So, an amazing friend of mine shared this with me yesterday and I have been watching this and listening to the lyrics. It keeps blowing me away. It is like Heidi speaking to the girls from the grave...and to me too.
I expect that you will need some tissues if you are anything like me and you imagine Heidi saying the words. I have been sitting here just feeling this. Getting ready to let her go.
We will be on the water Saturday at 3pm our time. I called the catamaran owner and let him know what we were doing. He comped the $1000.00 charter. Just another amazing thing.
On a day when "The News" screams of tragedy in Florida, my news offers hope from the west. God bless the human race and those that are willing to come along the right path. What that path is might be different depending on who you are, but at the end of it is Love and you can take it with you. My hope is that you will feel it every day of your life.
I believe that I will finally understand...someday. But not yet.
Please watch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxIsKcdy3Jk
Aloha from a place so full of soul food it is filling mine up faster than I ever could have expected,
B.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Crazy couple of days...
Hey Everyone...
Just wanted to post a few photos and say that it's been a crazy couple of days. I went fishing at about 5 this am with my phone in my pocket and in my "lack of sleep stupor" forgot that my phone was in my pocket so it got a nice salt water bath. Not good, but it APPEARS to be working again.
We had a fabulous day hiking up to Waimea Falls and then went to Waimea beach. I got eaten alive by mosquitoes and got stung by a bee, but hey, it's Waimea Falls, right? Probably one of the most healing places on the planet. Check out the amazing photo of the girls with our neighbor Ali (pronounced Allie.) He's their new best buddy and a very cool dude. He lives on the beach with his two sisters and right now their mom is visiting on her first "solo vacation" EVER with 8 kids. She was telling me she has had a kid in elementary school for 26 years, until her 13 year old went to middle school. How is that for dedication and love? Amazing.
Today, Gaby came over to surf with the girls, but the conditions were not ideal. She took Jillian out, but couldn't get a wave. I took Rachel fishing and she caught a couple of rock fish. She was very excited. (We call them rock fish, but they are real fish...not rocks.) I battled the wind and current in the Kayak for an hour or more and was thankful for the shoulder workout, but exhausted. Of course Shelby then needed to go out, and well, that did me in. Fortunately for me, I left the bait in a bag in the kayak and it literally got cooked in the sun and was useless to us. Shelbs was kind of freaked out by the tippy boat anyhow, so we had a very short expedition.
:-)
No winds tonight..humid and steamy here. Feels more like Panama in the summer than Hawaii. But hey...I am NOT complaining.
God, I love the north shore...so much positive energy here. Some photos on the side, some at the bottom of the blog...don't miss the ones at the bottom!
G'nite.
B.
Just wanted to post a few photos and say that it's been a crazy couple of days. I went fishing at about 5 this am with my phone in my pocket and in my "lack of sleep stupor" forgot that my phone was in my pocket so it got a nice salt water bath. Not good, but it APPEARS to be working again.
We had a fabulous day hiking up to Waimea Falls and then went to Waimea beach. I got eaten alive by mosquitoes and got stung by a bee, but hey, it's Waimea Falls, right? Probably one of the most healing places on the planet. Check out the amazing photo of the girls with our neighbor Ali (pronounced Allie.) He's their new best buddy and a very cool dude. He lives on the beach with his two sisters and right now their mom is visiting on her first "solo vacation" EVER with 8 kids. She was telling me she has had a kid in elementary school for 26 years, until her 13 year old went to middle school. How is that for dedication and love? Amazing.
Today, Gaby came over to surf with the girls, but the conditions were not ideal. She took Jillian out, but couldn't get a wave. I took Rachel fishing and she caught a couple of rock fish. She was very excited. (We call them rock fish, but they are real fish...not rocks.) I battled the wind and current in the Kayak for an hour or more and was thankful for the shoulder workout, but exhausted. Of course Shelby then needed to go out, and well, that did me in. Fortunately for me, I left the bait in a bag in the kayak and it literally got cooked in the sun and was useless to us. Shelbs was kind of freaked out by the tippy boat anyhow, so we had a very short expedition.
:-)
No winds tonight..humid and steamy here. Feels more like Panama in the summer than Hawaii. But hey...I am NOT complaining.
God, I love the north shore...so much positive energy here. Some photos on the side, some at the bottom of the blog...don't miss the ones at the bottom!
G'nite.
B.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Back to Hawaii...Back to the North Shore...Back to Normal?
Hi Everybody, I hope you are well. I have not had Internet access other than on my phone since last Tuesday. Wow...that is a major marathon of non-connectivity for me!
I wanted to post some updates here, since it is appropriate for this journey, and it is where my writing in this form started.
So, before I get too deep, let me say that the journey for the girls and I so far has already been incredible. We had an opportunity to hang out on a very wet and cold day in the bay area with our friends Steve and Laura. It was awesome to see them and for the girls to have a chance to meet "The Ironman for Heidi." It was much too short of a visit, but it was also awesome. One thing that was awesome...we had dinner at one of their favorite places in Napa on Tuesday night and when we walked in, there were three HUGE urns full of gigantic beautiful fresh sunflowers. I wish I had gotten a photo, but my lack of sleep caught up with me and I spaced it when we left.
On Wednesday we flew in style to Honolulu, met up with Marcus and got settled in a bit. The Girls were adamant that we needed to go to the beach and well, twist my arm, eh? We went down to Waikiki and I ran into an old friend there playing volleyball. THEN I ran in to her again the next morning as she was coming down from a hike up diamond head and we were going up. She had mentioned our visit to another old volleyball friend and lo and behold, he was at the Volleyball courts later. As it turns out, he owns a sailboat and invited us to the Friday night race at his marina and so the girls and I got an opportunity to do that. I have never been on a racing sailboat in my life, so I was pretty stoked. It was VERY cool, and we all had a blast. The day was capped off with a firework show at the Hilton, and some cold beverages with my buddy Marcus, until about 3am. Good stuff.
On Saturday we ventured up to the North Shore and have settled in up here now. We met some great folks a couple of houses down and had an opportunity to hang out with them last night. The guy that lives there plays a bit of guitar and the girls and he did a little rendition of "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, which was totally cool. It is the girls school "choir" song, so they actually know the lyrics very well. The need to do it again and I need to get video. They also got to make leis and puka shell anklets as a friend of our neighbors had all the gear needed for the crafting. It was a great night just chillin' with some cool people. I think this area brings out the best in people. It is a magical place.
Today? Surfing. Caught some waves and got my N. shore Mojo on the line. Got to keep reeling that in. Also, I have to give Facebook it's props. An old fraternity brother saw my posts. He was on his way home with a few hours to kill after a week in Kauai...so he reached out and wound up here at our little slice of heaven with his wife for some dinner and drinks on the beach and an amazing sunset. Got to love it. Friends are awesome, even if you don't see them much.
So the title of this post is a question because it is something I don't know: Back to Normal? Is it something that I hope for? To be honest, I am not sure that I know what "Normal" is anymore for me. My life has not been normal for quite some time.
Some of you are probably laughing..."Your Life has never been normal, Bill." I can hear it now, and that is the truth in a lot of ways. I have been blessed. I know that, but still, I have been married for 16 years, and NORMALLY I would be married for a lot more of them. So, this going forward thing is not going to be normal for me. That being said, "normal " is not what I was really meant to be and I know that too.
All that musing aside, I am beginning to sleep again, which after weeks of lack of it, is a very welcome change. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm looking forward to next week and the ones after that. I'm hopeful that I will find the right road for our family and that I will lead the charge down that road with my girls close behind, with our Angel Heidi watching down on them and with a zest for life that is anything but "normal."
If we wind up on the wrong road, we'll take the next exit and see where that one leads. Why wouldn't ya run down the road with your hands flailing letting out a rebel yell? What do you have to lose? You can't take it with you people, nothing but the Love anyhow. So why wouldn't ya?
Pain time has to be vanquished from this life. I'm so tired of it and it doesn't belong here...anymore. At least not tomorrow, not in this place on the North Shore of Oahu.
Peace,
B.
I wanted to post some updates here, since it is appropriate for this journey, and it is where my writing in this form started.
So, before I get too deep, let me say that the journey for the girls and I so far has already been incredible. We had an opportunity to hang out on a very wet and cold day in the bay area with our friends Steve and Laura. It was awesome to see them and for the girls to have a chance to meet "The Ironman for Heidi." It was much too short of a visit, but it was also awesome. One thing that was awesome...we had dinner at one of their favorite places in Napa on Tuesday night and when we walked in, there were three HUGE urns full of gigantic beautiful fresh sunflowers. I wish I had gotten a photo, but my lack of sleep caught up with me and I spaced it when we left.
On Wednesday we flew in style to Honolulu, met up with Marcus and got settled in a bit. The Girls were adamant that we needed to go to the beach and well, twist my arm, eh? We went down to Waikiki and I ran into an old friend there playing volleyball. THEN I ran in to her again the next morning as she was coming down from a hike up diamond head and we were going up. She had mentioned our visit to another old volleyball friend and lo and behold, he was at the Volleyball courts later. As it turns out, he owns a sailboat and invited us to the Friday night race at his marina and so the girls and I got an opportunity to do that. I have never been on a racing sailboat in my life, so I was pretty stoked. It was VERY cool, and we all had a blast. The day was capped off with a firework show at the Hilton, and some cold beverages with my buddy Marcus, until about 3am. Good stuff.
On Saturday we ventured up to the North Shore and have settled in up here now. We met some great folks a couple of houses down and had an opportunity to hang out with them last night. The guy that lives there plays a bit of guitar and the girls and he did a little rendition of "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, which was totally cool. It is the girls school "choir" song, so they actually know the lyrics very well. The need to do it again and I need to get video. They also got to make leis and puka shell anklets as a friend of our neighbors had all the gear needed for the crafting. It was a great night just chillin' with some cool people. I think this area brings out the best in people. It is a magical place.
Today? Surfing. Caught some waves and got my N. shore Mojo on the line. Got to keep reeling that in. Also, I have to give Facebook it's props. An old fraternity brother saw my posts. He was on his way home with a few hours to kill after a week in Kauai...so he reached out and wound up here at our little slice of heaven with his wife for some dinner and drinks on the beach and an amazing sunset. Got to love it. Friends are awesome, even if you don't see them much.
So the title of this post is a question because it is something I don't know: Back to Normal? Is it something that I hope for? To be honest, I am not sure that I know what "Normal" is anymore for me. My life has not been normal for quite some time.
Some of you are probably laughing..."Your Life has never been normal, Bill." I can hear it now, and that is the truth in a lot of ways. I have been blessed. I know that, but still, I have been married for 16 years, and NORMALLY I would be married for a lot more of them. So, this going forward thing is not going to be normal for me. That being said, "normal " is not what I was really meant to be and I know that too.
All that musing aside, I am beginning to sleep again, which after weeks of lack of it, is a very welcome change. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm looking forward to next week and the ones after that. I'm hopeful that I will find the right road for our family and that I will lead the charge down that road with my girls close behind, with our Angel Heidi watching down on them and with a zest for life that is anything but "normal."
If we wind up on the wrong road, we'll take the next exit and see where that one leads. Why wouldn't ya run down the road with your hands flailing letting out a rebel yell? What do you have to lose? You can't take it with you people, nothing but the Love anyhow. So why wouldn't ya?
Pain time has to be vanquished from this life. I'm so tired of it and it doesn't belong here...anymore. At least not tomorrow, not in this place on the North Shore of Oahu.
Peace,
B.
Monday, January 26, 2009
The "New new blog:" ALS Chronicle
I started a new blog that is more of a full chronicle of our journey related to the disease, and I have closed out the Mayo Mecca blog referenced below. Here's the address for the new blog:
Http://alschronicle.blogspot.com
Peace,
Bill
Http://alschronicle.blogspot.com
Peace,
Bill
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The address for the new blog
The new blog I have set up for the Mayo Clinic trip is:
http://mayomecca.blogspot.com
I doubt it will be as fun a read as I hope the Hawaii blog was for you, but at least you will be updated on Heidi's condition and will get a sense of how the Mayo people handle our case, and i'll delve into some of the other things we have tried over the course of the past two years.
Peace,
Bill
http://mayomecca.blogspot.com
I doubt it will be as fun a read as I hope the Hawaii blog was for you, but at least you will be updated on Heidi's condition and will get a sense of how the Mayo people handle our case, and i'll delve into some of the other things we have tried over the course of the past two years.
Peace,
Bill
End of this blog
Hi all that make it here. Since we are coming up on the 1st anniversary of departing for this trip, I figured I'd bring this blog to a close. I am taking Heidi to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN beginning this Saturday for as long as they want us there with the hope that someone at "Mecca" can help us figure this out and get on the road to a cure. Once I have that set up, I will post the blog address here in case you want to follow what happens on that trip and any new information about Heidi's condition.
The memories of this Hawaii trip will live forever in our hearts and hopefully the years will not dull the times we had there together as a family.
Best to you and yours, Happy New Year. May 2009 bring you everything you hope for.
All the best,
Bill
The memories of this Hawaii trip will live forever in our hearts and hopefully the years will not dull the times we had there together as a family.
Best to you and yours, Happy New Year. May 2009 bring you everything you hope for.
All the best,
Bill
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Back in "The Ranch"
Hi all, sorry we have not been updating the blog lately. We arrived home in Denver last night at about midnight. The last couple of weeks have been super busy and with lots of travel and moving around. We never quite seemed to get settled and of course had to cram as much fun stuff to do in as possible which generally left us all worn out at the end of the day and not too interested in blogging.
I'll try to figure out a more efficient way of getting a bunch of photos out on the web using flixter or shutterfly or something in the near future.
Just to give you a sense of where our minds are at right now...yesterday we had mixed feelings about leaving Hawaii. We love it there and it holds a lot of nostalgic feelings for us from "back in the day." The green fields and mountains, the gentle tradewinds, the blue and turquoise ocean (full of fish!), the great weather, the sand with its unique beach-to-beach characteristics, the sunsets over the water and of course the friends that we re-connected with and the new ones we made. What's not to like about that. Now of course, we have a whole new set of memories that we will treasure and that will draw us back to the islands once again.
That being said, it was also great to come home to a neighborhood full of wonderful people that are so awesome, to Colorado which is getting ready to "Spring" and our house, into which Heidi has put so much good work, making it our home. We are still trying to figure out how we can make this place work (with the stairs and no main floor bedroom or shower.) So far my "sherpa" skills are woking, so I don't think we are under TOO much pressure to do anything about it.
Out for now. B.
I'll try to figure out a more efficient way of getting a bunch of photos out on the web using flixter or shutterfly or something in the near future.
Just to give you a sense of where our minds are at right now...yesterday we had mixed feelings about leaving Hawaii. We love it there and it holds a lot of nostalgic feelings for us from "back in the day." The green fields and mountains, the gentle tradewinds, the blue and turquoise ocean (full of fish!), the great weather, the sand with its unique beach-to-beach characteristics, the sunsets over the water and of course the friends that we re-connected with and the new ones we made. What's not to like about that. Now of course, we have a whole new set of memories that we will treasure and that will draw us back to the islands once again.
That being said, it was also great to come home to a neighborhood full of wonderful people that are so awesome, to Colorado which is getting ready to "Spring" and our house, into which Heidi has put so much good work, making it our home. We are still trying to figure out how we can make this place work (with the stairs and no main floor bedroom or shower.) So far my "sherpa" skills are woking, so I don't think we are under TOO much pressure to do anything about it.
Out for now. B.
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