I found myself missing my papi very much today, yet remembering a memory and smiling. With the smile came tears. I was remembering two weeks before my Papi died my mom, Jen, and I took him to Strong hospital which was to be his last appointment, we just did not know it.

When we were driving around the hospital my papi noticed a hot dog stand. He said on the way out if the vendor was still there could we please stop to get him a hot dog. We all said sure, we all could go for one too. It was a warm and suny day. My papi was happy that day, he was happy because he had made it to this appointment, he was happy to be alive.

So we entered the doctors office, and in a instant my life changed forever. I saw the x-rays of my papi’s lungs. There was no part of any of his lungs that were healthy. The doctor listened to his lungs, then I asked to listen to his lungs they sounded like leaves crunching under your feet. The doctor told us we needed to make him as comfortable as possible, and raise the oxygen when he needed it. We walked out of the office with a scrip for morphine. The walk back to the car was somber, yet my papi kept the mood positive. He talked about how finally the weather for his standards was perfect then out of no where he said are we still going to get some hot dogs ? We all began to laugh.

My papi was not scared, or angry, or even upset. He was maybe without knowing it being very mindful of that moment. He was happy because it was a beautiful day and he wanted a hot dog. We blocked traffic and we got him a hot dog, we joined him and ate one too.

Life is so much more enjoyable when you stop and appreciate the little things. My papi taught me that in the last months of his life. I learned to except things I can not change. I learned to be more mindful of moments that make me happy. I learned to put myself out there to people even if that means getting hurt. Life is beautiful.

While I find myself missing him, I also find myself appreciating every last lesson about life that he taught me.

Peace and love to all.

So this past weekend was busy I worked everyday. I am used to having three day weekends, it really wasn’t too bad. I just get tired, and my sleep gets a bit messed up but this Wednesday I have the day off and I plan on sleeping in and doing something fun. My mom and papi are in California visiting my sister Norma. They will be there for another two weeks. In the meantime I am keeping an eye on things at their house. Joel is also on vacation with his girlfriend and will be gone until the 7th of May. So Jenn and I are now covering for him at Ed’s. I don’t mind sucking it up and working weekends and covering at Ed’s because I know I will be taking a long well deserved vacation in August. I can’t wait.

Miss Lucy loves her merman toy.
Peace and love

This year Jen and I have taken vows, not marriage vows, ( I wish ) vows of another kind. we decided as a whole that we need to do away with a lot of what we think we need, or what we think makes us happy.

We started off the New Year kind of like the spring, we cleaned house. Since the attic became a 4th room we have started to store a lot of “things” we do not need in the office and the office closet. So we cleaned out the closet in the office and now what is left are our winter, fall, and spring jackest. Thats it. We also went through our closets and donated alot of clothes. We went through the entire house with the same intention —SIMPLIFY!!! . So much of what we have are impulse buys, things we really don’t need, or things in that moment we thought we had to have to make us happy. Well we just don’t want to live like that anymore. So this year we vowed to stop that kind of “need to have it” behavior. We are over that. We are very happy with what we have.

Another way we think works for us to simplify is to get rid of debt While we know we will always have some form of debt, we wanted to do away with most of it. I started the process about two years ago, to date everything is paid in full, except for one store card and our mortgage. We are saving and don’t feel as unhappy in our jobs because we know we can walk away, if and when we want to, and we would be okay for awhile. When the need to work is so great, then the things that annoy you about your job are magnafied because you feel your stuck. I know Jen felt like that before and for the first part of our relationship. Now I work part time, and we manage just fine. we are happy because we are making all of this work.

Some other things we started doing is accepting ourselves and appreciationg our health. For a long time I always thought losing weight would make me happy. Well I lost weight, but the happiness came much later. We realized for us its not about being skinny for us its about being healthy. While I may never be the perfect size others think is the best. Jen and I are both healthy, we eat well, and we make the time to take care of ourselves.

So far the year is off to a great start, and we really feel as a family and as a couple we are off on the right track. We hope to continue on this path to what will soon be for us “simple living” .