Photo Challenge #6

Home is a feeling

more than wood and rooms.

Home is where 

your heart lives and dreams.

Home is more

than a house near the ocean

or a condo in the city.

Its love, laughter

and belonging. 

Home is where you build 

memories;

create warmth and comfort.

The walls are protection from the cold

The rooms are where 

you dwell. 

The roof keeps out the weather.

What lies inside those walls

is what makes you

or breaks you.

Its what teaches you,

molds you,

and when you leave,

you take it with you.

The good 

and the bad.

Home is where you create it.

Home is where your heart longs to be.

Home is wherever

you are.

Though winds may rage, 

rain may pour 

and clouds may cover,

the sun always shines though the 

windows.

Home is not a place, 

its a shelter from the storm,

but more than that,

Home is where your heart longs to be

and is wherever you are.

Photo Challenge #5

It had been year full of trials, heartache, healing and life. Kate had lost the love of her life before Kate had even known she was pregnant with Krissy. The baby that her father had never seen, and would never know.

Adam had been been Kate's high school sweetheart and they had always known that they would get married one day and have a family. After high school Adam had joined the marines, as was his plan. Kate had fallen in love the minute she had seen him. That high school girl kind of crush, that had turned into something real. They spent every moment together that they could. Going to movies, hanging out at the mall and their favorite past time, going to the beach and walking along the ocean. It was a past time that they had carried on into their married life and shared with their children. Every night after dinner, the family would head to the water and go for a walk, even when Adam was away.

Now, today, one year after Adam's death, Kate, her children and her brother are at the ocean in memory of her husband. After they spread Adam's ashes into the ocean, they headed along the water and went for a walk in remembrance of the walks they had taken many times. Kevin, Kate's brother had gone with to help her with the children. This spot on the ocean would always hold a special place in Kate's heart. It was the place she had the most memories of Adam, the place he had proposed to her, the place she had told him she was pregnant each time, including when she found out she was pregnant with Krissy. This was also the place they could see from their bedroom; the whole reason they had bought the house. Never would any place mean more to Kate than this one. Never would there be any place that she could feel Adam's presence more than this one.

Kate knew that one day she might fall in love again, remarry, and start over. Life had proven that it would go on. The sun would still rise every morning and set every night. Her heart, though still sad had healed, slowly, day by day. Over the days and months that had passed, life had kept going just as Adam would have wanted it to. Every time that she looked at her children, she saw their father, and every time she went to this spot in the ocean she felt him there with her. Watching over her, and keeping her safe.

Today as she walked this same spot, this oh-so-familiar path, she knelt down in the sand and read these words that she had written down that morning.

Today its been a year. A year since I heard you were gone. 

Today I feel you more than I ever have. 

With each day that has passed since that first day we met

on the first day of school in 9th grade, I have loved 

you with each breath I took. 

With you, 

I was safe, loved and give so much more than I deserved. 

With you, 

I have never known or felt more than love than you have shown. 

My heart breaks that you are gone. 

Knowing that I will never see your face, 

hear your voice or 

feel your arms around me, 

breaks my heart and fills my eyes with tears. 

Knowing that Krissy will never 

know you personally, though she will know who you are

and the kind of daddy she had. 

You have never held her, touched her sweet face

or known her, but I know 

that as you watch over us, you know who she is. 

Kammie and Austin miss you so much, 

but each night as I tuck them into bed 

we look out the window towards Heaven and tell you goodnight.

Today, Tomorrow and Forever 

you are my love and our hero. 

Kate

As soon as she read those words, Kate tossed the letter into the air and watched as the wind blew it away and land it in the water. Then she stood up, took Kammie's hand and together they all walked back towards the house, with one final goodbye to the man they all loved and would all miss for the rest of their lives. 

Photo Challenge #4

The waves of the ocean crash against the rocks, 

her silent tears fall, 

her heart beats drowned out by the waves. 

No one hears her cry, 

no one knows her pain. 

The day he left, she said good-bye. 

Angry winds blow, 

waves get higher, her tears fall 

her heart breaks. 

She knows he will never come home. 

Today he watched her cry, 

felt her pain as she knelt in the wet sand, 

he knew heard her cries

and felt her heartbeat as she looked out at the vast seas. 

He longed to touch her, 

longed to heal her pain and let her know

he was there beside her.

As the wind blew and the waves crashed, 

as the storm got angrier, 

her hopes, her dreams, their plan, and their life

all drowning in the wind and the rain. 

Never will she hold him again, 

never will she walk down the aisle to him.

She will never see the joy on his face

as their little one is born.

She longs to join him, longs to be with him. 

He sees the lighthouse, 

the calm in the storm. It hadn't been lit in years, 

As he watches her below, 

he knows what he must do for her, 

he must let her know 

that she can always find her way home.

He is always there, 

always right there with her. 

The light shines through the night, 

a beacon of hope, 

a path where none once stood. 

She sees the light, 

and knows that he is there,

there in her heart, 

the waves still crash, the wind still blows, 

but the lighthouse shines, 

lighting the way, 

the only calm in the storm. 

Photo Challenge #3

Through tears and laughter, 

pain and sorrow, 

joy and happiness, through the lonely times

and the times filled with grief, 

through heartache and broken promises, 

the one who has seen it all, 

the one who will always be there no matter what.

The times spent laughing over coffee, 

hanging out at the mall, 

for the times spent together in a cafe or at a park

only few have cherished these times. 

There have been fights, and angry words, 

days of silence and times of trials, 

moments of bitterness and 

even betrayal. 

There are times of disagreement, 

discouragement and unkind words, 

years of being there, years apart, days and weeks

of talking on the phone. 

There are few who have seen it all, 

who have been there for the ups and downs, 

for the trials and triumphs.

Few have seen the tears, been apart of the laughter, 

and no one could compare to your 

best friend

Photo Challenge #2 (a bit late)

I sit on the dock and listen, 

the sounds of nature soothe my aching heart. 

The depth of the ocean is deep, 

as is the distance that sits between us. 

The vastness of the sky is overwhelming, 

as is the heartache felt when I think of what could have been. 

The birds in the distance, 

a reminder that there is hope, 

the gentle waves of the water are a sign that 

calm is near. 

The dock, which is steady, an anchor.

Here I sit, listening to the sounds of nature, 

the sounds that bring a gentle, calming peace where none existed a moment before. 

I sit on the dock and listen, the sounds of nature soothing my once aching heart. 

Photo Challenge #1

It had been a long and challenging year. Alyssa and Brad had been married for two years and second year had been harder than the first. The first year Brad had been sweet and romantic, bringing her home flowers every day after work. or leaving little love notes around the house. They had learned how to live together and deal with issues as they arose. They learned about living together as a couple and compromising so that they both got what they wanted. The first had its challenges and struggles for sure but it was sweet and romantic as well.

Then the second year hit and Brad started a new job that kept him traveling out of town, so he was never home anymore. Alyssa was bogged down at work with a new case she had been assigned. When Brad was home he expected Alyssa to cook his meals and pack his lunch. She had to do all the house cleaning and errands, since Brad's job, according to Brad was more stressful than her career as a lawyer. As the days and weeks went by, Alyssa found herself feeling more and more like a slave than a wife. She started resenting her husband and even found little ways to irk and irritate him just because. The other day she poured hot sauce on his french fries instead of ketchup and last week she purposely forgot to take his favorite suit to the dry cleaners. He had been really mad, as he had wanted to take that on his business trip to New York. When Brad returned from New York Alyssa had actually forgot to pick him up as she had been at work late preparing for trial the next day. Brad had been so furious that he had spent a week in a hotel. Alyssa had thought that was the beginning of the end of their marriage.

Last night Brad had said he was flying to Texas for a job interview. Alyssa booked his flight and hotel and rented him a car. As she watched him walk down the terminal, she fought the tears that had been threatening all morning and finally she let them fall. She was losing her husband and she was partly to blame. She knew in her heart that her marriage was over. Brad had not even kissed her good-bye. As Alyssa prepared a dinner for herself last night, she caught a glimpse of what her life without Brad would be like. Sure she had prepared a meal for one, and lived like a single woman while Brad was gone, but she had never paid attention to the lonliness of it. Work and lonely meals at home. She didn't even have a dog to keep her company.

Later that night as she was getting ready for bed, Alyssa had an idea. A last ditch effort to repair her failing marriage. She booked a last minute flight, got redressed and packed a bag and headed for the airport. Alyssa didn't notice the flight from California to New York, she was too busy worrying about what Brad would say when she got there. What would she find? Did he have a girl friend there? Is that why he had decided to move to Texas?

When she got to the hotel she dropped off her stuff, she had booked a room next to Brad's just incase her plan didn't work the way she was hoping. Plan? She thought to herself, she didn't even have a plan, she was just winging it. As she was walking back out of the hotel she saw caught a glimpse that shook her. Brad at a table in the restaurant, holding the hand of another woman.

There was no saving her marriage. Brad had found someone else. He was leaving her, moving to Texas and starting a new life. She had not even been married a full two years and her marriage was over. Alyssa went back to her room and repacked her clothes and booked a flight home. All her hopes for saving her marriage were crushed, and she was going to be alone.

Alyssa flew back home that night and cried herself to sleep.

The next morning she got herself up and ready for work. She sat at her desk and did her depositions and prepared for her trial. She even spent her lunch hour researching divorce lawyers. No sense in putting off the inevitable or being unprepared.

After work she went to the gym, the grocery store and then the drug store. While she was there she realized that she had not had her period for awhile. As she thought back, her last period had been three months ago. How had she missed that? She walked to the aisle where the pregnancy tests were kept and grabbed one. She couldn't be. It had to be stress. She hadn't even felt sick, didn't pregnant woman get sick? When she got home she ran straight to the bathroom and took the test and nervously waited for the test to be done. She paced the bathroom, wandered around the house, scared to look at the test. She made dinner and sat down to eat, when Brad walked in the door. What was he doing home? He was not due home until tomorrow. He sat his bags down and came into the kitchen. He then asked her to go for a walk.

She agreed, almost forgetting about the test upstairs in the bathroom. She ran upstairs and saw the results. It was confirmed, she was pregnant, and now she was going to be pregnant and alone. Brad was going to tell her he was leaving her and moving to Texas. How was she suppose to raise a baby alone? She walked back down stairs and went to face Brad.

They walked to the little park near their house. The park was the reason she had fallen in love with their neighborhood. The reason she had convinced Brad that this was the house for them. They walked around the park in silence. Until Alyssa asked him what he wanted to talk about. As she looked at him, she started to cry. She didn't want to hear that he didn't love her anymore, t hat he was in love with someone girl in Texas. Brad looked startled at her tears. Alyssa was startled when Brad grabbed her and sat her on his lap in the swing. The same swing that they had first sat on the first time they walked through this park together.

He explained to her that he had turned down the job offer in Texas. That he had thought about leaving her and when it came down to it, he couldn't do it. He realized that life without her would be boring and dull. Who else would put hot sauce on his french fries to get at him? She smiled and leaned in to whisper in his ear that she loved him and that they were going to have a baby. Surprise lit up Brad's face and then he puled her closer to him and kissed her. Their marriage wasn't perfect, but they still had it and now they were going to add another member to their family.

The End