CHANGE

Change is a word, that is easy for some and hard for others.  In 2013, our family has experienced a lot of changes, many highs and many lows.  It is what we do with these changes (highs and lows) that help us define what direction our lives will take in the year to come.

I welcome 2014, after saying a bittersweet goodbye to Donnie's grandmother at the age of 102.  Knowing her and having her in my life and the life of my family, has been a positive and loving experience, so I take my memories of her, and I will carry them forward with a positive light and attitude.  The change of not having her here with us in body, will be that I will carry her with me in spirit.

September 15, 2013 was the hardest day and month of all, in the year of 2013.  The months that followed were truly some of the hardest months I have ever lived through.  I don't share here, what happened in those months, because, I am going to put them behind me, and look forward to the positive changes those months are going to bring to all of the us.  We will be stronger, more focused, healthier of body, mind and soul, and we will, all of us (my family) take on 2014 with passion, drive, happiness, and goals that will be accomplished.

Today is  January 1, 2014, and Donnie and I just watched our oldest child Danielle, drive off to follow her dreams in LA.  This is a change, that left me crying in the driveway.  Tears for missing her, tears for being so proud of her, and tears of joy for raising a daughter who is not afraid of Change, but takes it all in stride.

She is taking the drive with her two sisters and they will have an amazing adventure.  When the younger two return home, there will be more changes to take on.  Mary will be graduating from college and taking on the world as a nurse.  Jane will be transferring to a new College, and turning her life around.  And the boys who are not on the trip with the girls, are living their own adventures and taking on new changes everyday.

My wish for 2014 is that whatever changes come our way, that Donnie, Kelly, Danielle, Michael, Ryan, Annie, Mary and Jane Naugler, all face those changes and enjoy each day to it's fullest.  I think Gram at 102 saw a lot of changes in her life, and two weeks before she passed, I had the chance to sing with her....She was lying in her bed and we sang Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be, the futures not ours to see, Que Sera Sera....One Day at a Time, One Change at a Time.