You'll notice I don't have a "top friends" section. That's because I consider ALL of my friends to be "tops". What you see here is what you get. If you think it's too much, or not enough, then I suggest you go look elsewhere...
OFFLINE
Female 112 years old San Antonio, Texas United States Profile Views: 19005 [ 201886 ]
Too many to list entirely. Some include Sleuth (the old version with Michael Caine and Lawrence Olivier), the Lord of the Rings triology, The Twilight Series, Harry Potter series, The Pirates of the Carribean series, Rio Bravo, Casablanca, Stand By Me, et al.
MUSIC
Just about anything except opera and hip-hop/gangsta rap. Particularly fond of Celtic music and hammered dulcimer. PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO ADD YOUR "TRIBUTE PAGE" TO MY FRIEND LIST. I understand that several folks have these and put a lot of work into them, but they are really not my cup of tea, and I will most likely turn down your request.
BOOKS
Anything having to do with trivia; books by James Clavell, J.K. Rowling, JRR Tolkein, Jonathan Kellerman, Stephenie Meyer, Kathy Reisch, Charles Dickens, Stories by Edgar Alan Poe, et al.
HOBBIES
Needlework, cooking, reading ...
VIDEOS
None
MY BUCKET LIST
Things to do today:
1) get up
2) survive
3) go to bed
4) repeat as many times as possible
I am a divorced (for several years) woman looking for friends, old and new. What I am NOT [repeat...NOT] looking for here is any romance or "hook-ups". Been there. Done that. Never going back again.
TURN ON'S
Numerous and varied, depending on the day and the mood I'm in.
TURN OFF'S
Jealous, "clingy" people. People who send friend requests even tho' their profiles are set to "private". ABOUT COMMENTS -- I don't send out comments to anybody, nor do I "forward" or "share" the comments I'm sent. That reminds me too much of chain letters. I appreciate your comments and will try to respond when I get them, but if I don't, please don't get mad about it...especially if you send me tons of them. Oh, and I also delete all comments I get after I've viewed them, so if they're not showing, I've already seen them.
"The most wasted day of all is that in which we have not laughed."SEBASTIAN R. N. CHAMFORT
Soon, living to 100 will be “the norm” for most people
In fact, according to National Geographic, today’s 5-year-olds will likely live to age 100! And, there’s been a lot of speculation about what a future world full of centenarians will look like. For example: We’re already seeing a shift in the way we all work. Psychologist Laura Carstensen is the founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity……and she says the traditional model of retiring around age 65 just won’t cut it, if retirement is going to last 30 years for most people! Because most older adults will want to remain active and productive for as long as possible. That’s why more companies are already hiring – and retaining – older workers. And to prevent burnout, more employers are offering flexible work schedules, and extra time off, which will help keep an aging workforce healthy on the job well into their 80s and 90s! We’ll also have to re-think our approach to education. Because right now, most adults stop going to school by age 23. But in a world full of centenarians, researchers say people will need to return to school every 10 to 15 years, to learn new skills and keep up with the latest technology. People will also have two or three careers in a lifetime and take sabbaticals between jobs. So, the future of work is full of seniors citizens - who are babies right now. JOHN TESH
May love and laughter light your days
May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home. May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam. May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures. May all life's passing seasons bring the best to you and yours. - Irish Blessing
May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie
"He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul's estate."
ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU ARE "SPECIAL"
Do not undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.
Do not let others set your goals. Only you know what is best for you.
Do not take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
Do not let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past nor for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.
Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
It is a fragile thread that binds us to each other
Do not be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
Do not shut love out of your life by saying it is impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give love; The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly.
Do not dismiss your dreams. To be without dreams is to be without hope; To be without hope is to be without purpose.
Do not run through life so fast that you forget not only where you have been, but also where you are going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.
THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN SENT TO YOU BECAUSE YOU MEAN SOMETHING TO SOMEBODY...
Strangers Are Friends We Haven't Met Yet...by Helen Steiner Rice...
Let your light shine. Shine within you so that it can shine on someone else.
Here’s something to try if you’re fighting sugar cravings……
Put on something PINK! Whether it’s a shirt, sweater or even pink socks. According to the University of Oxford, our brain associates the color pink with sweetness - from cotton candy, to bumble gum, to pink frosting. And seeing the color gives an effect similar to consuming sugar. We feel sweeter! Pink increases our feel-good hormones, and also makes us feel more energized, which blocks our sugar cravings. In studies, even consuming something pink - like pink-colored water - gave people increased feelings of pleasure, even when no sweetener was added! Study subjects also ran faster and farther on a treadmill after drinking something pink! And while any shade of pink will work to some degree - a saturated Barbie-pink works best and cuts sugar cravings significantly.
Staying Strong in a Crisis
Five lessons from a Red Cross chaplain
- REV. EARL JOHNSON
WE ARE LIVING IN FRIGHTEN-ING, tumultuous times. Coro-navirus continues its spread across the globe, killing hundreds of thousands of people, its toll of sickness and economic disruption affecting millions more. The poor and people of color have been particularly hard hit. There have been protests and demands for change. It’s hard not to feel helpless. Hard to stay hopeful.
But it is important to remember that we have been here before—many times, in fact. As a chaplain and as the national spiritual care manager for the American Red Cross, I have witnessed firsthand how our country has come together in times of crisis, how God works through each of us and how there are ways to give and receive comfort, small yet powerful acts of kindness, even when life seems darkest. Here are five examples.
Comfort comes from compassion
I grew up in tiny Boonville, Missouri. My father was an auto mechanic, and my mother was a homemaker dedicated to volunteering at church and helping out family and friends. I remember many a night when my dad would open our house to strangers whose cars had broken down. And my mother would run errands for people who didn’t drive. It wasn’t just my family. Neighbors helped neighbors. That was who we were. I felt called to a life of service too. The 1960s, when I came of age, were a time of unrest and change. I wanted to do something to make the world a better place. After graduating from Yale Divinity School, I went to work as a pastor back home in Missouri.
MAY THE ANGELS SHOWER YOU WITH BLESSING DAILY! HAVE A SUN FILLED WEEKEND .X
From a Living Hell to Heaven on Earth: the Inhumanity and Humanity of Humans
Lens Magazine| Humanity
In a remote area of western Wisconsin, dogs and cats who otherwise would have ended up on death row are given a reprieve. They can now live out their lives in peace and comfort and with companionship at Home for Life (HFL), which was not afforded them outside the sanctuary's gates.
Gus was struck by a car and left to die in Tijuana, Mexico. He was leaning against a tree there with a broken back when rescuers from the At Choo Foundation found him. He will never walk again.
Soosan is a Whippet mix from Iran's Vafa Animal Shelter. She had two legs amputated after being hit by a car. She loves to get out for runs in the sanctuary's meadows using her cart.
Because of my orangutan portrait series that resulted in the book, The People of the Forest, I was asked by a public relations person I had worked with for years if I would be interested in doing some pro bono work for Home For Life.
I started packing as soon as I saw their website and read the stories behind some of their rescues, including two gunshot victims. I do believe that the camera has the ability to bring about positive change, and I wanted to apply that concept here.
I was able to transport my portable studio in a Think Tank Production Manager case and my cameras and lenses in a Think Tank Airport International rolling bag. I let the wheels take the weight rather than my back. Once at the sanctuary, I set up two Profoto strobes in beauty dishes, one as a key light and one as a fur light (as opposed to a hair light), and used my Nikon Z9 with a Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8 lens for the portrait sessions.
When it comes W to cats and dogs, most shelters have two options, adoption or euthanasia. Home for Life offers a Third Door, a new concept in animal rescue and welfare for what might be considered unadoptable animals, giving them a place to live in peace and comfort for the rest of their days. Mark Edward Harris
ANIMALS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A PART OF MY LIFE FROM HORSES TO DOGS TO CATS THE LIST IS ENDLESS
Tina Turner, the unstoppable singer and stage performer who teamed with husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and `70s and survived her horrifying marriage to triumph in middle age with the chart-topping “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” has died at 83.
Turner died Tuesday, after a long illness in her home in Kusnacht near Zurich, according to her manager. She became a Swiss citizen a decade ago.
Few stars traveled so far _ she was born Anna Mae Bullock in a segregated Tennessee hospital and spent her latter years on a 260,000 square foot estate on Lake Zurich – and overcame so much. Physically battered, emotionally devastated and financially ruined by her 20-year relationship with Ike Turner, she became a superstar on her own in her 40s, at a time when most of her peers were on their way down, and remained a top concert draw for years after.
“How do we say farewell to a woman who owned her pain and trauma and used it as a means to help change the world?” Angela Bassett, who played Turner in the 1993 biopic “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” said in a statement.
“Through her courage in telling her story, her commitment to stay the course in her life, no matter the sacrifice, and her determination to carve out a space in rock and roll for herself and for others who look like her, Tina Turner showed others who lived in fear what a beautiful future filled with love, compassion, and freedom should look like.
With admirers ranging from Mick Jagger to Beyonce to Mariah Carey, the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” was one of the world’s most popular entertainers, known for a core of pop, rock and rhythm and blues favorites: “Proud Mary,” “Nutbush City Limits,” “River Deep, Mountain High,” and the hits she had in the ’80s, among them “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero” and a cover of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.”
Turner’s life depicted in 2021 HBO documentary
Her trademarks included a growling contralto that might smolder or explode, her bold smile and strong cheekbones, her palette of wigs and the muscular, quick-stepping legs she did not shy from showing off. She sold more than 150 million records worldwide, won 12 Grammys, was voted along with Ike into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 (and on her own in 2021 ) and was honored at the Kennedy Center in 2005, with Beyonce and Oprah Winfrey among those praising her. Her life became the basis for a film, a Broadway musical and an HBO documentary in 2021 that she called her public farewell.
Until she left her husband and revealed their back story, she was known as the voracious on-stage foil of the steady-going Ike, the leading lady of the “Ike and Tina Turner Revue.” Ike was billed first and ran the show, choosing the material, the arrangements, the backing singers. They toured constantly for years, in part because Ike was often short on money and unwilling to miss a concert. Tina Turner was forced to go on with bronchitis, with pneumonia, with a collapsed right lung.
Other times, the cause of her misfortunes was Ike himself.
As she recounted in her memoir, “I, Tina,” Ike began hitting her not long after they met, in the mid-1950s, and only grew more vicious. Provoked by anything and anyone, he would throw hot coffee in her face, choke her, or beat her until her eyes were swollen shut, then rape her. Before one show, he broke her jaw and she went on stage with her mouth full of blood.
Ike Turner history
Terrified both of being with Ike and of lasting without him, she credited her emerging Buddhist faith in the mid-1970s with giving her a sense of strength and self-worth and she finally left in early July 1976. The Ike and Tina Turner Revue was scheduled to open a tour marking the country’s bicentennial when Tina snuck out of their Dallas hotel room, with just a Mobil credit card and 36 cents, while Ike slept. She hurried across a nearby highway, narrowly avoiding a speeding truck, and found another hotel.
“I looked at him (Ike) and thought, `You just beat me for the last time, you sucker,”’ she recalled in her memoir.
Turner was among the first celebrities to speak candidly about domestic abuse, becoming a heroine to battered women and a symbol of resilience to all. Ike Turner did not deny mistreating her, although he tried to blame Tina for their troubles. When he died, in 2007, a representative for his ex-wife said simply: “Tina is aware that Ike passed away.”
Tina Turner performs at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Aug. 1, 1985. Turner, the unstoppable singer and stage performer, died Tuesday, after a long illness at her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, according to her manager. She was 83. (AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine, File)
Ike and Tina fans knew little of this during the couple’s prime. The Turners were a hot act for much of the 1960s and into the ’70s, evolving from bluesy ballads such as “A Fool in Love” and “It’s Going to Work Out Fine” to flashy covers of “Proud Mary” and “Come Together” and other rock songs that brought them crossover success.
They opened for the Rolling Stones in 1966 and 1969, and were seen performing a lustful version of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” in the 1970 Stones documentary “Gimme Shelter.” Bassett and Laurence Fishburne gave Oscar-nominated performances in “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” based on “I, Tina,” but she would say that reliving her years with Ike was so painful she couldn’t bring herself to watch the movie.
Ike and Tina’s reworking of “Proud Mary,” originally a tight, mid-tempo hit for Creedence Clearwater Revival, helped define their sexual aura. Against a background of funky guitar and Ike’s crooning baritone, Tina began with a few spoken words about how some people wanted to hear songs that were “nice and easy.”
“But there’s this one thing,” she warned, “you see, we never ever do nothing nice and easy.
“We always do it nice – and rough.”
But by the end of the 1970s, Turner’s career seemed finished. She was 40 years old, her first solo album had flopped and her live shows were mostly confined to the cabaret circuit. Desperate for work, and money, she even agreed to tour in South Africa when the country was widely boycotted because of its racist apartheid regime.
Post-Ike career revival
Rock stars helped bring her back. Rod Stewart convinced her to sing “Hot Legs” with him on “Saturday Night Live” and Jagger, who had openly borrowed some of Turner’s on-stage moves, sang “Honky Tonk Women” with her during the Stones’ 1981-82 tour. At a listening party for his 1983 album “Let’s Dance,” David Bowie told guests that Turner was his favorite singer.
“She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous,” Jagger tweeted Wednesday. “She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”
More popular in England at the time than in the U.S., she recorded a raspy version of “Let’s Stay Together” at EMI’s Abbey Road studios in London. By the end of 1983, “Let’s Stay Together” was a hit throughout Europe and on the verge of breaking in the states. An A&R man at Capitol Records, John Carter, urged the label to sign her up and make an album. Among the material presented was a reflective pop-reggae ballad co-written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle and initially dismissed by Tina as “wimpy.”
“I just thought it was some old pop song, and I didn’t like it,” she later said of “What’s Love Got To Do With It.”
Turner’s “Private Dancer” album came out in May 1984, sold more than eight million copies and featured several hit singles, including the title song and “Better Be Good To Me.” It won four Grammys, among them record of the year for “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” the song that came to define the clear-eyed image of her post-Ike years.
“People look at me now and think what a hot life I must have lived – ha!” she wrote in her memoir.
Even with Ike, it was hard to mistake her for a romantic. Her voice was never “pretty,” and love songs were never her specialty, in part because she had little experience to draw from. She was born in Nutbush, Tennessee in 1939 and would say she received “no love” from either her mother or father. After her parents separated, she moved often around Tennessee and Missouri, living with various relatives. She was outgoing, loved to sing and as a teenager would check out the blues clubs in St. Louis, where one of the top draws was Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm. Tina didn’t care much for his looks the first time she saw him, at the Club Manhattan.
“Then he got up onstage and picked up his guitar,” she wrote in her memoir. “He hit one note, and I thought, `Jesus, listen to this guy play.”’
Tina soon made her move. During intermission at an Ike Turner show at the nearby Club D’Lisa, Ike was alone on stage, playing a blues melody on the keyboards. Tina recognized the song, B.B. King’s “You Know I Love You,” grabbed a microphone and sang along. As Tina remembered, a stunned Ike called out “Giirrlll!!” and demanded to know what else she could perform. Over her mother’s objections, she agreed to join his group. He changed her first name to Tina, inspired by the comic book heroine Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, and changed her last name by marrying her, in 1962.
In rare moments of leniency from Ike, Tina did enjoy success on her own. She added a roaring lead vocal to Phil Spector’s titanic production of “River Deep, Mountain High,” a flop in the U.S. when released in 1966, but a hit overseas and eventually a standard. She was also featured as the Acid Queen in the 1975 film version of the Who’s rock opera “Tommy.” More recent film work included “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” and a cameo in “What’s Love Got to Do with It.”
Turner had two sons: Craig, with saxophonist Raymond Hill; and Ronald, with Ike Turner. (Craig Turner was found dead in 2018 of an apparent suicide). In a memoir published later in 2018, “Tina Turner: My Love Story,” she revealed that she had received a kidney transplant from her second husband, former EMI record executive Erwin Bach.
Turner’s life seemed an argument against marriage, but her life with Bach was a love story the younger Tina would not have believed possible. They met in the mid-1980s, when she flew to Germany for record promotion and he picked her up at the airport. He was more than a decade younger than her – “the prettiest face,” she said of him in the HBO documentary – and the attraction was mutual. She wed Bach in 2013, exchanging vows at a civil ceremony in Switzerland.
“It’s that happiness that people talk about,” Turner told the press at the time, “when you wish for nothing, when you can finally take a deep breath and say, `Everything is good.”’ A TRULY BEAUTIFUL SOUL!
WORDS OF WISDOM"You make a life out of what you have, not what you're missing."KATE MORTON
As I reach out for help,
Lord, assure me, for nothing
has ever stopped you from
upholding me in the past.
Never left too long in any
season of sorrow , God sends
us spring times of the heart,
where bluebirds dance,
mountain snowdrops melt,
and pain is mere remembrance.
The irony of spiritual peace is that often cannot be
attained without spiritual warfare. Despite this reality, we
can have great courage in battle, for God has provided us
with the best of spiritual armor; salvation, righteousness,
truth, the good news of peace, faith, and his Word. With
these, we may conquer doubt, fear, and despair, and all
the great enemies of our soul.
The “Happiness is Within You” story is a fable about a man who travels to a far-off land in search of happiness. He meets a wise old man who tells him that happiness is not found in distant places, but rather within oneself.
The wise man tells the traveler to seek out a certain tree in a nearby forest, which is said to hold the secret to true happiness.
The traveler searches for the tree, but when he finds it, he is disappointed to see that it looks like any other tree.
The wise man appears again and tells the traveler to cut the tree down and open it up. Inside, the traveler finds nothing but plain, unremarkable wood. Confused and frustrated, he asks the wise man what this means.
The wise man tells him that the true secret to happiness is not in external objects or circumstances, but rather in our own perception and attitude.
Happiness is not found in material things or in achieving external goals, but rather in cultivating an inner sense of peace, contentment, and gratitude.
The story is often used as a metaphor for the idea that true happiness comes from within, and that external factors can only provide temporary pleasure or satisfaction.
The lesson of the story is to focus on cultivating inner peace and contentment, rather than seeking happiness in external objects or circumstances.
Today's affirmation: I am the master of my emotions - I transform fear to love, anger to compassion, pain to comfort, scarcity to abundance, expectation to gratitude, and jealousy to generosity. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie
In this profound poem, the author explores the purposeful encounters and challenges that shape our lives. It highlights the transformative power of unexpected connections, the lessons learned from hardships, and the importance of self-belief. Through its evocative words, the poem urges us to embrace the present, learn from the past, and create a life without regrets.
Everything Happens for a Reason
Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become.
You never know who these people may be. Possibly your roommate or neighbour, professor or long lost friend, lover, or even a complete stranger. but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life in some profound way.
And sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart.
Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul.
Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.
The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience, help to create who you are and who you become.
Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones. If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to when you open your heart.
If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, Not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things.
Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again.
Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Walk the footsteps of a stranger and you’ll learn things you never know.
Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to.
Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don’t believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you.
You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets. “The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post.”
(Author unknown)
The Power Of Mother’s Love
This story is a little long but well worth the time to read. It perfectly illustrates not only the amazing power of Love, but also the truly inspiring power of Touch.
When doctors told Carolyn Isbister that her tiny premature daughter would die within 20 minutes, she had to prepare herself for the worst.
Tiny Rachael had just been born minutes before, weighing just 1.4lb (0.64kg), and her heart was only beating once every ten seconds. But Miss Isbister was determined to have just one cuddle with her daughter and to savor the one precious moment she had, so she picked up tiny Rachael and cuddled her close.
And it was a cuddle that has amazed doctors by saving the baby’s life. The warmth of her mother’s skin actually kickstarted Rachael’s heart into beating properly, which allowed her to take tiny breaths of her own.
Four months later – the baby who was so tiny that the doctors gave up on her life – has been allowed home, thanks to that precious life saving cuddle from her mother.
Miss Isbister, 36, from West Lothian, said: “Rachael has been such a little fighter – it is a miracle that she is here at all. When she was born the doctors told us that she would die within 20 minutes because her heart wasn’t beating properly and she wasn’t breathing. But that one precious cuddle saved her life. I’ll never forget it.”
Miss Isbister, a chemist, and her partner David Elliott, 35, an electronic engineer, were thrilled when she fell pregnant. At the 20 week scan at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, doctors told them that she was carrying a girl and they decided to name her Rachael. But at 24 weeks, Miss Isbister went into premature labour after she developed an infection in her womb.
Miss Isbister, who also has two children Samuel, 10, and Kirsten, 8, from a previous marriage, said: “We were just terrified we were going to lose her. I had been bleeding throughout the pregnancy, and had suffered three miscarriages before falling pregnant with Rachael, so we really didn’t think there was much hope.”
When Rachael was born, weighing 1.4lb, doctors told the couple that their daughter would only live for 20 minutes. She wasn’t breathing and she was grey and lifeless. Her heart was only beating once every 10 seconds.
Miss Isbister said: “The doctor just took one look at her and said no. They didn’t even try to help her with her breathing as they said it would just prolong her dying. Everyone just gave up on her.”
The doctors told the couple to say their goodbyes to their daughter, but Miss Isbister decided that she would give her daughter the only cuddle she would ever have. So she lifted her out of her hospital blanket and placed her on her chest, with skin to skin contact.
She said: “I didn’t want her die being cold. So I lifted her out of her blanket and put against my skin to warm her up. Her feet were so cold. It was the only cuddle I was going to have with her, so I wanted to remember the moment.”
But after 20 minutes tiny Rachael was still alive. Then a miracle happened. She started taking tiny breaths on her own, and her heart started beating more regularly.
Miss Isbister said: “We couldn’t believe it – and neither could the doctors. She let out a tiny cry. When she was still breathing after four hours and her heart was beating more regularly, the doctors came in and said there was still no hope for her, but I still wasn’t letting go of her. We had her blessed by the hospital chaplain, and waited for her to slip away. But she still hung on. And then amazingly the pink color began to return to her cheeks. She literally was turning from grey to pink before our eyes, and she began to warm up too.”
After 48 hours, the doctors decided to put her on a ventilator to help with her breathing and she was transferred to the intensive care unit.
Miss Isbister said: “The doctors said that she had proved she was a fighter and that she now deserved some intensive care as there was some hope. She had done it all on her own – without any medical intervention or drugs. She had clung onto life – and it was all because of that cuddle. It had warmed up her body enough for her to start fighting.”
Because Rachel hadn’t had any oxygen for four hours, doctors warned the couple that there was a high risk she had been brain damaged. But a scan showed no evidence of any damage at all.
As the days passed, Rachael slowly began to gain in strength and put on weight. She had laser treatment on her eyes to save her sight as the blood vessels hadn’t had chance to develop properly in the womb. And she also had six blood transfusions.
Miss Isbister added: “We couldn’t believe that she was doing so well. Her heart rate and breathing would suddenly sometimes drop without warning, but she just got stronger and stronger.”
After five weeks she was taken off the ventilator and Miss Isbister was able to hold and breastfeed her. Then after four months in hospital, they were finally allowed to take her home – a day which they never thought they would see.
At six months old, she now weighs 8lb (3.63kg) – the same as a newborn baby – and she has a healthy appetite.
Miss Isbister said: “She is doing so well. When we finally brought her home, the doctors told us that she was a remarkable little girl. And most of all, she just loves her cuddles. She will sleep for hours, just curled into my chest. It was that first cuddle which saved her life – and I’m just so glad I trusted my instinct and picked her up when I did. Otherwise she wouldn’t be here today.”
Photos:
By WORLDWIDEFEATURES
STAY STRONG ! ENJOY YOUR DAY . LOVE AND BLESSINGS MY FRIEND .
Wishing you a fabulous Mother’s Day full of recreation, relaxation, and appreciation! Blessing
Let there be peace on earth. And let it begin with me
Stop! Breathe deeply. Begin bringing peace to the outer world by regaining your own inner peace. Choose love, choose gratitude, choose forgiveness, choose peace. Begin with your own inner peace. Then use that inner peace as a platform from which to approach the outer world with perspective, understanding, and patience. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie
by Ann Albers in Northern AZ
Rooted and flexible...Message from the Angels
My dear friends, we love you so very much,
A tree's ability to weather life's storms lies in both its rootedness and flexibility. These two seemingly opposite forces actually support one another. The roots allow the tree to stand firm while it bends and sways in the wind, and its flexibility prevents the tree from uprooting. Together these two qualities provide a strength that allows your trees to reach unparalleled heights in the natural world, receive the nutrients they need from soil and sun, and give generously to the ecosystem around them. They live firmly centered in their own truth, which opens them to receive and share the unceasing flow of life itself.
You, too, are strongest when you marry the forces of rootedness and flexibility. If you know who you are and where you stand on a given topic, you can remain rooted firmly in your own truth.
For example, say you have a health issue. You know what types of cures work best for you and resonate naturally with you. Some of you prefer modern medicine. Others will prefer natural remedies. Some work solely with energy. Many of you like a mixture of modalities. Whatever your preferences, you can remain staunchly rooted in your own wisdom about what resonates with you regardless of the variety of helpful opinions others might offer. By all means, you can take others' ideas as input, but when you are rooted in your own truth and the Divine, you will quickly know which ideas nourish you and which do not, simply by how they feel.
Likewise, you know in your heart and your gut which beliefs, behaviors, and ideologies "ring true" for you. If you remain rooted in your own paradigm, it will work for you. If, instead, you allow others' beliefs to matter to you more than your own, you can get into trouble. Your guidance is uniquely tailored for you. What feels right to you when you are in a loving vibration is right for you at that moment.
Remaining rooted in your own truth is different from being rigid. If a tree were rooted yet rigid, it would snap in the storm. Instead, the tree remains rooted in its center but is also flexible. It bends and sways when nature's forces press against it. It doesn't resist the wind. It allows for the wind. Because of its strong roots, it can be flexible and dance with life without breaking.
You, too, will find that when you are rooted in the Divine and rooted in your own truth, you won't "snap" when outside forces seem to press against you. When someone insists you should behave as they wish, you will listen and allow them their perspective. You'll bend and sway but quickly return to your own truth. You'll remain centered in self without the need to give into the demands of others and without the need to assert your own will upon them.
When you see ideologies, beliefs, or behaviors in the world that differ from your own, you will not let them "uproot you" from love. Instead, you will allow them to exist, then return to your center.
Rooted in the Divine, rooted in love, rooted in your truth, you will not allow the world to change you, nor will you have to change the world. Instead, you will dance with it, remaining true to yourself while allowing others their own truth.
There is great wisdom in your trees, dear ones. They last much longer than most human lives. Their non-resistance to the forces around them frees up tremendous amounts of energy they use to grow and produce seeds or fruit. A tree that bends deeply in the storm remains so rooted that it will pop back up when the winds cease. It will resume its business generously feeding and sheltering other plants and animals in the ecosystem. You can weather the storms of life in such a fashion too.
So, rather than waiting for the world to change, for others to agree, or to start behaving better, focus on your own rootedness and flexibility. Take time to imagine roots of light that flow from your feet and burrow deeply into the earth. When something or something comes at you that feels like a strong force, imagine your energy swaying, bending, but not breaking.
No matter what comes your way, you can return to your center, return to your focus on solutions, and return to your focus on love. No matter who is negative around you, you can choose to feel good.
You don't have to make anyone agree with you. Instead, remain rooted in your loving truth, and stay faithful to that no matter what or who comes your way. Then, even amidst the storms and challenges of life, you, like the tree, will feel the rootedness and flexibility that give you a true, deep, and abiding strength.
God Bless You! We love you so very much. -- The Angels
Tina Turner performs at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Aug. 1, 1985. Turner, the unstoppable singer and stage performer, died Tuesday, after a long illness at her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, according to her manager. She was 83. (AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine, File)
