Garden of Life #6

My "Garden of Life” (please see my posts from last year) revolves around one stable structure – the house where my husband and I have lived for over 13 years. It’s the first one we ever bought together. After all our Navy years of living in barracks, aboard ship, in apartments and in rentals, we purchased a place we could finally call our own. At the beginning, it was quite a novelty as we moved in and made it our home; then, after a while, not so much so. We “settled” in, took it for granted, and the only time it became a top priority in our minds was when something broke and needed to be repaired.

Through the years, an occasional “thought” would cross my mind that we were very fortunate to have a home. I’ve seen people lose their houses to fire, tornadoes, hurricanes and, lately, the economy. When we first moved to Florida, I worked for a charitable organization and met folks who couldn’t afford to purchase any house or apartment to shelter their loved ones. After I’d spend a day listening to them, I’d go home, walk through my front door, look around, and count my blessings.

That occasional “thought” suddenly took on blinding proportions when the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on 3-11-11. I watched the television in horror as walls of water swept away hundreds of homes. Many people are missing and those who survived are spending their days and nights outside with no place to get warm, no food to eat, no water to drink, no place to rest, no loved ones to cherish – all of these precious elements comprise the basic comforts of “home.”

Have YOU given thanks for your “home” today?

Until next time. . . remember the roses.

(Please continue to keep the people of Japan in your thoughts and prayers.)