~for all of the things that DIDN'T happen~

Hello everyone and a great "good morning" to you from the Central Time Zone :)  It seems to be so very weird to think that just 24 hours ago I was over 1,200 miles away from here in Kansas, sitting in the airport at Binghamton, New York.  And certainly much has happened to me since Ursela and I left Kansas, now 5 days ago on our journey to Owego and New York City.  The part of the trip that I'm feeling the "most" now doesn't really feel so good and as the saying goes, "It only hurts when I laugh."  But this morning as I have had a good night's rest, about a gazillion cups of coffee and a couple of Alleve I am starting to think and remember all of the really good things that went "right" on the trip.  It causes me a lot of "pause" to realize it and admit to myself.  There were lots of things that didn't happen and for those things, I should be really giving thanks.

Amazingly enough, I never once lost track of my cell phone, camera, or wallet.  That was one of my concerns from the beginning~to be that far away from home and to lose an important and valuable possession would have been rather unnerving.  For 5 full days I held on to them, never once losing sight of where they were.  Shoot, I don't have that kind of track record here at home.  I'm always misplacing something and then frantically scouring the house or the car or my classroom to see if I can find them.  For this small miracle, I'm surely grateful. 

We never missed a flight, lost track of our tickets, had trouble with the rental car, or got lost along the way.  Our GPS system worked great and even if we did miss a turn every now and then, we were still able to keep our wits about us and just make the next turn in the road and get back on track.  No flat tires, no running out of gas, no accidents although we did begin to believe that most New Yorkers drive with one hand on the car horn and they honk it at will several times a journey.  When I sent a text message to one of my friends here in Kansas who grew up in New York, he sent me back a message that made me smile...  "Don't worry Peggy, you were probably driving the speed limit or something LOL."  New York drivers, guess you gotta love 'em.

The beautiful village of Owego was there waiting for us to visit and this time, thankfully it wasn't raining nonstop.  I was able to meet my two Facebook friends there, Kevin Millar and Diana Chandler for the first time as well as visiting all of the good folks at St. Patrick School.  Even though I had to miss going to Sunday morning Mass and the pancake feed that followed because I was over at Johnson City in the ER getting my ribs x-rayed, I was still able to spend a wonderful Monday morning visiting the kids at the school.  Those kids ended up being way better medicine for my aching ribs than anything the doctor could have prescribed for me to begin with.  In that I give thanks.

Although it was tough at first to realize that I wasn't going on to New York City with Ursela, we found a way to make the best of it.  Both of us had come a long way, close to 1,500 miles for the opportunity of a lifetime to see the largest city in America.  I didn't want her to lose the chance just because I couldn't go.  For all of the things that finally worked out, enabling a young 22-year old woman to see the sights and hear the sounds of that beautiful place, I am really grateful.  I had to trust that everything would work out ok for her and for me too and it did.  I made all the connections to get back home to Kansas and I thank you for your part in "praying" me back here.  The absurdity of the whole thing is finally setting in but this I know, it was not my time to go there.  For whatever reason, and may I some day see it, my New York journey was to see the beautiful village of Owego and I guess God must have indeed figured to let me know that "Peggy, it's enough."  I'm ok with it.

I've had a lot of fun and received a lot of joy by having a "bucket list".  Going to New York City and riding the Bike Across Kansas were the two major ones that I had left to do.  So between now and the time that I leave to move to Colorado when school is out, I'm going to concentrate on the only other one remaining...  "To meet all of my Facebook friends in person, buy them something to drink, and talk about life for a while."  I've surely been so blessed with the gift of having a lot of friends~good people who would do whatever it took to help another person.  And by the way, these are folks (and if you are reading this, then YOU are one of them) who help out others not because of what they will get from it in return but only because they know that it's the right thing to do in this life.   Seems to me that is what friends do for one another~

Hoping that wherever you are this day that all will be well for you.  Take care of yourselves and of one another.  Life is very good, even with all of the unexpected things that arise.  I'm working on developing my NEW bucket list, one that can take place beginning this summer as I begin a new life in Colorado with Mike.  I never intend to quit living each day as if it were my last.  Life's brevity would indicate that we all should spend each day in such a manner.  I love you guys and thank you for being my good friends.

Saturday in the early morning hours~Ursela and I at the Tulsa Airport, getting ready to fly to New York.  If nothing else, at least I learned that it's "ok" to fly again.  The events of September 11th, 2001 no longer could paralyze me with fear.  12 years was long enough~

~Upon lightening my load~

Greetings and salutations from the strangest of places for me to write a blog post from...the airport waiting area at Binghamton, New York.  I've delivered Ursela to the bus station downtown, returned the rental car here at the airport, reported in and checked a bag to go to Kansas City, went through security without a problem and now am just sitting here and waiting to go.  My flight doesn't leave until 2:30 but I decided that it would be my best option to just get here and wait so I'd have time to get things taken care of.  So, here I sit.

I have to admit that I've wondered a thousand times why the events of Saturday in Detroit took place.  I mean for crying out loud, how much of a freak accident was that anyway?  For me to get a suitcase caught up in an escalator step and then for that whole thing to throw me completely off balance and cause me to tumble the better part of 2/3 of the way down just doesn't happen every day.  But as "Miller Luck", a well-known second cousin twice removed to "Murphy's Law", would have it....it did.  And as soon as my broken rib stops hurting I think I'll have a good laugh over it, but right now it doesn't seem very hilarious.  

This morning as I was packing up my things in my suitcase, I made the decision to leave a pile of clothing behind.  The extra weight that I saved by doing so made it much easier for me to pull along my suitcase.  I'd been thinking about it all day yesterday and realized that since I would be on my own today, I needed to do what I could to make the load lighter.  It seemed to work, thankfully. 

 But you know here's what I learned more than anything else by doing that "lightening of the load" thing...It helped me physically, that's for sure but it also helped me "mentally" as well.  Ever since Saturday mid-morning, my aches and pains from being injured had pretty much taken over.  My attitude was half ways "sucky" at best and life seemed about as dismal and depressing as it could get.  This morning when I woke up and had the idea to get rid of anything that I could live without, my outlook changed for the better.  It was like I had finally figured out a way to help my situation, to take charge of it once more.  And for whatever that is worth, it helps me to feel better.  Shoot, I didn't need those clothes anyway and for me it was much more important to be able to carry a lighter burden and get home safely to Kansas this evening.  Material stuff comes and goes and I long ago gave up the idea that possessions were the most important thing in this life.  I know way better than that now and for that, I give thanks.

For the many prayers and good wishes on our behalf, our heart-felt thanks friends.  It may take a while for things to heal up but I'm pretty sure that sooner or later they will.  This has been a journey to remember and without a doubt, things could have been so much worse.  We give thanks in the least of things for every blessing, every good thing that is given to us in this life.  My next goal is to get from Washington D.C. to Kansas City, Mo.  When that feat is accomplished, I will breathe a lot easier!  Have a great day everyone out there :)

May we ALL have someone who means this much to us.  My blessing, my someone lives in Montrose, Colorado.  Who would have thought that two kids from the "land of long ago, and far, far away" would have ever found one another in the years down the road?

~ready~

Good morning dear friends and family~It's the early morning hours here in Binghamton, 4:40 in the a.m. "early" as a matter of fact.  I got a semi-good 6 hours of sleep last night and now I'm up doing my part of the repacking.  Ursela is still sleeping away and I want her to stay that way for a while yet.  Her adventure begins in about 5 hours and she's gonna need all the rest she can get.

I'm a little on the "fretful" side right now but I can tell you this for sure~I am way more determined to make it back to Kansas than I would ever be afraid and just give up right now.  Because this day is already a little overwhelming, I know that I just need to take things one hour, one hurdle at a time.  First things first~get us checked out of the motel, get Ursela to the bus station, get myself to the airport, get this rental car turned in, get myself checked in for the flight, make the flight to KC, and find Grahame at the airport to pick me up.  All of it, done in that order, one "bite of life" at a time today.  Thank you so much friends for the wonderful thoughts and prayers on our behalf.  We need them most assuredly; there is no way to do this totally alone.

It's time for me to get this computer packed away now for the trip out of here today.  Just wanted to say "good morning" and that we are getting ready.  I've been so caught up with the problems of a broken rib that I've forgotten to ask how life is out there for you.  I hope everyone is doing ok and that the weather where all of you are has decided it's time to return to spring.  Stay well everyone, be at peace with yourself and with life, take care of yourselves (please take better care of yourself than I do) and stick together.  This would be Tuesday the 26th day of March, 2013~the GREATEST day ever to be alive in.

The gift of "life"~a daughter, Ursela Catherine Roseanna Hemman.  That little tiny baby is all grown up now.  I pray God's blessings on her for all the days of her life.  She was a wonderful Christmas Day gift back in 1990.  She decided to make her entrance into the world in a non-traditional way and she's been going strong ever since.  For Ursela and her two brothers, I'm grateful.  Three of the most precious things that I've ever known and loved.

                        A very fine reason to make it back home again this day~

~Farewell to Owego~

Hello everyone from Broome County, New York~the city of Binghamton to be exact.  Ursela and I made our way from Owego towards noon time today, deciding it would be better to spend the night here and be closer to our final destinations before departing tomorrow.  Now we are settled in our motel room and after a while will head out to make sure we can find the bus station for Ursela and the airport for me.  There have been many twists and turns in this "unplanned" part of the journey but we have made it by sticking together.  Tomorrow as we each go our separate ways it will be, of course, with a twinge of sadness and certainly a bit of uncertainty but I am positive that we will both make it to our final destinations along this trip.

This morning before leaving Tioga County, we spent time with the students and staff of St. Patrick School in Owego.  I made an early morning run to the local Dunkin Donuts store and grabbed 4 boxes of their speciality donuts as treats from the kids back at Lincoln Elementary.  Because a group of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students from St. Patrick had written to our 4th graders, I wanted to visit them and bring to them personal greetings from their friends in Kansas.  We ended up spending nearly all the morning with them and I can tell you that it did THIS teacher's heart a lot of good to be around the very kind of people that always make me happy~kids!

In each of the classrooms that I visited, I asked the kids to tell me what they already knew about the state of Kansas.  Their responses were interesting to say the least and many of them brought a much needed smile to my weary face.  Questions like, "Is Dorothy really there?", "Are there lots of buffaloes in Kansas?", "Who is the biggest giggler in the 4th grade class?" and "Do you have lots of tornadoes where you live?" were all very good ones.  I tried to explain that L. Frank Baum in his book "The Wizard of Oz" relied upon the reader's imagination to conjure up this image of the "Great and Powerful Oz".  And although it would be nice at this point in time to click my ruby red slippers together and say "there's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home", THAT isn't going to happen either.  

I was able to ask them a few questions of my own about their great state as well as the school they went to.  One of the students noticed my St. Christopher's medal around my neck and I told them that I was a Lutheran not a Catholic but that a very good friend gave it to me to have in my travels.  That led us on to them all telling me which saint they had chosen for their confirmation and it was really quite interesting to hear all of the different ones.  Not one student had the same saint's name and even though I thought I knew most of the saints, I heard some new and different names today.  St. Patrick's, being a Catholic  parochial school, is quite different from the elementary school that I teach at back home in Kansas.  Their students wear uniforms, attend mass on Fridays and learn about their faith during religion class each day. 

 But even with our differences, one thing I noticed right off the get-go was that no matter where you may go, "kids are kids" and I missed being home a little bit less this morning because of that very fact.  To the students and staff at St. Patrick's, I thank you for making me feel at home today, like I really was welcomed there.  I will not forget your kindness, my new friends.

Well, the night time has now fallen and the day has flown by as quickly as can be.  Ursela is busy repacking her suit case and I will need to do the same very soon.  We each are going different ways tomorrow~certainly not in the original plan.  It's almost as if a new adventure has begun for us and I gotta say, I kinda would have preferred the "old one".  Friends, I have always believed in the power of people praying for one another.  I know that it works~And I also know that it's ok to ask for specific prayers for one another and if you don't mind, I'm going to ask for prayer tonight.

Tomorrow, Ursela needs to be at the bus station by 9 in the morning.  I'm going to drop her off on my way to the airport.  She'll have to wait until the bus leaves at 11 and will be on the bus until it gets into New York City at 2:50.  My niece Jessica will meet her there and guide her along the way.  Once she gets there, she'll be fine.  Please, if you would be so inclined to do so, pray for her to be safe and well along the way, that no harm would come to her.  I'm so glad that she is going ahead without me.  Sorry that it must be so yet at least she will get to see a place that not everyone will dream to see in their lifetime.

As for me, I know what I need~Please dear friends, I need safe passage at the airport in Washington, D.C.  With my ribs messed up, I know that I could never get to where I need to be on time there.  I pray that there will be someone there who will wheel me at "lightning speed" to whatever gate it is that I need to be at and to get me there on time.  At this point in time, Kansas (a flatlander's paradise) is looking mighty fine to me.  I pray to be able to make it.

Have a good night's rest everyone out there.   Take care of yourselves and one another.  We are definitely in this together!  There's a good chance that in the years to come I'll be laughing about all of this but right now, it's not all that funny.  Crossing the "pass" at Monarch on the way to Mike's house in Montrose is starting to look easier all the time :)  

Thank you to my new and very good friend, Diana Higdon Chandler of Owego, NY for you hospitality and help during the past two days.  How wonderful to meet you and I must say I admire your style!  So good to know you in person instead of only on Facebook.

Thanks as well to my new and also very good friend, Mayor Kevin Millar (that's Miller with an "a" instead of an "e".)  The village of Owego, New York is blessed to have you as their advocate my friend.  Thank you for your kindness to me in everything that I have done in planning for this journey.  As of this morning, we are strangers no more~

And last but not least, to the dear children and staff at St. Patrick School in Owego, my heartfelt thanks for allowing both my daughter and I to visit you this morning.  Your smiles and laughter were the best "medicine" this hurting and tired teacher could have had today.  I wish you all the very best in this life now and always.

Giving thanks

Hello everyone from the New England village of Owego, New York where my daughter and I have been staying this weekend on vacation.  Of course, I'd like to be able to say that everything has run smoothly so far but that wouldn't be telling you the truth.  It's been rough, actually really rough with thanks to a very unplanned encounter with an escalator in the airport at Detroit.  All it took was one misstep, one tumble and a very unladylike trip head first down most of it to change everything in an instant.  At first I wasn't even going to type this blog post but after considering things a bit, I decided it was a good way to "save me" from myself.  Right now I'm kind of filled with some overwhelming sadness and one of the things that I've learned from writing this blog is the value of the "therapy of the written word."  Maybe when I finish I might feel better~figure that it cannot hurt one bit.  You know, in retrospect I probably should have gone to the doctor yesterday.  But hey, I figured just to wait it out and hope it would get better on its own.  That didn't happen.  When I woke up this morning it was still there and actually felt even a bit more painful than yesterday and when I wasn't taking the deep kinds of breath that I should, I knew it was time to seek some medical attention.  So off I went, in the early morning hours to Johnson City, just about 25 minutes away from Owego.  Not in my plans, of course, but sometimes "Miller's normal" is not like anyone else's is.

When the emergency room nurse came in to get some information from me and found out that I was from a place 1,200 miles away she got curious.  What was I doing in New York?  I told her that I was staying in Owego, just up the road.  She was even more surprised to learn that I was in Owego and asked me why I happened to be there.  I gave her the answer in 4 words~"Because I love Owego" and the truth is that I really do.   And so tonight as I sit here in our quarters of the beautiful and stately Pumpelly House, I am glad that for the past two days I have had the privilege and the honour of being here in Tioga County, New York. I have said it before and will say once again, if a person could fall in love with a village then Peggy Miller has fallen in love with Owego.

Getting here all the way from my home on 14th Street in Hutchinson, Kansas has been quite an adventure.  We left after school on Friday and headed to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and spent the night there with my oldest son Ricky and his girlfriend Angie.  In the very early morning hours, around 3 a.m., we headed for the airport in Tulsa to board our flight to Detroit.  No problems and actually pretty smooth flying.  Then, well THEN there was Detroit, Michigan and the place where things all changed very suddenly and NOT for the good by the way.  If ribs could talk, then mine would tell you and just a "heads up" here, they would not tell you with a "smiley face".  I honestly don't know exactly how it happened but I do remember my carry-on baggage wheel getting caught in the escalator's step.  The next thing I knew, about a 1/3 of the way down, I lost my balance and footing and down I went head-first.  I tried my best to protect "old lefty" and in the process rolled over to my right side as I fell.  Found out the hard way that the bones on the right side of my body are just as easy to break as the bones on the left.  By the time I sat down in the plane ten minutes later, I knew I was in big trouble.

The doctor advised me this morning that my original intentions of leaving this week early to go to New York City would probably not work out all that great for me.  Between the walking, being jostled in the crowds, and climbing of stairs I'd be more miserable than not.  Although it is a very bitter pill to swallow, I know that good sense would tell me it is better to sit this one out.  I'm sending my daughter Ursela on ahead to New York City on Tuesday morning. Her cousin Jessica will meet her there and take good care of her for the week ahead.  I have a plane ticket to return back to Kansas on Tuesday as well.  Not exactly the "end" that I had in mind to this journey but I do know this~I am positive that it was a part of my life's "plan".  I may not understand it or even like it but I know that it's for the best.  It makes me happy that at least my Ursela will get to see New York City and that she will tell me all about it when she comes home next weekend.

On the way back from Johnson City this morning I was feeling about as depressed as could be.  As is always the case when I feel like this, I always have some of my very best conversations with God.  For a change, I wasn't "bartering" with him~like asking Him to make everything better so I could go to New York City this week.  I wasn't asking Him "why me Lord?" or "what did I do to deserve this?"  Instead, I was just asking for help to get home to Kansas safe and sound and while I was at it, with tears in my eyes I just asked Him to send me some kind of sign that everything would be ok, that everything would work out.  So deep in thought was I that I missed the turn into the village and had to go an extra mile or two out of the way to find a spot to turn around in.  Turns out that it wasn't an accident that I didn't make a right turn when I should because His "sign" was literally THAT~a sign that I saw that meant all the world to me on this dismal and cloudy March day.  It was this sign that made me have hope once again~

Even with everything "bad" that has seemingly gone wrong in the last 48 hours, I know that I am still one very blessed woman.  Broken ribs, sooner or later, will find a way to heal and when I grow old I can tell the story to all of my grandchildren about the time their grandmother fell all the way down an escalator trying to catch a plane on time.  Between that story and my infamous curb jumping incident, I should be set for "adventure times with Grandma" for years to come.  Life has been so very good to me and as I look forward to the future I do so with a grateful heart.  Someone very special in my life is waiting for me to join him in Montrose, Colorado come this summer time.  And the blessings just keep on pouring down on me.  Heading to bed soon and trying to get a little bit of rest.  In the very least of things I give thanks.  I have appreciated your words of encouragement and hope today.  I will be always beholden to you all for your love and kindness.

Good night to you from Owego, New York.  This has been Sunday, March 24th of 2013-a wonderfully great day to have been alive in and please don't forget it.  

To the good people of the village of Owego, NY.....I thank you for your kindness to me.  It has been such a pleasure to visit this beautiful place once again.  If I could have ever been born in a place other than Kansas, I would surely choose for it to have been here.  

"The power of the human touch, revisited"

"Hello" everyone at the end of a long day here, this 21st day of March in 2013.  Made it home from school just in time to finish up a lot of last minute details before I leave for New York after school tomorrow.  I sure hope that  I have everything done and probably won't know until I get started on the journey  if that indeed was the case.  And although I hadn't planned to blog, promising that two nights' ago post was it until Owego on Saturday, I changed my mind.  Something happened at school this morning, right off the "get go" that made my day go a little easier.  And tonight as I sit here I'm still thinking about it and with a grateful "teacher's" heart I am remembering.

I'm a Title 1 Reading/Math Support teacher here at our school, Lincoln Elementary.  All day long I see small groups of students for 30 minutes each.  They switch out with one another just like the wind changes directions while I'm riding my bike here in Kansas.  One minute, it's a first grade group of readers and the next it could be a third grade group of math students.  My very first group of every morning is a wonderful group of 3 second graders, two little boys and one little girl.  They've been with me since the beginning of the year and we have become friends with one another.  I've loved watching them grow and change, realizing their struggle with reading and trying to understand, to figure out the best way in which I can help them.  It hasn't always been easy but it has ALWAYS been worth it.

Well, anyways this morning was kind of stressful for me.  I've had way too much on my mind, on my "plate" lately and I've found that my usual 5 hours worth of sleep isn't quite cutting it these days.  Even trying to take life just "one day at a time" hadn't been working out so well for the past week or so and this morning, well this morning I guess it had just all caught up with me.  We were at the final 10 minutes or so of the second grade reading rotation group and I let the kids use the last moment or two to choose a story that they wanted to read for a change.  And then, "out of the blue", it happened.

The littlest one of the three, my dear friend Jasmine, got up out of her chair and reached for me, giving me the biggest hug I have ever had.  And mind you, as a teacher, one of my greatest perks is the daily dose of "hugs" that I receive from students on a pretty regular basis.  But this morning, that little blonde-haired and blue-eyed child gave me the kind of hug that you never want to let go of.  I wrapped my old "teacher arms" around her as well and I told her "thank you because I sure did need that Jasmine."  And she said the most unusual thing back to me with the most sincere and innocent voice that an 8-year old could have.  Her words, "Mrs. Miller you looked like you needed one of them today" really haunted me.  How could she have known how stressed out I already felt at such an early hour of the day?  I hadn't said a thing out of the ordinary to them~could she read it in my eyes?  Did her little heart hurt for mine?

As they left, I realized that little Jasmine had just exhibited the "power of the human touch" and by her kindness in giving me that extra special hug this morning, she was sending me a special yet silent message and the message was this~"You are my teacher and I can tell you are having a hard day.  I cannot help you very much for I am just a little kid. But I can hug you to let you know that I am here and that I know some days are hard for even teachers."  All those CEO's from the billion dollar companies can talk about their "bonus checks" all they want~a teacher's bonuses are worth way more than theirs will EVER be.  Maybe not in cold, hard cash but surely in very precious memories.

Things are just about ready for me to go to New York~when school is over tomorrow afternoon late, Grahame will take Ursela and I to Tulsa where we'll catch the plane to Binghamton in the early morning hours.  We'll be spending the night with my oldest son, Ricky in the Tulsa area and it will be the first time that we've all been together for nearly a year.  We won't have much time together, but what time we do have will be spent catching up on the latest news for all of us.  What a blessing to have been chosen to be their mother~I draw my strength from each of those 3 kids.

It will be strange to leave Kansas and travel to a place so very far away.  I am looking forward to seeing the wonderful village and people of Owego and meeting new friends that I've only had the privilege to become acquainted with on Facebook.  To meet them in person will be pretty fantastic. 3 days in a village and 3 days in the "city"~this farm girl from Kansas will be in for one eye-opening experience.  I'm grateful for the chance to spend this time together with my daughter and my dear niece Jessica in Brooklyn.  I'll be safe and not get lost, I promise.  For all of the "bad" in this world, there is twice as much "good" just waiting for us to find it and find it, I must.  It's part of my journey, it's part of "the plan".

Have a great evening everyone!  Take care of yourselves and please, be at peace with yourself and at peace with life.  I have found mine.  I love you guys all~cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like to not have you around.  You are that important to me, ALL OF YOU!

The very best reason that I could ever have to come home "safe and sound" from New York~the future!  I am more than ready to be there.  I have been blessed, beyond my wildest of dreams.

One last post before I go~

Hello everyone on this Tuesday the 19th of March, just a day or so before the official first full day of spring and 3 days before the next winter storm come, this weekend.  Weather~you gotta love it, I guess!  Here in Kansas, we just pretty much accept it that you won't know for sure when winter's last breath has been taken until about mid-April and even THEN, you can't be sure some years.  Yet, in the least of things we remember to give thanks from the people of a land of drought.  Snow is moisture and also a wonderful "blanket", a protector of plant life that is just beginning to emerge from its winter's sleep. The plain and simple truth is this~"we need it!"

I have a "plate full" of stuff to accomplish tonight and very little time to do it in.  In just a couple of days it's off to New York to visit places that I more than likely will never go to again in this life.  Yet, it is so important to me to at least see them this time.  I've got so much to finish up with packing and laundry that I had really thought I wouldn't post a blog entry until I arrived in Owego on this coming Saturday.  But I got an email yesterday that kind of changed those plans and I'd love to tell you about it.

The email was an "invite" to attend the "Celebration of Heroes Event" in Wichita on the 13th of April and to be one of the featured speakers there.  This celebration, this special occasion honours all of the people who have been a donor of their organs, tissue and/or corneas upon their death. Their "survivors", their family members will be the special guests in attendance that afternoon. It is sponsored by the Midwest Transplant Network and will be held at Christ Lutheran Church that afternoon.  Because I received a donor's bone tissue in order to repair "old lefty" after my accident in 2011, I was asked to tell my story as one of speakers that day.  I vowed, so long ago now, that I would tell the story of "Eleanore" whenever, wherever and however I was asked to do so for the remaining days of my life.  And I so intend to do.  

I'm not sure yet what I will tell them and the truth be told, I may not know until I stand before them.  When I have said before that my accident forever changed my life for the "good", I wasn't kidding.  I mean it~I am changed now and will  never dare to be the person that I was once before getting hurt so badly.  From the moment that tissue was implanted into my very messed up wrist and arm, there was never any thought of "looking back".  I don't know how to explain it to you other than to say, I would have never understood the importance of organ donation had I not been the recipient myself.  Even though I had already listed myself as a "donor" on my license, I still understood virtually none of the impact it could have upon someone. But to actually be a witness to it first hand, to know that a piece of another person is now a part of you is the most humbling experience a person can ever go through.  

I remember when I woke up from surgery back in the recovery room that the first thing they handed me was a letter inside of an envelope from the Transplant Foundation, back in Connecticut.  A long string of numbers on a bar code was the only identifier of the person who died and donated their body parts so people like me could have a better life.  I hadn't expected the recovery room nurse to tell me what she did, that I had received a donor's bone material in surgery and that if I wanted to, I could write the family members and say thank you to them.  In my sorrow and in my gratitude, tears just started running down my face and I remember being a little embarrassed that I had not been able to "keep it together" after hearing the news.  The nurse just gave me a nice smile, said not to worry, that it happens all the time when people receive news like that.  I can remember taking my right hand and rubbing it over the cast on "old lefty" in the spot where I thought the bone might have been implanted.  It was as if I was giving whoever that was who was now living in me, a huge hug from the bottom of my heart.  

My dear friends, I do not know how you feel about organ donation, perhaps as I do or maybe not.  I have said many times before that it is such a personal decision and I would have the utmost of respect for you if you did donate your organs and I would have the same ultimate respect for you if you chose not to.  It has to be a decision that you make for yourself.  If you are still unsure of whether or not is a right move for you, then I would encourage you to read as much as you can about it and the process that is involved.  If you do wish to make donations of your organs, make sure that someone knows about it.  Let your family and friends know of your plans.  The sad truth is that today the waiting list is much longer than the availability of viable organs ever will be.  And as in my case, a wonderful unknown 45-year old man from Missouri had to die accidentally yet in his death, so many people, including me, were saved!  I will always be beholden to that man.  I carry his "life" inside of my arm now and I will never forget that, as long as I continue to live.  

Well, it's time to get off the computer for the night.  So much to do and I'm "trading daylight for dark" once more.  This will be my last blog post until I arrive in Owego, New York this weekend.  Excited to be able to "look for America" and pray to be able to not get lost while doing so.  Have a great Tuesday evening, one and all.  You guys, I gotta say~you are all the best friends that I think I could ever asked for.  I love you all and thanks for listening and caring about what happens to me in this life.  For you, from me, the same.

The flowers I left for "Eleanore" on my way to Maine last summer~at the State of Missouri rest stop just east of Kansas City, Missouri.  Because I  never learned of my donor's name, I decided since it was Memorial Day weekend that I would just leave his flowers next to this beautiful tree that morning.  I felt at peace in knowing all that God intended me to know of my donor's real identity.  It was surely enough.

I always loved this photo-the day that Grahame drug my bike up from its original "banishment" to the basement after the accident.  My arm was in the second cast at the time.  I would still be months away from riding it again but it just felt nice to stand by it once more. It was not "vehicle" error that caused the problem, I think they call it "operator" error or something :)

~Upon having nothing to be afraid of any longer~

Greetings everyone in the late evening hours of what has been a pretty nice day here in south central Kansas.  Even though it is nigh onto 8 o'clock soon, the sun is just now setting in the western sky.  I quickly got in a 4 mile bike ride before I called it a "day" and even though I needed to go further, I'm happy that I could at least do that much.  My "toe stubbing incident" of this past weekend has proven a little more painful than I realized at first and I'm just trying to baby my right foot along so I'll be able to walk all over New York in a few days.  Every day the last 3 toes get just a little more purple and putting on a shoe can be a real "treat" (not).  But I'm alive and well and thankful to God above to be able to get on my bike and ride.  No complaining from me!

And speaking of New York....well, this morning for a brief moment in time, I just about talked myself out of going.  Don't know what "hit" me but whatever it was, it was enough to get my wildest of imaginations going completely out of kelter.  The result was one of those mini "panic attacks", the kind like the one that I had last January when I was on the last 48 hours of wearing a long-armed cast on "old lefty".  That was the day that my arm itched like crazy and was so uncomfortable that I nearly took a hack saw and removed both the cast and the arm with it.  But given some time and reasoning I made it long enough to have the "real doctor" take the cast off of me two days later.  The same could be said of this morning's incident, given a bit of time to "reason" it out, my fears of travelling subsided.  But for a moment, those worries and anxious feelings were quite real to me.

You know how it is when sometimes you have so much time to think about something that after a while, you think too much?  If so, then you'll know what I am saying.  This morning in the span of about 15 minutes worth of time, I imagined EVERY horrible thing that could go wrong on this trip for me.  What if the plane crashed or the weather was so bad that the flights were cancelled?  What if I got lost driving the short distance from Binghamton to Owego on Saturday?  What if there were pickpockets or grouchy cab drivers, what if the subway was too hard to maneuver and we got lost and couldn't find my niece Jessica's apartment? Shoot, what if I fall asleep on the train coming back home and instead of getting off in Hutchinson, Kansas I end up waking in Los Angeles or something?  Holy cow friends~I was on the "what if" wagon for the better part of a half hour before I finally had the good sense to say "no more".   And it was there, at that point in time this morning as I sat in my car waiting to go into school for the day, that I asked God to just calm my fears.  And surprisingly not,  He did.

I haven't an idea on this earth what would have made me have second thoughts about the trip of a lifetime for myself and my 22-year old daughter, Ursela.  But friends, this much I do know~I have absolutely nothing to be afraid of.  For every bad thing that could happen to me along the way to New York and back to Kansas, a thousand "good things" are waiting for me also.  Sure, there's a chance I'll take a wrong turn somewhere along the way, but I've had a lot of practice doing that kind of stuff in this life of mine and I'm STILL here to tell the story.  There may well be taxi drivers that aren't so nice or people who are rude and inconsiderate of others.  But in the city of  New York, with a population of a million people, my best guesstimate is that for every stranger who is only out for himself, there are a thousand more who would give you the shirt off of their back if you needed it.  For every person every where on this earth who would wish to do harm to me, there is one person that would always come to my rescue and stand up for me on my behalf.  The "good" in this world not only trumps evil, it TROMPS it every single time.  And for that I rejoice and am glad in it.  

4 more days await until we leave and there's plenty to do before that happens.  Getting a crash course in "travelling 101" from Ursela.  We're journeying  a little on the "light" side and so every precious square inch of suitcase is going to have something occupying it.  Between one "seasoned" traveler (that'd be Ursela) and one "greenhorn" traveller (that'd be me) I'm betting that we will make it there and back, living to tell the story of our adventures for years to come.  Once our plane lifts off in Tulsa, we won't be back to the mid west for 9 days.  There is much to do and see and we aim to do a whole bunch of it while we are there.  As of this night, Peggy Miller is way more determined to get on that plane and GO than I would ever be afraid enough to want to stay here~And THAT thought, warms my heart.  

Good night friends and family~take care of yourselves and each other out there.  We're all in this together.

One of the very nicest things I have seen this week~my new windsock flag flying at Mike's house just outside of Montrose, Colorado.  It's a lighthouse one and I was happy to see that he had begun flying it.  As you can tell, the wind tends to blow pretty well in Colorado just as it does here  in Kansas.  I have a lot to look forward to as I enter the future and this is only the beginning.  :)

Only a few more weeks left to enjoy the company of great kids!  One of the last groups I worked with at Avenue A Elementary, posing for a photo as we said "good bye" to one another back in May of 2010.  The blessings are many, the troubles are really few!

~surely it was about time~

A good Saturday evening to all of you out there~hope that you are enjoying a great weekend and that things are going according to what you had planned.  And if they haven't, if some unforeseen "glitch" in the scheme of life has come your way, take heart.  So many of us are struggling with life's "bumps in the road" and rest assured, you aren't alone.  Just don't give up~whatever you do~because I've heard it gets better.  Count on it as a matter of fact~it DOES get better!

It seems so strangely weird to be sitting here at home typing this blog post to you from the familiarity of my dining room table at home on East 14th Street and realizing at the same time that next Saturday's blog post will come from a place far, far away from here~Owego, New York.  (and apologies go out to all of the English majors out there reading that long and drawn out sentence, sorry about that!)   I can hardly believe how fast the time has flown  since the idea first came to me to move to the #1 position on the "Miller Bucket List" my journey to New York.  If memory serves me well enough, it seems like it was just around the holidays in November and December last year when the thought came to me that if I was EVER going to visit New York City that it was going to have to be pretty soon.  Now over 4 months later, it will soon happen.  Sometimes I can hardly believe that I am going, but going I AM.  

At age 57, I could have made the decision to go to places like New York City or Portland, Maine or even Montrose, Colorado on my own years ago.  There was nothing stopping me... Shoot, better clarify that one.  I guess you could say there WAS something stopping me and the something was ME.  I was a "home body" who hated the thought of spending more than one night or two at the most away from the comfort and safety of my own warm bed.  Heck the first night I spent away from home as a kid was in the 6th grade when  my good friend, Kathy Perriman, invited me to her house for the night.  It was fun and I'm glad I finally did it but thankfully Kathy just lived a few miles away from me in the country.  That kind of "sticking close to home" thinking has lasted me the greatest part of my life.  Although in my mind I have always felt "safer" because of it, I realize with a tinge of sadness that  I've passed up a huge bunch of opportunities to see things and go places that I would normally have never gone.  I regretted that a bit, in fact I regretted it enough that I decided to do something about it.  And that regret with how fast life was slipping by me and how much time I had already gone through and seemingly wasted, were both the impetus for the development of my bucket list, now more than 2 years past.

I'm a good one to "preach" about the importance of having a bucket list, of living your life to the fullest each and every day. Yet as time has gone on, I've suddenly come to the conclusion that being ready to put your life's "wishes and desires" on a numbered list to be done before you "kick the bucket", is really quite different for everyone.  A person has to be ready, REALLY ready before it means enough to you to actually do it.  As for me, I had to go through a lot of pain and suffering, through some "rocky times" along life's road.  I had to grow and change in a lot of ways before I was able to realize and see for myself just exactly what I wanted to accomplish in this life.  It was at that point in time, now two years ago in 2011, that I was ready to accept the fact that life was going by me rather quickly and if I wanted to be happy with myself and do the things that I had always been meant to do, that I needed to get a "move on".  And that's a FACT.  

You know friends, I often wonder what my bucket list would have looked like if I would have found myself in similar circumstances to the character in the movie "The Bucket List" named Carter Chambers.  What if it was I who was told by my doctor that I was down to 6 months to live, or even less?  How would I have reacted to it and what important things would have pushed their way to the number one spot on the list?  Would things I always thought had such major importance in my life be nearly as urgent as I once thought?  I'm glad that as of today, I don't have to consider those answers.  But it doesn't mean that I won't some time in the future.  How about you my dear friends?  My best guess is that we have ALL known someone, who at the final stages of life, had concerns about not accomplishing everything they had wanted to.  I'm just hoping that when our time comes, it will not happen to us and if it should, that we would have a clear vision about how we would like our days to be played out.  

Well, night time will soon be upon us and the door to this day, a busy one for me, will close soon.  It's been a pretty good day, all things considered.  The 4H kids were able to make nearly $300 this morning at their garage sale and with many hands working together, we were able to clean everything up in no time flat!  Although the temperature outdoors was about 30 to 40 degrees colder today than yesterday, it really wasn't all that bad for the 16th day of March.   And now the KU-K State game is playing and it's anyone's guess as to who the winner will be.  Those who regularly use the acronym "EMAW" know who they think is the best...those who chant "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" in the closing moments of every game are pretty sure of who THEY think will win.  Me?  Hey, I'm just proud of have been born and raised in Kansas~I've got something in common with Rex the T-Rex dinosaur from "Toy Story"~we both hate confrontations :)

Have a great evening everyone and take care of yourselves and one another.  Love you dear friends, ALL of you!

                      One of the most memorable Christmases I ever had~2012 
With two of the very first students I EVER had as a teacher...Amy and Michael and their wonderful mom, Jan.  I was able to enjoy a Christmas meal with them together and they gave me the gift shown above.  They knew that I had lots of record albums but no way to play them.  They took care of that!  I couldn't help but to cry at the thought of their kindness to me, not just that night but for all the years that they have now been my friends. Everyone needs friends like those 3 folks!  Love you guys.

A very good day to keep life in its proper prospective~

Oh dear friends, good morning to you all!  It's pretty early here at home, not even 5:00 in the a.m.  Save for me and old "Oblio the roundhead", the sane people on 14th Street are fast asleep.  I have been wide awake now for over an hour, some what because I just usually get up at this time but more so because of something that I have become "temporarily displaced" from~a front tooth.  

Last night, minding my own business and carrying on with the hustle and bustle of every day normal life, the crown on one of my front teeth (and thank the good Lord it wasn't one of the "front and center" kind of teeth) just decided to "give up the ghost".  That was it!  No warning, no slight wiggling for a day or a week.  It was gone and the only saving grace was that it happened at home while I was awake and as an aside here, thank goodness I wasn't eating something at the time or else that would have been a whole other blog post.  And so here I sit this morning, anxious about whether or not I can get into the dentist this morning to get it cemented back in and if I can get in, will they actually be able to do it?  It's gonna be a long wait until 7:30 this morning.  Dear friends, can a person ask for prayers to save a tooth?  If so, I'm asking, "unashamedly" asking in fact.  I hope something can be done for it and time will tell.

I have learned about the subject of vanity in the last 12 hours, and one of the main things I have learned is how vain I can be about some things.  Having a smile with all of my teeth in it is one of those things.  In fact, having the crown of that tooth pop off of where it should be pretty much set the stage for me having one very unproductive, depressing and not happy evening last night.  I kept thinking a thousand thoughts like "what will people think?", "how can I go to school tomorrow?", "what if they can not fix it again?" and on, and on, and perpetual "ON".  And if I told you right now that "all is well and I am not worried about it", then I would be the world's greatest story teller of all time because I AM worried. It's one thing to see a cute little 8-year old missing their first front tooth yet quite another to find an adult who is missing one.

When I started typing this blog post, I knew there was a lesson that I needed to learn from all of this.  I wasn't quite sure what it was but I knew I'd find out before it was over and done with.  Happy to say, "whack #2,000,000 upside the head from God" has just been delivered and the lesson is this~

Peggy Miller is one blessed woman, regardless of whether or not that crown is in place.  My health is good, not fighting any major and life-threatening disease in this life yet today many others are fighting for every breath they take.  I have a family that loves me pretty much as I am, with 3 children who have grown into productive adults in life.  And although I am sure there were plenty of times that I might not have been nominated for "Mother of the Year", Ursela, Ricky and Grahame made it any way :)  I am getting ready to retire from a career I have loved for over 35 years now and am fortunate enough to still say that "I am glad that I chose to give my life to the teaching of children."  And best of all, there is this wonderful man named Mike who is waiting for me to join him in Colorado for a new life together when school is out~and guess what?  He says that he didn't fall in love with me because that crown was in place.  Imagine that, can you?  So you see dear friends, if I only felt blessed because my "smile" was intact, well then the way that I have been doing the self-assessment of my own worth has been pretty dang shallow.  I'm surely worth more than one stupid crown on a tooth.  Sorry it took 12 hours to figure that one out but at least it didn't take a whole day.  

Well, I guess I better get a "move on" and get things ready for the day.  Come 7:30 a.m., I'm going to push the speed dial button on my cell phone and hope to be able to get into the dentist's office.  Trying to think positive that something can be done and if not, then there will be an available "plan B" in place to do instead.  Thanks friends, for accepting me and everyone else, just as we are.  Rest assured, that's the way I like to look at it as well.  You are worth everything to me and there's no amount of money in the whole wide world that would "buy or sell" our friendships with one another.  They are priceless and so are you!  Have a great Thursday, March 14th, 2013.  "Crown in place, crown out of place", it is STILL the greatest of days to be alive in.  Paraphrased from the "Good Book", get out and be glad that you have this day.  

Things worth remembering to "smile" about~

Good friends aplenty and these are just 4 of them~

That I really didn't die the year I had the worst case of the flu ever.  I only THOUGHT that I would!

For all of the many times that I was blessed to hear a little child's voice calling me "teacher".

To have grown up in the little town of Haven, Kansas~to have been and for that matter always will be a "farmer's daughter".  The kids in the "big city" don't know what they missed.

For 3 children who loved their grandmother so very much.

And last, but NEVER least.....

A future, because God saw fit that people don't have to be alone all of their lives and you know what?  Having just seen that photo, I feel better already. 

In the hours of early morning

Good morning dear friends from the quiet and "still asleep" neighbourhood that I live in here in south central Kansas.  The sun is yet a ways from coming up along the eastern skyline and if you were to look at the houses along my street you wouldn't see one light on anywhere but here.  I think that's a sign that perhaps either the rest of 14th Street's inhabitants sleep way too long or that I get up way too early.  Depends upon how you look at it I guess.  All I know is that when the alarm went off two hours ago I just plain got up and the day began.

Friends and family have asked me for many years now why it is that I get up at 4 a.m. each morning, rain or shine, 7 days a week, day "in" and day "out".  They (well not ALL of "they" but a big part of them) think I'm "crazy" and I'm not so sure that some days I wouldn't agree with them.  But for most of my life, that's been how I do it.  And although I know that it's not the best way, I usually can survive on about 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night.  I get by~

One thing I've gained by this hour or two of quiet solace before I start the day is that it seems to be a good time to be able to gather my thoughts about me.  I get to drink a couple of cups of coffee, listen to music (the ONLY music by the way~70's music),  have a good conversation with God and think about being the proverbial "plate spinner".  At this point in time of life, I've got a bunch of those plates spinning and although none of them have crashed to the ground yet, some are getting kind of close to it.  It has been troubling me for the past few weeks and evidently troubling me enough to write about this morning.

For those of you "little kids" out there reading this (anyone born from about 1962 onward), the "plate spinner guy" entertained folks on the Ed Sullivan show on TV many Sunday nights when I was a kid growing up.  He was great!  His variety act involved some pretty cool stuff but my most favourite part to watch was when he got about 20 plates spinning side by side as they rested atop flexible poles on stage.  I don't ever recall one plate dropping to the floor and crashing.  Oh, not that there weren't times that they ALMOST did, but that guy knew his stuff and he was about as talented as the 8-year old little girl that I "used to be" had ever seen. I didn't realize at the time that he was sending me a "subliminal" message that years later I would relate to my own adult life.  The "plate spinner guy" is long gone now but for all of the times I marvelled at his work, I do so thank him.

My life's kind of full right now, with lots of responsibilities that I've undertaken.  Some days, it gets a little overwhelming.  But I bet every single one of you reading this can say the very same thing.  We're all a lot alike in many respects.  Most of us cannot say "no" to things and helping others and the truth be told, we really do like to help out wherever we can.  In my own life, there have been so many times when people stepped up to "pick up the slack" for me when I could not do so for myself and for those folks, I've always been grateful.  To "pay it forward" in honour and remembrance of all the times it was done for me is a way that I can help.  There is not a one of you reading this that hasn't paid it forward as well and please, may I thank you for doing so?

One of the things I learned when "old lefty" was broken for those long 9 months was that it was "ok" to ask people for help.  It was a humbling experience to no longer even do the most simple things for myself.  Those requests for help came early on in the hospital when I had to ask for help even getting in and out of the bathroom.  It's not so much fun to have to ask for help in there and if you've ever been in that spot, you'll understand what I'm saying. By the time I got back to school, it was weeks before I could do even the most routine things.  But at my school, Lincoln Elementary, people help one another.  My friends there helped me tie my shoes, put on my necklace, button up my clothes, open up doors, carry stuff around for me, and even clip my fingernails.  And that's just the start~What a lesson for me to learn, that even I could not do it all alone and on my own.  It was a wonderful wake up call, a good "whack to the side of the head" for me to learn.  Asking for help was no longer a sign of being weak~instead, it was a sign of strength.  Stronger I became not only in body but in my mind and my spirit as well.  I told you then and I will continue to say now~The very best thing that could have ever happened to me was having that accident on that early August morning, now coming onto 2 years ago.  I changed for the better and before it was too late.

My plates are full, but hey so are yours.  Much lies ahead of me before I leave Kansas in late May to my new home in Colorado with Mike.  When I shared my concerns about having so much yet to do with one of my dear friends at school, they gave me the best advice~"Take life in chunks, bite off each day only what you can chew that day and for heaven's sake, ask for help in getting things done!"  So today, I'm gonna try to remember that, especially about the part of asking for help in getting things done and also remember to enjoy each day that comes before me.  I don't want to miss the blessings that are right in front of me because I am so worried and concerned about things that might not even happen to begin with.  I am such a SLOW learner you guys.  My life here in Kansas has been blessed, quite mightily I might add.  My life, my future in the beautiful place called Montrose, Colorado will be blessed as well.  I'm thankful that God saw fit to put one man and one woman in just the right place in time together.  We really were never that far apart to begin with~but to everything there is a season....leastwise, that's what the "Good Book" says.  

Wishing for you all a wonderful Tuesday on this earth.  Take care of yourselves and one another.  Thanks for reading this and you know what?  Even if no one had ever read it, I would still write it.  I feel better already :)  

At the "scene of the crime"~August of 2011~We spray painted an "x" to mark the spot so I wouldn't ever be foolish enough to try THAT trick again.  

Upon searching for America~

Greetings this 2nd to the LAST official Sunday in the season of winter~all the way from home here in south central Kansas.  The heavens have opened up above us, beginning in the early morning hours yesterday and we have received the very needed gift of moisture for now, in the form of rain.  The weatherman is making bets that later today it will turn into snow showers, though that remains to be seen.  No matter how much or how little we get, in the least of things Kansans should be giving thanks.  After last summer's dry spell, we are surely hurting.

On this, the 10th day of the month of March, I stand in awe of how quickly the time passes by each day.  Truly it wasn't that very long ago that we anticipated the first day of the month of December and with it, the arrival of the season that my good friend Patti calls "the dark".  It was also about that time that I came up with a new, #1 item for the "Miller Bucket List"~"to travel to New York City and visit my niece who lives there".  

Now, over 3 and a half months later, that day is fast approaching and I wonder all of a sudden, if I "really" know what I've gotten myself into.  I'm not a big fan of huge cities and since I'm a farmer's daughter from south central Kansas, my idea of a big city has always been Wichita. (Hey, I can hear the laughter, by the way.)   To go from a city like Hutchinson, Kansas (population around 45,000 give or take one or two families) to the largest city in the United States, New York City (population a gazillion or 8,000,000 which ever way you choose to look at it) is going to be a little unnerving to say the least.  And to get on a plane to fly there?  Just ask anyone who has known me since September 11th of 2001, and they'll tell you that Peggy Miller has always sworn she would never fly again.   I guess you could say that I have a couple of "issues" going on here.  But come March 23rd, just two weeks from yesterday, my anxiety and fears will need to be set aside, checked at the baggage section if you will.  I'm going to New York and the only way to get there is to climb on that plane and so do.  I will make it, probably.

I'm blessed to have a 22-year old daughter who was "born" to travel and because of that, I asked her if she would join me on this great adventure.  Ursela has made all of the arrangements~from the flight to Binghamton, New York to the train ride home to the Amtrak station here in Hutchinson, and every thing else in between.  All I have to do is just get myself on that plane in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the rest, well the "rest" will be just fine if only I allow it to be.

Our first 3 and a half days will not be spent in New York City, but rather in the beautiful little village of Owego, New York.  With a population of just under 4,000 people (according to the census of 2010) it will be a peaceful and serene place to relax in for a while.  Many people have asked me about Owego and what it was that "drew me" to it in the first place.  It's actually a long story but suffice it to say this~I fell in love with that little place in southern New York when I went there to visit it in May of 2012.  Spending a couple of days there while on the way to see my lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine was one of the highlights of my summer.  The time there was way too short and I vowed as I pulled out of Owego in the early morning darkness that before I died, I would come back and see more of that beautiful place.  I'm looking forward to meeting all of the wonderful students and staff at St. Patrick School~New York kids who have been pen pals with some of the kids at my school, Lincoln Elementary here in Hutch.  I'm bringing along a little of the Midwest with me, a "touch of Kansas" for them.  Finally, for the first time, I'll actually get to meet in person, my two Facebook friends from Owego, Kevin and Diana.  And I want my daughter Ursela to pay a visit with me to the most genuine and greatest smelling library EVER, the Coburn Free Library.  Ursela is a born "book worm" and I know that she will enjoy experiencing a visit to one of the greatest places in Owego~but then I am biased because I think the whole dang place is great.  

The last 3 and a half days for our New York journey are in the "Big Apple" and I cannot even imagine the adventures that are waiting for us there~There are many places to see and a ton of things to do.  Friends have been suggesting a variety of spots to visit and thus our list of "to do and to see" is pretty long.  For sure we are heading to the 9-11 Memorial, Museum of Modern Art, Times Square, Central Park, "The Top of the Rock", the Brooklyn Bridge and ESPN (where Jessica, my niece is a writer and producer).  Even though New York City is not a place where Peggy Miller would ever feel comfortable calling "home", I am so grateful for the opportunity to see my wonderful niece Jessica and if even for only 3 days, to experience what life is like for her there.  To actually be able to do all of this, I feel most blessed.

You know, as a 57-year old "grown up" woman, I have looked back with some regret over all of the chances that I've turned down in this life to go and see what the rest of the world is like.  I was born here in Kansas and for ever have lived here.  For the most part, my journeying away from home has been pretty limited.  I used to believe I was a "world traveller" because I had seen all of the Great Plains states from North Dakota to Texas.  It was only last year when I went to Maine, that I realized just how limited my life had been.  Driving through states like Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and finally Maine just gave me the "taste" of what seeing this great nation was really about.  And the weird thing was this~after all this time of NOT going places, I actually found out it was kinda fun!  

My dearest of friends, please don't wait until you are my age to decide that you want to see this magnificent nation that we live in.  All over the place, be it in Kansas, Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania or anywhere else in between~there are people, REALLY GOOD people who would be more than happy to share their part of the world with you.  I may have spent the first 5 decades of my life staying close to "home" but with whatever years remain for me, I fully intend to see as much of this country as I possibly can.  I finally figured out that I can't afford to waste any more time, that the time to go and see is NOW.  Whatever dreams and aspirations you hold for yourself and for your future, whether they are numbered on a "bucket list" or not, please follow them dear friends.  You won't regret it if you do~my own experience tells me that you WILL regret it if you don't.  Have a wonderful Sunday, the 10th of March, 2013.  When you lay your head on the pillow tonight, it will have been the greatest of days to be alive in!

The Coburn Free Library, Owego, New York~Man, I could have spent the entire day in there getting "lost" in books.  When I opened up the front door, I went back in time to the days of my childhood.  It emitted the scent, the smell of what a REAL library should smell like.  Books, glorious books!

The glass floors were so intriguing to me.  

So amazing how the kids who USED to sit at the "little kid's" table at Christmas grow up to be the very ones who guide their elderly parents along life's way.  The girl on the left, in the cool pink cap, is my Ursela.  Thank goodness the spirit of adventure was born in her too!  She learned it by watching her brothers and I learned it by watching all of them.

Have no worries, she will take good care of her Aunt Peggy.  See you soon Jessica!

Heading soon to life in a new place~a chance to finally push life's "reset" button.  Have no worries for me there, either.  All these years, I didn't realize what blessings were waiting for me, right next door to me.  With Mike at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison on my first visit to Montrose early this year.

~on the subject of "change"~

Happy Friday morning everyone on a late-winter's day in March.  So very hard to imagine that the year is flying by this quickly and perhaps you share the same sentiment as I do when I say that "the older we get, the faster it goes by!"  And if I'm doing the math right, seems like it will be only 12 more days until the calendar marks the first day of spring and with the wonderful arrival of the season that I love the  best, lots of changes always seem to make their appearance on this earth.  As for me, my life will be marked with one change after another in the near months ahead.  You can say a lot about that subject of "change"~it's inevitable, it's hard, it's unsettling.  Yet for me, I know that the change that I will be going through in the next few months is just a part of "the plan" and for once in my life rather than "fighting" change, I am opening my arms up wide to embrace it.  Kind of like taking a flying leap off of a high cliff but realizing that the fall really won't hurt you at all.  

Come the next Monday night school board meeting for USD 308~Hutchinson, the board will act to accept my resignation from my teaching assignment at Lincoln Elementary as a Title I Reading and Math teacher.  After 15 years, with 3 of those years "post-retirement", I have decided that the 2012-2013 school term will be my last one as an educator.  When I consider the 20-year teaching stint I had at Haven-USD 312 and do the "math", then I am proud of the fact that I have given well over 35 years of my life in service to the students of two wonderful school districts.  It seems so strange to realize that more than half of my 57-years of life have been devoted to being a teacher.  My desire has always been, from the very beginning, to leave teaching while I still enjoyed what I was doing each day.  I never wanted to be the "grouchy" old teacher who SHOULD have quit but instead hung around for a couple of extra years just to see if she could do it.  I have always wanted to go out at the "top" and  now seems as good a time to do so as any.  When the last day has come and the "final" bell for the day rings, then I know that I will have done as much as I could do in the field of public school education.  I will leave with absolutely no regrets and THAT, dear friends, is worth a lot to me.

By early July, I hope to return to a profession that I have done on a part-time and summer months basis since 2005~being a CNA in a long-term healthcare facility.  Partially of necessity, partially of having way too much time on my hands and mostly because my own mother had just entered long-term care here in Hutchinson, I took the CNA course that the local community college offers here.  I never did so with the intention of spending every available weekend and holiday that I had in this life to work in caring for the elderly.  I just wanted to know how I could best help to take care of my own mom.  Once again in this life, I found out via that wonderful "whack upside the head" that God had other ideas about that, yet a different plan for "Peggy".  Once I saw what was happening to me, I never looked back, a decision that I never regretted, not even once.

While working in two different facilities here in Hutchinson, I found out just how much I truly cared about taking care of the elderly.  Hey actually, come to think of it, my experiences in taking care of the aged taught me first-hand about the idea of the value of "the human touch".  I learned that the "human touch" wasn't only holding someone's hand or giving them a good hug in the morning or a kiss on the top of the forehead as they lay down to sleep at night (although those are very important).  I found out that act of "caring" could manifest itself in many other ways as well~making their beds very neatly, brushing their dentures after every meal, not JUST at bedtime, gently reminding them to use their walkers, combing their hair when the dastardly "bed head" would sometimes set in, or just plain listening to them as they told their stories.  

I would dare to say that, as in education a "4-year" college degree and student teaching experience only just BARELY prepares you for what lies ahead, much of my own learning in taking care of the elderly came AFTER I completed my CNA courses.  If you are willing to listen, the aged can be wonderful teachers of many of life's lessons.  And as in the classroom, each one that is to be cared for is very different.  The needs can be so varied and you always have to remember that you will continually be learning about the job.  Glad that when I was born, I automatically signed up to be a "learner for life".  You know friends, it kind of makes it easier.

It's a sobering but yet exciting kind of thought to realize that I am down to less than 3 months of being a teacher.  When school is out in late May, I'll be leaving here for a new life in Montrose, Colorado.  I'll come back for the Bike Across Kansas during the second week of June and by the time that is completed at the Kansas-Missouri border, then I'll return to Montrose to begin my "future" there.  Upon the advice of one of the dearest and truest friends that I have ever had, I am "not looking back".  

Well, the clock on the wall says it's time to get a move-on and get ready for school.  There's a couple of hundred kids that I know of who will be waiting soon to walk into the front doorways and settle in for yet another Friday of learning.  And since it's not "pajama day", I'd probably better think of getting dressed.  Wishing for you all a wonderful and blessed Friday.  I'm so thankful for you friends and I hope and pray that life turns out even better than you had hoped for.  My future is lying in wait for me~I am more determined to enter into than I would ever be afraid of the change.  This is Friday, the 8th day of March, 2013~a great day to be alive in; a great day to go forward in.

A group of students from our summer-time program.  So much fun to work with kids, ANY time of the year.

My dear, dear friend, the "late" Marion Barnett.  He became like a "second father" to me when I took care of him at a beautiful facility here in Reno County.  I "cried like a baby" the day he passed away.  There are those who would say that you should never get that close to those that you are caring for, but I never listened to that advice.  I will say to my own dying day that I hope when I get older someone will love me enough to take good care of me and cry for me when I am gone.

Looking forward to a wonderful future~filled with lots more experiences than I could have ever imagined.  I wonder sometimes as of late, how was it that I was to become so blessed?  Glad that I didn't give up on a lot of things in this life.  If I had done so, I would have never known the beautiful things and people (one in particular) that would lie ahead in wait for me