Things a snowman knows.......

Just looking at a snowman brings a smile. Made happily by a child, eyes lopsided, rolls uneven,mouth sliding,carrot dipping- a little magic in the yard.

clipped from e5.email.myway.com TODAY'S CLEAN LAUGH *Learned From A Snowman* "All I Need to Know about Life I Learned From a Snowman.... " --It's okay if you're a little bottom heavy. --Hold your ground, even when the heat is on. --Wearing white is always appropriate. --Winter is the best of the four seasons. --It takes a few extra rolls to make a good midsection. --There's nothing better than a foul weather friend. --We're all made up of mostly water. --You know you've made it when they write a song about you. --Accessorize! Accessorize! Accessorize! --Avoid yellow snow. --Don't get too much sun. --It's embarrassing when you can't look down and see your feet. --It's fun to hang out in your front yard. --Always put your best foot forward. --There's no stopping you once you're on a roll. *Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!* http://www.cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

Cancer back with a fury

It's been a nightmare. Al's lung filled with fluid,they drained 4 liters of fluid off. His cancer is active ,growing and there are more spots.Medicine has reached the end of it's effectiveness.It's terrible to watch your son go through such agony.

Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains

Interesting Things to incorporate into our lifestyle.

clipped from www.sharpbrains.com clipped from www.sharpbrains.com let's review some good lifestyle options we can follow to maintain, and improve, our vibrant brains.  Learn what is the "It" in "Use It or Lose It" Take care of your nutrition. Did you know that the brain only weighs 2% of body mass but consumes over 20% of the oxygen and nutrients we intake? Things that exercise your body can also help sharpen your brain: physical exercise enhances neurogenesis. Practice positive, future-oriented thoughts until they become your default mindset Thrive on Learning and Mental Challenges Aim high. Once you graduate from college, keep learning Explore, travel. Adapting to new locations forces you to pay more attention to your environment Make your own decisions, and mistakes. And learn from them Develop and maintain stimulating friendships. We are "social animals", and need social interaction. Which, by the way, is why 'Baby Einstein' has been shown not to be the panacea for children development. Laugh. Often. Especially to cognitively complex humor

Characteristics of those who can handle Stress well

These are definitely evident in those of us who remain in this family. We have suffered many losses and are still optimistic about the future. Al's cancer is an ongoing battle,but so far our Faith has sustained us in the face of daunting circumstances. Al currently has a large blood clot in his leg and is on a daily needle for 6 months. So he's off his feet again. We are thankful his cancer is still stabilized.

clipped from stresstopower.com They have a sense of meaning, direction, and purpose They realize that the quality of our lives depends on how we focus our attention and our energy. They don’t judge themselves or others harshly when things go wrong. They are able to tolerate ambiguity, uncertainty, and imperfection They are reasonably optimistic and have a sense of humor They take responsibility for their mental programming, their emotions, and their actions. They look at adversity as a challenge rather than as a threat. They respect themselves and other people. They are grateful for the good things in their lives. They know how to mourn the inevitable losses in life. They know how to let go of things they have no control over.

I am a Christian When I say

I am a Christian When I say

The 3 R's

Body maintenance is certainly important ,but we rarely think of it in the light of an element of our spirituality.

clipped from e5.email.myway.com Do you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own for you have been bought with a price, therefore, glorify God in your body. Someday we won't have to worry about what we eat or whether we exercise. But today, we'd better maintain and repair this Temple God lives in and works through. For peak wellness, give us the three R's: Regular Exercise, Right Eating, and Rest. "Temple Maintenance" Dr. David Jeremiah, TURNING POINT

Al is in Remission

We just heard the word 'REMISSION' for the first time this past week. We are all so grateful. His 13 spots are presently inactive. His next tests are not until January.What a wonderful break. Even as I write this I'm afraid that it's only temporary but I'm also Thanking God for the Reprieve.
After Lynn died in July, for the first time in this whole nightmare I lost hope. I felt like a fool for hanging on to the belief that Al would beat this cancer. Lynn and Al's cancer walk was pretty much together.Losing Lynn was also looking at reality. As I sat In my rocker totally overwhelmed and defeated I asked Gary if he would pray with me. His response was-"what's the point?', exactly my own feelings but, 'It's all I know to do" was my reply. As we prayed( and it was an honest, broken-hearted, broken- spirit prayer) a line from a song came to my mind-" Don't Give Up On The Brink Of A Miracle". I got up with my hope restored and a sense of peace about it again. Often when I fear I quote that Line again. Thank God for a personal walk that is alive.

How to Be Optimistic - wikiHow

How to Be Optimistic - wikiHow

Inbox Message List

Inbox Message List: "Isaiah 43:18-19, ''Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.'' (NIV)"

Inbox Message List

Inbox Message List: "Power Verses: Psalm 55:22, 'Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.' (NIV) Proverbs 3:5, 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding...' (NIV)"

My good friend- Lynn

Our very good friend and travel partner, Lynn Priest is in Palliative Care. She's just 43. We've been friends for 25 years. She was the one who would call up and say:" You need a break, we're going ( ) and we want you to come" when I'd give reasons why I couldn't, her reply ,invariably,--" you'll be no good to anyone if you don't take care of yourself."
Wouldn't it be wonderful if God would touch her! What a miracle that would be.

Last Round of Chemo

Al is in St. John for his last round of chemo. Mid August we'll know the results of a Pet Scan. we are still believing for good news!! Thank God for his workshop! He has a focus when his world is grim.

Clipmarks - Clips by My Clippers - Garlic 'may cut cow flatulence' and reduce global warming

Something really serious to put 3 years of study in:
Clipmarks - Clips by My Clippers - Garlic 'may cut cow flatulence' and reduce global warming

Facebook | Prayers For Alex Bragdon

Facebook | Prayers For Alex Bragdon

Sunday,July 1/07

Al and Ang were here for a barbecue. He just came through another week of isolation at the hospital,4 pints of blood and 2 platelet transfusions. One more chemo then another PET scan. we are believing for a good report.
The cancer is in both lungs, both legs and 2 lymph nodes now. But he's 33 and strong.Hopefully the chemo will do it's intended work and then the surgeries will start.
It's Canada Day , Amy is at sea, Rich is preaching and Julie is visiting with Nat. Gary is at work. All is at peace.

Chasing Fireflies

When we focus on our (all consuming) problems we can miss the many blessings that fill our day.

clipped from e5.email.myway.com I thought about how God’s activity is like that. He is at work all around us, all the time. Little flickers of surprise and encouragement, joy and affirmation are all around us if we will only look up from life’s demands to notice they are there. We have to learn to live that way???with the heart and eyes of a child???to truly see Him. I want to spend my summer catching fireflies and delighting in the marvel of God’s creations. I want to live my life intentionally seeking out the little ways that God shows me He loves me, He knows me, He created me and He is indeed actively involved in my life. I know my faith would grow more if I stopped worrying and started chasing after Him the way my son was chasing those fireflies. I don’t want to miss the surprises He has planned for me every day. I want to see Him more and worry less. Every time I see a firefly this summer, I plan to thank Him for the lesson He taught me through a little boy on an early summer evening.

2 More Chemo

Al's P.E.T. scan showed cancer in both legs, 2 lymph nodes and 9 spots on his lungs. The good news is 8 0f those spots have been arrested. He has 2 more rounds of chemo, then another P.E.T. scan. If he's had good results, as in ,more arrested or shrunk, they will start the surgeries-possibly 6.It's a long hard road. But in May, when he was in for a round of chemo, we built him a workshop and garage. He had no place for his carpentry tools and was up against selling them. Weldon Laking organized the building of it and we had it up, the roof on and most of the siding done when he got home. What a surprise for him and what a boost at a time when he got more bad news. But Al is believing for a miracle. And so are we!!!His first night , when he got home , he spent until 4 A.M. just looking out at the building and had his coffee setting in it the next morning. We are now waiting to have it wired then the garage doors can be hung. Then the big day when the carpentry tools are put in. Ang and the girls were so excited as well and kept the 'secret' from Al, so the surprise was complete. Friends and neighbors gathered to see his reaction when he first seen it. Of course there was alot of tears, some food and much laughter. Thank God for friends and family. we could never have accomplished so much so quickly without them.

Pretty Pictures

Nature Displays God's gift to us.

clipped from thefairest.info

Friendship should be like this (picture)

our real friends will do just that

clipped from mastimages.blogspot.com Friendship should be like this The image says it all....

Words to LIve By

So much said in so few words. Remarkable!

clipped from mail.google.com The only dream worth having is to dream that you will live while you're alive and die only when you're dead... To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget. -- Arundhati Roy

Mother's Day

Sometimes the losses are hard to cope with. Poetry is a way of dealing with hard places. I wrote the following poem shortly before Mother's Day when I realized all over again that I would be visiting mom in the graveyard.

Questions For Mother

Do you cry on the other side?
Do your arms ache to hold your children?
Do you miss me?
When the birds sing-do you hear?
When the wind sighs-are you near?
When the leaves rustle- are you dancing?
Arms wide, lips smiling,hair flowing
Young and supple again.
As the birds fly, do you soar?
Does your heart ache no more?
When grief overwhelms and tears overflow,
When loneliness chokes me
Do you know?
Are you walking with Dad in leafy lanes
Free from earths many pains?
Are you gardening with no weeds
In endless, bugless spring?
I hope so!
Can you come to me my mother dear?
The answers 'NO' I fear.

Debbie Jean Bragdon

Copyright ©2007 Debbie Jean Bragdon

I miss you, mom!

A much needed break

While sitting in a cozy resort, nestled in the mountains overlooking the St. Laurence I realized just how soul weary we all are. Struggling with grief and then watching our son's battle with cancer has drained us. After the 3rd day of basically resting we began to feel courage and heart returning. Thank God for good friends and a much needed reprieve.

More spots- More Chemo

The Roller coaster continues. Al has been given little hope. Thankfully we look beyond the prognosis to Our Healer. It's hard to keep an optimistic outlook when your constantly faced with bad news, so we lean on the strength that comes from above. Laughter comes easy to our family and we can find humor in so many little things. Prayer is our stress reliever and good friends help us through. We are still believing for a miracle.

Did the chemo work?

Tomorrow, Al goes for another blood transfusion and Tuesday he's off to St. John to hear the results of his C.T. scan.Needless to say we are all anxious at this point.
My friend, Lynn, just found out that her cancer has now showed up in the brain. Somehow we carry on and manage to find humor along the way. God gave humans the ability to narrow focus to the day and find something good in that moment. We will go on.

More Chemo

Alex is through 2 more (5 day) rounds of chemo. He's spent 23 of the last 30 days in hospital. He got home yesterday. How happy the simple pleasures make him. Today he got outside for awhile. His leg is weak again but he gets around with crutches. he even took Lexie on the wheeler.. he sounds alive again.
The girls are so happy to have mom and dad home and life somewhat normal again.
People's generosity continues to surprise us. They have not had to worry financially at all!!!
Our eyes have been opened to people's kindness and God's faithfullness.

I can't imagine

I can't imagine life without Alex. I believe he will be an old man when his time comes to go on into eternity.
Tonight as the house quiets, I feel lonesome for mom, dad and Mitch. But especially for mom. But we are all thankful that they left us before this all started happening.
It was good to have a bean and scallop meal. Eleven of us crowded around the kitchen tables and laughed together as we ate the old favorite. It's good to have Amy home for a while. Her job keeps her so far away most of the time.
Julie, Matt, Riley and I made snow tunnels and slid this afternoon. It feels good to do the simple things again.
We all enjoyed the grandchildren's after supper dance show. Even grampy hopped around a little.

Cancer in Lungs

Our sons cancer is back.7 tumors in both lungs. He's started his chemo again but this time there's little hope for him. He's 33 with a wife and 3 beautiful girls.Life hands us some rotten things to swallow.
I really don't think I can watch him go through this. The strenght will come with the day, but somethings ripping away.

The Grief Walk

1)Summer of 2002-mom's long hospital stay (6 weeks)

2)Dad's battle with cancer ended Jan. 20,2003

3)Mom had 2 hip replacements and several extended hospital stays from 2003 until 2005

4)SEPT.,2004 My husband's place of work went Bankrupt and left 400 people without work or severance packages.Also their pension had been underfunded and we couldn't even rely on that. This lasted for 16 months before the mill was bought by another company.My husband had worked there 34 years and could find only manual work.

5)Mom died of congestive heart failure twice. First time-June 6,2005. They revived her and she died after a difficult 2 days-June8,2005

6)My only sibling(4 years younger) died suddenly of a massive heart attack-Nov.7,2005.With his death his 2 daughters were left virtually without roots. Their mother was having emotional problems and spent several weeks in the hospital. The only other close relatives were myself and their mother's sister. She lived several hundred miles away. So naturally they became part of my family. Together we got through that first Christmas.

7) My youngest daughter's fiance was killed in an accident-Jan.31,2006

8) In March,2006 our oldest son was diagnosed with cancer in the leg-Osteosarcoma (The TERRY FOX kind) so the year was filled with chemo, transfusions, surgery, suffering!At his age this type of cancer is rare so went undetected nearly a year.

9)In September,2006 our youngest grandson was born with an open soft palate. Definitely not a tragedy but a complication.(He had successful surgery at 18 months in Halifax,NS)

10)December 26,2007 our son died just 3 days past his 34th Birthday.


Because these events have been ongoing with very little time between tragedies, I find I am afraid, thinking -What Next?
In another post I'll talk about the scriptures that gave me strength day by day.
God's faithfulness, peoples love and concern, friends that find ways to make you laugh, Family; these are the elements that are essential to emotional survival in difficult times.

Helpful thots

A Time to Mourn" From the Oneplace Team..."There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven -- A time to give birth and a time to die; ... A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance." Ecclesiastes 3:1-4
One of God's purposes for our lives is to enjoy them, but it is not the ONLY purpose. Facing the realities of life opens us up to receive wisdom, which includes maturity. We have to take the good with the bad, and say like Job, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord."
Contemplating our lifespan, the limits of our dreams and aspirations -- things that matter most in life -- can make us melancholic and sober. But, as Christians, we have an eternal and Godly point of view, which is an eternal one. Because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice, death itself has been conquered. No longer do we have the fear of eternal death that once hung over us. We will miss our loved ones who have gone on, but we know where they are and we will see them again. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Psalm 116:15
Suffering is simply a fact of life. In sickness and disease, we experience physical suffering. In trials and tribulations, we experience mental and emotional suffering, but Revelation 21:4 states that in heaven "neither shall there be any more pain." In John 14:1, Jesus states, "Let not your hearts be troubled." We can be at peace since we are assured that in heaven there will be no more sorrow. (Revelation 21:4)
Death causes great heartache when losing someone very dear and mourning is part of dealing with that loss; however, Jesus promises in Matthew 5:4 that those who mourn will be comforted. He promises us that He has a place prepared for us once this life is over. (John 14:1-4)
As children of God, the moment we close our eyes in death, we will be instantaneously transported into the presence of God

A dream

Sometime during the night ,my brother lived again. It was so real. I could see the color slowly coming back in his face. He would get out of his coffin and talk,wipe dishes, laugh and then he would lay back down. I knew he was filled with formaldehyde and was puzzled that he could live again. Even though I thought it must be my mind playing tricks,I didn't want them to close the casket again. I kept saying, "Let him come and go as he pleases".
I thought that he could enjoy his life and we could do things together again.
I woke up with a headache.
But the day is beautiful with sun bouncing off new snow. The birds and the dogs need fed. I must be about the day!!!

Sundays

We used to take our four children and go to church on Sunday mornings then go on up to mom and dad's. Mom would have a big meal prepared. Homemade bread and our favorite dessert. The smell as we walked toward the house and the welcome as we entered were so precious and we didn't know it. you never think ,at the time, how short that time is when all are well and together. Sundays are lonesome.
Dad ,with his chuckles, jokes and stories as he sat by the window, keep floating just out of reach. Mitch laying sideways on the couch, dogs and clutter. Could we have enjoyed it more, appreciated it more if we'd known how brief it was.?

The Beginning

This grief walk started ,intensely started, in the summer of 2002. My mother spent 5 weeks laying in one hospital waiting to go to another for a heart operation. Throughout that long summer I spent time between houses and hospital,with my dad and my nieces as well as tending to my own family.One day while at my parents house preparing for my niece's birthday, I noticed that dad looked really grey. He had gone out to work at the wood and shortly came back in. When I mentioned that he should see a Doctor, he said he would as soon as mom was back home. By September mom had survived her heart operation and come back home. In October dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. Jan.20th,2003 dad died and so began the many losses in our family.

Jan/07

A word,a picture, a song and lonliness nearly chokes me. Christmas Eve they always gathered here for the Christmas story,songs, laughter and ,of course, lots of food. I could see my brother's big hands as he played guitar and sang 'Grandma's Feather Bed',I could hear dad chuckle and see mom sitting at the table still eating long after we were headed to the family room for songs and presents.
I wish the phone would ring, I wish I could get in the car and drive out, I wish , I wish, i wish......