Sharing the Journey

I write my blog from my perspective. I'm selfish that way, ya know? It's MINE after all. My blog. Mine. Mine. Mine. My views. My ups. My downs. My journey.

Oh, how I wish this journey were all mine. But it's not. The whole herd of us are on the journey together. And we are each affected differently. I would love to be able to take the pain and the trauma from my children...to be able to turn back the clock and erase the memories of the fire...to erase the fear they felt that night as the pets were trapped inside the house, as their possessions were consumed in smoke and flame, as their home became a strange and surreal memory.

I can't take it away though, and I know the journey will shape them...what doesn't kill us makes us stronger and all that jazz. They are amazing kids. I'm so proud of them. I am so impressed with how Bubba and Tuna called 9-1-1 and corralled their younger siblings into the truck and then to a neighbors house to safety. I am impressed with how resilient they have all been.

I want to dedicate this post to my son. His life journey includes Asperger's Syndrome, an Autism Spectrum Disorder. One of the characteristics of folks with Asperger's is that they don't like change. At all. Ever. Bubba has, like the rest of us, had to endure change in the most extreme sense. He is also the only member of the herd that lost a pet in the fire. I am so impressed with his insight and I want to share it with you. He wrote this just a few days after the fire.
 

 A trail out of sorrow

A limb on the trail

A disruption in the creek

A mountain, a valley, a fire burning without control

All disruptions from the path of destiny

Or am I wrong

And these disruptions are necessary for true life to exist

Hills are in abundance

They are one type of life’s many road blocks

In Arkansas, the forest in which I dream of living

It is there I wish to settle my life

Arkansas has these mountains and valleys

These mountains must be crossed

And there may be a toll

The real struggle however

The biggest mountains are what are on the road to home for me

My dream passes through my mind many times each day

Right now however I am crossing through smoke

Around me burning a thousand lost dreams

As I go through the smoke

I begin to choke

Depression sets in occasionally as I go through

I must leave the past behind

Each day the dreams fade away

Dying is all around

Lives, dreams lost forever

It’s a sad thought, a very rainy day indeed

However it is worse when you have lost everything

One shall learn though as they come from the smoke

You can never lose everything

There’s always something to love

Disruptions make you stronger

And ultimately will make life longer

And so the key to a true life is hardship and struggle

You can never get rid of the mountains

They’re here forever     

{May you rest in reptile peace, Mr. Merlin}