Hope--------

 "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, 

And sings the tune without words, 

And never stops at all." - Emily Dickenson

My wife had a big card with this saying on it from the Santa Barbara Zoo.

It's a large card with a Flamingo bird feeding it's baby chick.

I started thinking about hope.

I think in some ways my hope for myself died when my father died in 1985. UP until then I had been a family musician and singer. I pretty much when my Dad died stopped singing and playing piano and organ and keyboards and guitar and flute at that time in my life. I started singing and playing the piano with my mother who was a coloratura Soprano when I was 8 in 1956. I took piano lessons from age 8 until age 16. I played piano and organ in Church from ages 12 to 21. I wrote music on piano and guitar from the time I was 18. I never went professional mostly because I didn't like playing music for people who were smoking and drinking because I considered music as sacred and not profane always.

I had lost hope for myself when my father died. Looking back it wasn't so much that he had died but that I couldn't convince him to do what it would have taken for him to stay alive for my mother and I. So, basically he died when he didn't have to. But, maybe he couldn't face being 69 years old which was when he died because he was very into staying young forever.

Now that I'm 72 on some levels I understand this because I haven't really had hope for myself since my father died in 1985. Then it became worse when my mother died in 2008 and my wife's father died then too that year.

But, here's the thing: I still have hope for my children and grandchildren and that is what keeps me alive every day encouraging them to have the wonderful life that I also lived. I have lived an amazing life and if I can encourage my children and everyone's children to have a wonderful life like I lived then my life will have been worthwhile.

So, as long as there is anyone you still care about alive, you still have hope for them and can live on for them.

By God's Grace

Besides, this life is only a moment in the lives of our souls that live forever.

By God's Grace

Hope Springs Eternal!

NOTE: My wife was indignant at what I wrote because I still play Christmas music for the family so we can sing Christmas Carols on Christmas and sometimes I still write music. However, I have to say that I play and sing about 1/10th as much after my father died in 1985.