Oh my dear Global Family… what a week.. I know that I have said this before but I truly don’t really know where to begin.. How can I be EXHAUSTED when I am so truly exhilarated?

First, before I forget, we would be HONORED to sign any books for our global family. We will do most of those the week following Thanksgiving. We will try to vary the time frames so that some are in the afternoon and some during the evening. We will also be outside on the first floor of Locale (tomorrow) on Monday in St. Pete. If the weather isn’t conducive then look for us in the first floor cafe section next to the espresso bar. Time: 1:30PM-2:30PM. We will do a few more the week after Thanksgiving.

For those of you who follow our story from afar, simply message me. I will give you our mailing address. All we ask is that you send us a self-addressed return label and a check to cover the cost of postage. Also, please be sure to let us know if there is something special that you want us to include (someone’s name, etc.). We would be truly honored!

Yes, I’m sitting here flying through the sky in this gigantic metal tube, ears plugged into Christina Perri’s 1000 Years on my playlist and feeling beyond grateful!!

Your amazing support of THE SKY IS THE LIMIT book project has given my heart more jet fuel than even this amazing jet airliner could contain! And the reviews on Amazon! I am beyond humbled. THANK YOU!

I confess that I’m very excited for you all to hear the audio book version. There was something incredibly magical about finally putting my literal voice to the things that I had written. I had not done that before and there is definitely a different sort of energy and power when sharing these same words verbally.

I’m working on some special bonuses for those of you who have purchased the book and passed along their email. One of the goodies that I’ll be including is a playlist of the song (or songs) that I was listening to when I created these posts. Music is so powerful so this will be like having the soundtrack of the moment. I hope that it will add an even more special quality to these humble words.

The Prevention Magazine article! Faint! I confess that we learned that it was available in news stands from one of YOU — dear Patti Lathrop! Schuy and I made plans to make a special field trip to Barnes & Nobles to pick up a gingerbread spice latte (with soy) for Schuy and a skinny latte for me. We would treat ourselves to a piece of the Cheesecake Factory cheesecake in their cafe and scout out some copies of the magazine.

This special journey began with lunch on an outdoor terrace with our dear friend Pam! The sun shined down with the warm caressing type of warmth — gentle enough to feel like we were being kissed by the entire Universe. The doctor’s appointment that had been scheduled for that afternoon had been postponed so we had a few more moments of luxury than we had expected.

We pulled up to B&N and Schuy’s excitement was palpable. Mine too! A feature article in a magazine like Prevention! It was a giddy feeling. At the same time, it was also a feeling of gratitude — gratitude for being able to share the gift of joy and hope that has blessed our lives “even under the circumstances”. This lovely planet is a dazzling yet complex treasure. The gems can look like boulders and the things that do little to enhance our lives can at first glance look like gems. It is a magical, ever expanding treasure chest — this thing called Life!

I stepped out of my side of the car, popped the trunk and zipped around to get the transporter out of the trunk of the Green Hornet. It’s the lightest of possible wheel chairs but it’s still never graceful getting it out of the trunk — especially when my trunk isn’t the picture perfect vision of neatness. Wink!

I managed to disengage the wheels from the various Earth friendly shopping bags that always seem to want to come along for the ride and released the wheel chair onto the ground. I flipped up the back of the chair, locked it into place and pressed open the seat. I wheeled it over to Schuy’s door and opened the passenger door. The handicap spot was on a decline. Hmnnn… challenging, especially since the brakes seemed once again to be loosening which causes the wheels to slip. We would manage though. We always do. We quickly went over our strategy for safely standing up, pivoting, making sure that she held onto the arm of the chair before sitting and balancing to the best of her ability. I wrapped one arm around her waist firmly and gripped the top of the open door with the other hand. Tiny steps. Slight turn. Gripping fiercely to the car. Schuy focusing and clutching onto me tightly. More turn. Her hand found the arm of the chair. She lowered herself in. She was secure. Breathe! Whew! Seat belt went on. I released the chair brakes and we were off toward the front door.

Doors are an adventure. Very few turn out to be “adaptive lifestyle” friendly. Who knew? This particular door wasn’t that bad; however there were two. I have acquired gymnast/ contortionist skills when simultaneously dealing with a door and Schuy’s chair. At the end of a bunch of whirling, barging, using my foot, shoulders, whatever body part can get us through the door, we eventually emerge into our desired location. Often, we’re roaring with laughing at the vision of me orchestrating our grand entrance!

Another breath. We were inside, feeling the thrill of anticipation. I wheeled Schuy toward the magazine section of B&N. There was a gigantic wall of publications peering back at us. We could practically hear the little Prevention Magazine playing with us saying, “I’m here. Find me! Find me!” We grazed the categories. Sports… no… Travel… no… Women’s…probably not… but wait… there was a health magazine… it was almost a minute of scavenger hunting when suddenly, there it was! The Prevention Magazine! We both squealed!

I picked up one and handed it to Schuy. She began looking through the pages. I picked up another one and began leafing through it. The subscription card inserted into the middle of the booklet started slipping. I grabbed it, saw the page that it was marking — AND THERE IT WAS! The most beautiful shot of Schuyler and I marveling in front of the expansive aquarium wall in the Florida Aquarium! It was a gorgeous shot! Wow!! I had heard that Cedric and Justin were good, but what a beautiful shot that captured the majesty of this place that we love so deeply!

We both squealed again! I gave her the booklet with the open page. We turned to the next page and then the next…. wow! Four FULL pages of text plus the two pages of the Florida Aquarium photo! I couldn’t believe what we were looking at!

Coldplay in my ears right now. The plane has hit some pretty aggressive turbulence. Some of my fellow passengers seem nervous yet I’m breathing deeply, my body swaying with the bumps and the jolts. A bit tough to continue to type and yet, I feel safe in the arms of the Universe. Some roads are bumpy — even when our feet are firmly planted in mid-air. We’re flying through clouds as I hear the “Speed of Sound” lyrics croon through my earplugs.

Schuy and I loaded up with three copies of the magazine and headed over to the cafe to celebrate. I secured Schuy at a table looking out on the world outside. We pulled her prism glasses out of our bag, slid them onto her beautiful face and set her up with her Schuy is the Limit book while I went to make our purchases.

“Three copies of this magazine?” the young man inquired. I blushed and said that actually my daughter and i were in that issue. He stopped, looked at me then said a hearty, “Awesome! That’s pretty amazing!”

Yes, amazing. Life IS pretty amazing. In fact, the more I guide my desire toward living an “impactful” life, the more “amazing” it seems to become! We can live our common “ordinariness” and yet find a way to choreograph that “normalcy” into profound meaning. We get to choose. WE are creating the words on our page, the dances in this ballet…

I returned to Schuy bearing gifts of lattés, cheesecake and “the magazines”! We were like two little girls at a royal tea party. We had our drinks. We had treats. We both sat enthralled in the pages of this little book.

I finished reading slightly before Schuy and watched as she stared intently at the words on the pages. Reading is still laborious for her, but she tackles the challenge with a determined hunger to regain this beloved pastime. She finishes and looks up at me. “Awwwwwwwwwwww!” She says in her adorable tiny little warrior princess voice.

“I think that they did an amazing job. What did you think?” I said. “It was good!” She replied. I leaned toward her and whispered to Schuy, “Guess what?”

“What?”

“How many people right now in this store do you think are in one of these books or magazines right now…?”

She giggled and blushed. Yes, Amazing!

Time for landing… time to shut down my lovely Apple… Jasmine Thompson cries out “Titanium”…

Amazing… Life… Humanity… Love… Amazing!

xoxoxo

In Joy,

Meridith