Thanks Tuesday's with Morrie

Wow....I cannot believe that I have not written since December 30th. This past month has slipped right by me. I will mention that I have done a great job of keeping my kitchen clean every single night! I'm still working on letting the little things go, but hopefully it is improving.
So I've been given the task of writing a speech for my sister's wedding this upcoming weekend. I love to speak in front of people and I love to write, but for some reason I have not had a clue what to write about in this speech. Things have been kind of different in my life lately and there hasn't been much that I can do about it. There is so much change going on in my life and my sister's life that our lives are kind of crashing against each other. I don't mean to put this in a negative light, but I know that she will agree with me: we just aren't on the same page right now. She is doing her thing, and I am attempting to do my thing, and we just haven't had time for each other and our relationship has kind of slipped through the cracks. So I started to think about what I should say in her speech that would have meaning and that would show her that I care.
I gave a call to my cousin, Jess, who sent me lots of great quotes to start off with! If it wasn't for her, then I wouldn't have been reminded of my Tuesday's with Morrie book. If you have never read this book, by Mitch Albom, I highly recommend it.
There are so many great lessons to be learned in this book! Well I started looking through the book, and of course I ended up re-reading the entire thing. I can barely get through the book without crying because it relates to my life so much. But I was reminded of some very important things in this book.
The first thing is about family and love: Morrie said "The fact is, there is no foundation, no secure ground, upon which people may stand today if it isn't the family. It's become quite clear to me as I've been sick. If you don't have the support and love and caring and concern that you get from a family, you don't have much at all. Love is so supremely important. As our great poet Auden said, 'Love each other or perish.'"
Goodness, just writing it makes the tears flow. I am so grateful to have such a caring and supportive family. There are not many of us, but we are all that we have. I have not been the most supportive sister lately, and I have to do my best to be the best sister I can be. I have already lost one sister, and I couldn't bear to lose another one. I know that once my sister and I have our babies, then things will settle down and we will fall back into a groove. For now, I need to be supportive, friendly, and caring to her and her new family, just like she has been to my family. Thanks Morrie for reminding me of this oh so important thing.
I also stumbled across this quote " So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning"
Oh I just love that quote. I do not think this describes me very well, but I do think it serves as a great reminder to have a purpose, or many purposes in your life. I have so many things that I am focused on right now that my mind is constantly on a roller coaster. I have devoted my every weekend to shopping, planning, and redoing the rooms in our house for our new arrival! I have devoted every single day of the week to the 20 amazing kids in my class this year. They are so awesome and I love them to peices. I have also devoted my energy to this little person growing inside me. I have been trying to eat healthy, take all my medications, and workout and let me tell you it is a lot of work. I am constantly worrying that something is wrong or that something will go wrong and it is taking all of my energy. But no matter what, no one can say that I didn't do my very best and devote myself to those things that are important to me this past month.

So I know I started this post out about my sister's wedding speech. To make a full circle, I have found a perfect quote in my Tuesday's with Morrie book and I can't wait to read it at my sister's wedding. I think it has so much meaning and hopefully my sister and her new husband will like it as much as I do. I will be sure to post my speech after the wedding this weekend!