Mother’s Day was rainy, grey and a bit chilly. Did that stop my Mama from taking me out? Nah

We went golfing, as a family. It really was quite fun. I developed quite a knack for driving the golf cart!

Here’s Pops….where did his ball go?

Daddy takes a shot.

Mama’s happy to be out!

Nonnie, Mama and Me bundled up in the cart.

Crazy Pops!

My favorite place to be

I am too young to comment on this picture.

Now looking at this picture, golf just seems silly.

It was such a nice day and so much fun to do something as a family. Mama, by the way, golfed her best game ever! Good day.

I have to preface this by saying I had a great Mother’s Day. Samantha joined us for a fun round of golf (she felt it necessary to help drive the cart), had a lovely dinner and most importantly, Samantha had a good day. Let’s face it, when Samantha has a good day, everyone has a good day!

I had so much fun I forgot to take pictures. Fortunately Nonnie stepped in so footage will be posted soon.

As I was getting ready this morning I thought about how happy I was that we were not in Children’s for Mother’s Day…..these are the crazy things that go through my mind when plucking my eyebrows.

Well, what about those families who are in Children’s today? I thought. Would they still find joy in the day? Open Mother’s Day cards while sitting on that little pull-out bed? Have brunch in the hospital cafeteria? Can you celebrate while being worried and sad for your child?

My thoughts went back to Mother’s Day three years ago. It was the first Mother’s Day after we lost Jack….

again, I think I should just stop plucking the eyebrows if these are the thoughts that go through my head during this procedure.

How did you get through that? That had to be a sad day. Funny thing, I don’t remember being sad. Introspective perhaps, but not sad. Why was I not sad? Did I block some memory out? Did I repress some bad Mother’s Day juju three years ago?

And then I remembered that three years ago I was quite pregnant with Samantha.

And then there, in front of the mirror, with tweezers in hand, I felt so very grateful for my little girl. My grooming session was also over because I was all weapy.

She had given me hope that Mother’s Day; my dream, my faith, my tiny wish. I hadn’t even met this little peanut but she had allowed me to look into the future with a new sense of optimism.

What a good daughter. Hope, that was her gift and it continues to be her gift; every single day. That’s better than any Hallmark card, even if it does play music.

Thank you Samantha.

Ahhh..whatever happened to Air Supply? Good tunes, good tunes.

So since people are donating to our Courage Classic team, I decided I should get out and start training.

Ouch.

I am not a fan of the wind. My favorite memory of a windy night was with my friend Jessica. We were taking an overnight ferry from Italy to Greece. Our sleeping choices included inside a fumey, hot, natsy lounge area or outside; under the stars, in the fresh air, with a lovely view of the ocean.

We chose outside; which at 10:00 in the evening, under the protective blanket of the Italian coast seemed like a perfectly reasonable choice. We couldn’t believe more people were joining us. Then it turned midnight and our little steamer turned into the open sea, and the wind started blowing. We toughed it out in the gale force winds until 2:00 in the morning.

“Jess,” I said, “Jess we have to go inside, this is nuts.” I couldn’t find Jessica. She had buried herself in the confines of her sleeping bag. She poked her head out and the wind immediately caught hold of her bright red hair.

“THE WIND!” She yelled. “THE WIND IS A BASTARD!” She was howling. The wind was howling. She looked like a crazy red-headed mermaid, wiggling in her sleeping bag. We drug our belongings into the hot, nasty lounge and settled in for a sleepless night.

The wind is a bastard…..the wind is a bastard. I used this quote many times on my ride. Headwinds are nasty, unfriendly and even worse when your traveling your out-of-shape hiney uphill. I passed by Windy Glades Ranch, sounds poetic doesn’t it? Hmmmmm…..

And then I changed directions and the wind went away. Funny how that happens. I could relax and recall with a smile Jessica’s red, red hair whipping around that night.

I made it two hours and only inhaled one bug. Not bad for a starter training ride.

Vail Pass here I come.

Wanna donate to my ride? Check out http://www.couragetours.com/2009/hschichtel

Muchas Gracias 🙂