Starbucks Philosophy

***I actually wrote this from the hospital on Feb. 11, 2009. I am home now and doing well. Hope you all enjoy.***


After having much time to ponder on all the greatness of life and wonders of our nation, I have decided that they can all be summed up with one word...Starbucks.
We are such an insanely Starbucks driven society. The logo, smell, and taste has almost become a staple for us in our every day busy lives. I for one highly contribute to this madness. During my stay at UAB, I make many stops into the Starbucks located here in the hospital to retrieve what I like to call my "comfort in a cup". It wasn't until yesterday the whole Starbucks metephor came to mind. As I stopped in for my usual cup of wonder, I noticed right away something so familiar and so unbelievably overwhelming as soon as I walked through the door. The warm smell that filled my nose and in an instant I was carried back home. The thoughts of holiday shopping, running daily errands and weekly worship flooded my mind at once. I walked over to the counter and began to place my order, "tall caramel mocha, with both caramel and mocha drizzle". As I stood and waited for my greatness to reach me, more thoughts began to flood my mind. I began to watch those around me and took in their little coffee house experience as well. You could see them coming, nurses, doctors, patients, and visitors, running towards the door, they too brought their hurried stride down to a calmer more focused walk as soon as they come under the frame of the doors. It was almost as if a spell so heavily sedated in magic had overcome them instantly. It seemed our surroundings were hypnotizing us all. The jazz music coming from up above, the lights setting an amber glow across the shop, and then of course the wonderful amazing smell of warm coffee. Each detail taking us back to a wonderful memory, bringing us back time and time again to...... Starbucks. Those wonderful memories we wanted so desperately to cling to. Truly that is how life is. It is almost as if we never completely have new experiences, for every "new" experience is bathed in past experiences. It is how we judge situations and learn what we enjoy and come to know what we truly love the most. It is amazing the knowledge you discover when you just sit still and take in every single thing around you. When you allow yourself to become a live wire and just let life move
through you. To think of all the undiscovered philosophical ideas that still await us and can be found in such a place as Starbucks.
As I let these new findings sink in today I thank God for giving me the ability to go through this life with my eyes wide open. I wouldn't want to miss one detail of this beautiful disaster we are living in.

Fridays

I am going to be able to go home next week!!! =) =) =)
I am so excited!! Tomorrow, Jason is bringing Peyton to see me!! I can not believe I am going to get to see her!! It has been ten days today since I saw her last. I can not wait to hold her. I absolutely adore that little girl.
I am doing great. My numbers are up and I am feeling back to normal. I am doing the full 14 day stay just so I get cleaned out really well and don't have to worry about coming back anytime soon. Afterall I only came in twice last year and I would really hate to break my record!! =)

My mother came by yesterday and brought her friend Gina. It is always so nice to see someone from home. Sam is going to be stopping by this afternoon on his way through. I miss him and Peyton more every day.
In the end this is all worth it. If I have to take a few weeks every now and then to make sure I have more time with the people I love it is worth every second!!!

=)

Birmingham

I am currently in the hospital at UAB. Things are going good so far. It has only been one day and I already feel better. I came in extremely dehydrated and had to be given fluids over night. Today I have felt much better and I believe it has a lot to do with the fact that I am now hydrated!! =) Being away from Peyton is never easy. She gets tossed around a bit while I am away, however it is the way things have to be. I really hope I am able to come home in time to spend Valentine's Day with her. Valentine's Day has never been one of my favorite holidays, yet when you have children you learn to look forward to every holiday. It is so much fun for them. We bought Peyton's Valentine cards for her class before I left so she would have them. I may have made the mistake by not helping her to fill them out. I hope she remembers all the children in her class! I may have to call some family to help her with it!
Today has been really good. I have spent most of the day reading a new book I purchased, written by Bill Hunt. It is called "The Last Witness From a Dirt Road". So far it has proven to be an incredible read. It has by far accomplished lifting me from this hospital room and setting me down right into the sugar plantations of Louisiana in 1946. Any book that can give me an escape from this place is a good book to me!!!
I took a short nap after lunch and then walked down to Starbucks. My addiction to that place is so unsettling.
I have seen many doctors today. All with fairly good reports. Other than the whole usual spill of the usual. Day two and I am already longing for home. Hopefully this trip will be a short one!!!

Dental Appointments and Beltline Driving

I was a bit too excited about going to the dentist today. Sam now has dental insurance coverage for us and it is a true blessing!! However on my way my brakes locked up at a redlight on the Beltline and I slid into this huge truck. The damage was very minimal to the truck however my poor jeep is going to need special attention. All is well I suppose. No one was hurt in any way. I rescheduled my dentist appointment and hopefully can make it to the next one a bit safer!!
The Great Strides is going great still. I have had even more donations!! Very excited about that. Sam has left for a work trip and will not be returning until tomorrow so I am going to spend as much time as I can with my artwork.
It has been one of those days!!! =)

Sunshine and Fresh Air

So far Great Strides 2009 is going fabulous!! I have tons of people who are going to walk and so far we have raised $300!! I know it doesn't sound like a lot but considering I just launched this campaign six days ago I think it is amazing!! People have been so interested in helping and the response has just been overwhelming!! In other news, Sam was baptized yesterday!! How amazing is that?? With last weeks inauguration, Sam's baptism and then the launch of my team I believe it was the BEST WEEK EVER!!!
The weather is so wonderful today!! I have all the windows raised to let in the wonderful fresh air that I have been missing so incredibly much!!! Today is one of those days that if I died right now, honestly I would die the happiest person in the world!! GOD IS SO GOOD!!! =)

Summer's Exodus

For those of you who know me, know that I am fighting a battle everyday and sometimes my life feels like a war zone. For those of you who don't know me, now you will know. I have Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic lung disease that affects the lungs and the digestive system. I was one of the rare people that only had the disease affect my lungs. Every day my life is filled with breathing treatments, physical therapy and literally what sometimes feels like an uphill fight. I am hospitalized several times a year to fight off infections in my lungs. There is no cure. One day I will have to have a lung transplant. I like to consider myself very normal and I try to do as much as I can on my own. I do not like asking others for help.
I am extremely active and I have a beautiful healthy eight year old daughter that is a complete blessing from God. However in an instant, just from catching something as simple as the flu my life could turn upside down. I am leading a TEAM in a walk to cure Cystic Fibrosis in Huntsville, May 2nd, at 9am. The walk is GREAT STRIDES.
My team is called Summer's Exodus. The choosing for my team name was so difficult for me. As a writer I pride myself in making my words dance however this was a true struggle for me. I wanted a name with some Biblical strength behind it. After considering many names, none of which I am going to mention here to save myself from the embarrassment, Summer's Exodus took me. The definition of the word Exodus is as follows:
1. a journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment
2. the second book of the Old Testament: tells of the departure of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt led by Moses; God gave them the Ten Commandments and the rest of Mosaic law on Mount Sinai during the Exodus
It is so perfect because that is exactly what we are going to do!!! We are going to walk out of the depths of this disease into a brighter tomorrow!!!!
I live an almost normal life and I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones. God has blessed me already in ways that are unmeasurable. In ways I am sure that I am not worthy of.
Today I come to you. I am reaching out through this virtual world of static, past a survey, or myspace graphic into something much deeper. Life. This is my life....and I need your help.
You can click on the link below to go to my website and learn more about what the GREAT STRIDES walk. You can also make donations and join my team. You too can walk along side of me on May 2nd. The walk to me is a protest. A protest that I will demand nothing but the best. That I will not let an evil rob me of what is mine. That I will stand and be a miracle in God's work and I will be here as His tool, to only glorify His Great Divine.
I take these myspace surveys all the time. A question that comes up quite often on them is "What is your greatest fear?" My greatest fear is so horrible that I can never bring myself to type the words. It stays lodge in my throat, and runs down into the pit of my stomach. It aches at every part of my being. I have never shared that fear until now.


That fear is leaving my daughter. That fear is her standing on stage to receiver her diploma and her mother not be there. That fear is those college years so sweet yet confusing and her mother not being a phone call away. That fear is the happiest day of her life arriving and her mother is not there to help pick out the cake, the dress, the flowers. That fear is those sweet grandchildren of mine that need nothing more than to be spoiled rotten yet their grandmother will have no chocolate for breakfast to feed them, for their grandmother will not be there. That fear is not dying. That I can do. It is leaving Peyton in this big world to fend for herself that absolutely puts me into almost a throw of insanity. One day I hope to go when I am old, and wrinkled, and used. The way we are supposed to go. When I have lived so much that there is no more life for me to take. When God calls me home in the natural order of things. But going now. Going when my daughter is 8, 15, or 21, when she will need me the most is absolutely agonizing to even think.
Today I need your help. I like to believe that we are all interlinked. We are all good. We are all love.
Visit my website today and please join me as I become a beacon for God's light. No breath is ever easy, yet no breath is ever a struggle. Walk with me, not just on May 2nd, but walk beside me in this beautiful gift and help me fight.



Summer Welch is taking strides to make "CF" stand for "Cure Found!" Visit Summer's GREAT STRIDES Home Page at http://www.cff.org/great_strides/SummerWelch! NOTE: If link looks broken, cut and paste ENTIRE link into address bar. If you are presented with a "Find A Walker" page, enter Summer's first and last name and click on "Find Walker." Then click "View Walker" in the results list to go to "Summer Welch's GREAT STRIDES Home Page."