One Voice...

I've had many people over the years ask me where I got the idea to title my blog "One Voice" so I decided to blog about it! It all happened while I was in London's Hyde Park, attending the final evening of Proms in the Park where the headliner was none other than Barry Manilow.

Having been a life-long fan of Barry's, I was thrilled that my trip to Bosnia coincided with Barry's show at the Proms. I had already begun writing blog posts, though they had yet to be posted on my blog since I hadn't actually set one up yet. You see, I didn't have a name for it, and what's a blog without a name?

So there I stood in Hyde Park that night with 5,000 other folks, listening to Barry as he sang his encore entitled "One Voice." Though I'd heard the title track from the album, released in 1979 hundreds of times and knew the lyric and harmonies by heart, I had never HEARD it quite like I did on that evening. As he sang the words, "...all it takes is ONE VOICE... If only One Voice would start it on its own we need just One Voice facing the unknown, and then that One Voice would never be alone it takes that One Voice..." it hit me like a ton of bricks! That was it... that was my blog title... ONE VOICE!!! 

But for me, it wasn't going to be "One Voice singing..." but rather it was going to be My "One Voice SPEAKING". Yes. God had blessed me with the gift of writing and He wanted me to used that gift to reach others. He had given me a Voice and I had the honor and privilege of using it to reach out to people in ways I never even imagined. It started with my Bosnia blog, which followed my travels to meet with women who had lived through the unimaginable.... they had survived a war. They received funds from World Vision's Micro Finance Organization called Vision Fund and were now financially independent women. They very quickly became my heroes and my inspiration.

I was also privileged to use my One Voice to document Christopher's accident and recovery from a Severe Traumatic Brain Injury during the Spring of 2010, then also MY brush with death when I suffered a Pulmonary Embolism just seven months later, including  the ensuing sleeplessness, PTSD and depression from all that I had experienced in just a little more than a year. I have been urged by many to turn my blog, especially the posts about Christopher's Brain Injury into a memoir and I just think I might do that. His is a success story... a miracle story and one that perhaps needs to be told to a larger audience than I have here on my blog. But I'm working on that one. Stay tuned...

Below is the link to a video of Barry Manilow way back when, rehearsing and then performing "One Voice" and I just love his description of the song and how it came to be. Even if you're not a Manilow fan, the video is worth the look, so take a few minutes and watch it... I think you'll enjoy it and perhaps it will help you understand why I chose One Voice for the title of my blog. Cheers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQrcI1ZcK7M

Mujer Divina... Wedding song no. 2

Wedding song number two just HAD to be the song that Berenice and Nicholas used for their first dance at both the California and the Mexico weddings. It is a beautiful love song and I’m so glad to have been introduced to it!

I asked Emily to do a rough translation of the lyric and so we have her to thank for being able to understand the sentiment of the song.

I’m including several things in this blog post. The first is the link to Bere and Nick dancing to this song in Mexico.

The video ends suddenly because Nick and Bere came over to her father, Rahpael and I, and brought us out onto the dance floor to dance with them. I will never forget those dances with my boy, Nicholas! Below the You tube link is the lyric to the song; first in Spanish because it is so beautiful in that language, and then translated into English. I believe that my favorite line of this song is as follows:

"You have made me walk, go over distances. I can breathe you, feed my love. Also, you make me cry; my tears of honey, woman..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7MsIPh15_Q

Mujer Divina

Mujer, mujer divina
Tienes el veneno que fascina en tu mirar

Mujer que no se olvida,
Tienes vibración de sonatina pasional

Tienes el perfume de un naranjo en flor,
El altivo porte de una majestad

Sabes de los filtros que hay en el amor,
Tienes el hechizo de la liviandad

La divina magia de un atardecer,
O la maravilla de la inspiración
Tienes en el brillo de tu ser
Todo el palpitar de una canción
Y eres la razón de mí existir, mujer

Tienes en el ritmo de tu ser
Todo el palpitar de una canción
Eres la razón de mí existir, mujer

Tú me haces caminar, distancias recorrer
Te puedo respirar, alimentas mi querer
También me haces llorar, mis lágrimas de miel, mujer.

Mujer Divina (translation)

Woman, divine woman,

You have venom in your looks that fascinate me.

Woman that is not forgotten,

You have vibrations of a passionate sonata.

You have the perfume of a flowering orange,

The haughty bearing of majesty.

You know of the blocks that are a part of love,

You have the enchantment of lightness.

The divine magic of dusk,

Or the marvel of inspiration.

You shine the way you are,

The throb of a song,

And you are the reason for my existence, woman.

You have the rhythm of being,

The throb of a song,

You are the reason for my existence, woman.

You have made me walk, go over distances,

I can breathe you, feed my love.

Also, you make me cry; my tears of honey, woman.

Golden...

I've had a lot of family and friends ask me about various songs from Nick and Bere's California wedding so I thought I'd post several songs that were played throughout the evening over the next several weeks here on my blog. Here's one of my favorites and it has such a perfect lyric for a newly married couple. Aw heck... it's perfect for any couple! The song is the title track from Lady Antebellum's latest album called "Golden" and my favorite lyric from this song is:

'Cause you are golden, lovely
Oh so hard to find.
Yeah you are goodness, forgiveness
Of the purest kind..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1mmxJQhCQc

We are now a family of SIX...

The journey of child-rearing is one for which I have been blessed three-fold.

Nicholas at age three in 1989

First Nicholas was born in 1986, then Emily came along eight years later in 1993.

Emily, four years old in 1997

Christopher was born in 1996, almost three years after Emily.

Christopher at eighteen months in 1997

I have had the joy and privilege of being a stay-at-home mother and I can honestly say that raising my children has been the most fulfilling thing I have ever done. I have loved every moment of it. I remember when they were babies saying that I never wanted them to become toddlers. Then at the toddler stage, I didn't want them to become pre-schoolers and so on. Each and every stage just got better and better as they grew from tiny, fully DEPENDENT infants into beautiful, fully INDEPENDENT young men and woman.

Nicholas & Christopher before the California wedding, August 18, 2013

Emily & Nicholas before the Mexico wedding, August 24, 2013, photo credit: Roby Fisk

Christopher & Emily before the Mexico wedding, August 24, 2013, photo credit: Roby Fisk

But I have to say that these current years are the BEST!!! I love interacting with my "children" as adults and the conversations that we have are so full of life, energy and the quest to learn, grow and accumulate knowledge and life-experience.

However, I always knew that my goal was to raise my children to leave. That might sound strange, but I believe that God entrusted me with these tiny beings for the sole purpose of teaching them to be fully independent and functional adults who spend their lives contributing meaningfully to this world in which we live. I can only pray that I have succeeded in reaching this goal. 

Berenice & Nicholas in the Wente Vineyards Barrel Room, August 18, 2013, Photo credit: Chris Cozzone

Last month, my firstborn, Nicholas married his best friend, Berenice Rosales, and I couldn't be any happier! They married at Wente Vineyards in Livermore, CA on August 18th and then again in Huamantla, Tlaxcala, Mexico on August 24th.

Berenice & Nicholas at the end of the evening of their wedding in Mexico; fireworks and all! Aug. 24, 2013, photo credit: Ricardo Bandala

Both weddings were unique and magical. I will never forget either one of them and the lovely mix of family and friends. I can't even say that I liked one better than the other... they were each special in their own way. During the planning of the California wedding, I remember wondering how I would feel on their wedding day. I've heard of mothers being sad because they're "losing" their child (especially their firstborn) so I wondered if I would experience this sadness. But alas, I woke up that morning feeling exhilarated! Wasn't this what I raised him to do? To become an independent adult who falls in love and marries his best friend? And the double blessing was that I would be gaining a daughter that day... a beautiful young woman, inside and out who loves my son so much that she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. Could life get any better than this? I LOVE my new daughter!!!

A lovely moment during the California wedding, August 18, 2013, Photo credit: Chris Cozzone

 

And so now we have gone from a family of five to a family of six and I couldn't be any more grateful to God for this blessing! I can't wait to see Bere and Nick again and to continue to be a part of their lives, supporting and encouraging them as they navigate this thing called "marriage." I do believe they're off to a great start and I wish them a life filled with love, adventure, fun and growth!

Our family of SIX!!! Photo Credit: Chris Cozzone

Show Me...

No matter how often, and when or why I listen to the song "Show Me" by Audrey Assad, I am moved. This song reaches something deep inside of me. It reaches the "honest" me... the one who is not only honest with others but who is honest with myself. I am reminded that while making my way through the complexities of life, no matter how I feel... whether I want to be left to cry, to lie, to "be" or to rest in Christ, I have that freedom and God is always there for me... no strings attached. 

I decided to make this slideshow to go along with the beautiful song written by Audrey Assad & Sarah Hart. Below is the lyric and the link to the video. May the Lord bless you, your families and your friends.

You could plant me like a tree beside a river

You could tangle me in soil and let my roots run wild

And I would blossom like a flower in the desert

But for now just let me cry.

You could raise me like a banner in a battle

Put victory like a fire behind my shining eyes

And I would drift like falling snow over the embers

But for now just let me lie.

Bind up these broken bones

Mercy bend and breathe me back to life

But not before You show me how to die.

Set me like a star before the morning

Like a song that steals the darkness from a world asleep

And I'll illuminate the path You've laid before me

But for now just let me be.

Bind up these broken bones

Mercy bend and breathe me back to life

But not before You show me how to die

Oh, not before You show me how to die.

So let me go like a leaf upon the water

Let me brave the wild currents flowing to the sea

And I will disappear into a deeper beauty

But for now just stay with me

God, for now just stay with me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_9NbQxNqK0&feature=youtu.be