Author: Dr. Erica Peabody

I am really excited about this week as it is the week my older brother gets married. He is marrying a wonderful girl named Rachel that some of you may remember because she worked here at the Cafe of LIFE for almost 2 years while she attended nursing school. I am really excited they found each other. I remember when they first became a couple and I thought to myself, “he is a lucky guy” and then the next thought was “she is one lucky girl”. They have a great thing going and I am looking forward to welcoming another sister into my world. As most of you know, I grew up with three brothers, one older and two younger. As with most siblings, I was not a huge fan of any of them. Over the years I have come to really appreciate their unique traits and how much they add to my life. I love spending time with all of them and watching them learn and evolve. This life is about sharing and experiencing things and learning and growing from the lessons that are presented along the way. Life is not easy, there are some hills and valleys and we all go through some interesting times, my family included. But we grow together and become more and more connected as the years go by. I am grateful to be having this life experience and if I had it to do over again, I would pick the same group of guys to grow up with. I look forward to the years to come and we all have such wonderful experiences awaiting us in the future. I love participating in their lives and being the best “Aunt E” that I can be to all of their children. Nate and Rachel have the cutest daughter named Charlei that I had the chance of spending a lot of this past Sunday with. She is 4 months old now and her personality is really beginning to show. I am not sure if she has ever seen puppets prior to Sunday and when she saw these stuffed animals talking to her, she giggled a little bit. As we played she was laughing and squealing so loudly, my brother and I were crying we were laughing so hard. Life is about those moments…and we only get this one chance. I am glad we are extending our family circle by one this week. Welcome to family Rachel! I can’t wait to celebrate that with you guys on Saturday!!!

My Grandmother, my mom’s mom, has been in town for the past 2 weeks. Some of you know her, some have met her, and if you have met her, you know you have…she leaves a lasting impression. She is a wonderfully, opinionated individual and is not afraid to approach any topic, at any time, with anyone, anywhere. This is one of her most wonderful qualities…straight up confrontation. She is a mother to 10, a step-mother to 6, a grandmother to 50+ grandchildren, and a great-grandmother to around 20 or so (I really should sit down and count them all at some point). She has been married to my grandfather for something like 27 years and they are a perfect yin-yang couple…opposites attract is the truth, for this couple anyways. Because of the vast experiences in her life, she is very wise and I ask her for her opinion on things because why try to figure it all out on my own. She has been through many trials and tribulations, learned many lessons, and loves to share those lessons. I have grown to become very fond of sitting and interacting with her and listening to her talk and interact with others. She says the funniest things…and so often we laugh at things because they are true. Just over a week ago, there were 5 of us women sitting around in a living room as she was discussing one of my cousins. This particular cousin has made some challenging choices in her life and had recently gone down to visit with Grandma and Grandpa in Florida. Grandma said she spent the entire long weekend on her phone texting with friends continuously. When they were sitting and chatting, she would interrupt to send a text, watching TV texting, doing everything and texting. My Grandma, so very wisely said to her “If you are on that phone all the time, when do you think?”. For some reason, that question has stuck with me at the forefront of my mind since I heard it. “When do you think?” When do you have time to sit and think about what decisions you are going to make and what effect they are going to have on yourself and the people around you? When do you have time to think about what happened earlier today, yesterday, or what will happen tomorrow? When do you have time to think about what you want your future to hold, what you want to do when you grow up? When do you think about the relationships you have? When do you get to think about your “bucket list” (the things you want to do before you die)? When do you get to think about your family, friends, co-workers, favorite teams, favorite activities, favorite vacations, worst experience of your life, best experience of your life? When do you think about what is for dinner, what foods you really want to be putting in your body? When do you get to think about your health and the choices you make that increase or decrease the quality of it? We live in such a busy world anymore, there is always something pulling us one way or another, however we still need time to sit back and think… It would benefit this world tremendously if we all took a few extra moments to ourselves to think. We could possibly become more informed consumers, more peaceful family members, more productive in our work environment, and much healthier human beings. We only get one chance…

(its the best picture I had of her. I had to crop it so it looks strange, but wanted to give you a face for her)

I am a runner…and during the process of the long runs, I have to remind myself of that and say to myself “I am a runner”. Just by saying that, the steps forward get easier. I ran the Bastille Day 15K (9.3 miles) and if you know Fenton at all, mile 7-8 is straight up Denton Hill from the south. It is a really tough route all together and then add that mountain at the end of the course. During the race I find myself saying “why do I do this to myself?”…and then I remind myself that “I am a runner” and it gets easier again and I keep moving forward. During road races, you can usually look on the internet ahead of time and study the course that you will be running to plan accordingly. This is the 3rd time I have ran that particular race and I know those roads like the back of my hand since that is where I grew up. Even though I know the course, I rest easy with the fact that all I have to do is just keep putting one foot in front of the other and follow where I am being directed and I will make it to the end, since ultimately, getting to the finish line is the goal and final destination. Recently I started leaving my iPod at home and running with myself and thoughts alone so that I may take in the entire process. Sometimes I do road races without knowing the course. I have no idea what turn to make though I know if I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and go where the course crew directs me, I will make it to the end. This is such a great analogy for life…we do not always know where the destination is, however if we keep putting one foot in front of the other, and follow where the course crew (our experiences in life) direct us, we will head in the right direction. The difference is that life is not about getting to the finish line…it is about enjoying the journey and scenery along the way. Our lives are filled with distractions…music, TV, people, cell phones, text messaging…that we forget to be with ourselves and take time to think and process. In my life, the key to success or happiness (success means happiness to me) is to choose a particular direction to head, keep putting one foot in front of the other, learn from experiences and enjoy the journey. It really is that simple…let’s keep it simple since we really only get one chance… 🙂

(the first picture is me starting the race in front of the Cafe of LIFE. the second is me reaching the top of Denton Hill)

(Oh, and give credit where credit it due, I have been dating an amazing guy and he was in a chase car with water for the entire second half of the race, cheering me on with his cow bell and making sure I was hydrated enough. Thanks babe!! )