Miss Riki

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Thankful Thursday!

ThankfulThursdays

It’s often the little things in life that make me the most happy and today I am thankful for the moments in my life that become treasured memories for my future. At this time in my life I am back home living with my dad. It was a difficult decision to move back home so that I could fully concentrate on my last semesters at school and it has at times been challenging. This week I was reminded that even through some of the frustration I am thankful for the time I have with my dad and the memories we are making.

One of our favorite pastimes is watching sports on television and right now we are in the thick of college basketball season, slowly creeping up on March Madness. My dad is retired and has time to follow a lot of the teams and is always eager to share the latest buzzer-beater win or crazy on-the-court play with me when I get home from school. It makes me smile when he gets so excited over the triumphs of these teams.

Daddy Yesterday evening was one of those great moments in our house. We were watching #11 ranked Louisville play against #25 ranked Notre Dame when the game got crazy. Notre dame was playing absolutely out of their minds and the game stretched into an amazing five overtimes. Dad and I stayed up late to watch the drama unfold and enjoyed the longest game in Big Ten Conference history.

Even though neither team is our favorite and there are no real stakes for us in who wins, it was a moment of unity and enjoyment that reminded me how lucky I am to have a close relationship with my father and how blessed I am to be able to spend time with him. On this Thankful Thursday I am thankful for my dad.

Thankful Thursday!

It’s Thankful Thursday! Here a just a few things I am grateful for this week…

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

It’s that time of year when houses all along our block are starting to sparkle with the twinkling of Christmas lights, and I love the sight! Our house is aglow with multi-colored lights every evening an I love coming home to the lights. Last weekend I spent a Saturday helping my mom decorate our Christmas tree with lights and ornaments as well. This week I am thankful for the sparkling lights that remind me it’s the holiday season, even though it’s still 80 degrees outside.

FAMILY TIME

The holidays are always a time for family, but it seems like I’ve gotten December off to an even more family oriented start than usual and I’m happy about it. Last weekend I was blessed with an impromptu family dinner, a day of decorating the Christmas tree, a concert, and an evening wandering the Desert Botanical Gardens looking at the beautiful luminarias, all accompanied by my family. This week I am thankful that I have my family close by so that I may enjoy their company frequently.

CHRISTMAS/HOLIDAY MUSIC

I am happy as can be that there are various radio stations that have holiday music playing 24/7. I don’t believe in starting the Christmas music too soon, but once Thanksgiving has passed, I am more than happy to have it playing. As a musician I am lucky to be able to perform holiday music, and I love going to rehearsals in which we practice those holiday tunes. There’s nothing quite like a good arrangement of Sleigh Ride or Carol of the Bells to make me smile.

MY NEVER ENDING TO-BE-READ LIST

The phrase “I was born with a reading list I will never finish” fits me perfectly. I have a huge list of books that I would love to read that seems to grow every day. It seems like I am always reading a book review or getting a recommendation from a friend that causes the list to grow. I love finishing a good book and heading over to my To-Be-Read List to peruse the options. I am close to completing a novel right now, so this week I am thankful there are so many wonderful authors out there creating such intriguing content!

Please leave a comment and let me know what you are thankful for this week!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving-Thankful Thursday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

On this holiday I am simply thankful for my loving family and wonderful friends. I am blessed to be able to spend this holiday with both and am looking forward to a beautiful, bountiful meal around a table filled with those I love.

I wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving and a peaceful beginning to this holiday season.

Best wishes,

Miss Riki

Thanksgiving Traditions, Old and New

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and it has gotten me thinking a bit about traditions and how they are formed and kept. The Thanksgiving holiday has always been a time of family for me, although as I have gotten older the traditions have changed a little. We usually try to spend the day enjoying the time off with family, and a large meal of home cooked foods is usually involved. Aside from a couple of years that I spent Thanksgiving beachside in Mexico with my dad, this is how it has always been. I find the simplicity of it comforting and look forward to it every year.

In the past couple years the family dinner has expanded to include close friends, and I love the feeling of camaraderie that ensues. I’ve always considered my friends to be close like kin and it seems to be a natural extension to have them seated at our dinner table. Besides the obvious joy of having their company making new memories, it is a blessing to share old holiday recollections with them. Somehow stories of Thanksgiving antics past always seem to come up and it makes me happy to know that years from now when I share these holiday memories they will now be a part of the story.

As for the food we serve, we typically don’t stray from the traditional basics. This year we will have a turkey and a ham, as well as the age-old traditional green bean casserole made from canned green beans and Campbell’s mushroom soup. (My mom is more than a bit chagrined that she has been asked to provide the casserole this year. She enjoys creative cooking and finds the recipe too simple. I, however, cannot wait to see it steaming on the tabletop!) We usually have a creative side dish or two as well to spice things up. We inevitably have way too much food, even for our large group and I’m thankful that folks have started wising up to bringing their own to-go dishes to take home some of the leftovers.

The best part of any holiday meal is obviously the dessert, and this year I will assist my dad in making three types of pies; pumpkin, apple, and pecan. One of my favorite things to do is bake and it makes me happy to be making my dad’s recipes and creating beautiful sweets to end our meal. My grandfather’s signature phrase always comes to mind as I prepare them. “Life is uncertain; eat dessert first,” he always says.

This holiday season I look forward to making new memories and enjoying the company of my lovely family and friends, and I wish you the same!

Letter to Someone I Don’t Talk To as Often as I’d Like (Day Ten)

Coinciding with the July 2012 Ultimate Blog Challenge, I have decided to also participate in the 30 Day Letter Challenge in which I will write 30 letters to various folks who have touched my life directly as well as inadvertently. The letter for Day Ten is to be written to someone I don’t talk to as often as I’d like to. Today’s letter is dedicated to my cousins.

To my dear cousins “K,” “A,” “L,” and “T”:

Coming from a family in which our fathers were each one of eleven children, we have many cousins. I am thankful to have you four as my closest. You are two pair of siblings, sons and daughters of my daddy’s brothers, and all dear to my heart.  After losing Kevin I learned to more fully appreciate my family relationships and am grateful to have you in my life. This letter is to tell you how much you mean to me.

K: It was one of my most cherished moments in life to see you walk down the aisle as a radiant bride during your recent wedding, and I was honored to read for you and celebrate your love with such an amazing man. It is the highlight of my year when we make it out to see you or you make the trek down here for a party. Every time I see you I am struck by how beautiful you have grown up to be. I am proud to have such a lovely, intelligent woman as my cousin. Someday you will have to teach me how to look absolutely stunning in every single photograph like you do. There’s magic there, and I want to master it!  

A: I have one question for you. When did you grow up and become a daddy? It doesn’t seem like enough time has passed since the photos of you sitting on my lap on the beach in Mexico as a young boy were taken. The scene where you danced around, all blonde and adorable, singing “Blue Suede Shoes” for anyone who would listen is forever burned in my mind. Now all of a sudden you have beautiful wife and adorable baby boy by your side. You probably don’t remember this, but on the day we went out to spread Kevin’s ashes you were the one to walk with me and say my final goodbye. I am forever grateful for that support. I am so proud of you for following your heart when it comes to your life direction and for being such an amazing man. 

L: Thanks to Facebook I am able to keep tabs on your daily life better than ever. It’s a good thing, because I cannot stand that you live so far away! You are an amazing woman with a strong faith and a vast love and I admire your fortitude. With two young boys at home and a military husband’s career you must be pulled in a million directions every day, but I could never guess. You have this amazing ability to lean on your faith to get you through. I love seeing updates about you and your wonderful little family and love vicariously through your adventures. Someday when I have a family of my own I have you to look to as a guide for how to do it right. 

T: You and I are the closest in age of all the cousins, but probably the most removed. I don’t get the opportunity to see you as often or to hear about your life. When I am lucky enough to run into you and your precious daughter at a family gathering, I am thrilled to see your easy grin. You’re a wonderful role model for your daughter as a hardworking and honest man. I cannot wait to meet the woman who someday sweeps you off your feet and compliments you in every way. 

 

To all of you I wish happiness and love. I hope that you never forget how special you are and how lucky you are o have each other. I’m looking forward to the next family gathering when I can see your smiling faces and hear all of your news.

All my love,

Riki

Letter to My Favorite Internet Friends (Day Eight)

Coinciding with the July 2012 Ultimate Blog Challenge, I have decided to also participate in the 30 Day Letter Challenge in which I will write 30 letters to various folks who have touched my life directly as well as inadvertently. The letter for Day Eight is to be written to my favorite Internet friend. Since the majority of my Internet friendships revolve around Facebook and Twitter, I will be writing to those folks today.

Dear Internet Friends,

As a whole you make up my social media world, and I am grateful for what each of you brings to my life. It is thanks to you that I feel connected to places and people I might otherwise not be associated with, and because of that my world is so much bigger.

TO MY HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS

Thank God for Facebook, or I might not have the opportunity to see your beautiful children, share in your daily joys, or comfort you in your gloomier moments. Time and distance make it difficult to be in your lives directly, but thanks to the Internet I feel like you are each with me every day. Even more wonderful are the high school friends that were merely acquaintances before, but now have become an integral part of my everyday life. How else besides Facebook would I ever have known how we have grown up to have the same passions and interests? I am grateful that you also allow me to be a part of your own lives by reading and commenting on my posts and writing on my wall. Every one of you makes me smile for a different reason.

TO MY SORORITY SISTERS

My time at Alpha Delta Pi in college was unfortunately cut short by unfortunate life circumstances, but in my two years there I was blessed to know some of the most wonderful women I have ever met. Some of them were friends from high school who found the same love and camaraderie, and others were strangers who became lifelong sisters. It is once again thanks to Facebook that I was able to reconnect and share in your lives. To each of you I say, thank you…and PATA!

TO MY BLOG FOLLOWERS

Thanks to the Internet I have had the joy of doing one of the things I love the most and sharing it with like-minded individuals. Writing brings me enjoyment, and sharing it with others multiplies that happiness. I have met wonderful, talented people who also write their own blogs and I seek inspiration from their words as well. Thank you to all of the people who follow my blog and share your comments with me.

TO MY FELLOW SPORTS FANS

Ah, yes…Twitter. Twitter is that wonderful world of 140-character gems that allow us to share our insights with complete strangers. I admit that about 80% of my Twitter feed is occupied by sports-related folks, and I love following athletics in such an interactive way. Through the Internet I am immediately connected directly to not only passionate fans like myself, but also the players, coaches, and executives who make up my favorite teams. It is an immense pleasure to experience games in the context of Twitter. 

TO MY FAMILY

I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention my wonderful family. With all of my loved ones living scattered across the world or constantly traveling, the Internet makes it possible for me to remain in touch with them. I love reading status updates about their adventures and it makes the time until we see each other again bearable.

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So, to my wonderful Internet friends, I thank you for being a part of my life. I think a better way of describing you all is as my Internet Family. Take care, be well, and keep posting!

Virtually yours,

Riki

Letter to My Brother (Day Four)

Coinciding with the July 2012 Ultimate Blog Challenge, I have decided to also participate in the 30 Day Letter Challenge in which I will write 30 letters to various folks who have touched my life directly as well as inadvertently. The letter for Day Four is to be written to my sibling. Today’s letter is to my brother Kevin. We lost him to suicide on October 24, 1998.

To my “big” little brother Kevin,

There are no words to describe how angry I was with you. How could you possibly have found a reason to leave this life and all of us who love you so much? How could you not have come to me with whatever was hurting you so badly?

It has now been 13 years and eight months since you died, and my anger has worn itself out. These days when I think about you my feelings are more mixed up. I am comforted thinking of our happy memories and so regretful over the happy memories we will not make. There was so much we didn’t say and do and no way to say or do them now.

I wish you were here to share all the news with me. Did you know that our cousin Kerrie got married last month? She married Brad; you probably remember him from trips to Mexico with the family. She looked so beautiful and the photographers got some great photos of the Cleveland family. There was a big gaping hole where you should have been. Did you know that Dad got his ears pierced? Crazy, I know! You know how he’d wanted to do that forever. Did you know that mom got her PhD? All those years of having us playing in the back of her college lecture halls led to her success. You would have been so proud to see her get that diploma.

I miss you now most in the little ways. When I go shopping I want you and your honest opinion in the dressing room with me. You would have been able to help mom when she picked out my dress for Kerrie’s wedding, but I think you would have approved of what we got. When dad and I are out to dinner at the brewery I want you and your laugh there too. We’ve tried a hundred different microbrews that you would have loved. I wonder who your favorite baseball team would have been, although I suspect it would be the Diamondbacks since you’re an Arizona boy. Most of all I miss you when we are in Rocky Point. Those are some of my favorite memories of you and I know how much you loved it there. It breaks my heart to know that you will never sit on that beach with a Corona again.  It’s such a shame.

If I stop being selfish and think of the bright side of things, I know that you don’t hurt anymore. This world can be so tough to manage and there are so many things that have the ability to bring you down. God knows I’ve been there. I know that you don’t fight any more internal battles or feel alone. I know that your bright eyes and beautiful smile live on. I don’t know if there’s a heaven or if I will ever see you again, but I do have hopes.

Losing you to suicide was the hardest thing I have ever experienced, but I am trying to make the best of what has happened. I am serving on the board of the Arizona chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and have walked two half-marathons to raise money for the EMPACT Survivors of Suicide group that helped support us in those early days after we lost you. It is my wish that nobody ever feel the pain of losing a loved one to suicide.

I miss you every day, and some days are much harder than others. Now that so many years have passed there are fewer people in my life who had the pleasure of knowing you. When I meet new people and they become an important part of my life I tell them about you and how wonderfully kind you were. Those friends who knew you still send our family notes and good wishes on your birthday. (Just so you know, I always have Chinese food on your birthday and order you an extra fortune cookie. I even add “in bed” to the fortune, although yours always come out so much funnier than mine do).

I wish for you nothing but peace, and I wish for me nothing more than to have you by my side. Since you cannot physically be here, I am counting on the fact that you are still with me in spirit.

I love you very, very much.

Your sister,

Riki