Tonight is "Dream Night" a very special emotion filled evening taking place for terminally ill & very sick children together with their families at the local tourist attraction, a wildlife conservation park..
In a very humble way we hope they may have a very happy evening full of lasting memories. My heart goes out to each & every one of the families & children who travel from miles around.
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The sky is rather grey today & threatening rain lets all wish those clouds away so they can all have an evening to remember.
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All the staff stop on to give up their time freely, the event is not publicised at all & rightly so. Please forgive me for sharing this with you but as you have all shown me you are very compassionate friends, if you kindly read this, please could you send these precious children your love & positive feelings.
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This night God Willing "Some Prayers may be answered & Dreams can come True!
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Life & time is so precious. We have to cherish every moment. We all have our dark days. During those times our worries & fears infiltrate our dreams & disturb our sleep. The cumulative effect of our emotions & sleep deprivation can distort our thought processes & impair our ability to make rational decisions just when we need to see with the clarity of our hearts & minds.
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At the weekend to commemorate the 65th Anniversary of the D Day Landings on the Normandy beaches on June 6th 1944 my thoughts turn to those brave souls who gave up their lives so that the children & the children of those children may be free. Many of those who died were so young they had barely left their childhoods. What must they have dreamed the night before they took that brave leap of faith onto those beaches? God Bless their souls. We will always remember them. They will never be forgotten.
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There are a number of dear friends who kindly visit this blog who right now are also going through very difficult times. My thoughts are with you. We share so much in this bloggy world but in truth we may actually know only a small part about each others daily lives. Some times it is what we do not actually write, that we find too painful to disclose, that speaks volumes to those that share our hearts.
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I am reminded of an uplifting quote Abi kindly shared with me a while ago, from the legendary Walt Disney, which I hope & pray could be the richly deserved reward for all the incredibly brave children & their families attending the Dream Night, this evening.
"All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them"
Sweet Dreams
May you find Peace in your Hearts
Have a good weekend
Love
Debbie
8 comments:
You didn't say so, but I imagine that you are helping out this evening. I'm not sure that I could do that, it would be too hard.
I'm sending positive thoughts to blow away the clouds and of course for the children and their families.
We must never forget the soldiers who gave their lives, all throughout time. Just ordinary men and boys. Hope you don't mind me putting Buffy Sainte-Marie's lyrics into your comments:
He's five foot-two, and he's six feet-four,
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen,
Been a soldier for a thousand years.
He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew.
And he knows he shouldn't kill,
And he knows he always will,
Kill you for me my friend and me for you.
And he's fighting for Canada,
He's fighting for France,
He's fighting for the USA,
And he's fighting for the Russians,
And he's fighting for Japan,
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way.
And he's fighting for Democracy,
He's fighting for the Reds,
He says it's for the peace of all.
He's the one who must decide,
Who's to live and who's to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him,
How would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone,
He's the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on.
He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,
His orders come from far away no more,
They come from here and there and you and me,
And brothers can't you see,
This is not the way we put the end to war.
Sending positive thoughts out. :)
A lovely, well written post, cuts to the heart. I takes me back a few hours, to this afternoon, Elegy for Dunkirk being played on ClassicFM - yes I know the wrong end of the war, but the same sentiment. Our freedoms today, come from yesterdays sacrifice.
Beautiful post Debbie. Sending big love out to those children...
xx
(PS Thanks so much for the advert for the blog...I think that most people who want to read my stuff are in there now...so do feel able to remove it now honey)
Dear Anji, Lucy, Jessica & Jo thank you so much for all your kind wishes.
The evening epitomised everything that is so beautiful about the human spirit. I am still overcome by what I witnessed, so humbled & so privileged. The weather was very kind to us. There were so many families there. So many little cherubs.The smiles upon the children's faces would melt even the coldest of hearts. The evening is always the best time to visit the park as many of the animals seem to really spring into life when the zoo closes. The show biz adage "never work with children or animals could never have been more untrue. The wildlife are normally the stars of the sunset safari's but tonight it was the magical spirit of the children that shone so bright.
There were many colourful costume characters around the park to amuse the families. My very small role in proceedings was to spend the evening chaperoning a 6 foot Rabbit, with the soul of an Angel. A sweet young 70 year old lady who wore the costume, confirmed this was to be an evening for children of all ages. If Oscars were awarded to costume characters she would have received one for her performance. I lost count of the times she was hugged by angelic children while loved ones took photo's to record a priceless memory that will live long in the hearts of those so privileged to witness these courageous families. When it was time for the evening to end it was impossible not to shed a tear, you just wished these families could remain together for ever & share many more times like this.
All the costume characters assembled at the main exit to help hand out presents & to wave good by to all the children. Those children who could walk, ran as best they could, to offer one last hug to their new found furry friends. Others arrived via wheelchairs or in the hands of their loved ones. Each family kindly thanked the staff & volunteers as they left for giving up their time which was so sweet of them to do but this was a night for the children & their families. A night to remember those brave brave hero's who tragically lost their lives so that future generations could enjoy nights like these. It truly was a Dream Night.
Bless you Anji. Thank you so much for posting Buffy Sainte-Marie's lyrics which are so poignant on this weekend.
Love
Debbie
Last weekend I took my oldest grandson to a memorial spire in the Argentine neighborhood of KC where my Mom's family lived; it is engraved with the name of my oldest Great-Uncle, lost 6 days after D-Day and buried in France. He's 10 and just starting to make the connections between the stuff in the history books and the real world; you could see the wheels turning as I explained about O'Dell and where his Mom lived, etc..
That you do so much for others, not just your parents but all these other things you do, makes you a shining light in the world they gave all to save! I'm sure, somewhere, they are smiling down on you and those who were with you last night!
alan
Goodness Debbie, a beautifully written post. This is quite close to my heart and makes one think about the important things and realities of life.
Hannah x
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