Tag Archives: family

A Couple of Things…

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I blame my parents for this fashion statement.

I blame my parents for this fashion statement.

1. Strep Throat sucks.  I don’t recommend it.

2.  Feeling better now and back to living a productive life!  But not well enough to shoot hoops yet.

3. I have another birthday coming up this month.  I haven’t figured out how to make that stop yet.

4. I’ve never been into Astrology, but the fact that I’m a Leo makes so much sense.

5. Just so you know, if it doesn’t get any better than this, I’ll die a happy camper!

6. I was thinking about what are my most treasured possessions? Of course I first think of people or animals, but they aren’t really possessions.  They hang out because they don’t know any better.

7. So what about physical possessions?  My Ibanez guitar, Spalding women’s basketball,  loaded mp3 player, camera.  Luckily all things I could grab all at once in case of fire.   My photos are uploaded in cyperspace.  I don’t really watch TV.  I can’t carry out my furniture.  I don’t really wear jewlery.  So yeah, I’m prepared.   If I’m not home, all these things are replaceable.

8. I find that more times than not, when a person is explaining something and then they say, “To make a long story short…” It’s already too late.

9. It took some time, but Sydney Rose succumbed not too long ago to Facebook, and I was happily surprised when I received a Friend Request from her.

10. I keep seeing posts about privacy concerns on Facebook and people trying to “declare their rights to intellectual property…” blah blah blah.  My thought on the matter, get off Facebook if you are concerned about what you post.  Seriously, it probably isn’t for you!  It’s SOCIAL MEDIA!  Facebook makes the rules clear as a bell when you sign up.  Sorry Charlie!

11. Speaking of which, I do a lot of Facebook posting for VenturaRocks.com.  What I don’t understand is why people don’t message you with a correction, rather than posting a derogatory comment for all to see about what is wrong.

12. A month an a half after Ventura Music Week and I think…yes, I think I’ve collected the last check and it looks like we made enough to cover all our bills.  YES!!!

13.  From my “Favorite Facebook Posts” file:  “I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as making a ‘life’.”  Maya Angelou     WORD

Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

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Mother's Day dinner with Nancy, Dad, Syd Rose, me, and Staci Brown

Mother’s Day dinner with Nancy, Dad
Syd Rose, me, and Staci Brown

1.  Mother’s Day was great fun. Felt the love for sure!

2.  I hate falling for someone’s social veneer.

3.  Alright, I admit it.  I love a man in a uniform!

4.  If a cup of coffee costs $2.00 and the same sized cup of hot chocolate costs $1.50, then how come a cup of half coffee and half hot chocolate cost $2.50?  When a coffeehouse charges me more than $2.00 for the combo, I never return. EVER!!!

5.  VenturaRocks.com is really becoming a mover and a shaker here in Ventura.  Plus I have to admit, I love the hugs I get when I go out.

6.  I’m in the middle of finals.  I have just two this semester.  One down, one to go.  Confidence level remains moderate.

7.  I hate being mean, even when it’s warranted.  But sometimes you have to let the other person know enough is enough.  It still leaves my stomach in knots.

8.  When I was married, Chris and I started what we affectionately called, “The-Kevin-Costner-Movies-That-Matter video collection”.  Really, the only ones that really continue to matter in my book are Bull Durham and Field of Dreams, both about baseball, odd.

9.  I’m now on a quest to spot my first owl in the wild.

10.  I’m not a fan of the accordian.

11.  From my “Favorite Facebook Posts” file:  “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!  Hell, who am I kidding? I hope you fall down the fucking stairs too.”  Yeah, it’s been one of those weeks.

Being a Mother

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Bonding with Sydney Rose about 2 seconds after she was born.

Bonding with Sydney Rose about 2 seconds after she was born.

Being a mother has been the most important and responsible thing I have done this life time.

As I only managed to get one kid out of my former spouse (a story for another day), I am happy to say that my daughter has exceeded my expectations of motherhood.

It’s an odd thing, the connection between mother and daughter.  As a daughter, and now as a mother.

When I lost my mother at the age of 15, I thought for sure that my life would never be whole again.  But I was wrong.  When my daughter was born, I was at once complete in the universe.  When the nurse placed her on my tummy, and she automatically wrapped her tiny fingers around my forefinger, I knew my life would forever be better because she was in my universe.

I vowed silently, that I would care for this little girl and that I would do my best to make a safe environment for her to grow up in and to thrive in.  I pray to God that I’ve done my best for her.

She has done nothing but made me proud.

The bond I have had with my little girl has enhanced my life and I am a better person because of her.

I love you Sydney Rose!

(Originally posted on Facebook 5/7/11

I went to a Funeral Today

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Matt Cooper and me at Sea World

Matt Cooper and me at Sea World

I went to a funeral today.  I went without tissues which turned out to be a critical mistake. You see Matt Cooper passed last week, on April Fool’s Day, which if you knew him at all, you knew that was so apropos.  I did not cry when I heard that Matt died, I hadn’t been closely connected to him in over 15 years, since we worked at the radio station together in the 90’s, but I saw him from time to time around town, the last time was about a year ago at a car dealership in Oxnard with a woman who would turn out to be his guardian angel and second wife, Juliana.

I arrived about ten minutes before the service was to start wanting to be able to see the slide show of photos his family had put together in his honor.  I had submitted a number of pictures from KXBS when Matt was our morning show host.  There was a couple from some radio station promos as well as pictures when we went down to Sea World to do a radio remote broadcast.  This was the Matt I knew and loved.  I really do miss working with him in radio.

What I did not expect, was to be hit emotionally from his pictures when he was a baby to a child growing up, his time spent in the hospital (his first bout with Cancer), photos of Matt with his family, at different radio stations, and then his wedding to his first wife Alex and of course the last few years with his tailor-made family with his second wife Juliana who had three children.  Matt couldn’t procreate because of the Cancer and treatments he was made to endure so Matt was thrilled to finally have a family to be a part of, and from what I could tell, and the stories I heard, these kids loved him back.

But even if I had not known Matt, I would have been moved by the display of the pictures of a life that is now over, but had so much life and love in it. It is what makes us human.
The first time I cried was when his cousin got up to speak and said something so profound.  He said Matt should not be here today.  We all should not be here today.  We should have lost him 27 years ago when Cancer took its first attempt at his life.  Had he succumbed then, what a different life we all would have.

I looked around and saw the people that were there because of him.  Our lives would have been all so very different that I realized for the very first time how precious all our relationships are.  These were tears of profundity.

Then Rob got up to speak.  We had met earlier in the week to talk about Matt over a couple of beers at Billy O’s.  I knew Rob missed him terribly and I knew this was going to be extremely hard on him.  He started out by saying that Matt was his friend, his mentor, and then he hesitated, and started again saying, “Matt was my…”  It was at least 45 seconds later that Rob found the composure to complete the sentence and I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when he finally said, “Brother.”

Again the tears, and this time, I just let them fall.  These were tears of profundity again, about relationships that bond two people like no other.  It was just beautiful.  I knew Rob was feeling the pain of losing his good friend and there was nothing he could do about it.  I knew Rob was a better man because of his relationship with Matt and that is a beautiful thing.

Then a former boss spoke about Matt and told stories about how generous he was and stood up for the homeless, she who also read a letter from a nurse whose life was deeply affected by Matt 27 years ago and how he (at age 16) was found late one night walking back and forth comforting a 2-day old baby suffering from jaundice.

I’m angry that Cancer won this time.  How amazing would it have been if Matt beat it again with all the odds against him.  But he didn’t and now we all must reflect on a life that was cut short.  And it is sad that his family and close friends are now missing him and going through this sorrow of loss.

Matt was a good man.  Not a saint by any means, in all honesty, he was quite ornery; but all in all, he was an extremely good man with heart.

And this is what I took away from Matt’s funeral.  Matt never gave up because life is great. And he knew it.  Friends are everything.  And I’m reminded once again that we are all basically good.  We are here to help one another.  Nurture your relationships with your family and friends.  Create them, because in the end, that is what makes life worthwhile.