Angels CAN Fly!

Dear Readers,


Good Morning!  I have survived yet another Holy Week here in Mexico!  Since last Monday literally  thousands of Mexican nationals descended upon the beaches here in Sayulita.  It is beautiful to see the joy and happiness as huge families and groups of friends gather to eat, drink, dance, and have lots of fun.  


I have a very wonderful friend, who in the spirit of pure generosity and love has shared the answers to the five questions on what happiness means to him.   He has chosen to use the name Anonymous T.


1. How do you find happiness?

Fundamentally speaking, I do not believe it is possible to "find" happiness, since it is a state of feeling/being produced by the "in the moment" thoughts in one's mind  in the instant present.  

2. What does happiness mean to you?

When I feel some degree of happiness.. I know all is right with myself and the universal collective conscience at that moment.  Degrees of happiness for me, fall in a continuum from a Ticklish smile to pure absolute joy with goose bumps with a total sense of contentment. 

3. Share a happy moment

For me, there are too numerous to mention, even in one day, as every moment I am grateful for recognizing a gift I have been given, I am happy. I try to stay grateful for my surrounding life elements.  But I will say, an inner sense of instant connected happiness occurs when my mind is in the present moment enough to: recognize a "love bump" from the universe, in the form of a bird, hawk, butterfly, insect, pet of any kind, tree, the wave of a palm frond,( angel wing to me), ALL acknowledging our connected existence. And I am grateful to KNOW this connection is real.

4. How do you remain happy in a happy/joyous state of mind?

Staying aware of the present  display of life surrounding you, as stated above, BY staying OUT of your daily routine thoughts of the next future moment,and the  past ones.

5. What makes you feel happy?

KNOWING, that angels can fly, because they take themselves lightly.

The Aunt Who has 'Everything'!

Good Monday Morning!


I first would like to sincerely THANK everybody who has responded so positively to my blog!  The already massive amounts of emails and calls of support has truly exceeded my expectations in the first week of The Happy Horse Chronicles.


I come from a very large family.   By that I mean my family is so large that I can barely remember the names of all of my cousins.  I secretly wish they had name tags on them at family gatherings so that I could actually remember their names.  Now many of them are having children, which makes it worse when it comes to remembering names.  In my family, nearly every weekend consists of either a birthday, a baptism, or a baby shower.  


I consider our family to be a very loving family.  Everybody greets each other with a warm hug and a kiss.  When we say our good-byes, we embrace each other in another warm hug and another kiss and say 'I love you'.  Leaving a family party can take well over 45 minutes, as the good-bye process cannot be taken lightly.  It is a ritual that must be obeyed and fulfilled or else! 


You see, when leaving a family gathering (aka party), you are not free to leave on your own free will.  You must first get clearance to leave from my aunt Lita.  Lita is our families version of Napoleon, little in stature yet very bossy.  Lita first informs you that you are not, in fact, leaving yet.  She goes on to further inquire as to where you think you may be going to after leaving the party.  Finally, if the second answer does not meet her requirements to grant you permission to leave, you're request is immediately denied and you must re-submit.  You are bound to stay at the party for at least another hour before another request to leave can be submitted through Lita.  Lita is full of love.  She is the epitomy of excitement, passion and love.  You truly haven't been kissed until you have received a big, wet, loud smack  kind of a kiss from my aunt Lita.   When Lita kisses you, you KNOW you are loved!  


My father is in charge of the timing of the good-byes.  He somehow escapes the good-bye process and sits in the car for my mother and I while we say good-bye and then gives us the full report on how long it took us to say good-bye to everybody. (which is normally in the area of 45 minutes).   He reprimands us on the length of the good-bye process and threatens to leave us next time.  He has issued these reprimands and threats for the last forty years and has yet to actually implement and fulfill the threat, so I think we are safe for the next forty years to say good-bye and express love for as long as it takes.


In recent years, most of our family gatherings have taken place at my aunt Debbie's house.  Debbie has what most people consider to have 'everything.'

A picture of me and my aunt Debbie.

Debbie lives in a custom built 3600 square foot sprawling home surrounded by about 40 acres of land.  She has a full time staff of caretakers that cater to her every desire.  Somebody cooks for her, cleans her house, takes care of her garden, runs errands for her, and chauffeurs her around town.  She doesn't even have to write a check, she has people do that for her as well.  A team of financial planners, and accountants take care of the managing of her money and the disbursement of her money to pay her bills.  She is given a large amount of money at the beginning of every month for 'spending money', to spend however she desires.  When Debbie decides to take a trip, she simply makes one phone call to her nice man that manages her money and he makes all the travel arrangements for her, arranging hotels, flights, and transportation.  She only flies first class!


But there is something that my aunt Debbie doesn't have, which is the use of her legs.  Debbie was paralyzed in a tragic work related accident when a four ton metal I-beam fell from 20 feet above her head completely severing her spinal cord,  from about the middle of her back down rendering her a paraplegic.  


Prior to Debbie's accident, I had not really been around anybody that was paralyzed.  I didn't realize all of the daily, hour by hour challenges that a paraplegic goes through day after day, hour after hour.  The process of simply getting ready in the morning turns into a team effort and a nearly two hour ordeal, if everything goes according to plan.  Transporting oneself in and out of buildings that are supposedly 'handicap accessible' turns into a 'Where's Waldo?' hunting expedition.  The utter mind numbing frustration of trying to reach for something just barely out of reach out of the kitchen cupboard could be enough to send most people over the edge of pure madness.


In 2010, Debbie went to Portugal and underwent stem cell surgery on her spinal cord in the hopes of being able to walk again.  Since the operation, Debbie has miraculously taken five steps on her own and has had two bowel movements on her own.  She has a very sophisticated gymnasium set up in her home and physical therapists that come and train her legs into functioning again.  Along with the long list of everything Debbie does have is HOPE, and a lot of it.


 In her own words, these are Debbie's feelings of happiness.


I am happy to be alive.  I am happy that I have my legs even though I am paralyzed because I know I will walk again one day.  I am happy that the Lord uses me.  I am happy that I still have a purpose to fulfill in my life being in this chair.  I am happy that I have many blessings.  I am grateful because I am truly happy from within myself.  I love myself and that is not selfish.  God said "Love thy neighbor as you love yourself." I am a good person and I have a beautiful heart.  I am happy to be an inspiration to others.  I am happy that I have my arms to play my guitar.  I'm happy to have only felt a bowel movement twice after the stem cell operation. it was still a miracle to me even if I never feel it again or ever walk again.  I'm happy that I was able to have the procedure done, I have no regrets.  I'm happy that I have exercise equipment that is helping me learn how to walk.  Whether I ever do get to walk again on my own or not, it doesn't matter to me.  I am happy to just keep trying.  I'm happy to have a large loving family, friends, and workers and trainers who help me everyday.  I'm grateful for all of them in my life.  I'm happy that my sister is clean and drug free.  I'm happy that I can forgive and be forgiven.  I'm happy that you thought of me ;-)....I'm happy to have all the people throughout my life that I have helped and who have helped me grow and to learn and to become a better person.  Even the bad experiences I am happy for, because they have helped me to grow and to learn as well.  I'm happy Jesus died for our sins.  I'm happy God loves us all.  I'm happy when we all love each other.  I'm happy when I see a yellow smiley face sticker.  I'm happy to have known all the people in my life that have past away and for our time that the Lord gave us together.  I'm happy to have you as a nephew and a friend.  I love you and that makes me happy.  I know you love me and that makes me happy.  I could go on and on because I'm so happy.  LOL!  :-)


I hope that the story of my aunt and her words of happiness help brighten your day and help you to become happier and grateful for all that you have.