this i have learned

sunday

came and left before i even realized it. i've been glued to my computer editing wedding photos of my son, tyler and his new wife, ale....

yesterday was a beautiful day and two hearts became one.

i feel privileged to have been able to witness and shoot the love between my first born son, and his true love.

who doesn't love to witness new love...bright and shiny and a constant smile plastered across your face...

it's the best feeling in the world....but it is also the shortest feeling in the world.

sure after the wedding and the years start to pass, you still love each other but the newness is gone...and a familiarity has set it....

a routine

get up for work

hurry home, get dinner cooked, do the dishes, maybe throw in a load of laundry,

if you have kids by now, check homework, baths need to be taken

and before you know it

its time for bed only to begin all over again the next day....

~~~~~~~~~~~~

you know i heard a saying the other day that really struck a cord with me

the days are long, but the years are short....

oh how this couldn't be more true.

~~~~~~~~

i look at where im at in my life, and the things that are important to me now....things that 20 years ago were so important, i now know, they weren't nothing....they were me filling my days with basically my eyes closed. oh how i wish i could go back and start over, there are so many, many things i would do differently.

id place more importance on family, friends

and show more compassion to strangers...

i'd read the word of God more often and apply it more to my life....

i'd spend more time with my children when they were little, instead of staying home scrubbing the floors, i'd take them to the park and feel the joy in my heart and hearing them giggling and soaking up the sunshine.

~~~~~~~~~~

i'd spend more time doing things for others,  serving others first before myself.

id spit out the hatred that id once let creep into my heart and linger for too long...

i'd more weary of people and their intentions and not be so naive ....

oh so many things would have been different if i go back and get a re-do.

but for today im going to be happy for the happiness i do have in my heart

the compassion i have for my fellow human beings.

the kindness i extend to my friends and to strangers...

we need more happy in the world, so please

come take my hand and follow me....

XOXO