That First Wave of Summer

That first wave of summer...
I can feel it coming...as the calendar flips from May to June.
That special feeling of AHHHHHHH!
School is done.
Books are turned in.
The sun is setting up for those days of golden goodness.
That first wave of shorts, flip flops, and lazy summer days.
Welcome sweet June as we round out the first half of the year.
6 months have passed and it is time to feel that sunshine on your face, roll up the sleeves, and start getting some of that summer color on your skin.
All of us get to celebrate that we made it through the first half of this year.
For some it was easy, some it was hard, most of all, DONE.
Let that wave crash down on you and wash a layer of relaxation on your body.
Weeknights without homework. Weekdays with less traffic.
Weekends by the pool, the grill roaring for dinner to be cooked.
Summer is good. Go have some fun!
You deserve it.

Running into the Wind

Today I went for a run. No matter what road I picked or what turn I made, I was running into the wind. I kept hoping I would turn a corner and the wind would be at my back and give you that feeling that someone was helping you move forward. But, it never happened. As it kept whistling in my ears and blowing into my face, I began to accept it. I even began to like it. It was as close to being at the ocean as I could get today. So, for that reason alone, it became something that made me smile.

And then, as Bob packs Mitchell's car to head to Dallas and make this next transition into his first chapter of freedom and healing, I realized the wind is something that can actually hold you up when you run into it. When the wind is at your back, it is pushing you forward, forcing you in a direction. When you are running into it, you are the one in control. It becomes something so very different. So maybe that is what symbolizes our new chapter. Maybe running into the wind means that cool, refreshing feeling of new beginnings. The feeling of hope, good decisions, owning your life, and choices to do good.

Maybe that is where we are going. Not something pushing us forward, forcing movement. But, the fresh sea air washing over your face and singing in your ears.

Oh, I will take it!

Let the wind take you away and blow all sorts of new possibilities into our world.

Age and Stage

Life has been so full of experiences I have not had time to write anything, make bracelets, or even just take a minute to sit down and review what the last two months have been for me and my family. 

As always, when my invitation to write starts knocking on my door, I get the title first. Last week “Age and Stage” was the title. It would come to me in the morning and I would think to myself, “maybe as you sip your first cup of coffee this title can be addressed.” Well, it happened to be on Tuesday night around 9:45pm as I snuggled into my favorite time of the day, in bed wearing my comfy PJ’s and starting to grab a book for some much needed escape time. As I my head hit the pillow and  I reached to turn on my bedside lamp, the urge to write did not lightly knock on my door, it came barreling down on me and said, “NOW.”  I was not about to get out of bed for my computer or a pad of paper. For the first time ever I just grabbed my phone, opened up a new email on my screen and started typing. Yes, I was crushing it on my cell phone key pad. The words were flying from my tired fingers onto my phone screen. These were words that had to be put on paper.  They were telling my story that I had been logging over that last few months. All of this had been stirring somewhere in my psyche and was just bursting to get out.

As I tapped away on my phone, my sweet husband looked over at me and said, “really, what in the world are you doing?” He still says, “I cannot believe you were writing on the phone the other night.”

I want to share with you what my phone was holding for me. It is real, it is honest. It is probably more personal than I usually share. But, Emily told me this…“I think it’s important to share the realness and healing. Let me know and I can post.” For all of you that know Emily, you know that she is the boss of anything Healing Knots.  So here we go…. 

On Tue, Apr 4, 2017 at 10:11 PM, Corinne Cargnoni <cpc64@austin.rr.com> wrote:

Age and Stage!

So I have been saying this for years. And maybe, just maybe I get to move to another stage. I have permission to tell the truth. That is huge! I guess we all get to decide if we want to tell the truth everyday of our life. But, if telling the truth is telling someone else's truth, it is different. So I was given permission to tell my truth and reveal another person's story. That is a big step in healing by the way. Secrets and silence are always the sign of sickness or dysfunction. So here comes a big fat slice of healing. My precious boy is 23 years old and he just invited healing and recovery into his life. Our whole family is breathing a sigh of relief.

We lost him for about 8 years to drugs and alcohol. We fought it hard. We drug tested, grounded him, sent him to counseling. We shut his world down - but it did not save him. So all of us watched his life deteriorate. He flunked out of college, he was fired, arrested, homeless, friendless, hopeless, and depressed.  We loved him with boundaries and it was not enough. We were losing the fight. One summer he decided he would move to Colorado with a friend. I drove him to the Greyhound bus station. It was so sad. He felt so lost. “Maybe Colorado would work, we thought. What a break to not have to watch him struggle and suffer. My daughter said with tears in her eyes, “He feels like a stranger in our house.”

Fast forward...he is now 7 months sober and has a new lease on life. He understands drugs and alcohol destroyed his soul. He is about to be out of treatment and in a sober home. He said I could tell his story. I can't tell his story. He is the only one that can tell his story. He wears his bracelet and he says he really understands Healing Knots. He gives bracelets to friends in recovery and tells me they value them. We have a connection and I love him so much. I know he has been tortured. We have all been tortured. It is time that his story starts to shine.

Mitchell, go live your story. And maybe one day you will share this journey and it will have a happy ending. We all need a happy ending. I love you and I love that you wear your bracelet! Make us proud! Go shine!

I am so proud of you!

Love,
Mom

Sent from my iPhone

I emailed this to Mitchell – his response is below.

From: Mitchell Cargnoni <mitchellcargnoni@gmail.com>
Date: April 5, 2017 at 8:24:41 PM CDT
To: Corinne Cargnoni <cpc64@austin.rr.com>
Subject: Re: Age and stage

Mom,

I like it a lot. And the relief is real. I love you so much.

Mitch

---

Thank you all for caring and loving us through this time in our family. We are happy to announce we are in a new age and stage!!

Godspeed and may healing be the theme for this wonderful season of Spring!

Let Go

New week! Let's do this.

Thought for the Day: Love

Hope

Emilie
written by: Esther Pruitt

Why do people hope?
Why do people trust such a fragile
unsteady thought?
A thought of some place good.
A try with no fail.
A world without suffering.
A sky without cloud.
A breeze without chill.
A life with no death.
These things seem distant to us,
they become part of our imagination
Twisted with earthly desires
Extinguished by the bitterness of reality.
Hope is strong, but it is also weak.
When hope is what we rely on for the sake of our own lives
When the only thing we can cling to is the promise for tomorrow
That is when hope is our strength
When we need it most, it is our security
But hope, when twisted, is weak.
Hope is meant to be pure.
Purity, combined with earthly desire and expectation, will crumble.
The reason hope is seen as foolish is because we make it foolish
We hope for things that are not always part of the plan
We hope for the health of loved ones
Who soon then pass
We hope for peace
When conflict in our nature
We hope for strength
When we dare not confront fear
We hope because we must.
We hope because it is the only thing that we will trust and trust again.
The only thing that will fail and fail again.
But nevertheless we will always have it.
Hope is not a goal
Hope is not the outcome
Hope is how we get there

Empower

Love these strong words from Melody Beattie. Happy Sunday!

Trash Bags

We all have a story.

So I am not sure if it is the gift you get when you enter the 5^th decade of life or what you finally figure out by talking to a lot of people honestly about their lives. But, one thing I know for sure is that every single person has a story. Some people don’t really want to share their story. Some people do not even realize that what they do each day of the year is writing their story and others are blissfully aware and want to make it a damn good one.

But, last week I will tell you was one of those weeks that my husband and I wrote a chapter of our story that had one heck of a punch. I believe it is going to take a few weeks or months to actually recover but, in the end it is just our story. The popular and true statement of “live in the moment” and “live in today” has so much great wisdom. And, whether we like it or not, a piece of today does carry us into tomorrow. What we do today is that one page that leads to the next chapter.

But, in truth, each day matters and what we do sets us up for the next day. In my heart, I want my story to be a really good story. I want there to be a happy ending. I want all the good guys to win. Back to the decade that starts with the big 5. By the time you hit this one you know your story is sometimes not the one you would have written and the only thing you can do is choose how you own it. So, when Saturday came around and I was running to hop in the car to go see my daughter’s dance performance, my eye caught this box of trash bags. And, it made me smile. It made me smile because the word Extra Strong felt really good. Sometimes owning our story is finding something that you can identify with. 

The fact that putting words to our stories no matter how horrible, wrong, painful and tragic they are is part of how we understand them and translate them from our hearts; this is maybe the most powerful piece of healing. And yesterday this box of Hefty, EXTRA STRONG, Extra Large, multi-purpose trash bags really did that for me. 30 Gallons is what they can hold! Well, here is what I have in common with those trash bags.  I think I filled one up last week. And the best part about 30 gallons of life is that there is the drawstring. Okay, these must have been the expensive trash bags and let me tell you it is the drawstring that makes life livable. I am going to take that drawstring and tie up that bag. It is going to represent last week.  

It is going to have closure and boundaries and be done. The beautiful part is I have a new week to start tomorrow. And it is going to be a good week. It is going to be a new chapter in my story. I get to open up a new trash bag. Maybe this one won’t have to be EXTRA STRONG, maybe this one will be just a simple trash bag. Maybe the one you put in the kitchen trash can. Oh yes, that is the one the Tall Kitchen, Texas Tough. That sounds so nice. They are white, just the right feeling of light. The clouds will be my focus this week. Light, fluffy and floating in the sky. This week will be a chapter of something a little more relaxing.

And then, maybe the next week I can go straight to the easy open tabs and it will be a snack bag week.

Go for it!!! Write your story. Don’t get stuck in the Heavy Duty Trash Bags of it all, remember life is filled with a variety of bags to fill your chapters. Go out and make it a new one!!!

Keep on making your story great. You can do it!

Pineapple Crush

“Appearing on all sorts of décor – from door knockers to quilts – the fruit symbolizes those intangible assets we appreciate in a home: warmth, welcome, friendship and hospitality. Pineapples can be easily added to plant stands and incorporated into entryway décor as a symbol of welcome.”

January and Pineapples.

Okay, maybe this does not have any connection.  But this year it has been my January symbol.  My precious mother-in-law is not doing well.  She has suffered multiple strokes and loving her now is something that is on the top of my list.  She grew up in Hawaii so embracing her heritage has been something that has been so enjoyable.

I was shopping with a friend one Saturday in December and I found the softest blanket with pineapples all over it.  This began my mission of pineapples and love!

It has not stopped.  My favorite Christmas gift this year was wrapping up that blanket and sending it to her in the chilly state of Illinois.  What better way for me to send her a huge holiday hug than a blanket covered with that delicious fruit and symbol of her home.





The pineapple love has maintained.  We are all drawing pineapples at my house to send cards to her.  The pineapple is just one of those tropical and bizarre fruits that seems to come alive if you really study it as an object.  It could almost be a Dr. Seuss illustration with the perky green top and wonderful diamond shaped shell.  Not to mention the delicious yellow treat you can find if you can brave the act of carving it.

In the South it is a symbol of welcome and friendship.  As we round the corner of a new year, new leadership and lots of new in 2017- I am going to hold on to this fruit and let it carry me to a place that is magical and sweet.  The pineapple is going to be something that keeps me thinking of someone I love and the beautiful islands of Hawaii.  This symbol might just help me face the coming days and embrace this New Year as a great one.  With a little tropical flair!  Pick up your sketch pad and draw something that makes you smile.

Pineapples are going to be my thing this year….what will make you smile this year???

An Angel

In loving memory of my precious mother, Carolyn Mitchell Pruitt. "Callie" to her friends. 

1.7.17 was her angel anniversary. An angel for sure! 

1934-1973

New Year, New Journey

Happy New Year! Wishing love and healing in 2017.