… write a letter to a loved one. Not a Christmas card but a heartfelt letter. I recently did this for a friend and it felt so good. Last night four of my girlfriends and I gathered for a glass of wine and a good-bye. Our friend Melanie is moving away — tomorrow. Boo. It was a sweet gathering of girlfriends. Melanie wrote and read the most beautiful, heartfelt letter to us. It was emotional to say the least. As my friend Lisa said, it was sort of like being a part of Kelly Corrigan’s, Transcending, “Cranston Court Style” {our street if you are wondering what I am talking about!}. I am still emotional thinking about it. Good-byes are not my strong suit! Seriously. If you see me in the next two days, I might be red eyed from tears.

Now here is part two of why this idea is fresh in my head {uh oh — cue tears again}. On Monday my dad is having surgery. He has prostate cancer {he keeps calling it “prostrate”. We are tired of correcting him }. So of course this is scary because it is surgery. It has not spread which is the good news. Now if you have known me for many years or are a close friend, then you know the history I have with my dad. I adore him. He is a great dad and a rockin’ Grandpa. He has not always been around though. He went through a very nasty custody battle with my mom. She put him through Hell — and back. Then he hit rock bottom. Alcohol. Rehab more then once and was just so unreliable. He moved, 1st to Utah and then to Missouri. Well he seemed to do better out of state and then he came back. This was always the concern. Could he handle the pressures of real life? Family and so on. He came to visit when I had my oldest almost 8 years ago. He reconnected with his own father {such a blessing}. Then he was gone again. Happy and well but away from us. Then in May of 2005 his dad, my wonderful grandfather, became sick. I was 7 months pregnant. Dad came back again. He was there the moment when my Grandpa passed away. He made it through that moment. He stayed. He was here when my second child was born. He continued to stay. That was 5 1/2 years ago and he is here. Doing well. I am emotional because I have my dad back in my life. My kids have a local Grandpa that they adore. So my plan is to write my dad a letter. To tell him that I am proud of him. He has shown great strength through some of lifes greatest obstacles and he is strong. I want to tell him that I love him. This is my plan. Don’t get me wrong, I know he will be OK but I still feel like this is the time to say these things. And I will. I have a feeling that he will be emotional as well. That is OK though — it is good to be emotional when you are feeling loved.

So this is my personal story that I wanted to share with you. Can you extend some extra love to someone in your life?