The sky is in full shades of cloud as I hear my youngest cry. The day has started out in shades of winter, not the end of April that it is supposed to be.

As I look out into the dreary day though, my head keeps repeating the hallelujah song. Today I’ve woken with a song in my heart and wonder what will come of the day.

I am thankful for a good sleep, and healthy children, and a loving family and friends. On the grayest of days they are still present, lifting my spirits up just by their existence.

“No man is an island” said by a man far smarter than I am, and today that quote resounds in my soul.

I think of all the connections that keep us tied to life, making us part of the interwoven fabric of our societies, big and small.

It is these connections which truly make us human. They start at birth and continue until death. I’ve watched people at the end of life surrounded by loving and kind family members and known how blessed they were. I’ve also seen those who never had a visit, their entire world the walls that they dwelled within and those paid to care for them, and I sorrowed for their loss.
What was it that caused this isolation? Was it a bad temperament? Or Bad luck? What about those not born into the wealth of love, those who had no connections at birth through accident or other ill fate?
How is it that some are born adrift in the world, no soft landing to catch them when they suffer?

The words of hallelujah repeat over and over in my mind, and I give thanks for my riches that are so much more tangible than money.

And I snuggle my sleepy little boy as he slowly wakes up