A Legacy of Love

Time does not really heal all wounds.  Time allows a scar to gently grow and cover the gaping hole in one’s heart that is created by the loss of someone you love.   

 
Today would have been my grandmother - Dixie Jeanette Ribordy's 93 birthday. This November will mark the fortieth year we have had to endure life without her grace, wisdom, and guidance.   I purposefully did not include the word love here - We have not endured the loss of her love because her love resides deeply within each and every one of us.  My grandmother's  love runs so deep that it has transcended her death.  I can feel her loving presence in the actions of every child, grandchild and great-grand child that belong to her.

My wish  for her birthday is that each and every person who has ever known my grandmother will acknowledge the love she would be sharing on this day and every day she lived her life.  My wish is that each and every one of us continue the legacy of her unconditional love.



 

I am Powerful Beyond Measure

 

 

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”  Marianne Williamson

 

This has always been one of my favorite quotes but I don’t know that I have truly ever embraced it.  Learning to embrace my own authentic power has always felt a bit arrogant.  I know now that celebrating and accepting the amazing soul I was born to be is not arrogant, in fact it is gracious!  Fully embracing and living a loving, joyful life is the grandest thank you I can give.

My heart, soul and mind have finally come to realize that of course I should embrace my own light. I am the daughter of one of the most loving beings to grace this earth, Marsha Charlene Payne.  It is my honor to be a conduit of her love.  It is also my responsibility to allow her love to channel its way through me and unto all of those I shall ever meet.  Anything less than a full embrace of the beauty, joy and love within me would not be fair to myself, the world, or to the woman who taught me that the best way to travel about this journey called life is with your heart wide open!

I am no longer afraid to embrace the notion that I am meant for greatness – that I am powerful beyond measure and I am meant to live a life immersed with joy and love.   Indeed, that it is why I am here.