
I am really pleased
you have dropped by for a visit. If this is your first time here you will
find a complete listing of the many pages and sections if you go to the
site directory page. You will find a link to the directory further down
on this page. If this is a return visit you already know your way around
here and I thank you for returning once again. It means a great deal to
me that so many of you do drop by when you have free time and have continued
to do so through the years despite my propensity for speaking my mind perhaps
too frequently.
Unfortunately
I cannot promise that will change anytime in the foreseeable future. I
am quite set in my ways and stubborn to a fault as my late husband would
have attested. For those of you who haven't been here for a while or who
have wondered why there was very little new content this past year I must
tell you that my Les passed away the morning of February 25th 2010 after
a great many months of incredible suffering from lung cancer. He is finally
at peace and I am grateful for that. I quite simply haven't been up to
doing much writing or having much interest in anything other than getting
through another day. I miss him more than words can begin to express
but I am so thankful that he is now free of the pain he suffered with so
little complaint for so very long. Had I not known him as I did many times
I would not have known the intensity of that pain as he tried to protect
me from the knowledge of how severe that suffering actually
was. He failed of course. I always knew but allowed him to believe I was
not aware as he needed to believe that. That was my husband.
However, I
know Les would want me to keep my site alive as he knew how much pleasure
I derived from it through the years so it's time I tried to return
to some semblance of normalcy in my life. One can only mourn so long and
then it becomes maudlin rather than honouring the one you love. I
know Les is smiling knowing his very opinionated and mouthy wife is still
in residence. He never was one for wallowing in self pity and he certainly
wouldn't be pleased if I allowed myself to give in to feeling sorry
for myself. Life goes on and he has left me with a plethora of wonderful
memories which I shall cherish always.
The blessings? The
years we spent together. They were the happiest of times even though health
problems were a constant for almost ten years. How could they not be happy
times. Spending those years with the love of your life at your side as
we lived each day of our retirement knowing how blessed we were to have
one another as our life's journey was on the last lap was in itself food
for the soul. Finding one another again after over 40 years was truly the
greatest blessing of all. How often does one get a second chance to spend
their 'golden years' with their best friend and love of one's youth. How
could I not be thankful for that.
Time is a companion
that goes with us on a journey. As we grow older it reminds us to value
each moment, for it will never come again. Moments we all take far too
much for granted. Unfortunately we too often learn that only as time begins
to wind down. When we are young we rush time whenever we can, and
once we are adults and parents ourselves we find ourselves working to provide
for our families every comfort and luxury our incomes allow. What we too
often neglect is the quality time we should be spending with those we love
and who need us a great deal more than they need all those bells and whistles.
For those of you
for whom it's a first time visit, you'll find my site has no particular
theme and the topics can range from serious to frivolous with particular
emphasis on family and children. I am, as you will find as you browse through
the various pages, a very outspoken and concerned individual but
even when I go off on one of my political tirades it's motivated
by a very genuine concern for those who are going to have to live
with the results of the decisions and actions of those who are charged
with securing our futures and who have done a superb job of royally messing
things up in recent years.
Relax, I am not always
pontificating. Sometimes I even attempt to be amusing. My innate sense
of the ridiculous is quite well honed but then, at my age, thank goodness
it is. Otherwise I would have given up long ago and decided to grow old
gracefully in silence. As that is not the case it's only right I
give you fair warning I don't pull too many punches. I say what I
think. Isn't that one of the bonuses which accompanies the "Golden Years"?
In all honesty I do have to admit I've always been that way and it's way
too late for me to change now.
There are quite a
number of pages here but hopefully you will enjoy browsing. You certainly
may not always agree with me but I do hope and don't think you will be
bored. I truly hope your children will enjoy the Christmas Holiday
section and find it fun as there are a series of original
children's Christmas stories there which I have written through
the years. For many years my sweet little canary Petey figured prominently
in most of them until he passed away a few years ago. I come up with a
new one every year at Christmas time. And my little ShihTzu, Tuffy is now
filling Petey's shoes.
As I have already
said, I can be serious a lot of the time but do also have an inner child
always struggling to surface. I guess you can put that down to the fact
that I have never really wanted to grow up and lose my imagination. Check
out the Christmas directory in the Holiday section for a listing
of those stories. I think, and hope, you might get a chuckle out
of some of them. I did write a Halloween story a few years ago also
but it is for older children and tucked away on it's own in the Holiday
section.
My main interests
are children and family and are the reason I feel so strongly about
things and wax political at times. Quite a few times in recent years. I
do worry about our children's futures a great deal. The older I become,
the more I come to realize what a treasure and responsibility it
is when we are given children to nurture and love and I really only want
others younger than myself to not take time for granted as I, and so many
others did when we and our children were young. If I accomplish nothing
other than that they might take time to savour each moment more fully
after sharing my thoughts and reveries for just a few moments I will have
succeeded. I do sincerely believe that absolutely nothing is more important
... or more rewarding.
It isn't a requirement
you know that we all agree on every subject but being willing to
respect the opinions of others does lead to better communication, and that
we most assuredly must cultivate if our way of life is to survive.
I do attempt to avoid inflicting my political views on visitors to
my web site as often as I can restrain myself, however I will readily admit
that I am somewhat opinionated at times, particularly with regards to
the welfare of children everywhere and our very much cherished and precious
freedoms. Most times I do honestly make a sincere effort to try to temper
that trait with a degree of caution, as I certainly recognize that my visitors
may not agree with my point of view. However ... I make no apology for
the occasional slip .. be forewarned !
"Our lives
begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"
Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
An explanation of
why you will find so many pages on my site accompanied by the same MIDI's
may be in order. The vast majority of my pages are complemented by the
music created by my late husband who was a very talented musician. As his
MIDI's were always all created in real time and not with any MIDI
software program such as 'Band in a Box', which create the music
for many, he stopped actually creating new ones more than three years
ago. He was not physically able to play as he demanded of himself
in recent years as he was afflicted with Rheumatoid Arthritis and more
recently lung cancer and this led to his not being willing to create as
many new MIDI's as he had done historically. He did still play when he
was able up until last year when he simply was no longer able to
do what he loved so much.
His music will live
on here and with all those who knew Les and who also appreciated
his music and his very large web site MIDI Studio Consortium over so many
years. His site offered not only the music of many artists including
himself but also a very large section offering an extensive catalogue of
technical assistance to all and sundry when it came to music on the
web. As I am certainly not able to continue to offer that assistance as
I wouldn't know what I was talking about I have sadly taken Les'
site down. I was planning on leaving it up but knowing how meticulous
he was in maintaining his site I found that was not feasible as the
hackers and spammers made that impossible so I have taken the files off
line with more than a little regret.
I should perhaps
mention that I have removed my guest book as due to spam and some very
questionable entries it became a problem maintaining it regularly.
If anyone wishes to contact me either to exchange pleasantries or to tell
me off they may do so by email. You will find the email link on the Site
Directory page. Just remember to remove NOSPAM from the address or the
mail will not reach me.
And now I shall stop
rambling and give you a chance to explore my site. I do thank you so much
for taking the time to visit and hope you will do so often in the future.
I promise to try to do better with updates than I have this past year or
so in the months to come. Although there may be a lapse for a few
more months as I am in the midst of moving back to where I lived
for so many years before Les and I were married. Not being as young
as I would like that is a task which may well take all of my energy for
a while yet. Please do enjoy your visit and I promise to get busy
with new content as soon as I am able to do so. Who knows, I may even dare
to wax political again. If I upset anyone .. don't hesitate to make
use of my email to tell me off. One thing about getting old and opinionated
.. you learn to grow a thick skin. <g>
For
a complete listing of all pages and sections and instructions
for
navigating this site please just click below
This
MIDI "Because of You" was created as a very special gift for me
by
my late husband Les Gorven and is very precious to me.
It
was one of the very last he created
April
24th 2011
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