The day my friend Martha died, I got on my daughters' swing and swung for two hours.

That day I realized that rocking or swinging, is a movement that speaks comfortingly to a hidden part of me. It's a memory that comes from infancy when I was comforted with rocking in my mothers' arms. Along with the memory of rocking comes the recollection of my mother stroking the lashes of my closed eyelids.

Most of us have a few sensations that remind us of better, simpler, more childlike times. Perhaps it is the smell of popcorn on the stove or the crackle of a fire. Perhaps it is a piece of music or an old TV show. Perhaps being wrapped closely in fluffy blankets makes us feel secure. Maybe we respond to the smell of baking bread or a roasting turkey. Maybe it's the taste of peppermint and the twinkle of Christmas lights in the dark that remind us of a time when play was our way of life.

If we can find again those fleeting moments of security and pleasure, perhaps we can find a way to soothe ourselves when life has overtaken us and playfulness seems a thousand miles away. JG

Do something today that you haven't done in a long time - something that reminds you of special times and warm feelings. Take time to savor the feelings it stirs up.

***************

From the book "A Reason To Live" by Melody Beattie

I lost many friends this summer, a boy I had kown since grade school died age 44 from cancer,
my girlfriend who died young of PD,
and a nice man with PD passsed too
all are in to heavenly eternity now~
he was a good husband to my good friend -who took care of me
by allowing me an adventure when my life was a dark place...
I do not know what I would do without the rockin' chair, as that was a place
of great comfort in my childhood and through out my life...
I rocked my babe in it as well...

love &

And then there was this............

http://oldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheFifties.htm

turn up your volume.