There were two things I loved to do as a kid. Play "long journey" and make stuff. Long journey was the least favorite past time of my sister and the other neighborhood girls and because Dana had the only wagon on the street, I had to convince her to play. She usually did. So Carrie (my sister), Dana, Mary and I would go and pack our little suitcases with doll clothes and dishes, load the wagon with blankets and head out to set up camp underneath the trees up and down our little dead end street. We would take care of our children, which usually entailed changing their clothes and fixing them pretend dinner. We would take a little nap and pack up the little red wagon and take off to the next tree. Even then, I loved taking care of my family and traveling to distant places. Even if it means really not going very far from home.

My mom was always making something. I would watch her take a piece of bread, remove the crust, add a little Elmers glue and make that little ball of dough into a beautiful rose. One time she brought home wire and this really cool liquid stuff in a metal jar. She bent the wires into petals and dipped them in the colorful liquid. The liquid made a film. She made more flowers. She used to draw pictures, bake cakes, sew dresses, color in color books, crochet, make posters for church events, write songs.... I could go on and on. She never had a room of her own to create in, the kitchen table was her spot. If she was sewing, it was the T.V. room.

I must have been watching her. I didn't know it then. I thought she was just being mom and I was just being a kid in her house. But I am sure that is when my desire-to-create seed was planted.

Isn't it amazing how play becomes life and seeds planted by moms long ago become desired careers. I am not living a dream, I am living life. Living life right now the way I always wanted to.. Too bad I don't always see it that way. I think it is time I did.

Peace and hugs to anyone out there who is listening. Right now I know I am speaking to the air, maybe someday I will inspire someone on their long journey of life.