Blessed Gifts

I drink my coffee waiting for the sun to rise. As I sit in the darkness my two small grandsons are mumbling their sleep stories as my thoughts begin to wander in the early dawn quietness. I remember my now grown children mumbling their sleep stories to me in the morning hours. Smiling as nostalgia envelops me, I am brought back even further to the time when as a little girl I too must have mumbled to my own parents my sleep stories; though my mother tells me to this day that my stories were not just in my dreams because as I grew up my stories were and are to this day a part of who I am.

Mom as usual was right, though as I grew older I wish I took her advice more seriously! Yet, as I reflect upon my life and my experiences in order for me to have become who I am today I had to make my own decisions. And it is because of past decisions, whether they were right or wrong, the events within my life have molded me into a sculpted piece of art that I consider each and every one of us to be - a unique person that gives to our world both good and bad. Not one of us is insignificant, nor obsolete in a place where all of our lives do intertwine. It does not matter what your background is, your financial status, your ethnicity, your sexual choice, or your gender. We are a diverse global world and each and everyone of us do matter.

Growing up one of my biggest dreams was to write to make a difference and to create awareness. Most importantly I write to let my readers know that no matter what their situation is they are not alone and where to get help - if help is what is needed. To this day as I am writing this column the most exciting thing is the phrase "my readers" and seeing my words in print. Print - oh I was an avid reader growing up and many a night I was lost in a book at times all night long stretched out on my parents couch, Print - oh the actual smell of print led me to the illustrated books I would read as a little girl and my own little girl like her mom loved to sniff at the newest books in the children's section of the library, Print - oh the feel and textures of books or newspapers in my hands was and still is a secure sensation; especially my sixth finger which is my pen writing these words first on paper before they are typed on a keyboard.

And it is with these words that I want to let people know that the past year of writing "From the Streets of Salem" or even updating my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/salempoetswritingpage has been a blessing given back to me; a blessing that the editorial staff at the Salem Gazette had given to me when they took a chance on a first-time columnist. I have met many people, people from my past, my present, and eventually my future, and as I have heard many stories from others the gift given back to me has been and is being able to do what I truly believe is my purpose in life - to write. And I would not be able to live my childhood dream if it were not for you - the people who share their stories with me and the people who read my columns.

I keep an ongoing list that contains my ideas for future columns. The "list" is valuable to me and gives me an outline of my own adult sleep stories - sleep stories that will eventually end up in print; stories written word by word, emotion by emotion, experience from experience, memory by memory, that I am truly blessed to write - stories that will lead me to meet more wonderful people, stories that evoke feelings within me that I may have forgotten about.

So, I am blessed as I sit in the darkness waiting for the sun to rise, drinking my coffee, listening to me grandsons mumbling their sleep stories to me. I am blessed with the gift of words, the gift of writing, and the gift of all of you my readres. Happy Holidays!!

P.S. The valuable "list" that I carry with my future column ideas will stay just that for now a list for things do happen for a reason. Most importantly, I want to thank everyone that has made my dream a reality by allowing me into your lives with either your own sleep stories or as a reader of my columns. Please enjoy my last two columns that will appear sometime in the Salem Gazette during the month of January - God Bless.