In Memory of Bobby LaLuna

As I was copying and cropping the picture of him that leads this blog, I lost my breath when the small picture grew with a little click to an isolated picture revealing his eyes. “Oh My! My heart skipped a beat, immediate tears sprung forth, and a choke in my throat kept any additional sound from being heard. He was alive, his eyes did dance. The picture captures his dancing, laughing eyes. His cherubic little hands folded by his knees showed the chubby little folds of a little boy just waiting to be a “boy-man.”

The rest of the story…

Icicles captivate

It was a Very cold day, the eve of Christmas Eve.  Steve and I often walk down to the lake.  It is a wondrous event each and every time.  Somehow strolling down there evokes a feeling of high school sweethearts.  We are captivated by new things every time we do set out for a walk to the park.  How is that possible?  We have ventured down there many times since we moved to Michigan City.  It was our way of establishing a place together. 

The summer was filled with swims in the lake, much walking, running, riding, and yes singing at the park.  Michigan City has turned out to be a wonderful place to get to know each other.  So many simple things have captivated our interest and our hearts since we met, especially, Michigan City.

This day was no different.  We wondered what the beach looked like after an ice storm, a blizzard, and extreme frigid temperatures.  Well, we found out!  It was unbelievable!  Ice mounds, frozen wave shapes.  Mother nature indeed knows how to do it well. 

My imagination was swept away as I truly was taken to the frozen tundra of the North Pole.  It was cold, bitter wind bit at my face and hands.  Any skin that was exposed was fair game for frostbite.  As we approached the steps to go down to the beach, I was so excited, I went ahead, and well, I did as I seem to do at least once every year, I fell!  Fell hard!  I sat and cried in frustration, oh, it made me so mad!  I felt sorry, frustrated, stupid, embarrassed, you name it, every negative emotion, except for one, gratitude that I was able to get up and venture out onto the ice and explore.

It was indeed a miracle, all of it!  Today was the end of the Christmas season you might say.  The bitter wind of the week before Christmas gave in to a balmy breeze accompanied with rain and I woke this morning to thunder and lightening.  It was only fitting for the dream of Christmas 2008 came to a great crash than my “A” on ice only a few days earlier.  The view of the lake was replaced with sand mounds shaped by the ice, and wind of the week earlier. How quickly it all passes by and sometimes melts before our eyes. 

Until next year, when once again this dreamer will look to the north for new treasures amidst the winter snow!