Archive for Brother

Chicago has been a powerful trip for me in so many ways. Anytime spent with my brother is enjoyable and valuable. We can be completely vulnerable with each other and his wisdom is always appreciated. He and I are now finding ourselves in the same place with a pending divorces. This is something we never saw ourselves going through. We are great people with amazing hearts how could we fail right? The good thing is that we know that with failure comes success. A saying that I love states, Success develops from good choices, good choices develop from experience and experience most often develops from poor choices. Through this journey I can’t believe the things we have discovered about our selves. It is empowering to see your faults and short comings and know that you have the power to change. We went to a show last night called “Too much light makes the baby go blind” it is a compilation of 30 short plays that the cast tries to accomplish in 60 minutes. There were many that had powerful or controversial context but the one that caught my attention the most was the one where they spoke about “what would you do if you had to stay right where you are forever?” after a short monologue they shut all the doors and asked us who amongst us would become friends, enemies, lovers… What could we create together? It was so powerful to think that you can develop those things where ever you are! It was by far the most memorable one for me.

After that we went to a beautiful dinner and then went up 95 stories in the Honcock building for dessert. It was a beautiful evening.

I woke in Chicago this morning to a beautiful sunrise and the view of the city from the huge bay windows of my brothers 23rd story apartment. The thing that caught my attention this morning were the waves of lake Michigan wiping the beach. I had the vision of my self being wiped by the waves and that this is the beginning of a freshness for me, not that I believe there won’t be struggles, but I see the freshness of each day and how I can only make a difference in what happens from here on out. I haven’t shared much with many but my 10 year marriage has come to an end. It has been a very painful transition with a long way to go but I know that everything happens for a reason and that there is a plan for me. I know that I will not be held back from reaching others and that I will find my own strength. I was in a pretty dark place for a few days but I had a dear man come from Boise and pray with me on Wednesday, he prayed with me in the hospital in November and shared with me that the Dr’s told him that they didn’t think I would leave the hospital back then, but I did! Then flew here on Thursday. I feel made new since then and am optimistic about my future.

I’m very tired from my trip but it was both amazing and exhausting.  My brother and I spent many nights up late talking, laughing, crying but mostly enjoying each other.  It ended up being great timing and I was so grateful to be able to be there.  Thank goodness for Southwest $49 tickets. On Sunday 10-10-10 there was a day of caring.  It was an event to touch those with cancer in a physical way.  We were treated to mini spa services and fed lunch and snacks and just pampered all day long.  It was amazing to see all the people at different stages in their journeys.  I brought bars for the event and people LOVED them.  They also had a nutritionist and a raw food chef and I was SO pleased to see that incorporated.  People were so surprised when they found out I had cancer.  They kept making comments about how I “glowed” and looked so healthy.  It was a great testimony to never giving up and looking for answers outside of traditional medicine.  The nutritionist wrote down my information and asked if she could contact me for other young mons ect.  It was a powerful day in so many ways!

Yesterday was a great day. I got to ride to Tahoe with just my brother. It was nice to get to spend some time with him and talk and laugh. I enjoy him very much. He is talented, smart and funny. After he headed to work I headed to Sierra to meet up with my friend Chris who is an instructor there. He and I worked together at Tamarack and he is doing really well at his new mountain. We had a great time. The snow was epic and the company was nice too. You can’t really beat knee deep powder, an amazing mountain, a free pass and a good friend and guide for the day. There were a lot of people and we had to stand in long lines but once we got up there it was totally worth it. Chris is an amazing snowboarder and very knowledgeable. We waited all morning for a spot called “gate 5″ to open up and when it did it was worth the weight. We got to ride back country and there were very few tracks in the several feet of new snow. It was well worth the hike in and hike out. I did realize how out of shape I was though. I plan to start back to the gym next week since Mark gave me the OK to start arms and legs.

Today is our last day in California and I am sad to go back to cold Idaho. I got a little taste of home yesterday in Tahoe and it made me not want to leave the sunshine. Hopefully spring will come soon. It has been a wonderful trip and we have enjoyed every moment.