My Name Is Love

"Fill the cup of happiness for others, and there will be enough overflowing to fill yours to the brim." ~Rose Pastor Stokes

On Saturday, August 27, 2011, I had the blessing of being involved in the 1st Annual Liv to Ride Poker Run and Fun Day to benefit the Liv Life Foundation. For those of you who do not know me, my niece Livia has a terminal disease called Sanfilippo syndrome. Sanfilippo syndrome is a genetic disorder; children with this disorder are missing an enzyme that helps break down sugar proteins in their bodies. The protein builds in tissues and organs and it becomes a neurological disorder. The life expectancy of a child with Sanfilippo Syndrome is 9-20 years. The Liv Life Foundation, http://www.livlife.us/, was founded by my sister-in-law and brother to help raise awareness and research funding for this disease. None of the money goes to my brother and his wife.

So this brings me to my point. Saturday brought out so many people who came together in love and support for Livia and my family. There were many people we saw and some that participated anonymously. There were people from all walks of life and different backgrounds and every one of them was there for a common cause. It does not matter what their names were, in my book they are all called love because each of them cared enough to come together to help us in the fight to save Liv's Life.

I would like to personally thank Bob and Ruth Ann Voight, owners of the 4-Way Saloon in Sidell, IL; the 4-Way Saloon staff members: Dawn, Kathy, and Leesa; the members of the band New Twang City; the Sidney Saloon in Sidney, Wild Willie's in Brocton, Town & Country Tap in Ridge Farm, Julie's in Westville, Under Caution outside of Danville, and The Brunswick in Westville; and Rinda Maddox for writing a story on Livia in The Sidell Reporter. All of these people came together and gave freely of their time for our event and I am forever grateful for the hard work and love you put into making the event a success.

A special thanks to my husband, Tim, who worked very hard pulling some things together and giving a lot of his time in the weeks leading up to the event. I really do appreciate everything you do sweetheart.

For Granted or Gratitude

"When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude." ~Gilbert K. Chesterton

When someone does something for you, do you remember to thank them even if you consider it to be there job? Maybe the job is not a fun job but someone has to do it; do you still thank that person even if you deem the job beneath you?

When you have a friend or family member that always goes out of their way to help you, do you remember to thank him or her? How about the simple fact that a family member is close by, do you think about that person the way you do a person far away. Do you think, wow I really miss him when I do not see him whether he lives two miles away or two hundred?

Do you thank your spouse when he/she does something to help you? You may think that he/she should be helping you but there are a lot of spouses out there that do not ever offer to help.

One of the things I am trying to teach my boys is that they need to be thankful for everything. When the waiter brings your drink (yes it is his job to bring it to you) but thank him or her for doing this. When mom folds your laundry, even though you have to put it away, be thankful that you have clean laundry to put away.

My dad always said to us, "Always make sure those you love know how much you love them and how much they mean to you." This lesson has really hit home over the last ten years when I have lost some really incredible family members and friends. This is another thing I want my boys to realize; just because you plan to or think you will see someone in a couple of days, a week, a month it is not guaranteed.

It is ok to take an hour off of work every now and then to spend extra time with your family. It is good to call a family member more than when you need something; it is easy to call someone you love when you need support but just call because you can. Take the time to have an attitude of gratitude for those people you should be appreciative for instead of taking them for granted. One thing that would make our lives much nicer is if more people thought about what we have to be thankful for more often instead of taking other people for granted.