Hope is like oxygen. Without it the body is slowly starved and dies. But with hope great things can happen. The body breaths, the body becomes aware that somewhere beyond what medicine can do, Hope takes over and moves mountains (or in our case, limbs.) When you walk into our home you can tell that hope lives there. It has occassionaly taken the dog for a walk and the lack of it strangles us with anxiety, but when it's there, it is tangible, almost visible. Faith, Hope, Love. The bible says the greatest of these is LOVE. I suppose. I guess it is LOVE that exists first and drives the need for the other two. It's HOPE that levitates and FAITH that makes us know both will continue.

I've wanted to write about Hope for months, but Despair has gotten in the way.  Well, here it is again, Hope.  I'm even thinking of painting the porch and building a ramp so that Jed can get to the back yard.  What a person needs to live a very happy life is very situational.  We were trained to believe that it meant all the trappings, all the stuff.  But life and the happiness of it is really quite simple...a little touch, a smile of assurance, some discussion of life and the way things are, and an occassional glass of brandy. 

My son once said about some decisions that we made, "It takes the bite out of life for both of us."  Wow, if we are blessed enough to have a son or daughter who shares the burdens and joys of life, how can we feel deprived of life's blessings. 

I have a friend who reads this blog regularly and will know that this is about her.  Hope surrrounds you.  You have been bathed in it.  We all have if just but turn on the faucet.  Hope is a choice.  I choose hope.  How something so vital for life could be a choice is very confusing, but here we are again at the dim mirror.