Sing it loud - sing it proud

For those of you that knew my dad, you know he loved to sing. He would belt out tunes on the top of his lungs. You could hear him singing in the shower, getting ready for work, walking down the hallway. Believe me when I tell you that he did not care if it was the middle of the night and everyone was sleeping. If the lyrics popped into his head, they danced right onto his lungs and out his mouth.


The songs he sang were the secret to his soul. We soon realized that the songs dad chose were songs that had meaning to whatever was going on around him. He would be heading out the door to the casino and would start randomly singing ‘The Gambler’ or he would look at my mom and start singing ‘You are my Sunshine.’ We would be getting ready for the May family traditional Fourth of July festivities and he would be singing ‘Star Spangled Banner.’ We would be heading to Florida in the wee hours of morning and he would be singing ‘King of the Road’ while we tried to sleep in the backseat. Once we caught on to this behavior, we would skeptically look at one another when he started singing things like ‘Old Flame’ and ‘Your Cheating Heart.’

This morning Chino (our pup) woke me up around 6am to urinate. This is where my dad would be singing ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ ready to start the day. Not me, I was half asleep in the yard thinking about Father’s Day and my dad. I was feeling sorry for myself thinking that we were headed to the cemetery later this morning to wish my dad a Happy Father’s Day. My ‘pity party’ was interrupted by someone talking very loudly. Just another Father’s Day domestic call I wondered to myself….just kidding. I looked around to see what the noise was and a few houses away, I saw a man on a bike. I could see he had earphones on and was clearly enjoying the morning oblivious to anything around him. Once he got directly in front of my house, he belted out (on the top of his lungs) ‘I’LL BE YOUR CRYING SHOULDER!!!’

Dad‘s message was loud and clear this morning. We know he is still with us today and always. If you are missing a loved one today, take a look around you, there are signs everywhere. If you have nobody to mourn on this Hallmark holiday, count your blessing and for the love of G-d, go spend time with them today.

Sing loud and sing proud!!  Enjoy the day!!

Scott Crane

Captured from Scott Crane's profile

In the fall of 2010, I saw a status update on a college friend's Facebook page. She was helping her friend's son reach the goal of 5000 friends on Facebook. I immediately 'friended' him and joined the mission. I updated my status asking friends to also help him reach his goal. His name was Scott Crane. He was an inpatient hospice patient at the time. I watched his numbers jump from 200 to 5000 rather quickly. I am confident he did not need my help.

We chatted on Facebook. We read each other's blogs. As a matter of fact, he became my biggest motivator to keep up with my posts. He would email me asking me to write a blog entry so he could laugh. He would follow-up with emails pertaining to my posted blog entries.

I never met Scott Crane, his family, nor his little dog but over the months, I felt like I knew all of them. His devoted and amazing parents that didn't want to leave Scott and go out for their anniversary dinner. His adorable sister was not only a teacher but also the sparkle in his eye. Her boyfriend that saw he was mentioned on the Chicago Eater blog. His dog that was very much another sibling.

Having three small children, I began praying that my kids would grow up and be as amazing as Scott Crane. I am thankful I shared that with him. I began to pray that my husband and I could be like Scott's parents, giving our children the world at their fingertips. Having them grow up and know that they can take on the world and we would be right there with them. I prayed my children would be as loving and kind as Scott Crane. I prayed our children would be in their early twenties and appreciate us the way Scott Crane appreciated and loved his family.

Scott Crane became my friend and my daily motivation and not only because of his fabulous quotes. One evening we were chatting on Facebook and I said I had to get my hyper children to sleep. He quickly popped back up stating they were kids and they were supposed to be hyper. The day of the blizzard he popped up saying how much he hated the snow. He said it was a four-letter word in the Crane house. That was one of the only negative things I ever saw him write. I wrote back that I was ready for spring. He popped up again saying to forget spring BRING ON SUMMER!!

Today Scott Crane's family is celebrating his life at a service at their temple. I am very sad I can't be there but I keep looking at the clock knowing the celebration will begin in 15 minutes. I know I never met Scott in person but I know the temple will be packed with amazing people celebrating a person that is larger than life. Celebrating a young boy taken way too soon yet he had more insight than people 4 times his age.

Scott Crane your positive energy will live on in my soul and I am confident it will live on in many people as well!! When the sun shines bright, I will know it's because of you my friend! Fly free!

TMI

A well-known lawn care service provider was going door to door soliciting their services today.  Since we have some weeds here and there, I decided to humor him and let him give us a quote.  He dramatically walked around the lawn kicking his shoe over certain spots and shaking his head from time to time.  The kids and I waited on the front porch for him to finish.  In the meantime, my 4 year old, A, went into the house to poop. When he was finished examining our lawn, he came over by the front door where the kids and I were standing.  He started in with the sales pitch when suddenly he was interrupted by my little 4 year old's voice from inside the door.  I turned to look at her and she had her dress up over her head, underwear around her ankles and was screaming, 'MOM - there is poo stuck in my butt!' Anyway, not sure I have moved that fast in a long time.  I excused myself and told him I would be right back.  He told me to 'take care of what I needed to take care of' very kindly and to his credit, he did so without batting an eyelash!!

Honoring my daddy - our Popsie!

I decided what better way to celebrate my dad, Popsie, then to post a picture of him enjoying life (and family) every day until Father's Day!! For those that know him, I hope you enjoy! For those that don't know him, I hope you feel like you know him by the 19th!!

Kind-hearted, fun-loving, humorous, easy to piss off but just as easy to make laugh....gosh, I am a chip off the old block!! Happy Father's Day Daddy!! You taught me well....we miss you so much!

From underwear to stuffed animals

My 5 year old son is getting older...it's not about the age though, it's about growing out of things! He insisted we get rid of all of his superhero underwear and replace them with plain white underwear. As I stacked the Incredible Hulk, Spiderman, Superman, etc. I have to admit I was a little sad. My boy has moved from diapers to pull-ups to superhero underwear to good old fashion Hanes!!



On a completely different level, my 4 year old, A, and I were having a conversation about all of her stuffed animals. P has Elmo he HAS to sleep with, Lia has a pig and blankie she sometimes wants (but much prefers my hair) and A likes to switch off every night. We were talking about all the stuffed animals that made it to bed. 'I slept with panda!' 'I slept with bunny!' You get the point. After the third or forth stuffed animal we reminisced about, I realized this is the ONLY time in her life that she could tell me about her companions in bed without giving me an ulcer!!



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So would have judged this...

Before I had kids, I would sometimes see children dressed wild and I would think (to my judgmental self) I would NEVER allow my children out of the house like that....I didn't realize those poor parents were trying to get out of the damn house! They were trying to get to the store before it closed, the vet appointment before they were actually one hour late....or perhaps just trying to get a dang cup of hot and over-priced coffee!!!

Please enjoy pictures of my two year old the last couple day....

Dorothy and her ruby shoes gone bad....WITH SOCKS!





Jane Fonda gone wrong....more wrong than suspected!! 'Pull it to your chest and go - that's right!! Work your body!'





...and yes, we are on the way to the vet on a hot day with (dirty) socks and red ruby dress shoes....that are having a sausage effect on her feet! Oh, and yes, my dog rides shotgun!



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Big mouth equals big heart...

The other night my niece and her baby slept over at our house. While we sat with the kids and chatted in my room in the early morning, we had a very special delivery. My five year old, that I declared a BIG MOUTH just the other day, walked in with breakfast in bed for my niece and I. As he shuffled across the floor balancing a HUGE bowl of cereal, I controlled my urge to jump up from bed and help him. He delivered my food and he came right back in with cereal for my niece.

My special treatment didn't end there....the kids made me a bouquet of flowers and even attempted arranging them!! My 'big mouth' even picked leaves to put in the water for some added color!!



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