My dream come true

Thanks to a historical posting from Facebook, I was reminded this week of my well-intended-but-left-by-the-wayside blog. Life has indeed been a busy one lately... and any parent of a preschooler would probably agree. ;) Between work and parenting, I'm lucky to have time to keep my house in a reasonable state of cleanliness, let alone find the peace and quiet to write.

But this too shall pass... and I know one of these days I'll be missing the hectic nature of my life as it is now. Those little boy arms will be much bigger, and quite possibly will be off doing his own things instead of hugging on his mommy.

I think that waiting until my late 30s to give birth has given me the time and space to appreciate what I have while I have it, especially since my step-daughters are now all grown up and on their own. I know that I have a limited amount of time with my son and his whole world of cute little boy-ness. I have consciously chosen to let other pursuits fall by the wayside as I experience my son's childhood. And I'm perfectly happy about it.

For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a mother. I was lucky enough to get a head start on that when I met my daughters in my mid-20s. They were 3 and 8 and so wonderful. I will always cherish the time I had with them as children, but as a part-time parent, I missed out on a lot with them. And having seen the natural progression from clinging to mom to breaking away and becoming independent, I know that these years that I have now with my son are precious and will never come again.

My time is finite, and I choose to spend it on the things that matter most. When I look back on these times, I will not have any regrets. I can always write later... I can't always snuggle my little boy close. But that's okay, because I'm living my dream... and more than likely, I will write about it later as I lovingly sort through these memories we're making together now.

Tams is Back!

It has been an incredibly long time since I posted here on my blog. Trying to make a living and care for the family has been a huge priority and really hasn't left much time for anything else the last few years. So I can't promise I'll be writing regularly, but I will try to post a lot more frequently than I have been. So what will my focuses be? I expect politics and social commentary will continue to be prominent, but I also suspect lots of other topics will end up being the focus of future musings... Who knows where my typing may lead? :) I'll just play it by ear and take it one post at time.

A Beautiful Gift of Love

My adopted mama did the sweetest thing yesterday. There's a wall plaque that she bought in 1979, and she said she's been keeping it to give to someone but had never found the right person. When she rediscovered it the other day, she instantly knew it was meant for me. It was so sweet it gave me happy tears:

"God took a rainbow from the sky,
a dogwood from the hill,
A hidden valley, fresh and green,
a golden daffodil,
A meadow sleeping in the sun,
a robin's lilting tune,
The scent of lilacs all around,
a new October moon...

God took the ripple from a stream,
some breezes from the air,
The glistening radiance of a star,
the springtime, sweet and fair,
A bed of roses in the rain,
the cooing of a dove,
And when His masterpiece was done
He smiled and called it... LOVE."

--Unknown Author

May everyone experience the masterpiece of Love in their lives today and always!

It's Not Just Tiger: Monogamous Marriage Is An Anomaly

Thanks for the interesting perspective on the history of marriage..­.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Beyond Skin Deep

So I had an extraordinary experience in a very ordinary place, yesterday: the grocery store. I have to preface this by saying that I have very pale, white skin, blue eyes, and long, curly brown hair. I'm mostly English, Scottish and Irish, with a strong dose of Navajo and a little Cherokee heritage thrown in from some great-grandparents. But when someone normally looks at me, the first thing that is generally noticed is "white girl" or "white woman."

Yesterday, someone looked deeper upon first glance and it sincerely awed me. A man whose ethnicity I was unsure of whether he was Native American or Asian walked up to me and asked me what my heritage was. I started to say the part about being Irish, English, etc... and he stopped me and said, no, that he meant what tribe was I from. When I said Navajo, he gave me the most welcoming smile and said that he, himself was Cherokee. I told him that I, too, had some Cherokee heritage, he smiled even wider. It was such an amazing experience to me. Afterward, he simply nodded and said that he thought so and wished me a very good day and went on his way.

While I have always been proud of my Native American heritage, I have never really felt included in that sense of tribe as I did yesterday in the bread aisle. This man could see that there was more to me than the color of my skin, and simply welcomed me as a part of his extended family. So while according to all the legal formalities, I am considered a white woman, that is only a part of who I am. I'm grateful to have been given this eye-opening experience.

I've always wanted to learn more about my Native American heritage, but I've never really known how to go about it and was a bit worried that I would be judged by how I look instead of what's inside me. And that may yet happen as I continue this journey of self-discovery. But if it does, I will always know that there is someone out there who accepts me as I am as a member of his tribe, and that simple smile and nod of acceptance will be with me to the end of my days.

Lessons from the Past + Being in the Present = Lovely Future

So I have had some amazing insights, moments and happily unexpected blasts from the past lately. And I'm still processing a lot of it. I've been reminded that you never know what's around the next bend in the road. It could be disaster or it could be heaven. You just need to take things one small step at a time and you never know where you may end up.

For instance, if my first college adviser hadn't given me bad advice on some of my core classes, I might have been in the Diplomatic Corps. Instead, I switched majors, ended up becoming a happy Georgia Peach, and building a wonderful family here.

I have learned so much in my short life, and I know I still have so much more to learn. I've sometimes run, sometimes walked along this path of mine. Occasionally, I turn around and take a few steps back, but mostly, it's just to sight-see and reminisce. I leave the pain back there where it belongs. Instead, I try to savor and treasure the beautiful times I've been granted.

Even though there's been more hardship in my life than I would have liked, whether by someone causing it or through my own dumb mistakes, if I could go back, I wouldn't change one bit of my life's path.

That's because if I did, that butterfly effect might kick in and I might not have the wonderful people who are in my life now. Each and every one of you are bright and beautiful gifts who constantly provide happiness, surprise, love, friendship, support, truth, hugs, smiles and laughter.

I had a spiritual epiphany the other day... Love does indeed make the world go round, but we've got to have a balance in it. Too much love can lead to obsession or blind fanaticism; yet too little love makes for a sad, lonely life.

I know it's not time for next year's resolutions, but I'm going to make one right here, right now: I promise to always try to learn my lessons from my past experiences so that I can be fully here in my present and appreciate all that I have instead of worrying about things I can't control... which leads to a better future, no matter how many turns that path may take.

Love and hugs to everyone!

Huckabee Calls Knee-Jerk GOP Attacks On Obama 'Deplorable' And 'Shameful'

I don't often agree with Mr. Huckabee, but I wholeheartedly agree with him on this one. Thanks Mr. Huckabee for throwing some sincerely needed common sense into our political discourse!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost