light is a feather...

I wasn't planning on posting today

but this happened

 so I thought I would share with you

a surprise in the mail

a kindness

a thought

a treasure

.................................................................

once again I'm blown away by how lucky I am to have

bumped into the people I have

 from having a blog and from

spending time on Flickr

there are still people out there who don't believe

 that the Internet is a place to meet real people

that the "friendships" aren't real

well I'm here to tell them they are soooo wrong

in the heartbreak of this past week

I have received e-mails from some who have been so kind and understanding

we have all gone through it and it's nice to share that pain with someone

as odd as that sounds

pets are such odd things that we do to ourselves

we love them as much as we love a human

we have them as long as some humans

and then that day comes when we have to make that decision...

and all that love and friendship comes to an abrupt halt

and we just have to adjust and go on

it's real pain and real loss

and some understand

completely

like Kim

Kim sent me something that is a treasure

for more than one reason

first she sent it

she took the time to share something with me that she knew would mean the world

...

to me

this is

Mama Swan

she lives on the lake near Kim

and she lost all her babies this year

all of them

and Kim was there

and she witnessed it

and lived it

and lost it

and we cried and shared the pain

on Flickr

not just me and Kim

but a lot of other people from all over the world

who watched and shared the joy of the babies

and then the pain and horror as each one was lost

and Kim's words

 and photos

her beautiful beautiful photos

of the swans

and all the others

and she never gave in to the grief

she always said that her heart would always be open for joy to find its way back in

and the babies kept finding her and she kept her heart open for them and now we have new faces to smile at

and watch get bigger as the photos come in

and the grief of the

Mama Swan

she comes to Kim when she goes down to the lake to feed the birds

they spend time together and we get to see this fantastic creature up close

it is just amazing and fabulous 

and

 now I have one of the

feathers

and a photo of the

Mama Swan

that Kim took and printed and sent

so much better than looking at in on the monitor

it made me cry

again!!!!

but from

the kindness

and the caring

and the simple act of

sharing a moment

no matter how sad

and in the sadness comes the light that shines from friendship

when the pain subsides enough to see again

one of you told me it would take two weeks

and it has

thank you Kim

I will frame the photo

and will do it justice

right now I can't see too much

I will treasure all of this

forever

xxxxx