Ate my toast with cherry jam sitting in the porch swing this morning. Drank my coffee from a Starbucks’ South Carolina mug and remembered all the happy moments from the trip Chief and I took to Hilton Head with the grandchildren. The porch was so pleasant, a cool breeze lightly pinging the wind chimes. The finches weren’t fighting this morning and the doves weren’t cooing as they flew down from the power lines. They always land under the feeders like they think they are crashing, squeaking as they hit the ground. I enjoy them strutting around. After the doves settled the yard was just silent and still for a while.

Another storm brewed up and I came in the house and watched the wind and rain out the window from my reading chair. The bamboo got another work out. The Earth and sky were so pretty after the rain fell. My garden pots are loving all this rain. Several of my tomatoes are almost ripe for picking. Got four cucumbers today.

Saw the most beautiful rainbow cloud after the rain stopped. The edges were the color of rainbow sherbet. I read rainbow clouds are rare. Only lasted a few moments but the cloud was so pretty highlighted on the edges in light pink and orange and blue. Rainbow clouds are sometimes called fire rainbows. The colors were subdued like God had used his lightest pastels to color the cloud’s edges, blending the colors with his fingers. As I watched the colors fade, the sun kissed the tops of the clouds and turned them brilliant white.

Searching for inspiration today, I looked back through several years of my Facebook posts. All the children in my family have grown up so. My nephew is thriving after a life threatening illness. We’re missing Chief in the holiday dinner photos of the last several years. Time really does fly and we don’t even know it’s speeding by. The older I get the more I realize how important our families are for our happiness and well being.

I think family is the most important thing in our lives. The love shared between our family members form a bond and help us connect with each other. In times of happiness and times of great sorrow our families hold us close and share in these moments. Traditions carried on through generations of family members keep the family closely knit together.

When Rosalyn died our house was filled with our families for several days. They cleaned the yard, cleaned the house, fed us, supported us, cried with us. Chief and I could not have gotten through those sorrowful moments without the support of our families. Their love was a beacon of light in a nightmare of grief.

When Chief died we were already living in the storm of Covid and the family had to be masked up and held at arms’ length. They supported us with Amazon deliveries of snacks and necessities. My nieces brought us new towels and much needed bedding and new pillows. My dearest friend brought baskets of necessities and treats. But I missed the family in the house and the hugs and the gathering to eat a meal together after the funeral. Covid took those traditions away. After Chief’s funeral Thomas and his family left to go home to Augusta and Stew and I went back inside to a cold dark house. I’ll never forget how I felt when I shut the front door. I needed the closeness of family around me.

“For each thorn, there’s a rosebud. For each twilight, a dawn. For each trial, the strength to carry on. For each storm cloud, a rainbow. For each shadow, the sun. For each parting, sweet memories when sorrow is done,” — Ralph Waldo Emerson