Angel on My Shoulder

As I travel this journey of life, there are often times I feel as though I have an angel sitting on my shoulder. I've decided the angel is female, and if I close my eyes and imagine what she looks like, she looks exactly like my grandmother.

She doesn't always make the road an easy one to travel. I'm sure she believes that the struggles I face make me stronger . . . a better person, and a better parent. She's thrown me some curve balls through the years; some of them were so hard to navigate that I wasn't sure I'd make it through. Yet I did. The fact that I'm writing this blog post is surely evidence.

Other times, she has bestowed on me great fortune: meeting my husband, and having both of my children. Living through my pregnancy with Frank was one of the struggles I wasn't sure I'd make it through. The fact that I even got pregnant with Beckett, essentially a medical miracle, is another example of her generosity. I never wanted Frank to be an only child, and for five years, we were certain he would be.

I've had life-threatening health issues that are now in my rearview mirror. There were times I wasn't sure if I'd make it through those either.

I've been so fortunate in my career. When I was still in college, my mother came to me and told me my grandfather wanted to move to California. My grandmother had been gone almost five years at that point. I took a leave of absence from work, flew to Buffalo, and had a conversation with my grandfather. I asked him why he wanted to move to California after living his whole life in East Aurora. He didn't. He just couldn't live alone anymore. Once again, my guardian angel came through for me. Within a week I had a great job, in my field, working for a man who became my mentor.

When my grandfather passed away, I had a job with an advertising agency in California, as creative director, a week after I sent out resumes. From there, it hasn't always been easy, but one after another, amazing opportunities have been presented to me.

It was a visit to my grandparents', and other ancestors' graves, that served as inspiration and led to me writing my first book. I'm sure she had a lot to do with it, as she is a central character in that book.

I've been interviewed by national newspapers, have even been the subject of one. I've been on national television, and have had other unique opportunities like that fall in my lap.

I've met amazing people on my journey. Serendipitously. People who I now call friends. I've had the great fortune of meeting people whose work I admire. I've met artists and rock stars, authors and other seemingly normal yet absolutely extraordinary people. The perfect example is Marc Roberge opening the 2013 Red Rocks concert standing next to me, and the conversation Frank and I got to have with him before he started singing. In that conversation he told Frank what a great mom he had. Neither Frank or I will ever forget it.

Is my life charmed? No, definitely not. Do I love it? You betcha. Am I thankful? Do you need to ask? I often post on social media that I love my life. I'm sure it makes people roll their eyes from time to time, but I couldn't care less. The other thing the angel on my shoulder does is remind me to start each day with a smile on my face, and an eager openness to whatever the day brings.