I Could Not Have Asked For A Better Phone Call....

My mother phoned me last week to tell me to put the TV on and watch the Florida/South Carolina football game.
"Honey " she said, "this is gonna be a great game...Steve Spurrier who coaches for SC used to coach for UF and that Tim Tebow. These are two great teams playing and I have to go to church. So you kids watch it, I will call you when I get home and let me know how the game was.... Also the other game I just saw was...." and she went on and on about college football.

When I hung the phone up and I put the game on I sat there and my nose started to get stuffy and my eyes began to fill up. A tear had not yet fallen. Dan came in and said..."what game?"
I told him about mom's phone call and he too stopped in his tracks. "You mean mom called to tell you about this game and all the stats on the players and coaches and more?"
I nodded.
Dan's face lit up...
"Do you know what this means honey?" I said to him.
Dan bit his lip....and nodded back at me...
"She's watching college football again." I said fighting a tear back.

You have no idea what this means and my mother's road back to the college football circut.
When Dad passed away last Sept. there was no talk of football and a sound of a game in her house for months. Not until my uncle Jake came to stay with her in January. When he was there in her home he watched football and mom only felt comfortable watching it with him. She needed him around to sit and watch the game with her... She did cheer for the Steelers in the Super Bowl at our Super Bowl party last year. (dad was a very good friend of one of the coaches for the Steelers)

Since Daddy spent his adult life coaching football, college football was a little tradition in the Mayo home. Mom would come home from work on Saturdays and sit in her recliner next to dad in his recliner and they would watch the college games. She could tell you more about the players, the teams, the coaches, the universities, the offensive and defensive coaches and players and all the families tied into the organization. It was remarkable. Same with the pro teams too. She knew it all. But when dad passed wanting Alabama to will the title last year (UF won) she wanted no part of it.

So you have to see, when I got the call to watch the game and she went on and on about the teams, I was more dumbfounded than anything. I was elated. I was happy. I was sad. I was over joyed for her. She came a long way this year not having my father around.
And you have to look at it like this...having the sound of football on in her house is like hearing
Yo Yo Ma play with the London Philharmonic....Heavenly.

We watched the Florida/South Carolina game that day. I don't even like college football, and Dan really isn't a big fan of it either. But we did it that day, just because mom asked us to and because she was so happy with the game.

The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible tell us... For everything there is a season. A time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to stop searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.

She's finding a time to plant and harvest. She is finding time to heal, to tear down and build
again. She is still cries but laughing so much more. She still grieves and she dances like an angels to the sound of a harp. She is scattering stones and collecting them, she can embrace even harder and can't seem to find many reasons to turn away. She continues to search ans in some cases stops searching. She has found plenty to throw away, and she can mend the tear, find quiet time, has lots to speak about and more and more to love each day. there is no time for war in her, not even a personal one and she can find peace in her day each and every day.

This phone call was a little bit of mom's time shinning through and I could not have asked for a better phone call.

The Transformation

My husband said to me tonight that I do pregnant very well. I smiled and hugged him.
I have to say I think he is correct. I do not mean to gloat, but the pregnant walk that I am on has been a beautiful one. It has been extremely easy for me. I have no idea why I was chosen to have such an easy pregnancy, but so far so good. I am comfy and happy and seeing the hearts of the people I love come to love this unborn child is amazing. Last week my brother in law almost squealed when he saw my belly popping out. He was so excited. Even people at work. It's funny.

I think that if this pregnancy happened any time before this it most likely would not be the way it is now. But it's all the right time and I have to say, I am so glad this has happened now and not sooner and not later. This time in our marriage in my life seems to be the right time for our son to be born. We cannot be happier and Dan and I say every day to each other, how excited we are to meet our son Joey.

So according to the calender I am 23 weeks along in being pregnant. I have officially started my six month and this blows me away. I cannot believe it. ALREADY. So it's all moving so fast. There is so much to think about and what to do. Physically I am experiencing changes in my body that is so funny. The belly has popped and now I can rest my hands on it like a shelf. Just my hands, I cant eat a bowl of cereal off it yet, but I am sure that day will come soon. Getting comfy in bed is a challenge, but I cannot wipe the smile off my face. My heart is so happy, yet I cannot tolerate being around people. I have no tolerance for ignorant guests at the hotel. I cant stand incompetence, which I am faced with on a daily basis and people who do not do their job just should not have even bothered showing up for work. I cry at the drop of a dime at a TV commercial or a blow 'em up shoot 'em up movie and I have no ankles. My weight gain is great. I have only packed on 17 pounds since I found out I was pregnant. The funniest thing is though I have no craving right now. I have gone through the past few weeks with so much indecisiveness for food, that my poor husband just needs to call the shots on supper because I have no wan for anything.

Is this what it is suppose to be like? I mean I will eat? Sure, but when you ask what I would like....do me a favor and don't even ask. Nothing comes to mind.

The transformation is beginning....We have quite a bit more calender year left before our little boy arrives to our home. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and then our anniversary and then the Christmas holidays, new years and a bit more. The baby will have the spare bedroom as his haven. Tomorrow we will move the computer and printer into our room, and in a few weeks Dan's dad will be with us for a visit. We will then start working on the room once he leaves. You know the basic, blue walls, white trim, blue bedding, white crib. Boy stuff, Sports and Pirates and Dogs and stuff. I don't know. All I know is that I am sure the time will fly by and the next thing I know we will be walking into the hospital as husband and wife and a few hours later have a son. When we arrive home with him, Miles will greet us curiously and we will start our life as a family of four. Little by little, my closet is filling with baby stuff and baby clothes. People from work have given us so many things for the baby. Car seats, swings, clothes, toys, books, blankets all kinds of stuff, and I can't even think about what we need for him. The thought of interviewing the doctors is crazy...and so much more. Luckily I have been able to talk to a few people who have given me so much insight to how to approach things and what to think about. These women have just laid the foundation out for me and I can take or leave what they have said. Dan and I have to figure it all out on our own. It's kinda fun. We talk all the time about how we would like Joey to grow up and how we are looking to 'Parent" him and not "Befriend" him. (big difference).

With this transformation sometimes I get stuck. Sometimes I just cannot think about it and sometimes I just have to bury myself in a book or a puzzle to take me out of this journey. But as I said before, it's a walk that has been handed to me, to us with grace and love, unconditional love and each day I am thankful for the gift of little kicks and punches that I feel inside me...OOOO... Dan got to feel Joey kick the other night...he was so excited and naturally I cried, but to have this happen to us now....to transform us now...to be loved now....to love now...to be healed now....this is where it is all beginning for us, for me, for my family, and for my husband... It's all of our transformation, not just mine. I can't really sum it up either, it's just there and it's a good thing, this transformation.

Still Lives On....

I tried to get this up yesterday. i thought it would be a great way to conclude the month of October...since it did happen on October 31st, but I just did not have time....

So here I am November 1st..wondering how has time gone by so fast.....

Yesterday was a bit of a special day for the Mayo Family. My mother, sister, brother- in-law and myself...(husband was working unfortunately) all met at Witerberry Sports Field in Marco Island. The last game of the Marco Island Eagles Football Season. This was special to us for many reasons...the last bit of my father's coaching career was spent with this young organization. He helped some of the coaches become one and coach the kids of Marco Island on how to play football. Marco was a little behind the times when it came to a youth league. Naples had strongly developed themselves into many "pop-warner" teams and Marco had nothing....

Really, when I moved there sixteen years ago for the fist time, Marco Island really was nothing but old people. Few families and even the YMCA had little programs for kids. The elementary school had one first grade, one second grade, one third grade, and so on. Now things have changed. There are families and children all over the place and the small 4x6 island has developed nicely into a family community. The importance of these youth programs is rising and the members of the community have finally seen the need for them. It's a great way to keep the families of Marco Island together and on the Island. It's turned into a good thing.

So my father's involvement in The Marco Eagle Youth Football Program had basically meant good things for my dad. First it kept him on the Island. And if any of you who read this knew my father and the way he drove and the CAR that he drove, well then you would understand....when he became involved with Barron Collier High School freshman team, mom would cringe each day he would get in the car and drive up to North Naples to the high school. Long drive... So having him a few miles from home was always a good thing. Dad was a born coach too. He LOVED it. It was because of World War II that he became a football coach. Dad had a bright and promising career in the football world as a player in high school, college and most likely a professional league, but he sustained such serious injuries in the war that he could never play football again. Like many he did not give up, he studied the game and turned to coaching. (one thing to keep in mind is that dad was also a fan of all athletics...not just football...athletics itself was regimented, team spirited and brought out the best....just like the military which he also loved.) So he became a coach. From high school coaching to college coaching to professional coaching and scouting and much more, the Marco eagles brought him full circle, literally, for Dad started the first youth football league in the Boston area and now he had ended his career with a youth football league in Marco Island. Funny how these circles in our lives work....

The coaching staff of the Marco Eagles, called my mom and asked her if she would like to come to the field on Saturday Oct 31st and watch some of the kids play and wrap up their season. they also asked her to stay because they were dedicating the new athletic field as well as giving out the First Annual Coach Joe Mayo Award. The great part of it was...it was all such short notice, but my sister, mom and I all had the day off so we could be there. Very Special.

Mom and I were there a bit early and watched some of the little kids play their final game of the season, then it came to field dedication and then the presentation of the Coach Joe Mayo Award.

The head of the Coaching staff told a beautiful story about my dad and I was so touched. The award was given to a great young man who is in charge of the Parks and Recreation Dept. and also a coach with the Eagles. He played an integral part in getting the athletic field up and working and in better condition...what he did really...was give the kids of Marco Island a future.

Mom was to say a little something about dad, but she handed the microphone over to me and I spoke about how much he loved football. But I really spoke about how much heart each player and coach needs. That dad really believed in working together and not winning or losing, but having heart for the game and each other...in ALL sports and ways of life. I also told them that he was always after the perfect team and the perfect coaching staff....it may have taken him 60 plus years, but he found it right there in Marco Island... the small island in south west Florida proved so much happiness for my father at the end of his life. The men that he coached with, the kids that played under him, the mentor he became to all.. It was so nice for us to be there, and to see that although a year has passed in Sept.Daddy's legacy still lives on....