I had the opportunity yesterday to be a guest on Achieve Radio with Nancy Wallace.
The show has been archived and it can be accessed at
http://www.achieveradio.com/archplayer.php?showname=The M
Enjoy your day!
Kim
Archive | Life Experiences RSS feed for this section
How Will You Spend Your Dash?
19 OctI found this beautiful youtube video on my facebook page this morning and felt it was worth adding to my blog as well.
No News Is Good News
18 OctMy daughter Anna is always telling me that I need to post more.
While she may be right, after all it’s been almost one month since my last post, I don’t think she is.
In order to post I need to have something interesting to post about. No one wants to hear of the ordinary, mundane acitvities of my life.
The past month has been fairly non-eventful as far as amazing experiences is concerned. And, that’s not a bad thing. I take joy in the ordinary, every days now.
Within the last month I have attended a mini-family reunion on the Wencl side. I got a flu shot on a Friday and by Monday night I could tell I was getting sick with …. the flu. I’ve been under the weather for the past 2-1/2 weeks now; and while I am better, I still have a nagging cough that just doesn’t want to leave.
I spent a couple days with my sister in Redwood Falls. Anna and I had lunch and went shopping this past Friday.
All very normal, every day occurrences that everyone does and I really find no need to initiate a post about.
But it reminds me that most of our lives are normal and very ordinary. But, I like ordinary. I enjoy the quietness and the solitude of my life now.
If amazing, extraordinary things happened all of the time, they would no longer be amazing or extraordinary.
So enjoy the day – enjoy the mundane and the ordinary because they are wonderful gifts as well.
My Days In D.C.
22 SepI’m back from spending five wonderful days in our nation’s capital. I had never been there before and was able to see many things I have only dreamt about for many years.
The purpose of my trip was two-fold. The main purpose was to partner with Campus Firewatch and promote fire safety issues on college campuses across the country.
On Thursday we kicked off the day with a press conference which included speeches by Congressmen, Bill Pascrell of New Jersey and Joe Wilson of North Carolina.
The highlight was the speech given by Edye Smith, a parent like me, who lost her son in an off-campus house fire.
The second part of the day consisted of breaking up into groups of fire personnel, current college students, and parents.
My group visited staffers of Cong. Keith Ellison, Sen. Al Franken, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, all of whom represent my state of Minnesota.
We were able to convey the urgency of continued education on fire prevention, along with the need to offer incentives for landlords to improve their rental units by adding sprinklers.
There are currently two pieces of legislation that address both of these issues.
It was such a personal day for me. To be able to share the life of my daughter and share her picture with people who never knew her, six years after her death, just boggles my mind and brings me such happiness and peace.
My intention is to spend the rest of my life honoring her and to have the opportunity to work to improve the lives of today’s students is very comforting and rewarding.
And, it was also a wonderful opportunity to see first-hand the workings of our government. The fact that most people never have this kind of opportunity was always on my mind throughout the day.
On the second leg of my trip was spent with my daughter Anna and her best friend Stephanie. Roger and I consider Stephanie to be our unoffical third daughter.
We crammed alot of sight seeing into two full days. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we had a grand time. Here is a list of what we accomplished:
toured the Capitol, including the Rotunda
toured the Supreme Court (saw Judge Sotomayor’s new chair).
visited the Smithsonian to see a Lincoln exhibit, dresses of the First Ladies, and Julia Child’s kitchen.
We visited the White House and saw the First Dog, Bo Obama, out on his afternoon walk! (I was really hoping to see Barack or Michelle, but hey I’m happy we did get to see one member of the Obama family!)
We went to the top of the Washington monument where you can see the entire District as well as Virginia and Maryland.
We ate at a favorite hang out of the Obamas, Good Stuff Eatery, and enjoyed the best hamburger and fries I have ever had … and the beer was great too!
We spent most of Sunday the 20th at Arlington National Cemetery; we visited the graves of JFK, Robert and Ted Kennedy.
We also had amazing seats to watch the changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
I thought about Liz alot that day because it was the 6th anniversary of her death. It seemed fitting that we should spend the day at Arlington.
As we sat in the trolley waiting to start our tour we noticed that the gentleman sitting right next to me had a large butterfly tattoo on his forearm. We all smiled because we knew it was a sign that Liz was with us in spirit.
We returned home Sunday night, very tired, but very very happy.
To view pictures of the trip click on the links below.
Time for Transition
14 SepI’m ready for a change of season. As much as I love the sun and the summer days, I’m ready for 50’s and 60’s and sweatshirts and blankets.
I’m ready to make hotdishes and soups and hot tea and cider.
I’m tired of my summer flowers. So much so, I quit watering them, much to the dismay of the other members of my family. I’m ready for something different – mums and pumpkins and scarecrows.
It’s time to part with the old and bring in something new!
Today
12 SepAs I write this it is 8:40 am, I’ve been up for almost three hours … I so enjoy the quiet and peacefulness of early morning both inside my home and outside on my patio.
But why am I feeling so completely exhausted and heavy? After all, I’m getting plenty of sleep these days.
Of course I know the reason – today is Liz’s birthday. 26 years ago my beautiful girl came into the world. And it wasn’t an easy entry. She was born on a Monday at 6:00 pm. I had been in labor for most of the weekend. We finally went to the hospital late Sunday night. And, although my contractions continued to get stronger and stronger and closer and closer together, I was making little progress. It was the most physically painful day of my life.
Finally the decsion was made to do a C-section, and my girl was born. She had a huge head of wild black hair and the biggest blue eyes ever.
She was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. And at only a few hours old, her very strong personality was already coming through.
My parents came to see their first grandchild. As they looked through the window of the nursery, Liz lifted up her head and looked right at them, as if to say, “Here I am.”
She made our life “interesting” for the next 20 years. And “interesting” is not always a good thing … but most of the time it was.
We will mark her departure from this earth in eight days.
But all in all, even though I’m sad for what could have been, I’m also very happy for what still is.
And that is that Liz is still very much a part of my life. I know she is still very much a cheerleader – leading me, pushing me on to do things I never would have considered had she not left as she did.
The glass is more than half full – it is overflowing – and for that I will be enternally grateful.
Promoting Fire Safety for Today’s College Students
28 AugYesterday Anna and I had the opportunity to do a news story about Liz, the fire that took her life, and our lives since that day.
The main focus was to alert current students who are just moving into off-campus housing.
Getting them to realize and take seriously their own personal safety is a tough sell.
But all we can do is keeping repeating it at every opportunity.
Here is a link to our story:
Remembering Liz
24 AugWhen someone you love dies, you yearn to keep their memory alive for as many people you can and for as long as you can. I am continually amazed at how this continues to happen as we inch closer to the six year anniversary of Liz’s death.
Last night at our county fair, the biggest and best county fair in the state, it happened again. For the second year, the Alumni Cheer Team performed a stunting routine in memory of Liz. Fair Square Park was filled to capacity with people taking in the last few hours of the fair. The girls wore shirts with IN MEMORY OF LIZ WENCL emblazed on the back. Before they performed they talked about Liz and her love of cheerleading.
I’m so incredibly grateful to these girls. To think that some of them have been out of school for eight years now, and they still take the time to do something so special. It just doesn’t get any better than that.
But something else happened last night – something totally unexpected.
I got to hear another story of Liz’s continued connection to her friends.
As we waited for the cheerleading exposition to begin we were sitting next to one of Liz’s closest high school friends. I had just learned that she was engaged and I congratulated her on her beautiful ring and wedding plans.
She said, “oh, I just have to tell you what happened.”
She went on to say that she had absolutely no idea a proposal was coming when her boyfriend asked her to go for a walk so he could show her this “really big deer” he had seen.
They began to walk and a monarch butterfly appeared and flitted around them. It was the first monarch she had seen all summer and it immediately brought Liz to her mind. A few minutes later, her boyfriend popped the question and presented her with a beautiful diamond ring.
She told me she knew that when the butterfly arrived, it was Liz’s way of letting her know she was present and aware of the happiness that had just taken place.
It made me smile to hear, and again I just shake my head because Liz’s friends really “get it.” A lone butterfly could have been completely ignored … instead it did exactly what it was intended to do.
Way to go Liz!!
With Gratitude
19 AugFor most of these past six years, I have known that the experiences I have had were not just for me. They were meant to be shared.
Today I took another step in making that a reality.
My story of “The French Lesson” was published in the Sept/Oct issue of Angels on Earth magazine.
Liz’s picture and story will be read by countless people now and I am so incredibly grateful to God for making it happen.
Another Opportunity
16 AugMy plans have just been finalized and I am thrilled to be in Washington DC from September 16-20 as part of Campus Firewatch.
I have joined forces with CFW headed by an angel named Ed Comeau. Along with other parents across the country who have lost a college-aged child to fire, we support Ed’s efforts to educate students, colleges, landlords, and the public on fire safety and prevention.
Our goal is to get all 50 states to declare September as “National Campus Fire Safety Awareness Month.” To date, we have 14 states who have done so. We will be on Capitol Hill on September 17th as part of this effort.
I can’t think of a better place to be – it is yet another way I can honor my precious Elizabeth and for that I am so very grateful and happy.
To learn more about the work of Campus Firewatch, please check out the website at:
http://campus-firewatch.com/spokesperson.html
Welcome
Welcome to my blog about love, life and transformation!
I’m Owning Pink
Kim
LOVE LIVES ON 