Happy Birthday Emily

This post is long overdue but couldn't be passed over. Last month we celebrated my adorable niece Emily's 8th birthday. She is getting to be such a little young lady. When I met her she was less than 18 months old. Time sure does fly when you're having fun. This is what she looked like as a toddler. She was just like a little cupie doll.


We had the privilege of celebrating two times with her. Once on her actual birthday and again over the next weekend. We had a wonderful time celebrating our special nieces very special day. Her party's were of course fabulous and she was a perfect little princess. My parents even got to join in the celebration all the way out from Jersey. Here are the pictures we took. Hope you enjoy!


Happy Birthday Emily! Hope it was a good one. We Love You!

There’s a thin line between dreams and reality

Somewhere in between that grey line lies the spirit world. Which if you start to contemplate weather that in itself is either dream or reality is even more boggling. If you are a loyal reader than you already know that I do believe in angels. I believe they talk to us in subtle ways everyday. I also believe that they have the power to visit us in our dreams. This is where I’m not quite sure it constitutes a dream or an actual visit from beyond and what really is the difference?

Those of you who know me know I had a dear Aunt, named Lynnie, who lost her battle with breast cancer last November. The last time Pete and I got to visit her was in April of 04 and we didn’t know she was sick then. It all happened so fast. Once we found out she was sick about a year or more later I tried to call her as much as I could. I wanted to stay in touch and sometimes the phone is a difficult way to communicate with a baby crying in your ear. I decided then that I wanted to make a blog for her and for all my family to keep in touch with them. I wanted to create a place where they could go to read about my life and enjoy current pictures too. This blog was essentially born for Lynnie. Unfortunately by the time I pieced it all together it was too late for her to enjoy. I hope all of the rest of my family can enjoy it now.


I had a difficult time knowing she was sick and there was nothing I could do for her. I wanted to visit her so bad but life got in the way. We are more than 3,000 miles apart. So many times I was tempted to jump on a plane even if it was just to see her for an hour to hug her. I received several sad calls from my mother updating me on Lynnie’s weakening condition. There were times when I fell apart crying to Pete. As the calls kept coming I started to become numb and remove myself from the pain of this harsh reality. I knew one way or another I would make it out to see her one last time or at least be able to see her family and help consol them. I just kept telling myself to keep it together until then. When she did pass away it become impossible for me to get out to her funeral. I never cried, I held it together, I remained numb.

So back onto the subject of dreams, I had one the other night, or was it a visiting? All I know is I had no recollection of it until the next afternoon when it hit me like a ton of bricks. Pete and I were driving out to the mountains and Nadia was passed out in the back car seat. We were talking about my family and about the people he would love to hang out with. He started spouting off names, “Uncle Johnny, Aunt Dottie, Aunt Lynnie, . . .etc.” Only I didn’t hear the etc. part because my brain was stuck on Aunt Lynnie. And then the light bulb went off! I remembered I had a dream about her the night before that I had not remembered until that very second. Before I even spoke he just looked at me and said, “I don’t know why I said her name but something just told me I had to say it at that instant.” Freaky stuff!

I proceeded to tell him “I had a dream last night about Aunt Lynnie. We were lying in her bed. It was Lynnie, Me, and then my mom all lying next to each other cuddling. My viewpoint in this dream was positioned looking down onto the bed at all of us. Aunt Dottie stood at the foot of the bed looking at us and my view was behind her. I never saw Aunt Dottie’s face I just assumed it was her. I was lying next to Lynnie hugging her and rubbing her arm and laughing with her and I kept telling her, “I love you, I love you so much!” The next frame in my dream she was gone and all was holding onto was her pillow and I was sobbing, “I miss you!”

As I told this to Pete I began sobbing and a wave of emotions came over me. I had to just sob. Was this a dream? I tend to think not. I believe I was visited by her for a very specific reason. Now that I am looking back on the dream I am thinking that the woman I was standing behind was not my Aunt Dottie but my Grandmother(Liz). I think she was her guardian angel guiding her on her journey.


Sometimes being separated by so many miles makes it difficult to grasp certain concepts especially if you have been removed by distance for so many years.
Sometimes I feel numb to evens that happen in life that are so far away from me even when they mean so much. Sometimes it takes a few more miles to travel before reality sets in. Thanks for coming all this way to see me. Thanks for letting me say my goodbye even though I couldn’t be there when it happened. Thanks for letting me know that you are still here watching over us all.

I love you Aunt Lynnie and miss you so much!