watched my father fight and fight...for his life... after 4 or 5 surgeries... two stints... gall bladder removal... then they found cancer and removed the lymph nodes and gall bladder stem to prevent spreading....at which time he went into respiratory failure and was in ICU for several days.....a few months later he had surgery done on the aneurysm which caused him to have a stroke paralyzing his right side... after 3 or 4 months of recovery...my father returned to work...and to the golf course...he had to learn how to walk...talk...eat... and write again.... then in february of 2000...my father received a clean bill of health... we were going to enjoy many more years...with him...

in the middle of april 2000.... my father's belly bloated and he was rushed to the hospital... to find that he had a rare form of stomach cancer...causing lesions on his stomach lining.... in a matter of 3 weeks...my father went from 175 lbs to skin and bones.... on saturday...may 6th at 3:30 in the afternoon..by younger brother kip...called me crying... "you better get here now ...they don't think dad will make it through the night!!" i was on a plane by 5 that evening heading for san antonio.... my brothers picked me up at the airport and took me directly to the hospital...where my mother i stayed by my father's side through the night.. the next day... was my son taylor's 15th birthday... and the day that we all learned...there was nothing they could do...!!! i heard my father laugh...and make jokes that day...he wasn't ready to die... he said..."but i still have things to do" ...all i could think of...was how he never got his canary yellow mercedes...

10 days later... while standing in my classroom...my phone rings... it's my brother.. "he's gone" i will never forget that moment as long as i live... my knees collapsed beneath me...as i fell to the floor....holding the phone to my ear... saying "no...god no.... " two of my students... lifted me to my feet.... i felt the flush of life exit my body... my dad..was gone... there was no bringing him back...there was no earth exploding...there was only a wonderful loving father... husband... man...lying breathless...on his bed...surrounded by his family....

did this man serve no purpose...did his life have no meaning... ? how can anyone say that.. how can anyone take that away from me...from my family...from him....? so what gives my father's life meaning...? he lived a good life....he brought joy to so many... he believed in all 4 of his children.. he never let us down... i can't remember going without food...or no roof over our heads... my father gave a great deal to all of us... my father's life had meaning....to me...to my brother's and sister...and all of his grandchildren...to my mother...his sisters.... it still does in fact have meaning...he gave us all something to carry on for generations and generations to come...

it is impossible for me to believe...life has no meaning... when it has had so much meaning... and whether i'm here tomorrow or not...or the earth explodes or not...i still lived...i still did what i was here to do...i still was a mother...a daughter...a sister... a friend...a teacher... and all the lives i have touched...and all the lives that have touched mine...has given it more meaning that i could ever ever ask for...

i suppose...it is a choice...to live a meaningful life... to love and to be loved... it is..that i am willing to do what i can to love and to give and to make the most of this short time on this earth... i just don't see that the earth exploding someday negates the fact that i lived...i loved... and i laughed.... with meaning....!!!