{"id":379448,"date":"2014-08-18T03:53:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-18T03:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2014\/08\/18\/tough-as-woodpecker-lips\/"},"modified":"2014-08-18T03:53:00","modified_gmt":"2014-08-18T03:53:00","slug":"tough-as-woodpecker-lips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2014\/08\/18\/tough-as-woodpecker-lips\/","title":{"rendered":"Tough as Woodpecker Lips"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Laugh with me, Journeyer!<\/span><\/div>\n
It is 8:29 on this Sunday morning and, for those of you who follow these weekly posts, you know what\u2019s coming\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
We are on the road, AGAIN\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
Another nine to ten hours of driving today, this time to take Beauty back to college.<\/span><\/div>\n
As I looked through this week\u2019s photos, the experiences seemed so far away.<\/span><\/div>\n
Given the fact that we\u2019ve covered so many miles over these past seven days, I guess those happy moments were that distant.<\/span><\/div>\n
Time seems to warp when our lives are crazy busy, when we\u2019re juggling children and work and phone upgrades and paying bills and washing laundry and watering plants and feeding people and pets and walking ourselves and our animals and trying to keep relationships going\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cTough as woodpecker lips.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
Though I can\u2019t recall the context, I haven\u2019t forgotten what that gold old southern boy gym owner said during last weekend\u2019s seminar.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cWhat exactly does that mean?\u201d I asked.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not really sure, but you can imagine how tough they must be,\u201d he replied.<\/span><\/div>\n
That\u2019s what comes to mind this week, Journeyer!<\/span><\/div>\n
We are all as tough as woodpecker lips, because that sort of strength is what it takes to survive life, sometimes.<\/span><\/div>\n
My cyber friend, Angela Schmoll of <\/span>The Reluctant Grandmother<\/span><\/a> comes to mind right now.<\/span><\/div>\n
Today is the one year anniversary of the last day she saw her son in the flesh, the last time she hugged him, the last time she got to tell him, in person, that she loves him.<\/span><\/div>\n
Today is also the one year mark since she hosted a granddaughter\u2019s birthday party, the event that brought the family together.<\/span><\/div>\n
Today, as she celebrates the growth and boundless joy of one child, she grieves the end of another life and mourns the incessant turmoil that contributed to that demise.<\/span><\/div>\n
All I can say is that we do have to be as tough as woodpecker lips when life presents us with such extremes. <\/span><\/div>\n
Join me Journeyer, in holding space for Angela, for all of us who might be facing such complexity.<\/span><\/div>\n
And let us remember that always, always in the midst of chaos and uncertainty there are moments that feed our happy organ, instances that make us smile, warm our heart, give us a sense of peace, or present us with closure\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
Moments like these simple pleasures from my hectic week\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
The Hampton Inn\u2019s fun little welcoming gestures that remind us of simpler, more relaxing times\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
In the elevators…<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
In the hallways\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I loved walking the beautiful LSUS campus one last time, strolling down these arbor-ed walkways and listening to the song of the cicadas…<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
My mama\u2019s heart swelled with pride as Fave\u2019s friends and neighbors and peers talked to us about how much they\u2019d miss him, about the wonderful role model he\u2019s been for their own little ones\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\u2026when he talked about how much fun he had decorating for Halloween and entertaining the neighborhood children\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I loved listening to Fave and his roommate, an underprivileged youth mentor, delight in how excited the group was going to be with all of the donations he was leaving to them\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
I was so happy to be able to say goodbye to many of these people who have become like family these past four years\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
This quote taped to the gym door certainly talks about how striving for new heights is like being tough as woodpecker lips\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Speaking of closure, I enjoyed seeing Fave\u2019s enthusiasm as we made final visits to some favorite stomping grounds\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\u2026visited a few places he\u2019d wanted to see but had never gotten to\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
Isn’t this sexy?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
The “little fella,” a blue-tailed Skink that Fave rescued from inside the boot store<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\u2026and I loved the wonder in his voice as he pointed to this glorious “sendoff sunset”\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\u2026and I loved sharing in his excitement when he spotted his first armadillo\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Rounding out the week was Beauty\u2019s twentieth birthday gathering\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
…taking her back to college (photo to come)…<\/span><\/div>\n
And school shopping and lunch with Big Guy (who didn’t want his face in the photo)\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
These are the moments that carried me through a very tough week, Journeyer, one in where I definitely had to be as tough as woodpecker lips\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
What about you? What instances brought you joy or peace or happiness?<\/span><\/div>\n
Until next time, yours in healing, hope, and happiness.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/span>Soon\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
<\/span>~AE<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laugh with me, Journeyer! It is 8:29 on this Sunday morning and, for those of you who follow these weekly posts, you know what\u2019s coming\u2026 We are on the road, AGAIN\u2026 Another nine to ten hours of driving today, this time to take Beauty back to college. As I looked through this week\u2019s photos, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[316,1308,1200,1253,317,339,63,320],"class_list":["post-379448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-happyhappens","tag-beauty","tag-big-guy","tag-fave","tag-finding-happiness-in-your-day","tag-going-away-to-college","tag-parenting","tag-random-happiness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Girl-2Bwith-2BIce-2BCream-2BElevator-2BSign.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}