| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| julia hayes |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 08:03:55 AM
My Sisters-Friends~ it's been too long! I've been neglectful here and I have been the sorrier for it.
For months my farmgirl apron was hanging on a hook. Oh, I was sewing and crafting but it had an entirely focused purpose; I've been making things and donating them to an online auction site on facebook to raise money for Childhood Cancer. (for those of you not familiar with my daughter Aria, she was diagnosed with leukemia in January of '08 and finished chemotherapy treatment in March 2010--794 days of chemo 11 different cocktails along with too many to count drugs to battle side-effects and infection. I am OVER THE MOON to report that she has been on the survivor's path for almost 14 months now!)
Needless to say, this experience has shifted absolutely everything in my life.. and I mean e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Sooo, my focus shifted from hanging here with you, which for months and months and months was my absolute life-line to hanging on facebook to throw life-lines to others experiencing the nightmare that we had endured--some even much much worse!
BUT, I feel back to my old self in so many ways!
I am GARDENING-FARMING for the first time in 4 years! That first of 4 years I had a baby, which made gardening really challenging..I puttered more than anything. The following 3 years were all about cancer and it's aftermath. THIS year, however, there is so little of it that I can hardly contain myself. I've been digging digging digging..plant buying and creating new gardens. Several of my gardens died and were completely grown over. I mourned those losses fiercely and it was hard to let them go because they were the perfect metaphor for so much loss that was happening all around me. It was too much and therefore hard to see things with freshness and newness.
NOT ANYMORE!
Oh my friends..it is just the most glorious feeling! I am empowered again. The life that I see all around me is in 3D. The little things that used to encroach on my sense of peace roll off me like beads of water on a well waxed car! HEAVEN!
I'm checking in here today to tell you all of this. To update you that Aria is finishing the first grade and missed only a handful of school days. She is beaming and if you were to see her today, you wouldn't see even a hint of Cancer's vicious touch. I'm telling you this because my home has reminders absolutely everywhere of you! Your generosity and care. Your concern and creative love overflowing with gifts, trinkets and joyous reminders of the exceptional goodness of people! I will never be able to repay this debt but I do try by pass it along to others on the journey. I take how I was touched by you and hope to touch others in much the same way. Truly, YOU all have been extraordinary!
I'm here. I'm well. I'm sharing your goodness in farmgirl glory. I wish you all beauty in these magnificent Spring and Summer months! My love to you overflowing! ~julia hayes
being simple to simply be
Farmgirl #30
www.julia42.etsy.com
www.about-aria.blogspot.com |
| 23 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| jpbluesky |
Posted - May 17 2011 : 8:01:31 PM
so good to see your posts......prayers for you as always!!!!
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
| Luzy |
Posted - May 17 2011 : 12:45:55 PM
Such wonderful news!! I was just thinking about Aria and wondering how she's been. I was going through some sewing scraps and found some of the fabric that her funky little doll was made from. Wish I could hug you both!! Much love, Luzy
--
May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.
http://luzy.etsy.com- My etsy store! |
| Meg |
Posted - May 16 2011 : 12:10:01 PM
 Just a big huge smile and a long good hug to you Julia. Love, love, love...
MaryJane's daughter,
Meg
megan@maryjanesfarm.org
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| BarefootGoatGirl |
Posted - May 16 2011 : 09:39:17 AM
your excitement is contagious, julia! it is so amazing to feel the life in your words! love and hugs for you and aria.
www.barefootfashion.wordpress.com
http://www.corrinemackrell.carbonmade.com |
| melody |
Posted - May 16 2011 : 07:37:49 AM
So glad to hear all is going well and you are in gardening groove once again! There is nothing quite like getting your hands in the dirt to uplift your soul....
Take care dear heart and keep the chicks close...
Mel
Farmgirl #525
www.bythebayhandcraftedsoap.blogspot.com
www.longtallsallys.etsy.com |
| Joey |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 10:51:56 PM
I clearly understand letting the gardens die. When I left my ex-husband I had 137 house plants-my babies that I talked to every day. When I left him I let them all die. It was just too much. I was just trying to get through the day. It took a long time to get new plants but the day I brought that first one home was the day I knew I was going to make it.
I am glad happy for your strong, brave daughter and for her warm, supportive, loving family. Many blessings to you and I pray hard that the cancer is gone for good. Hugs, Joey
Well behaved women rarely make history. |
| paulas party flowers |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 8:53:35 PM
julia, i saw your post. i am so very glad for the outcome of your aria. children should not have to go through that. it breaks my heart. i too am touched by the very same cancer. it took my dear father almost six years ago and my friend last year. it is hard to watch and endure. i felt so helpless at the time...my father chose not to do chemo. life is for the young, protect them is what he said. so i have done that. i donate blood three times a year, as he had 21 pints and i am on the bone marrow donors registry. i work on the "relay for life teams". i signed up for a cancer study. i truly understand how it consumes you. i help wherever i can. gardening helped me get through the sad days. life does take on a whole new meaning, you look at it totally different. little issues fall by the wayside. priorities change. it is life changing. soo, enjoy your new found life, and love the little aria..i know my dad would send you both hugs and kisses, even if he didn't know you. so here they are from both of us. xoxoxoxo...hugs,hugs. take care, paula
the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched.they must be felt with the heart. Helen Keller |
| Beverley |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 7:49:58 PM
all I can say is Glory be to God, for such a wonderful miracle... prayers are still coming your way.
Folks will know how large your soul is by the way you treat a dog....Charles F. Doran
beverley baggett
Beverley with an extra E...
https://sites.google.com/site/bevsdoggies/
http://bevsdoggies.blogspot.com/ |
| katmom |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 7:29:01 PM
Julia, my sweet neighbor....miss ya mucho...drove by the other day but your car wasn't there so I didn't stop...
p.s. your black doggie looks very comfy resting on the porch....
hugz
>^..^<
Happiness is being a katmom.
"Is it time for my Dirt Manicure yet!"
www.katmom4.blogspot.com & http://www.graciesvictorianrose.blogspot.com
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| Fiddlehead Farm |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 4:37:13 PM
Julia,
When I joined MJF, one of the first posts I read was about Aria. It was a couple of years ago and I am so glad for the outcome. I am so happy for you and Aria, I can't imagine what your life has been like. I hope that you keep in touch on the forum, but spend lots of time out in your garden. I am sure the new gardens will be as glorious as the old ones. I also want to thank you for all the support you have given to children with cancer and their parents. I have read the posts that you have written to Elizabeth about her 5 year old son with cancer. Your words are truely healing and heartfelt. Give Aria and yourself a big hug from me!
http://studiodiphotosite.shutterfly.com/
farmgirl sister #922
Happy to be a "Raggedy Ann" in a Barbie World!
I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.
- E. B. White |
| herblady55 |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 4:05:02 PM
Julia, your story has touched my heart and has me giddy & giggly with love overflowing! Just another victory for God! Praise his name.I thank Him for all the strength He has given,to get you both thru this! Big Hugs to you and Aria!
Sister-chick# 905(Sept.14th 2009)
Judy
French-Hugs&Squeezles!
I am not contained between my hat and my boots! -Walt Whitman-
"Why couldn't I have been born Rich instead of So Good Looking?" |
| Nancy Gartenman |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 2:22:27 PM
Oh Julia! You are to kind. But thats a good thing.
www.Nancy-Jo.blogspot.com |
| julia hayes |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 12:49:18 PM
Brenda, you must have posted before I finished my lengthy piece. You know my joy is entirely due to Aria's wellness and being able to fall into the beautiful grace of steadfast and true friends like you! So many people taking on our story as if Aria was one of their own. I know that feeling so well now. Every kid dealing with cancer feels like he or she is my own. Funny how we respond that way...I suppose that's the innate sense of the saying, "It takes a village!" Thank you for your thoughts and your love! ~julia
being simple to simply be
Farmgirl #30
www.julia42.etsy.com
www.about-aria.blogspot.com |
| julia hayes |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 12:46:11 PM
Oh I have missed you!!!
MaryJane-Country Born, I am working VERY hard on my book. I've discovered that I am not a dainty writer in terms of how I work. I imagine some writers who can work several hours each day totally committed, organized, getting the job done. This is SO not me! I've discovered recently that although I may be able to weave a few words here and there, the way that I work is like a nasty vomit-fest! I'm serious. I just pour and spew the words and writing in one giant mess for about 2 weeks at a time. I get a heap accomplished but then I'm completely spent. It's like it all comes flooding out of me in a giant mess that I clean up and make all pretty-pretty and then I have to rest for about 2 weeks. It's the most hilarious thing! I've taken the last 2 weeks off and I'm ready for another word-vomit round again! It's coming together nicely...just not daintily! I'm letting you know this because YOU are one person I plan to visit as I consider how the heck I'm going to market this thing! I have to meet you in person. I have to hug you, hold your hands and stare at you! You have been so good to me...so present and lovely and I have missed our regular communication. I cherish every word you have ever shared with me! You are absolutely right in that I will never look at life the same way. Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia says, "Things never happen the same way twice." VERY true. I've learned and written several times that there is no going back...there is only going with. I'll always carry the mark of cancer in every thing I do..in every action and nearly every thought but I'm working very hard to raise what was such a horror into the light and promise of the moment! You have been instrumental in helping me do that!
Shi-anne~ Thank you so much for you comment. I am indeed so blessed...SOOOOO so so very lucky. Your comment, "May God continue to grant you the desires of your heart" got me thinking..It is a profound thing to say and I'm so grateful to tell you that it is my hope and my purpose that the desires of my grant be not mine but God's.
Dutchy~ You make me feel like I'm surrounded by the tastiest pink fluff! You've always lightened my mood, my sense, my being. I'll forever be grateful for the color pink ENTIRELY because of you! I need people exactly like you who can color me world so brilliant and life me up with the lightest and most gentle care. You are a gem that I wear in my heart!
Nancy~ I've told you many times that whenever I hear from you, I have a sense of being home. I feel like I've been away for awhile. Neglectful and yet just trying to carve my way back. YOU have been steady, every-present and loyal in ways that I can only hope to aspire! I am deeply indebted to you for your friendship and your kindness. The sachet you sent me sits in a basket in my Fairy Room along with a gorgeous Fairy doll and a felted egg inside which coiled and ready to be born is a dragon! These things are incredibly precious and dear to me. I see you in your gift every single day!! My love is yours!
Sherry~ Your comment of floating to the barn saying a prayer to Jehovah for His loving kindness, warmed my very soul. I am assuming you practice the Faith of Jehovah's Witness? Forgive me if this is too personal...I just want you to know that several Jehovah's Witnesses come to my farm regularly and we have struck the most stunning friendship. I find it infinitely interesting since I am not a Christian yet we have the most wonderful conversations! They have been very good to me in some of our darkest most crisis oriented times. This and a lot of what we've had to do for Aria would be contrary to the beliefs governing this faith. I have never once felt anything but loving support from these friends of mine. I write this here so publicly because sometimes this group of people gets shunned in ways that I don't respect at all. Your comment about Kindness struck a nerve where when we can reach one another in love and kindness, suddenly faith, belief and religious divides melt away...You are very dear and you know exactly my sense of profound appreciation for life. You going to milk while floating is testament to that!
Laurie~ How wonderful of you to comment..I felt this incredible ray of sunshine coming from you as I read your words! THANK YOU!!!
Debbie~ Thank you so much for your loving thoughts. I have thought a great deal about your words, "Prayers are answered and miracles happen." over these past few years. There's a great cynic in me that wasn't there before Aria got sick. Sometimes I wish this new aspect of myself wasn't there. It doesn't feel in balance yet. I'm still working on it. I've seen and known too many people whose prayers have not been answered. I've not seen many miracles..and those that I know of take my breath away not because they happened by surprise or in an instant but because of something else entirely. I can't really even put into words yet...I suppose the beginning of this thought process for me is the miracle of Aria's survival. It really is that. A Miracle. Prayers answered? That I cannot speak of. I just don't know. But the miracle of Aria's survival comes at a price that seems impossibly high. Thousands upon thousands of children perished in the process of discovering the treatment that would save my daughter. I am forever thankful to these children and their parents for making impossible decisions to use their children as test subjects that would eventually influence the lives of future children. These people are walking breathing miracle-makers. I'm in awe of their courage and selfless-ness....Just a few thoughts that come from such sweet and heart-felt words expressed by loving people like you...
Nini~ I love your energy!! Thank you for you kind and uplifting words! You planted a HUGE smile on my face that I wore while tilling up a garden that was a gorgeous English garden filled with perennials. I call it Namaah's garden and for the past few years I watched it slowly die and fade into grass. It made me sad every time I walked by it, which was nearly every single day. I decided not to save it. I decided that I had to close the chapter of what it once was and create it anew...entirely start over with something completely different! That's what I'm doing and your words were riding with me this morning on my tractor!
Oh my friends...just thank you!! I am so deeply touched by all of you and your words of celebration and joy!! Yeah Aria!!!
being simple to simply be
Farmgirl #30
www.julia42.etsy.com
www.about-aria.blogspot.com |
| classygram |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 12:24:54 PM
Julia I feel such joy reading your post. It's so good to hear you wonderful words. Sending hugs for you and your family and so happy to hear Aria is doing well. Enjoy your summer and good to hear from you. Hugs, Brenda
http:///www.scatteredlittleblessings.blogspot.com
Seek reasons to Love..In every sigment of everyday-look for something that brings forth within you a feeling of Love-Abraham Hicks |
| CountryBorn |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 11:39:08 AM
Julia, my heart is bursting with joy for you and Aria and all your family. What a wonderful thing it is to come out of a dark scary storm and see the sun shining and the birds singing with joy. You must be seeing life anew with such a grateful joyful heart. What a gift to see life through brand new eyes again. To appreciate all the small and beautiful things with wonder again. I am so happy for all of you ! You are going to have the most wonderful summer ever, share your happiness with us please. All the events of the year will be fresh and new again. I have a feeling you will keep this spirit in your heart for the rest of your life.
Hugs and love Mary Jane
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
| Shi-anne |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 09:57:32 AM
You are so blessed and it comes through in your post! What an awesome thing to have a child come through this experience and now be on the survivor's path. May God continue to grant you the desires of your heart!
http://theprairiemaid.blogspot.com/
Farmgirls don't have hot flashes ~ They have power surges! |
| dutchy |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 09:56:03 AM
SO Happy for you Julia :D Give your girl a farmgirl hug from this dutchy...oh and go ahead, one for you too.
ALL kidding aside, it is so good to read such good news on Aria and you.
Lots of hugs to you.
Hugs from Marian/Dutchy, a farmgirl from the Netherlands :)
http://pinkprincessdecorating.blogspot.com/
Almost daily updates on me, my home and my crafts
Farmgirl sister # 2410 |
| Nancy Gartenman |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 09:43:54 AM
So Happy for you and your family. You have all been through so much. Now these are good times.
www.Nancy-Jo.blogspot.com |
| sherrye |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 09:25:56 AM
oh boy julia,,, i have cried tears with you in struggle now you and aria have me crying. now they are tears of joy my friend. i am so moved by this. i shall float to the barn to milk. when there i will say thank you to Jehovah for his loving kindness. you swim in the goodness of life farmgirl. sending joyous love and hugs happy days for you all sherrye more happy pics would be great.
the learn as we go silk purse farm
farm girl #1014
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| laurentany |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 09:07:55 AM
Julia,
I can feel the Love and Life just beaming from your post! I am so happy to hear that you and Aria are well!
Welcome Home!
Farmgirl Hugs,
~Laurie
"Little Hen House on the Island"
Farmgirl Sister#1403
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.. |
| Blessed in Colorado |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 08:38:32 AM
That is such wonderful news Julia, prayers are answered and miracles happen.
Welcome Home.
Farm girl Hugs,
Debbie
www.etsy.com/shop/CollectThisTreasures
http://debbielynnf.blogspot.com
http://myworld.ebay.com/debbt |
| Ninibini |
Posted - May 15 2011 : 08:21:11 AM
Oh, Julia! Your excitement and enthusiasm inspires my heart! I am SO glad and thankful that Aria is doing well, and that you are back "home!" Hugs - Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
www.papercraftingwithnini.myctmh.com
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